Week 12 (Storytelling): Arthur as King

A long time ago when there was no king to maintain order in Britain, the country was broken and a mess. Laws were constantly broken. Countless Knights ran amuck in order to seize the crown for himself. Finally, the great and powerful magician, Merlin, stepped forward and discussed with the Archbishop and the lords and gentleman of Britain of who should rule the throne. All the men agreed to meet in Britain on Christmas Day.

When these great men met together in Britain, they saw a great stone bearing a sword. Engraved on the stone were the words, "Whoso pulleth out this sword is by right of birth King of England". Intrigued, all the knights, lords, and gentlemen attempted to pull out the sword with the hopes of receiving the kingdom. However, all failed without even shaking the sword from its base. The Archbishop declared for two Knights, noble and true, to stand guard on this mysterious sword.

Weeks went by and no one was successful at drawing the sword. On New Year’s Day, a tournament was held for all Knights across the land. Two contestants were the brave Sir Ector and his valiant son, Sir Kay. Along with them was the young Arthur whom was about the same age as Sir Kay. However, unbeknownst to himself is not of their blood and kin. Regardless, Sir Ector treated Arthur like one of his own.

As the three of them traveled to the tournament, Sir Kay realized that he had unbuckled his sword last night and had forgotten it at home. Sir Kay asked Arthur to bring it to him because he could not enter the tournament without it. So, Arthur rode back home to fetch his brother’s sword. Unfortunately, he could not enter the home because everyone had left to watch the tournament. Arthur did not want to disappoint his brother, whom he looked up to dearly, so he remembered the sword stuck in the rock. Arthur quickly rode to that sword, but he did not see any of the knights around it. Ignoring that, he grabbed the handle and gently pulled. The sword came out easily.

Just as this happened, the Archbishop was leaving the Great Church to head to the tournament. He saw Arthur pull the sword out of the stone. However, before he could approach the boy, Arthur was already hurrying to the tournament to meet his brother. The Archbishop was amazed and scurried to the tournament as fast as he could. Once the Archbishop entered the arena, he saw Arthur in the middle of the field as he was handing his brother the sword. The Archbishop hurried to the scene. All spectators stopped and watched him. The Archbishop walked to Arthur and told the audience, "Here is your new King!"

Author's Note - This story is originally from Drawing of the Sword from the King Arthur unit. I really liked this unit and I found it very interesting. I chose to retell this story because I believe that it is one many have heard of, but have not actually read. For my rendition, I did not change much from the actual story except for the ending. In the end, the Archbishop does not actually see Arthur pull out the sword at first and all the details that followed that. However, I felt that my ending gave the original a bit more drama. It also adds a bit of a cliff hanger.

King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1902).