THE WINNING OF KINGHOOD

Adapted from Sir Thomas Malory’s “Tales of King Arthur”

According to the legend, there lived a king whose name was Uther-

Pendragon, who was known as the overlord of Britain. In all his battles and

undertakings, he was aided by two great persons, Merlin the Wise and Hight

Ulfius. Merlin was known for being a prophet and an enchanter, he served as

the king's adviser and counselor. While Hight Ulfius was an excellent noble

and renowned knight who was thought by many to be the greatest leader in

war of any man then alive. He gave Uther-Pendragon aid and advice in

battles. So with the help of Merlin and Sir Ulfius, Uther Pendragon was able

to overcome all his enemies and became King of the entire realm.

After successfully serving as the Overlord of Britain for a number of

years, he took as wife a beautiful and gentle lady, Hight Ingraine, the widow

of Gerlois, the Duke of Tintagel by which prince she had two daughters-- one

of whom was named Margaise and the other Morgana le Fay.

After a while, Uther-Pendragon and Queen Igraine had a son born to

them and he was very beautiful and of great size and strength of bone.

Merlin the Wise came to Uther Pendragon with a spirit of Prophecy. He told

the King, "Lord, it is given unto me to foresee that thou shalt shortly

fall sick of fever and that thou shalt die of a violent sweat that will

follow thereon."
 Merlin also emphasized that the King's son would be in danger since

the other lesser kings will surely rise up with design to seize him for the

sake of his inheritance, and either he would be slain or he would be held in

captivity from which he could hardly hope to escape. Believing what Merlin

had told him, the King told Merlin, "Wherefore, I pray to perform thy

will in this affair, bearing in my heart the consideration that the child

is the most precious inheritance which I shall leave unto this land." So

Merlin did as he had advised. He and Sir Ulfius brought the child to a safe

place where he might be hidden in secret until he grew to manhood and was

able to guard himself from such dangers.

Shortly afterward, the King got sick as Merlin had foretold and he

died exactly as Merlin had feared that he would die. It was likewise as

Merlin had feared, for all the realm fell into great disorder as each lesser

king contended against his fellow over lordship. Some wicked knights became

and barons became greedy and abusive to the helpless wayfarers. Some

travelers took prisoners and held for ransom, while others were slain

because they did not have ransom to pay. It was very common sight to see a

dead man lying by the roadside. Thus, there passed nearly eighteen years in

such great affliction.

Finally, one day, the Archbishop of Canterbury summoned Merlin and

spoke to him, "Merlin, men say that thou art the wisest man in all the
world. Canst thou not find some means to heal the distractions of this

woeful realm? Bend thou thy wisdom to this matter and choose thou a

king who shall be fir overlord for us, so that we may enjoy happiness of

life once more as we did in the days of Uther-Pendragon."

Then Merlin replied, "My lord, the spirit of prophecy that lieth

upon me sometimes moveth me now to say that I do perceive that this

country is soon to have a king who shall be wiser and greater and more

worthy of praise than was even Uther-Pendragon. And he shall bring

order and peace where is now disorder and war. Moreover, I may tell

you that this King shall be of Uther-Pendragon's own full blood-royal."

The Archbishop said: "What you tell me, Merlin, is wonderfully

strange things. But in this spirit of prophecy canst thou not foretell

when this thing is to come? and canst you tell how we shall know him

when he appeareth amongst us? How then shall we know the real King

from those who may proclaim themselves to be the rightful king?"

Merlin said, "If I have your permission to exert my magic, I shall

set an adventure which, if any man achieves it, all the world shall

straightway know that he is the rightful King and overlord of this

realm." And to this, the Archbishop said, "Merlin, I bid thee do

whatsoever may seem to thee to be right in this affair."

suddenly appeared in an open place before the cathedral door. And upon this

block of marble he caused it to be that there should stand an anvil, and into

the anvil he caused it that there should be thrust a great naked sword

midway deep of the blade. And this sword was the most wonderful thing that

any man had ever seen, for the blade was of blue steel and extraordinary

bright and glistening. And the hilt was of gold, chased and carved with

marvelous cunning, and inlaid with a great number of precious stones, so that

it shone with wonderful brightness in the sunlight. About the sword were

written these words in letters of gold: Whoso Pulleth Out this Sword from

the Anvil That Same Is Rightwise King-Born of England.

When Merlin had accomplished this, he bade the Archbishop to

summon all the chief people of that land upon Christmastide and he bade the

Archbishop to command that every man should make assay to draw out the

sword, for that he who should succeed in drawing it forth out of the anvil

should be rightwise King of Britain.

It happened that among those worthies who were summoned unto

London Town by the mandate of the Archbishop, there was a certain knight,

very honorable and of high estate, by the name Sir Ector of Bonmaison

surnamed the Trustworthy Knight because of the fidelity with which he kept

the counsel of those who confided in him and

because he always performed unto all men that which he promised to

This very noble knight had two sons: the elder of these was Sir Kay, a

young knight of great valor and promise, and already well renowned in the

Courts of Chivalry because of several honorable deeds of worthy

achievement in arms which he had performed. The other was a young lad of

nearly eighteen years of age, by name Arthur, who at time was serving with

good repute as Sir Kay's esquire-at-arms.

When Sir Ector of Bonmaison received by messenger the mandate of

the Archbishop, he immediately summoned his two sons to go with him to

London Town, and they did so. The London Town was filled with great

multitude of pavilions of the different kings who were summoned to try the

challenge of the sword. Now the Archbishop of Canterbury, having in mind

the extraordinary state of the occasion that had brought so many kings and

dukes and high lords to that adventure of the sword and the anvil, had

commanded that there should be a very noble tournament proclaimed. He

commanded that this contest at arms should be held three days before the

adventure of the sword.

Sir Kay received the news and asked for his father's permission so

that he could join the tournament. He chose his young brother Arthur to

carry his spear and pennant before him into the field of battle, and Arthur

was made exceedingly glad because of the honor that had befallen him and
his brother.

During the battle, Sir Kay's sword broke, and he needed Arthur to get

him another one. Arthur didn't know where to get one. Sir Kay told him to

get one from their father's place. Arthur hurried to get a sword, but he

couldn't get inside his father's place. Then, he remembered the sword in the

anvil. He looked around to see if anyone was watching him. He didn't see

anyone, so he got upon the rock and pulled the sword out of the anvil. Then,

he wrapped it inside the cloak and took it to his brother. Sir Kay knew where

he got the sword.

Sir Kay and Arthur went to their father. Sir Kay gave his father the

sword. Sir Ector wondered where he got the sword. Sir Kay told his father

that he got the sword after he broke his sword in the battle. Sir Ector

didn't know what to believe. Finally, Sir Ector told Sir Kay that if he

withdrew the sword from the anvil, then he should be able to return it to

the anvil. Sir Kay argued with Sir Ector about that concept, but Sir Ector

said he should be able to return it to the anvil if he pulled it out.

After Sir Kay thought about it, he decided to try and put the sword

back into the anvil. Sir Kay believed that if his younger brother, Arthur,

could pull it out, then he could put it back in with as much ease as Arthur had

when he pulled it out. Sir Kay tried to put the sword back into the anvil, but

he didn't succeed.
 Sir Ector wondered why Sir Kay couldn't put the sword back into the

anvil if he had taken it out. Arthur spoke up and told Sir Ector that he was

the one who pulled out the sword. Arthur took the sword and put it into the

anvil. Then, he pulled it out again and replaced it. Sir Ector knew then that

Arthur was the one who had taken the sword. Sir Ector kneeled in front of

Arthur, but Arthur couldn't understand why he did that. At that time, Sir

Ector told Arthur that he was not his father. He finally revealed to Arthur

that Uther-Pendragon was his real father. Arthur told Sir Ector that he

didn't want to lose his father. He said he didn't want to be King if it meant

losing his father. Merlin spoke up and told what he knew about Arthur and

that he was to be a great king.

Later, Merlin brought Arthur to the Archbishop and told him about

Arthur and his real father. The Archbishop had Arthur go to the anvil and

take the sword out. Arthur went to the anvil, took out the sword, and then

swung it over his head three times in front of everyone.

After Arthur had completed his task, some of the people didn't

believe him, but the Archbishop told them he performed the task that they

couldn't do. Some of the people left, and Arthur was declared the King of

England.