King Arthur and the Sword in the Stone

Author: Thomas Bulfinch

Time period: 501 CE–1000 CE; 1851 CE–1900 CE

Country or Culture: England

Genre: Legend

Overview

The classic saga of King Arthur and his knights has endured in Western literature since it was first told by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his twelfth-century pseudohistorical work Historia regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain). Because Geoffrey included many fanciful events based on English, Cornish, and Welsh folktales in his account of Arthur’s life and reign, there has been much debate regarding whether the fabled king was a historical figure. Some scholars believe that King Arthur is based on a Roman British dux bellorum, or warlord, who fought against Anglo-Saxon forces at the battle of Mount Badon in the late fifth or early sixth century CE (Day 15). Others have suggested that Arthur never existed and is simply a heroic figure in the rich folklore of the Britons and Celts. Another theory posits that the character of Arthur is based on a Celtic deity. Whatever Arthur’s historical or literary origin, his story has appeared in various incarnations across cultures for more than nine hundred years and remains just as compelling to modern-day readers.

American writer Thomas Bulfinch’s nineteenth-century retelling of the story of Arthur in The Age of Chivalry (1858), one of three books later combined and published as Bulfinch’s Mythology, portrays events common to Arthur’s story since it first became popular in the Middle Ages. Arthur is the son of a king and queen but is unaware of his heritage. After his birth, he lives an anonymous life in the care of his foster father, Sir Ector, on a rural English estate. Since the death of Arthur’s biological father, King Uther Pendragon, the kingdom has been plagued by civil war as competing lords fight each other for the crown. The nobles know that the former king’s heir is alive, but they have no idea who he is. The defining moment for Arthur comes when the unwitting teenager easily draws an enchanted sword out of a stone—an action that identifies him as the true king of England. Thereafter, Arthur goes on to win battles, the nobles’ allegiance, and eventually the hand of the beautiful princess Guenever.

Although the events of the story remain relatively constant, the social, political, and spiritual aspects of the legend change in the hands of accomplished storytellers from different eras. For example, Bulfinch’s emphasis on courage, courtesy, and spirituality resonated with his nineteenth-century readers because those ideals were tightly woven into the fabric of Victorian society. Le Morte d’Arthur (1485; The death of Arthur), penned by fifteenth-century English knight and adventurer Thomas Malory, became a source book for subsequent Arthurian retellings and mirrors Malory’s own experience as a soldier and noble in a war-torn country. T. H. White’s Arthurian fantasy The Once and Future King, of which The Sword in the Stone is a part, is a mid-twentieth-century exploration of the relationship between power and justice. Because each of these works is the product of a particular era, comparisons between them serve as useful lenses through which to view Western social and literary history.

Summary

After Roman rule ends in Britain, Saxon tribes from what is now Germany invade the island during the fifth and sixth centuries CE, waging a war of conquest against the Celtic inhabitants. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, King Constans, one of the primary sovereigns of the late sixth century, has three sons: Moines, Ambrosius (or Uther), and Pendragon. When the king dies, Moines takes the throne. His conniving seneschal, Vortigern, plots against him, and Moines is overthrown by the invaders. Vortigern becomes king, but Uther and Pendragon dethrone him. Pendragon succeeds Vortigern and names the powerful magician Merlin his chief counselor.

When another conflict erupts between the Saxons and the Britons, Merlin insists that the two brothers swear fealty to one another—and also predicts that one brother will be killed in battle. Pendragon is slain, and Uther, who takes his dead brother’s name in addition to his own, becomes king. Uther, like his brothers before him, has great confidence in Merlin’s abilities, and he asks the magician to transport huge stones from Ireland to Salisbury Plain. The resulting collection of standing stones marks the tomb of Pendragon and forms what becomes known as Stonehenge. Merlin also conceives the idea of the Round Table, around which selected nobles and their ladies gather once a year to profess their loyalty to the king and one another. The companions also promise to embark on individual adventures, lead a life of chastity when called upon to do so, and tirelessly defend the realm against enemy attacks.

During one of the Round Table’s annual meetings, Gerlois, Duke of Tintadiel, brings his beautiful wife, Igerne, to the king’s court. Uther falls in love with her and presses her to return his affection. She is put off by his impropriety and tells her husband. Enraged, Gerlois takes Igerne and escapes to his fortified castle at Tintadiel, on the Cornwall coast. The king demands that he return, but when Gerlois refuses, Uther declares war on the duke. Consumed with passion for Igerne, Uther asks for Merlin’s help. The magician obliges by transforming the king’s appearance into that of the duke. While Gerlois is fighting Uther’s troops, the disguised king slips into Tintadiel to visit the duchess. When the duke is killed in battle, Uther makes Igerne his queen, and she later gives birth to a son, Arthur.

Secretly raised by Sir Ector, Arthur becomes the foster brother and squire of Ector’s son, Kay. Arthur’s rise to power after Uther’s death is not “without opposition, for there [are] many ambitious competitors” (Bulfinch 374). Seeking to identify the legitimate king, Bishop Brice preaches a Christmas Eve sermon in which he asks his congregation to pray for a sign from God. When the service ends, the worshippers discover a mysterious sword lodged in a stone outside of the church. Words engraved on the sword’s pommel read, “I am hight Escalibore, unto a king fair tresore” (374). The bishop declares that the man who draws the sword out of the stone will be declared Uther’s successor. Renowned knights try to remove the sword, but it does not move.

When the spring tournament season begins, Sir Kay attends along with his squire, Arthur, who is unaware of his heritage. Kay breaks his sword during a joust and commands Arthur to ride home and retrieve a new one from his mother. Arthur obeys his master but cannot find Kay’s mother. Remembering that he had ridden by a church where he saw a sword stuck in a stone, he returns to the spot, easily draws the sword, and brings it to Kay. The older boy recognizes the weapon and decides to claim the throne for himself. When the blade is again placed in the stone, however, Kay cannot pull it out—only Arthur is able. Thus Arthur is “decisively pointed out by Heaven as their king” (375).

“A miraculous stone was discovered, before the church door, and in the stone was firmly fixed a sword. . . . Bishop Brice, after exhorting the assembly to offer up their thanksgivings for this signal miracle, proposed a law, that whoever should be able to draw out the sword from the stone, should be acknowledged as sovereign of the Britons; and his proposal was decreed by general acclamation.”

After Arthur’s coronation, he seeks to consolidate his rule and goes to war against eleven kings and a duke. The forces arrayed against him are so overwhelming that Merlin casts a spell to collapse the tents of the opposing army, allowing Arthur and his soldiers to fall upon and rout the enemy. After cementing his power among his own people, Arthur defends his lands against the Saxon invaders at Mount Badon. He arms himself and, “calling on the name of the Virgin, rushes into the midst of his enemies, and destroys multitudes of them with the formidable Caliburn [Escalibore], and puts the rest to flight” (375–76). His victory breaks the Saxon yoke and ushers in a golden age.

After this victory, Merlin again directs the course of Arthur’s life, this time acting as a matchmaker. Arriving incognito at the court of King Laodegan, Merlin, Arthur, and thirty-nine knights find Laodegan attempting to defend his kingdom from Irish invaders. Merlin, serving as leader of Arthur’s retinue, volunteers their services on the condition that they remain anonymous. A few days later, the enemy masses for an attack. Merlin, Arthur, and the knights march to defend the city. When Merlin commands the porter to open the gates, he refuses, so Merlin instead takes “up the gate with all its appurtenances of locks, bars, and bolts, and direct[s] his troops to pass through, after which he replace[s] it in perfect order” (381). Again the Britons find themselves outnumbered, so Merlin enchants the enemy, which leads to a victory for the Britons.

Laodegan’s beautiful daughter, Guenever (or Guinevere), witnesses Arthur’s exploits on the battlefield and wishes that he become her husband. After the battle, Guenever and her maids wait on the warriors as they bathe and feast. Over the next few days, the attraction between Arthur and Guenever deepens. When Merlin finally confesses that the purpose of the group’s visit to Laodegan’s court was to find a wife for Arthur, Laodegan offers Guenever to the young king. Arthur reveals his true identity, and he and Guenever are married.

Bibliography

Barber, Richard. King Arthur: Hero and Legend. New York: St. Martin’s, 1986. Print.

Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch’s Mythology. New York: Modern Lib., 2004. Print.

Day, David. The Search for King Arthur. New York: Facts on File, 1998. Print.

Lacy, Norris et al., eds. The Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York: Bedrick, 1986. Print.

Malory, Thomas. Le Morte d’Arthur. Ed. Keith Baines. Introd. Robert Graves. New York: Mentor, 1962. Print.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Dir. Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones. Perf. Gilliam et al. Python Pictures, 1974. Film.

White, T. H. The Once and Future King. New York: Ace, 1987. Print.