Calico Illustrated Classics: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
chapter 1 A Secret Birth In ancient days there lived a noble king named Uther-Pendragon No one was as courageous fair or beloved at the time With the help of his two advisors he was a great ruler One of his advisors Merlin was a powerful enchanter and a great prophet Sir Ulfius his second advisor gave him advice in battle With their help Uther-Pendragon was able to overcome all of his enemies He became the king of England After Uther-Pendragon ruled for many years he took a noble wife Igraine She had been married once before to Gerlois the Duke of Tintegal With the Duke of Tintegal she had two daughters One was Margaise and the 4
other was Morgana le Fay who became a famous sorceress After Gerlois’s death Igraine married Uther Pendragon He loved her children as if they were his own Soon after they were married Uther-Pendragon and Igraine were to have a son Merlin came to Uther-Pendragon with a warning Lord in the near future thee will become sick and die Your child will be in great danger Many enemies will try to kill him to prevent him from becoming our next ruler Please permit Sir Ulfius and myself to hide him until he can guard himself from such dangers Uther-Pendragon replied I shall face death bravely and with cheerfulness if that’s what is planned for me As for my child if thy prophecy is true then the danger is great Thou must take him to a safe place He will be the most precious gift that I leave this land On the day the baby was born Igraine wrapped him in blankets and placed him in a cradle made of gold He was beautiful and 5
strong That evening Merlin and Sir Ulfius whisked the child away Shortly after Uther-Pendragon died as Merlin predicted Then the entire kingdom fell into chaos There was much fighting and death Traveling became impossible Those who dared to travel were snatched and held for ransom If ransom couldn’t be paid death would befall them The land groaned with trouble Nearly eighteen years passed with this the Archbishop of Finally upheaval Canterbury summoned Merlin Merlin thou are the wisest man in all the land the archbishop said Will peace ever be ours again Merlin replied This country will soon have a king wiser than Uther-Pendragon He shall bring peace and order where war and disorder exist He will have King Uther-Pendragon’s full royal blood This made the archbishop happy How shall we know the real king 6
