Calico Illustrated Classics: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
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
So it came to be that Merlin used his magic He made a huge marble stone appear before the cathedral door Upon this block of marble stood an anvil Into this he thrust a sword In letters of gold near the sword these words appeared Whoso Pulleth out this Sword is by Right of Birth King of England As Christmas approached Merlin asked the archbishop to call together the people of the land He would then ask each man to draw out the sword The man who succeeded would be the rightful king of Britain Christmas fell upon them It seemed as if the entire world descended upon London There are so many wise and great noblemen here the archbishop worried What if we don’t find anyone worthy of being the king of this realm Fear not my Lord said Merlin We will not find him among those we think are 8
extraordinary and worthy It is among those that are unknown that we shall find the one that is entirely worthy With the arrival of so many noblemen the archbishop proclaimed that there should be a tournament It would take place in a field three days before the men would be asked to remove the sword from the stone All knights who were of noble blood were asked to partake in this tournament Sir Ector of Bonmaison named the Trustworthy Knight made his way to London with his two sons The elder was Sir Kay an honorable and well-known knight of great valor The youngest was eighteen-year-old Arthur Sir Ector led his sons to London and set up a pavilion He hung his banner like all the other nobles The sky was filled with fluttering flags that represented the most noble families Among the great lords who came was King Lot of Orkney He had married King Uther Pendragon’s stepdaughter Morgana le Fay King 9
