Calico Illustrated Classics: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
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
Urien of Gore who wed the other daughter Margaise joined them Soon the day of the tournament arrived With his father’s permission Sir Kay entered He asked Arthur to be his squire-at-arms During the first rounds of battle no one had done better than Sir Kay Although many were trampled upon their own horses Sir Kay fought with ease He conquered them all Sir Kay came a voice do battle with me Sir Kay turned to see Sir Balmorgineas He accepted the challenge It was a fierce battle one that left Sir Kay’s sword snapped in two Three knights saw Sir Kay’s trouble and pulled him to safety Arthur ran to Sir Kay and offered him wine Sir Kay said Arthur run to our pavilion and fetch me a new sword Arthur did as he was told But when he got to the pavilion he couldn’t find a sword He feared he would let his brother down Then he remembered the sword he had seen by the 10
cathedral and ran to it Not seeing any guard in sight Arthur leaped upon the rock and pulled the sword from the stone It was his Arthur wrapped the sword in a cloak and ran back to the tournament When Sir Kay unwrapped the cloth he was speechless He recognized the sword at once Arthur he finally said where did thee get this sword 11
