It was a monstrosity of a day.  Uther Pendragon had died and there was no King in Britain.  The country soon moved into an uproar and I myself was baffled by how horrible the country had become since the King's death.  I looked upon the country as if it had lost all the blessing and beauty in itself.  Right then I realized that it was time for me to lend a hand to help Britainmake way for a new King.  That same day I rode swiftly to to the Archbishop of Canterbury.  We spoke in private counsel and agreed that this Christmas Day all lords and gentlemen of Britain would ride to London and meet in the Great Church.  That Christmas Day when the men arrived I guided them out to the churchyard where they laid their eyes upon a large stone, on the large stone lay a bar steel, and in the steel a marvelous sight... for it was the sword.  I approached the sword and read its letters of gold out loud "Whoso pulleth out this is by right of birth King of England." (The Drawing of the Sword, Lang)  I glanced at all the men as they marveled at these words that I spoke.  The Archbishop and I then stepped back and watched in silence as lord after lord and man after man tried to with all theirmight to pull the sword free.  Soon, nightfall came upon us and I assigned two good and true men to guard the sword until we returned to it.

The following day all the men cried that all who wish to try to pull the sword should be able to do so.  They decided that a tournament on New Year's Day would be held, and that any man that had the will to enter might do so.

             New Year's Day arrived very quickly and I wondered about, glancing at all the Knights but looking for a particular someone.  I finally glanced to the northeast and spotted Sir Ector, a true and brave Knight, who brought with him his son, Sir Kay, and young Arthur, Ector's foster son.  I was so delighted to see them all that I simply walked away and let them be.  So then I made my merry way back to my seat to watch the tournament.  Later, as the tournament went on I looked about to find Arthur in the crowdto watch his brother, Sir Kay.  I saw no Arthur.  Quickly I fled down to where I had seen Arthur last.  Just as I had looked to find him I see him, Sir Ector and Kay quietly moving into the churchyard.  I followed then quickly and moved to a spot where I could not be seen.  By GOD!  The sword had been removed from the stone!  The young lad had done it!  But what, Sir Ector is making him put the sword back into stone?  I was stunned for a moment.  I watched as Kay struggled to even get the sword to stir.  Then Arthur approached the sword, bowed his head and as easily as he had put it back into the stone he removed it.  I listened as Sir Ector began to speak and then I realized that at  that moment young Arthur was being told the truth as to who his true father really was.  I stepped away and while smiling I returned to my seat.

I waited patiently for Sir Ector to arrive at the Great Church to tell the Archbishop all that had happened between his sons and the sword.  That next day, the lords and Knights came one final time to draw the sword out of the stone.  None of them succeeded.  The were more than angered when they saw Arthur retrieve the sword.  The shouted crude things at Arthur and swore that they would never respect him, a boy King.  So to please the lords and Knights, Arthur had to put the sword back and pull it out again at Candlemas, again at Easter, and when Pentecost came everyone had heard of the boy King and had gathered around to watch Arthur pull the sword out one last time.  Once he did, all men and women, rich and poor fell to their knees.  Even I fell to mine.  For finally Arthur had proven that he was the rightful King and owner of the sword.  The Archbishop came before him and I watched as young Arthur was made a Knight.  Finally, the crown was placed upon his head and then and there young King Arthur swore to his lords, Knights, and commoners that he would do evrything in his power to provide justice to his people for as long as he lived.

author's notes:

For this story you can obviously notice that I told it through Merlin the Magician.  I didn't change much of the plot.  I wanted to really focus on how the sword and Arthur found one another.  Some things that I did leave out of the story mainly had to deal with the tournament.  In Andrew Lang's version, Sir Kay had forgotten his sword and had begged Arthur to run home a retrieve his sword.  Arthur did so, but once he arrived he remembered that no one was there because they were all at the tournament.  Arthur was extremely upset and didn't want his brother to not have a sword, so he went to the stone not knowing what lay ahead of him if he pulled it out.  Once he pulled the sword he ran and gave it to his brother and that is where I pull back in for my story, when Sir Ector makes the boys go with him and prove what has just taken place.  Also, I added a lot of detail with Merlin.  Technically Merlin is only at the beginning of the story where he goes to speak to the Archbishop.  I couldn't help it though, Merlin is going to be a witty and somewhat strict, yet a little bit of a sassy character through some of my stories.  Well, if not all of them.

   I chose this particular story for my storybook because it is where it literally begins.  There is no King Arthur without the sword and no sword without Arthur.  I want you to be able to see the beauty behind the story from the beginning.  And that is why I chose this story, because it gives you what you need to know to begin and adore King Arthur: Legend of Royalty.

written by natalie andrews

image information:

"The Fairy and Excalibur", link.
"The Sword in the Stone", link.

Storybook Homepage
Storybook Introduction

Next story Excalibur