Arthur and the Sword in the Stone

Hello! I hope your weekend was as totally utterly amazing as mine was. I got to go to a reptile and amphibian exhibit yesterday. There were crocodiles and alligators (one of which I got to pet!!!), some gorgeous snakes and lizards, and for some reason a mammal-filled petting zoo. The capybaras were adorable, as was the gargantuan bunny (20+ pounds – bigger than my cats! Soooo soft and fluffy) – but the porcupine named Cuddles took the cake. Yes, I spent yesterday petting a porcupine's head and getting my hand thoroughly licked in return. Kind of (read: totally) an awesome day.

Anyway, on to today's post!

 I think most of us have probably heard some variation of the story of the Sword in the Stone. The story has Arthur heroically withdrawing the sword from its magical entrapment in the stone (as the name implies). Maybe you've read about it, or seen it in one of these shows/movies. However, the original story is...a little different than you might be familiar with.

For starters, what is the sword that Arthur pulls from the stone? It is frequently assumed to be and portrayed as being Excalibur, the great sword that King Arthur made famous. That assumption is false. There are actually a lot of swords with magical origins in Arthurian legend. Excalibur is a sword given to Arthur during his kinghood (kingship? Let's go with reign) by a Lady of the Lake. (I say a Lady of the Lake because there are actually several women with that title that appear in Arthurian legend. I'll talk more about that in a later post.) Arthur replaces the Sword in the Stone – which, as far as I know, never had another name - with Excalibur as soon as he gets it.

The next major difference between the original legend and modern portrayals lies in Arthur's claiming of the sword. Arthur is frequently shown taking the Sword in the Stone as an adult or older teenager. In fact, he took the sword before he was 10 years old. Even those stories that get Arthur's age right tend to show Arthur claiming the sword and the kingship for himself. In fact, Arthur was considerably more humble than that. Let me tell you the story.

In last week's post I talked about King Uther, Arthur's father. Arthur was born of a union between Uther and Igraine – and the boy was promised to Merlin in exchange for the wizard's...”matchmaking skills”. As soon as Arthur was born Merlin took him and gave him to the knight Sir Ector to be raised.

 

Neither Ector nor Arthur knew of the child's royal origins.

Not long after giving up his son, Uther took ill. The king did not survive for long – only a few years after the birth of his son. Finally, the end drew near. On his deathbed Uther summoned his advisers, including Merlin. Under the wizard's prompting, Uther named his son Arthur his heir and the future king. Uther then died.

Of course, there were a few problems with this. Firstly, none of the advisers (save Merlin, of course) knew who Arthur was. The wizard also faced a dilemma – Arthur was still incredibly young. Were he to take the throne now, youthful and untrained as he was, Arthur would risk being used as a puppet king. Merlin needed to figure out a way to stall for time.

The death of the king left a serious power vacuum. Many lords were wealthy and had large armies, and they expected to be crowned king since no heir was readily apparent. To thwart them, Merlin went to the Archbishop and asked him to summon every noble to the city on Christmas. Merlin swore that God would provide some miracle to show who He would make king.

The nobles all answered the summons, and come Christmas morning they were found praying in the church. When they left, a great stone stood in the middle of the yard. Within the stone was a sword, and an inscription on the rock read that whoever was able to pull the sword from the stone was the rightful king.

(Sounds a little bit like Marvel's Thor and Mjolnir, doesn't it?)

 

Of course, everyone rushed to try and withdraw the sword – but none were successful. Realizing that the rightful king was not present, the Archbishop declared that a great tournament would be held to draw all of the knights of the realm to the city.

Let me back up and change perspectives for a little bit. Arthur had grown up and been educated in his foster father's house. (In some stories, Arthur's education was helped along a bit by some tutoring from Merlin himself.) Sir Ector and his wife also had a son who was several years older than Arthur, a boy named Kay. Kay had recently been made a knight, and his family – including Arthur – were quite proud of this fact.

When news of the great tournament to be held reached Sir Ector's house, Kay immediately wanted to go and compete. His wish was granted, and the day of the tourney came. Ector and Arthur went with Kay to the tournament grounds, where Ector went to find a seat while Arthur helped his foster brother to prepare.

Unfortunately, Kay had been so excited to compete in his first tournament that he had left his sword at home! Kay began to panic and sent Arthur to retrieve his sword and bring it to him before the tournament began.

Arthur raced home, eager to help his foster brother. To his dismay, he found the house locked, since everyone was at the tournament to watch Kay.

Unwilling to fail his foster brother, Arthur came up with a plan. He had heard of a sword just sitting in the churchyard, waiting for someone to claim it. Arthur hurried to the church and easily pulled the sword from the stone.

 

 

He then returned to the tournament and gave it to Kay.

Kay immediately recognized the sword – and, unlike Arthur, he knew the story behind it. He called Ector to him; as soon as his father arrived, Kay said that he had the Sword in the Stone – which made him the rightful king. And Arthur did not protest!

Ector was shocked by the news, but he recognized the sword. He took Kay and Arthur to the church, where he asked Kay how he had come by the sword. Kay replied that his brother Arthur had brought it to him. Ector then turned to his foster son and asked how he had found the sword. Arthur told the story to them casually, not realizing the significance.

Upon hearing of how Arthur had pulled the sword from the stone, Ector asked him to put it back in. Arthur easily slid the sword back into the rock. Both Ector and Kay tried to remove the sword, but they could not. Ector then asked Arthur to reclaim the sword, and the boy did so. Upon seeing this, Ector and Kay bowed down to Arthur as their rightful king.

Of course, the lords of the land were not pleased to hear that a boy had done what no knight or noble could do. Twice they tested his right to the kingship by having the sword placed back into the rock. All the knights and lords tried to remove it, and they all failed. Only Arthur was able to claim the sword.

At last, after tests and protests, the commoners cried out that they loved Arthur, and that he was their rightful king. The boy was crowned, and he became a fair and just ruler, much loved by all.

And so you have the story of the Sword in the Stone! I find it very interesting that the sword is not placed in the stone by magic – at least, not according to Merlin. He claimed that God would show the rightful king. Are we then to assume that the sword was placed by divine providence? Or did the wizard work a little magic to help God's plan along?

What did you guys think? Did you know this version of Arthur's story, or was it new to you?

I'll see you next week with a post about Merlin himself!