Le Morte d’Arthur Guided Reading 6: Book 1, Chapter 5

Let’s continue our guided reading or Sir thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur with Chapter 5, in which Arthur pulls the sword from the stone!

Then stood the realm in great jeopardy for a long while, for every lord that was mighty of men made him strong, and many wished to have been king. Then Merlin went to the Archbishop of Canterbury and counselled him to send for all the lords of the realm and all the gentlemen of arms that they should to London come by Christmas, upon pain of cursing, and for this cause; that Jesus that was born on that night would of his great mercy show some miracle, as He was come to be king of mankind, for to show by some miracle who should rightwise be king of this realm. 

So the Archbishop, by the advice of Merlin, sent for all the lords and gentlemen of arms that they should come by Christmas unto London, and many of them made him clean of his life, that his prayer might be more acceptable unto God.

So in the greatest church of London, whether it were Paul’s or not, the French book makes no mention, all the estates were long or day in the church for to pray. And when matins and the first mass was done, there was seen in the churchyard, against the high altar, a great stone four square like unto a marble stone, and in the midst thereof was an anvil of steel a foot high, and therein stuck a fair sword naked by the point, and letters were written in gold about the sword and said thus; “Who pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of all England.” 

Okay, so Uther dies. And the text says that “the realm stood in jeopardy for a long while.” How long, we don’t really know, because Uther lived for two years after Arthur was born, and the next thing we hear about is Christmas, but Arthur is fifteen when he pulls the sword, so it sounds like thirteen years pass in here… but it is vague on this point. It’s not just you.

In the Vulgate Cycle, the archbishop asks Merlin about who will become king the day he comes to make Uther speak, and Merlin says, in typical Merlin fashion, “It shouldn’t be me who decides the king, it should be God himself. And if you pray, God will send a sign.” And Merlin does say, “Don’t let anyone be the king but the one who can pull the sword.” Also, Merlin vanishes for years until Arthur pulls the sword in order for everyone to believe he had no part in it. So there’s a little bit of ambiguity there… is it really God who puts the sword in the stone? Or is it Merlin claiming it was God? That’s where Merlin is a tricky customer. 

And now, the sword in the stone. There is a stone block, there’s an anvil, and the sword is in the anvil. Often the anvil is left out of many tellings, but why is it there in the first place? Most people understand it as a progression of materials going from natural to refined by humans. You have the stone, which is completely natural. Then you have the anvil, which is made of iron that is taken from the earth, a little bit more refined and worked by humans. Then you have the sword, which is the most refined, beautiful and completely human creation. So when you have the stone, the anvil and the sword, you have a progression from natural to refined.

Then the people marveled and told it to the Archbishop. “I command,” said the Archbishop, that you keep you within your church and pray unto God still that no man touch the sword until the high mass be all done.”

So when all the masses were done, all the lords went to behold the stone and the sword. And when they saw the scripture, some assayed such as would have been king, but none might stir the sword nor move it.

“He is not here,” said the Archbishop, “that shall achieve the sword, but doubt not God will make him known. But this is my counsel,” said the Archbishop, “that we let purvey ten knights, men of good fame, and they to keep this sword.” 

So it was ordained, and then there was made a cry that every man should assay that would for to win the sword. And upon New Year’s Day the barons let make jousts and a tournament, that all knights that would joust or tourney there might play, and all of this was ordained for to keep the lords together and the commons, for the Archbishop trusted that God would make him known that should win the sword. 

So upon New Year’s Day, when the service was done, the barons rode into the field, some to joust and some to tourney. So it happened that Sir Ector that had great livelihood about London rode unto the jousts, and with him rode Sir Kay, his son, and young Arthur that was his nourished brother. Sir Kay was made knight at All Hallowmass afore. So as they rode to the jousts, Sir Kay lost his sword, for he had left it at his father’s lodging, and so he prayed young Arthur for to ride for his sword.

“I will well,” said Arthur, and rode fast after the sword. And when he came home, the lady and all were out to see the jousting. Then was Arthur wroth and said to himself, “I will ride to the churchyard and take the sword that sticketh in the stone, for my brother Sir Kay shall not be without a sword this day.” 

So when he came to the churchyard, Sir Arthur alit and tied his horse to the stile, and so he went to the tent and found no knights there, for they were at jousting. And so he handled the sword by the handles and lightly and fiercely pulled it out of the stone, and took his horse and rode his way until he came to his brother Sir Kay and delivered him the sword. 

Okay, so now we meet Sir Ector, Kay and Arthur. You’ll notice Kay is a knight, but Arthur is not mentioned as a knight. You’ll also notice—nothing on Arthur’s childhood. Not a word. Most of us have the idea that Merlin was around Arthur in his childhood, and they had this sweet relationship, but that is not in the legend. That is from T.H. White’s The Sword in the Stone, which was part of his collection The Once and Future King… and also the Disney movie of the same name. You can see how influential that book and movie were from the way we all assume that Merlin and Arthur were together in Arthur’s childhood.

We’re also used to Arthur drawing the sword from the stone as being a huge moment, but look how it is portrayed here; Arthur is all alone, and it is not witnessed by anyone. The reason for this is to show that Arthur himself is not seeking to be king—he is just trying to help his brother. So this is important to showcase Arthur’s character and that he is not seeking fame for himself but to help his family. 

As soon as Sir Kay saw the sword he knew well it was the sword of the stone, and so he rode to his father Sir Ector and said, “Sir, look, here is the sword of the stone, wherefore I must be king of this land.”

When Sir Ector beheld the sword he returned again and came to the church, and there they alit all three and went into the church. And anon he made Kay swear upon a book how he came by that sword.

“Sir,” said Sir Kay, “by my brother Arthur, for he brought it to me.”

“How got you this sword?” said Sir Ector to Arthur.

“Sir, I will tell you. When I came home for my brother’s sword, I found nobody at home to deliver me his sword. And so I thought my brother Sir Kay should not be swordless, and I came hither eagerly and pulled it out of the stone without any pain.”

“Found you any knights about this sword?” said Sir Ector.

“Nay,” said Arthur.

“Now,” said Sir Ector, “I understand you must be king of this land.”

“Wherefore I,” said Arthur, “and for what cause?”

“Sir,” said Ector, “God will have it so, for there should never man have drawn out this sword but he that shall be rightwise king of this land. Now let me see whether you can put the sword there as it was and pull it out again.”

“That is no mastery,” said Arthur, and so he put it in the stone, wherewithal Sir Ector assayed to pull out the sword and failed.

So here is one of my favorite moments, when Kay claims that he pulled the sword. There are actually very few clues as to these people’s character in the material, and this is a pretty good one. Also, Kay is one of the few people in the entire legend who is said to have a specific character… he is sarcastic and has a cutting wit, while most everyone else is just varying shades of noble and valiant. So Kay claims he pulled the sword, and just a moment later he backs down and says no, Arthur did it. So Ector says that Arthur will be king, and you notice Arthur says, “Why?” So apparently he doesn’t even know about the whole sword in the stone thing, which is a little unbelievable, but again the idea is that he is humble and not seeking to be king for fame and his own status.

Now in my series, I wrote a book that covers Arthur’s childhood and culminates in his pulling the sword from the stone, and basically the idea is to fill in his childhood with some of the things that made him turn into the king he becomes later on, allowing us to see the development of his values. Also, one of the characters completely missing from the legend? His adoptive mother, the woman who raises him! In my book, we have a lot of interaction with his foster mother and father and see him grow up alongside Kay. And since the story has been so adult so far, and the last book so dark, I made this one very light and lyrical and hopefully with the tone of a classic novel of childhood. Now we all know he is going to pull the sword from the stone at the end, but I think I found a good way to come at that in a different way, which has something to do with what happens at the beginning of the next chapter—Arthur finds out he is adopted.

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