Status Updates From King Arthur and His Knights...

Then Balyn jumped up and chopped off her head. King Arthur is outraged for this violates the rules of hospitality and he will never forgive Balyn who says that it is the Lady of the Lake that is the false duessa.

The damsel was impressed. She asked Balyn to return the sword and he refused. She warned him that this sword will cause him to kill his best friend and cause much sorrow. He still refused. She protested and asked for it but he refused so she left in sorrow. The Lady of the Lake appears and tell Arthur she has come with a request. It’s too late to cute off the head of the false duessa but he must cut off Balyn’s head.

A damsel comes in wearing a large sword that is a token of her sorrow. She says it belonged to the Lady of the Lake but the damsel is using it to see if there are any worthy knights. None of King Ryon’s men could pull it out of the scabbard. All of Arthur’s men tried and none could do either. They didn’t think of asking Balyn who was recently freed from jail for killing Arthur’s cousin. He had no problem with it.

Ch. 2 More knights gather at the tower in Wales to prepare for the battles to come to drive out all the Saxons. King Ryon of North Wales threatened other kings: either they swear allegiance and cut-off their beards or he will come and kill the king. So far he has sewn eleven beards into the hem of his mantle and he would like Arthur’s to be his twelfth. Arthur refuses and threatens him right back.

Arthur wants to fight him but Merlin counsels him and the king listens this time. The scabbard has the power of keeping him alive no matter how much blood he loses. He warns Arthur to keep tabs on it for there is a lady seeking the sword and scabbard for she knows its power. They pass Pellinore who cannot see them because of his quest. When Arthur arrives at home, everyone cheers.

She told him that she has been guarding Excalibur and she will only give it to him if he gives her what she requests but he doesn’t know what it is. He agrees. Is that a rash vow? They get on her barge. She takes him to the arm and Arthur takes the sword. The arm disappears. Arthur goes back to Merlin who warns him that they will see Pellinore who has given up combat and is looking for the questing beast.

They passed through the place where Arthur will fight his last battle and will lose to an evil knight. Merlin told him to go to the lake so meet the Lady of the Lake. Arthur went on his own and he saw an arm covered in white samite holding a sword with a golden hilt set with jewels and a jewel-encrusted scabbard. He watched a beautiful lady in pale blue silke with a golden girdle walk across the water.

Arthur told Merlin he had no sword so the latter talked about Avalon and Excalibur. He should get it because, with this sword, he would never lose as long as he draws in humility and does only to defend others. They traveled a long way and went through the forests and weave through mountains and valleys. Merlin explained where they were and what things were. They are in Wales. They pass the Lake of the Fairy Place.

Arthur refused. Pellinore ripped off his helmet and was about to strike off his head and Merlin stayed his hand. He told the knight that this was King Arthur and all hope of peace and Logres would disappear if Arthur died. Merln put him in a deep sleep and Athur thought he was dead. Then Merlin said you have a greater chance of dying because of your wounds. He took Arthur to a leech and in THREE DAYS he was cured.

Arthur and Pellinore meet and joust because words have no impact on Pellinore. In the first round, both spears shivered. In the second round, both shears broke. In the third, Arthur’s broke and Pellinore’s hit the shield squarely and pushed him off to the ground. They fought with swords on the ground and Arthur’s shattered. Then they wrestled and Pellinore was the stronger man. He commanded Arthur to admit defeat.

Pellinore and Gryflet fought and, after the latter was seriously wounded, the former put him over the saddle of his horse and sent him home. Arthur was outraged and decided to combat Pellinore himself. On the way, he saw three robbers beating up Merlin and stopped them. Arthur asked why Merlin didn’t do magic when his life was in danger. Merlin flipped the tables and said, because of his pride, Arthur will die.

Once order is established the knights will go around the kingdom to ensure that oppressors will be punished. Suddenly a squire shows up with a dead knight lying across his horse. Pellinore is a knight hiding out in the woods challenging anyone to show up to combat. He fights to the death and he has always won. A young squire named Gryflet asks to be knighted. Arthur says only if he agrees to follow his commands.

Merlin told them that waiting for Arthur is Excalibur, a sword crafted in Avalon, especially for him. After silence, all agreed to submit and they kneeled to show homage. It was then that the archbishop crowned Arthur to make it official. At the feast, Arthur shared his plans to battle the Saxons and drive them to the coasts, build castles for physical defense, rebuild churches for spiritual defense to God’s glory.

Merlin whisked Arthur away, with his permission, to a strong tower in Wales, which was stocked and provisioned with enough supplies to withstand a siege. The lords surrounded them and demanded Arthur. Then Merlin told the whole back story and that Britain will be a Logres (according to C.S. Lewis this baptizes every nation with a unique inner life). He stated, as long as Arthur ruled, the land will have peace. pg. 12

They were so outraged that they put off the decision until Easter and then until Pentecost. By then, the people had had enough and they claimed Arthur for their king and he forgave all the knights who swore their allegiance except for a few rowdy ones who went back to their lands. As promised Arthur brought peace to the land and built a home in Camelot until, one day, the jealous ones formed a plot.

Arthur states that, if he is king, he vows to serve God and his people, to write wrongs, drive out evil, and bring peace and plenty to the land, a tall order for a sixteen-year old. The other knights were outraged. They demanded to try the sword again and none of them could pull it. They could not believe that some punk kid could do it and they watched him, and only him, pull the sword.

His father wanted to confirm the story. Arthur put the sword in the stone and pulled it out. He put it back in the stone and Kay could not pull it out, but Arthur could. Now he believed Merlin and he told his sons Arthur’s true backstory. He didn’t know who he really was until now. An orphan of mysterious origins on an identity quest who learns he is the son of a king. Fairy Tale Class for the win!

He must have been clueless because he remembered seeing a sword sticking out of a stone. He could grab that and he did. He was in a hurry and didn’t bother to read the words. He gave the sword to his brother. Kay knew actually what it was and he told his father that he, Kay, had pulled the sword out of the stone. Sir Ector doubted that and, when he made Kay swear on the Bible, Kay told the truth.

For six days every knight tried to pull the sword and failed. They went up multiple times and nobody could do it. The archbishop decided to hold a tournament on New Year’s Day to decide the matter. Sir Kay, son of Sir Ector, sent his brother Arthur who served as his squire home to get his sword. The door was bolted because their mother went to the tournament.

Anglo-Saxons persecuted the land. When the time was right and the people had suffered enough, Merlin went to the archbishop and suggested to host a solemn meeting of all the knights ON CHRISTMAS DAY! While they were assembled and praying for a king to arise, the sword in the stone suddenly appeared. On the stone were words that stated that whoever could pull the sword from the stone would be king.

He convinced the king that it would be best for the land and his legacy to let him take Arthur and have in raised in safety for the king’s days were numbered. Merlin took Arthur first to Avalon, the land of Faeries and Elves. From there, we know no more. He had his daughters married off to powerful war lords (except for Morgana, of course). After the death of Pendragon, the land fell into chaos.

He had three daughters, the youngest was Morgana la Fey, who, in spite of being in a nunnery, learned the dark arts. His wife died and he had his eye on a married woman. He battled with her husband and, the next thing you know, they are married with a child. Merlien, who practiced the holy art (which sounds like prophecy based on what is written in this chapter), saw that he would be a great king.

Ch. 1 Briton King Vortigern suffered at the treachery of Hengist--possible connection to Beowurl--and Horse, both Jutes, and the last of the Romans Aurelius Ambrosia, died, leaving the land in chaos, especially with the Anglo-Saxon raids. Some believe that the next mighty king, Uther Pendragon, was Aurelius’s brother. I’m having flashbacks of An Island Story! The land was steady for a time.

The guy who wrote the introductory note got me psyched. He loved this book as a child, teen, and adult. Green based most of it on Malory. His organizing principle was to focus on Arthur's realm. He did pull in other materials: histories, chronicles, the Mabinogion, poems, and ballads. Every generation needs to hear stories like these resold. This book has quite a breadth.