SHAKESPEARE (Hamlet, Act I, Scene 3).

KING ARTHUR

I. ARTHUR MADE KING

Uther Pendragon was one of the kings who ruled in Britain so long ago that many marvelous legends have sprung up about him and his more famous son, Arthur.  They lived in the days when magicians and witches were believed to be common, and the stories of the time are filled with deeds of magic and with miraculous events.

Merlin was the greatest of magicians, and it was only by his power that King Uther won the wife he wanted and that his son was protected and nurtured during his childhood and youth.  Many of the knights of King Uther aspired to his throne, and so to protect the baby Arthur, Merlin carried him to the good knight Sir Ector, who brought him up with his own son Kay; but none knew that the boy was Uther’s son.

When Arthur had grown to be a tall, manly youth and was skilled in the use of arms, the Archbishop of Canterbury called together all the men-at-arms and the great ladies of the land, for Merlin had declared that at Christmas-tide great wonders should be done.  King Uther had been long dead, and there was much wrangling over his successor, although he had declared on his death bed that his son Arthur was living and should reign in his stead.

From all sides, barons, knights and ladies, with long retinues of servants, crowded into London and gathered into the greatest church.  When the people came forth from the service there was seen in the churchyard a great marble stone, four square, and having in the midst of it a steel anvil a foot high.  Through the middle of this anvil a beautiful sword was sticking, with the point projecting beyond.  Around the sword in letters of gold was written,

  “WHOSO PULLETH THIS SWORD
  OUT OF THIS STONE AND ANVIL IS
  THE TRUE-BORN KING OF BRITAIN.”

The excitement was great and for some time difficult to quell, for every man who hoped to be king wished to be the first to try to draw the sword; but the Archbishop arranged the men in order, and one after another they made their attempts.  Not even the strongest man in the kingdom could move the sword the fraction of a single inch.

When it became certain that no one could draw the sword, the Archbishop set ten knights to guard it and decreed that on New Year’s Day the people should meet for other attempts; in the meantime, word should be sent abroad that all in the kingdom might know of the marvelous sword and the reward that awaited the successful knight.  A great tournament was called and many rich prizes were offered.

Among those who came to the jousts were Sir Ector and his son, Sir Kay, and the young man Arthur, not yet a knight.  In the morning when they rode to the field where the multitude were gathered to watch the jousting, Sir Kay discovered that he had left his sword at his lodgings.