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CHAPTER Two

Merlin went to see Uther Pendragon shortly before the child was born, to remind the king of the promise he had made. ‘You must give the child to Sir Ector,’ Merlin told him.

The king did as he had promised and Igraine’s child was given to Sir Ector.

There was now a war in England between Uther Pendragon and his enemies. Many knights on both sides were killed and the kingdom was unhappy. Merlin supported the king and helped him in his battles and eventually the kingdom was united again.

However, Uther Pendragon fell ill and died. The knights began to fight among themselves over who should be the next king.

Merlin had a plan to restore order. He went to see the Archbishop of Canterbury.

‘You must order the knights to come to London at Christmas,’ he told the archbishop. ‘Tell them that there will be a miracle in London that will show them who is to be the next king.’

The archbishop followed Merlin’s advice and all the knights made their way to London just before Christmas.

They all went into the great church of the city for the Christmas service and they prayed for the peace of the kingdom. When the service was over, the knights came out of the church. As they walked through the churchyard they saw a strange sight. There was a huge block of stone standing in the middle of the churchyard. A large sword was stuck into the top of the stone.

The knights stepped forward to look. One of them read some words that were carved into the stone in letters of gold.

‘Whoever pulls this sword out of the stone shall be the next King of England.’

Several knights tried to pull the sword out of the stone. The great crowd in the churchyard grew increasingly excited as each knight tried his best, but no one was successful.

The archbishop watched the knights’ efforts and then he addressed the crowd.

‘The knight who can pull the sword out of the stone is not here,’ he said. ‘We must be patient. He will surely come.’

The knights agreed that they would wait for the right man to come. In the meantime, they said that they would organise a great jousting match for New Year’s Day.

Sir Ector heard about the New Year’s Day joust and decided to take his son, Sir Kay, and the young Arthur to London. They rode up together and stayed overnight in the city. When they set out in the morning for the joust, Sir Kay forgot to take his sword with him.

‘Go back to the house,’ he ordered Arthur, ‘and bring my sword to me.’

Arthur turned back the way they had come and knocked on the door of their lodgings. There was no one in the house. Arthur did not know what to do, but then he remembered that he had seen a sword in the churchyard he had ridden past.

‘I’ll get that sword for Sir Kay,’ he said to himself.

Arthur rode quickly to the churchyard and seized hold of the sword. He pulled and the sword came away from the stone. Arthur carried it to the joust and gave it to Sir Kay.

‘I couldn’t enter the house,’ he explained, ‘but I found this sword for you.’

Sir Kay looked closely at the fine sword that Arthur had given him. He had heard about the sword in the stone and he realised that this was it. He did not say anything to Arthur, but rode to his father as quickly as he could.

‘This is the sword from the churchyard, Father!’ he cried. ‘I will be the next King of England.’

‘Where did you get this sword?’ Sir Ector asked.

‘Arthur brought it to me,’ Sir Kay replied.

Sir Ector called Arthur and asked him where he had found the sword.

‘It was in the churchyard,’ Arthur told him. ‘It was sticking out of a great stone. I pulled at it and it came out of the stone.’

Sir Ector looked at Arthur for a moment. Then he knelt in front of the boy. Sir Kay knelt as well.

‘What are you doing, Father?’ Arthur cried. ‘Why are you kneeling to me?’

‘You will be the next King of England, my lord,’ Sir Ector replied. Then he told Arthur and Sir Kay about Merlin. ‘You are not really my son,’ he explained to Arthur. ‘You were brought to me by Merlin when you were born.’

Sir Ector, Sir Kay and Arthur returned to the churchyard together. Sir Ector told Arthur to put the sword back into the stone.

Soon there was a crowd of knights in the churchyard. Each of them tried to pull the sword from the stone and each of them failed. The only person who managed to pull it was the young Arthur.

‘He is the rightful king!’ the people cried.