The story of Arthur, Part II

When last we stopped, we had left Arthur in the care of his (unknown to him) foster-father Hector.

Obviously, his ascend to the throne is linked to his father's death, Uther Pendragon, whom he follows. His claim to the throne being rather dubious and nontransparent, it's his luck that there's a famous stone with a sword in it, that he just in time pulls out to prove his claim.

I tossed that bit out a bit irreverently because that's what the tails usually do. The story of Arthur is a very long one, and this bit is so early in his life that it tends to get all but forgotten in light of his later exploits. This is emphasized by the fact that there are two famous swords associated with him, the other one being the ubiquitous Excalibur, which has left a much deeper impact in popular culture. There are also versions where Excalibur is the sword in the stone, but Excalibur has a much more interesting history of it's own, and warrants it's own article later.

While adolescent, Arthur, going by the name of Gwydion or some such, is a squire to Kay and doesn't have much hope of ever being more than that, although he certainly doesn't lack the ambition. Kay is a bit shady, and he considers himself superior to his foster-brother. Although there is definitely affection between the two of them, he let's Arthur feels this more than once.

After the old Pendragon's death, a tourney (we'll have much more tourneys before this is over!) is held in his honour, and when Kay arrives there having forgotten his sword, naturally he sends Arthur back to their lodgings to get it. Arthur is a little stressed out because of the clock ticking and the hiding he'll get when he won't return with the sword in time decides to get the sword in the stone when for various reasons he can't get to Kay's sword. Gain, this sounds awfully casual, and that's how it's handled, because out of sheer desperation, Arthur goes to the church and just pulls the sword out. There is no one on guard there, because they are all at the tourney, and, more important still, what reason would someone have to protect that sword?

This happens in London, and if you know your history, you will see that there is no chance in hell for anything like that to happen during the approximate window of time where Arthur would have lived. Furthermore, the place wouldn't have been called London. And while London isn't the only geographical anachronism, it is one more thing that makes verifying Arthur's story more complicated. Most of the time the author's just called places what they were called in there time, which is especially gruelling when famous landmarks are mentioned which didn't exist at the time when the story is set. It casts all the more doubt on the whole thing, and makes it hard to ferret out key points everyone can agree on.

Arthur brings the sword to Kay, and there Sir Hector gets a chance to look at it, immediately recognising it and predictably gets excited. He asks Kay whether he drew the sword out, and Kay confirms it. Told ya. Of course, they ask him to repeat that feat, and when he can't he's humiliated in front of his peers (Now that I think about, this might even be the very day he became a knight) and every one of the present kings gives it a try but they all can't pull it out either. This happens sometime around Christmas, but that's entirely optional.

You read that right, kings. We will have a look on why that is another time, for now let it suffice to say that there is usually more than one king, because at that point in time the English isles are far from unified (funny how history repeats itself, isn't it?).

Arthur is made to do his trick again, and the rest, as they say, is history. Except it is probably not.

In stories more grounded in reality the sword in the stone becomes the sword on the stone, namely the altar of the church where Uther Pendragon is laid out in state. Arthur snatches it when the Saxons attack, during his funeral service or the vigil, reasoning that he can put it to good use and that Uther wouldn't mind if it got to fight more Saxons after his death. The symbolic meaning of this act is not lost on those around him, but the upshot is that in almost all version Arthur has to fight for his crown before he can turn his attention to the invading Saxons.

If you've followed the blog so far you have gathered that all of that is fiction. Even believing that Arthur was a guy who took up his warlords sword, whatever the circumstances, is historically unprovable. However, there is great significance in the giving of a sword, and we'll concern ourselves with that some time. Of the top of my head I can come up with at least one other instance where that is relevant, and that's the Lord of the rings, with Aragorn's (eventually) sword Narsil. Legend of Zelda does it, too.

This entry covers less content than the last one, and that's because we now deal with Arthur very directly, as also the stories do, too. There will come a time when he takes a backseat in the accounts, and then the posts will start to cover more ground again.