Arthur
Have you every wondered why people are fascinated by old buildings and ruins? Why do people enjoy learning about the Romans? Why do so many people visit Caerleon every year? Read the legend to find out.
King Uther, the High-King of Britain, and Lady Igraine had a son named Arthur. He was born at a very dangerous time when the Saxons were attacking Britain. King Uther gave his baby son to his wizard, Merlin for safety. Arthur grew up with his foster brother, Kay. He never knew who his real parents were.
When King Uther died, nobody knew he had a son. Therefore everybody was arguing about who should be the High-King of Britain. Suddenly a mysterious stone with a huge sword sticking out of it magically appeared in the churchyard of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. There was a message on the stone. It said that whoever pulled the sword from the stone was the rightful High-King of Britain. Many local kings tried to pull the sword out but failed.
Years later when Arthur was on his way to his first tournament (where knights practiced fighting) with his foster-brother, Kay, he got into trouble because he had forgotten Kay’s sword. Arthur saw a sword in the stone and pulled it out easily. Arthur gave the sword to Kay. Kay noticed the message and everyone wanted to know who had pulled the sword from the stone. At first, no-one believed that Arthur had done it. But he repeated what he had done. Everyone was amazed!
Arthur was crowned King and Merlin, the wizard, helped King Arthur to rule Britain. He took him to a magical lake. Merlin’s friend, the ‘Lady of the Lake’ lived there beneath the water. She gave Arthur a magic sword called ‘Excalibur’. There were many battles, but Arthur won them all with the help of Excalibur.
Arthur set up his Royal palace at Camelot. He married a princess named Guinevere, and as a wedding present, her father gave them a huge round table.
All the knights in the country wanted to be soldiers for King Arthur. The bravest of them were allowed to sit at the round table. They were known as the ‘Knights of the Round Table’. Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table fought against the Saxons in many battles. They finally defeated them at the Battle of Mount Badon. Everyone was happy and felt very safe again.
While Arthur was away fighting in Italy, Queen Guinevere fell in love with Sir Lancelot. Mordred, King Arthur’s nephew, told Arthur what was happening. Lancelot and Guinevere ran away to Brittany (in France). Arthur wanted to punish Lancelot and Guinevere so he took his army across the English Channel to Brittany.
King Arthur left Mordred in charge of the country while he was away in Brittany. As Arthur had no children, Mordred was going to inherit the kingdom when Arthur died; but he could not wait. Mordred told everyone that King Arthur had been killed fighting in Brittany. People believed him and Mordred made himself High-King of Britain.
Luckily, Arthur heard about what was going on. He returned to Britain with his army. The armies of Arthur and Mordred fought at the Battle of Camlann. Unfortunately, Arthur did not have Excalibur with him. Arthur killed Mordred, but was very badly hurt himself.
Arthur knew he was going to die. He gave Excalibur to Sir Bedivere and told him to return it to the magical lake. Bedivere pretended to do what he was told; but he hid Excalibur under a bush instead. Arthur asked Bedivere what happened when he threw the sword into the lake. Bedivere said that it sank.
Arthur knew he was lying and told him to throw the sword into the lake. When Bedivere threw the sword into the lake, he saw the hand of the ‘Lady of the Lake’ come out of the water to catch the sword. Then, three Queens arrived in a boat and took Arthur away to the Isle of Avalon. It is thought that he died there soon afterwards.
When you read legends you cannot believe everything. Why not try to find out how much of the legend is true? Nobody knows for certain whether King Arthur really existed but there are some great stories about him and his court. Can you find some place names in Wales that are connected with this mighty king and his magician Merlin? (e.g. Caerleon, Carmarthen, Llyn Llydaw).
Key Questions
Question 2
Question 3
Question 4
King Arthur
Use the page corners to read the book.
