Introduction:We all know the legend about King Arthur. The first born son of Uther Pendragon and true heir to the throne. All the legends about

Sam Wilson | Engels | 15 november 2014

King Arthur PendragonTHE BEGINNING OF THE LEGEND

the Quest of the Holy Grail, Lancelot, Percival, The Lady Morgana and of course Merlin, form a huge story that at the time is still being told and still many books, series and films are being made. But what is true? Which story is actually the truth?

As far as we know, the first time a story about a hero named Arthur was told, was in the year 537. The story tells how King Arthur, a great war hero, defeated the Saxons and united all Britain. Other stories are from the monk Nennius, who wrote in the year 830 about a battalion leader named Arthur who joined the battle of Mons Badonicus. In the 1485 Sir Thomas Malory wrote the first real “King Arthur Story”, about 1000 years after Arthur lived. Malory, collected every piece of legend about the Pendragons and made one (mostly real and true) story about the legend. His book is called “Le Morth D’Arthur”.

I am going to tell you the legend, the legend how it was told to me.

The beginning of the legend about King Arthur:

Uther Pendragon was King and ruler of a little piece of Britain. He had a wife named Igraine and wanted a son. But Igraine couldn’t become pregnant. Uther was desperate and asked the wizard named Merlin for his help. Merlin said that Uther could have a son, but the consequence where huge. Uther ignored that last fact and still wanted a son. But when Igraine gave birth to a son, one of the two had to die. The son Arthur, or Igraine. Igraine already made her choice and asked Merlin to watch over Arthur. Merlin saved Arthur. Uther

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was tortured by sadness, but regained his power and became a true king, now with an heir to the throne. But soon after Arthurs birth, war came upon Britain. Uther wanted to unite all of Britain to become the greatest king in history. Merlin warned him, because this could be Uthers death. Uther ignored Merlin and asked him to look after Arthur, if he should die. Uther died indeed on the battlefield.

No king in Britain: Without a king, there was fear and anxiety in Britain. The Noblemen didn’t kn0w what to do and who to choose as their king and so Merlin’s help was again needed. They promised him to stand behind his choices and supported him. Merlin asked them to come on Christmas evening to the graveyard in London. There, in the middle of the graveyard, stood a large stone. In this stone, a steel sword was stabbed. They came closer and saw the runes on the stone. The text was:

Only the true King of Britain, can pull the sword out of this stone.

The Knights thought it was an excellent solution and they all tried to pull out the sword. But everyone failed and they all turned home. The throne was still unoccupied.

Arthur was raised: After Uthers death, Merlin took Arthur and brought him to a Nobleman called Sir Hector. He took Arthur as his second son and raised him. Hector already had a son named Kay who didn’t like Arthur very much. Arthur was the underdog. Many years passed and still there was no king in Britain. The knights organized a tournament and thought that maybe the winner of this tournament was the true king. Sir Kay was just old enough to join the tournament. Arthur came with him as his assistant and shield-bearer. But when Sir Kay arrived at the

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tournament, he discovered he had left his sword at home. Arthur offered to get it, but the doors where closed and Arthur had no key. Arthur thought about the story he heard about a sword in a stone or something like that and ran to the graveyard. He jumped on the stone, easily pulled the sword out of the stone and took it to his brother. Sir Kay recognized the sword and asked him where he got it. Arthur answered that he took it out of the stone on the graveyard. Sir Kay didn’t believe him and told his dad about it. Both men thought it was a joke, but Arthur was very serious. They went to the graveyard and indeed, there was no sword in the stone. The rumour had spread the tournament and everyone came after them to see the sword and the true king. They were all witnesses when Arthur pushed the sword back in the stone and took it out again where others had failed. He was the true King of Britain.

The Legend continue: After the beginning I wrote above, the legend goes on with Arthurs marriage with Guinevere, the start of the Knight of the Round Table, Arthurs son with Morgeuse named Mordred and of course Excalibur. Hundreds of stories tell the legend of Arthur and the Round Table. They are all different and have different endings. Many books are written from the point of view of different characters, for example Merlin, Percival, Lancelot and Arthur himself. And with all the stories together, it’s a legend that is still interesting and is so big that still many books and movies are made to share with anyone in the world.

Explaining the front-page: At the front-page you see a red dragon with a man on his back. Some stories are about a great great-grandfather of Arthur who killed or rode the back of a dragon. That’s why his name is Pendragon: Chief Dragon. He was a/the master of the dragons.

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