Arthur
got into trouble because he had forgotten Kay’s sword. So he went
off to look for one.
He
found the 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 by St. Dubricius.
However,
11 of the local
kings would
not agree to him being High-King. They did not want to have to do
what a fifteen-year-old told them to. They started a rebellion (a
war against the proper ruler).
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’.
Excalibur
was kept in a magic scabbard. If you used Excalibur in a fight, you
would always defeat your opponent. If you had the scabbard, you
would always be protected from being hurt yourself.
Arthur
led a big army against the 11 rebel kings. There were many battles,
but Arthur had Excalibur, so he won. The
kings agreed that Arthur should be High-King.
Arthur set
up his Royal palace at Camelot.
When
Arthur was a bit older, he married a princess named Guinevere. She
was the daughter of King Leodegrance of Cameliard. 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’. Because it was
round, the positions of all the seats were equal. No-one could say
they were more important because they sat at the end.
The Saxons were
still attacking the British.
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.
Arthur
thought he was doing a better job than the Roman Emperor in Italy.
He decided to take his army to Europe. After a lot of fighting, the
Emperor agreed to give the western half of Europe to Arthur.
Back
in Britain, the Knights of the Round Table had lots of adventures.
Some rescued princesses. Some fought dragons or bad knights. Many of
them went to look for a religious cup called the ‘Holy Grail’.
The
best and bravest of the Knights of the Round Table was called Sir
Lancelot. He came from Brittany (in France) and was King
Arthur's
friend.
He
was also very handsome and Queen Guinevere fell in love with him.
The
two would sneak away from the palace to spend time together. King
Arthur had no idea what was going on.
King
Arthur’s nephew was called Mordred (or Medrod). He was an evil
man. He found out what Guinevere and Lancelot were doing and he told
King Arthur.
Lancelot
ran away, but Queen Guinevere was taken to court. The judges decided
she should be burnt to death.
Lancelot
rescued her and they escaped to Brittany.
Arthur
took a big army across the English Channel to Brittany. He wanted to
punish Lancelot and Guinevere.
King
Arthur left
Mordred in charge 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.
Mordred
had given away lots of money and so some people liked him. They
helped him put together his own army and start a rebellion (a war
against the proper ruler).
The
armies of Arthur and Mordred fought at the Battle of Camlann.
Unfortunately, Arthur did not have Excalibur’s scabbard with him.
It had been stolen by his wicked sister, Morgan Le Fay.
The
battle was so bad that only a few people were left alive at the end.
Two
of these were King Arthur and Mordred.
They
fought each other in single combat. Arthur killed Mordred, but was
very badly hurt himself.
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