King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table Level 2 Retold by Deborah Tempest Series Editors: Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter Pearson Education Limited Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex CM20 2JE, England and Associated Companies throughout the world. ISBN-13: 978-0-582-42118-9 ISBN-10: 0-582-42118-7 This edition first published 2000 Fifth impression 2006 Copyright © Penguin Books Ltd 2000 Illustrations by John James Cover design by Bender Richardson White Typeset by Pantek Arts Ltd, Maidstone, Kent Set in 11/14pt Bembo Printed in China SWTC/05 Alt rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publishers. 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CONTENTS Page Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................5 Chapter 1 Arthur and Merlin......................................................................................................................6 Chapter 2 The Round Table.....................................................................................................................9 Chapter 3 The Sword, Excalibur..........................................................................................................10 Chapter 4 Morgan le Fay..........................................................................................................................13 Chapter 5 Vivien and Merlin....................................................................................................................17 Chapter 6 Sir Meligrance..........................................................................................................................18 Chapter 7 Sir Tristram.................................................................................................................................22 Chapter 8 The Grail......................................................................................................................................27 Chapter 9 King Arthur Dies......................................................................................................................30 ACTIVITIES...............................................................................................................................................................34 Writing.......................................................................................................................................................................35 Introduction They went back to the place outside the church, and Sir Ector put the sword in the stone again. ‘Now pull it out,’ he said to Arthur. Arthur pulled it out. It came out as easily as a knife out of butter. Sir Ector saw this and took Arthur’s hand. ‘You are my king,’ he said. Only the next king can pull the sword out of the stone. Many people try, but they cannot move the sword. Then young Arthur tries, and it comes out easily. Now he will be king. But will he be a good king? Will his people love him? And will his life be happy? The story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is very, very old. People know that there was a king in Britain between the years 400 and 600. He fought the Saxons, from countries in the north of Europe, and perhaps this king was Arthur. He lived, perhaps, in Wales or in the west of England — in Somerset or Cornwall. People wrote stories about this king hundreds of years later, but they made the stories more interesting and more exciting. At that time people were interested in magic, knights and their ladies. So people fight with swords and use magic in these stories. Who wrote these first stories? Nobody really knows, but different people in France and Britain wrote about King Arthur and his knights. Not every book about them has the same people and stories in it. One book (1484), by Sir Thomas Malory, is very famous. He used French stories about King Arthur and wrote them in English. Chapter 1 Arthur and Merlin This very old story begins with Uther, a great king. He was a good man and he was king in the south of Britain. Other places were very dangerous at that time, but people did not fight in Uther’s country. Uther loved a beautiful woman, Igraine, and he wanted to marry her. But she did not love him and he was very sad about that. Merlin was a very clever man and he knew a lot of magic. He could change into an animal or bird. Sometimes, when he used magic, nobody could see him. He also helped people with his magic, and one day he came to King Uther. ‘You can marry Igraine,’ he said. ‘I will help you. But when you have a child, you will have to give the boy to me.’ ‘I will give him to you,’ said the King. He married Igraine and later they had a baby son. They called him Arthur. When Arthur was three days old, a very old man arrived at the door of the King’s house. It was Merlin. King Uther took the child in his arms and gave him to Merlin. Merlin took the child away. He gave the boy, Arthur, to a good knight. His name was Sir* Ector. So Arthur lived with Sir Ector and his son, Kay, and the two boys were brothers. (cid:139) A short time after this happened King Uther was very ill. He did not get better. He called for Merlin because he wanted to talk about the future of his country. Merlin came and listened to the King. ‘I know that I am going to die,’ King Uther said. ‘Who will be king after me?’ ‘Call your knights and great men,’ Merlin told the King. ‘Tell them, "My son, Arthur, will be the next king!”‘ King Uther told his people this before he died. But a lot of people wanted to be king, so the knights and great men began to fight. There was no new king for a long time. (cid:139) When Arthur was a young man. Merlin went to London. He visited the Archbishop, the most important man in the Church. ‘Call the knights to London. Then we will find the new king,’ Merlin told the Archbishop. The knights came to London. They met at a large church, and the Archbishop spoke to them. When they came outside, they saw something strange in front of the church. It was a very large stone with a great sword in it. The sun shone on the sword and it looked very strong. The knights were excited, and started to talk about it. * Sir is name for a knight. ‘Where did it come from?’ ‘How did it get here?’ ‘Who brought the stone here? We didn’t see anybody. And who put the sword in it?’ On the stone were these words: ONLY THE KING CAN TAKE THE SWORD FROM THE STONE Every knight tried to pull the sword out of the stone. Nobody could do it — the sword did not come out. The knights pulled and pulled. But they could not move the sword. ‘Our king is not here,’ said the Archbishop. ‘But I know that we will find him.’ Ten knights stayed and watched the stone. The Archbishop invited all the great men in the country to London for a big fight. There were many big fights at that time. People fought on horses with swords in their hands. The strongest and best knight always won. ‘Perhaps the new king will come to the fight,’ thought the Archbishop. Sir Ector went to the fight with his two sons, Sir Kay and young Arthur. Arthur was now sixteen years old. The young men wanted to fight with the other knights, but Sir Kay did not have a sword. Arthur was a kind young man. He wanted to help. ‘There is a sword in a stone outside a church. I saw it on the way here. I will get it and fight with it. Then you can have my sword,’ he said to his brother. Arthur left Sir Kay and quickly went to the church. There were no knights outside by the stone because they were at the fight. Arthur climbed down from his horse and went to the stone. He did not read the words on the stone. He took the sword in his hand and pulled. It came out of the stone easily. He ran back to his horse with the sword. Some minutes later he met Sir Kay and Sir Ector again, and he showed them the sword. ‘Where did that sword come from?’ Sir Ector asked. He knew about the words on the stone. They went back to the place outside the church, and Sir Ector put the sword in the stone again. ‘Now pull it out,’ he said to Arthur. Arthur pulled it out. It came out as easily as a knife out of butter. Sir Ector saw this and took Arthur’s hand. ‘You are my king,’ he said. Arthur did not understand. What did his father mean? ‘Arthur,’ Sir Ector said slowly, ‘I love you very much, but I am not really your father. Merlin, the famous man of magic, brought you to me when you were a small child. I took you into my family because he asked me. Now I know that you are the king.’ He took the sword in his hand and pulled. ‘I will try to be a good king,’ said Arthur. ‘And I will listen to your words, because you are my father. Sir Kay, my brother, you will be an important knight and a friend to me.’ Then they went to the Archbishop and told him everything. The knights were angry. They did not think that Arthur was really the king. So the Archbishop called all the knights to the stone. Arthur put the sword back into the stone. Every knight tried again to take it out, but it did not move. Then they watched and Arthur pulled it out easily. Everybody shouted, ‘Arthur is our king! Arthur is our king!’ (cid:139) Many people came to see Arthur. They were all happy because now they had a kind, good king. He was strong and he was not afraid. Merlin told Arthur the story of his parents. ‘Your father was King Uther and your mother was Queen Igraine. When you were a baby, I took you to Avalon, a magic place. You were born with magic in your life. You will be the best knight and you will be the greatest king. You will live for a very long time.’ (cid:139) So King Arthur began a new life. He took his horse and went through the country with his knights. Sometimes they had to fight bad men but they were not afraid. Arthur was a good king, and his knights were brave. His country was a quiet place again. Chapter 2 The Round Table King Arthur went to the north and the east with his knights and fought the Saxons. Then they came back and stopped in the town of Camelot. Arthur made it the most important town in the country. It was now his home, and the home of his brave knights. One day King Arthur visited his friend, King Leodegraunce. He had a daughter and she was the most beautiful woman in England. The daughter’s name was Guinevere. When he went back to Camelot, Arthur could not stop thinking about her. ‘I love Guinevere and I want to marry her,’ Arthur told Merlin. King Leodegraunce was very happy. Arthur was a good and brave man — a good husband for his lovely daughter. So Arthur and Guinevere went to church and the Archbishop married them. Everybody enjoyed a wonderful party in Camelot. Then Merlin made a large round table for King Arthur’s knights in Camelot. There were 150 places at the great wood and stone table. King Arthur gave his best and bravest knights a place at the Round Table. Each knight had his place at the table, but no chair was better than another chair. Nobody sat at the top of a round table and nobody sat at the bottom. ‘The names of the Knights of the Round Table will be famous!’ cried Merlin. (cid:139) Some knights died and other brave and good knights came to Camelot. One day a new knight, Sir Pellinore, arrived at Camelot, and Arthur gave him a place at the Round Table. For a long time there was one place with no knight. Merlin could see into the future. ‘Only a good knight, your best knight, will sit there,’ Merlin told King Arthur. ‘The place is for your best knight, and he will come to it.’ After many years Sir Galahad came and sat in that place at the Round Table. Chapter 3 The Sword, Excalibur King Arthur went round the country on his horse. He met his people and helped them. One day he came to a great wood. When evening came, King Arthur was not out of the wood. Then he saw a very big, beautiful castle in front of him. He went nearer, and the great door of the castle opened. A woman came out. ‘King Arthur,’ she said. ‘I am Queen Annoure. Stay in my castle. It is getting dark. I will give you food and a bed for the night.’ Arthur was hungry and thirsty. He was also tired. He looked at the dark sky. ‘Thank you,’ he said, and he went in. The Queen was kind to Arthur. She took his horse and gave it food and water. She took Arthur to the dining-room of her castle and gave him bread, meat and wine. Then one of Queen Annoure’s men took the King to his bedroom, and Arthur went to sleep. (cid:139) The next morning, after breakfast, Queen Annoure wanted to see Arthur. ‘I would like to show you my castle and the beautiful things in it,’ she said. ‘I am the richest person in the world. Look — everything here is mine.’ Arthur looked at her castle. They went from room to room, and each room was richer than the room before that. There were beautiful things everywhere. Queen Annoure knew a lot of magic, so she could make beautiful things. Then they came out on to the top of the castle. ‘Look at those beautiful trees and gardens,’ said the Queen. ‘And look at those woods. They are mine too. This is my country. And can you see that great wall round the castle? Stay with me and be king here! You cannot leave. The door of the castle is shut, and that great wall will stop you. My men are ready. Do not leave, or they will kill you.’ ‘Your magic cannot hurt me, and your men cannot kill me,’ answered King Arthur.