The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

Summary

The Story of King Arthur and His Knights is the first of Howard Pyle's four Arthurian volumes, drawn chiefly from Malory and told in a deliberately antique English with Pyle's own illustrations. It has two books. The Book of King Arthur opens after the death of Uther-Pendragon, when Britain is torn by rival kings and Merlin sets a sword in an anvil on a marble stone with the words that whoever draws it is rightwise king-born of England. Arthur, raised as the younger son of Sir Ector, draws it to replace his foster brother Kay's broken sword, and his birth is proved by Merlin, Sir Ulfius and Sir Ector; he repeats the miracle before the assembled kings, and some refuse to acknowledge him. In the second part a wounded knight comes to court; Arthur fights the Sable Knight, King Pellinore, and is badly hurt, is healed by a hermit, and receives Excalibur from the arm rising from an enchanted lake. Merlin teaches him that the sheath, which keeps its wearer from bleeding, is worth more than the blade, and that a king's life belongs to his people. In the third part Arthur disguises himself as a gardener's lad at Cameliard to be near the Lady Guinevere, fights for her as an unknown White Champion, defends King Leodegrance against King Ryence and his allies, and is proclaimed. He weds Guinevere and receives the Round Table, made by Merlin for Uther, at which the names of worthy knights appear in gold. The Book of Three Worthies follows. Merlin, wise as he is, is beguiled by the damsel Vivien, sent by Arthur's half-sister Morgana le Fay, and shut away by his own magic; Morgana then contrives to have Sir Accalon fight Arthur with the true Excalibur, and Arthur nearly dies. Sir Pellias takes up a quest for Queen Guinevere, is scorned by the Lady Ettard, betrayed by his friend Gawaine, wounded, and healed and led away by the Lady of the Lake. Finally Sir Gawaine, shamed for slaying a lady in his first quest, redeems himself when Arthur, bound to answer a cruel enchanter's riddle about what women most desire, gets the answer from a hideous old woman who asks a knight for a husband. Gawaine marries her out of duty, and his courtesy reveals her true form. Pyle closes by urging readers to wed inclination to duty.

Plot or Argument

• Prologue: Uther-Pendragon and the hidden child

  Uther dies, his infant son has been hidden by Merlin with Sir Ector, and Britain falls into strife until the sword appears in the anvil.

• Book I, Part I: The Winning of Kinghood

  Arthur draws the sword for Kay, repeats the miracle before Sir Ector and then before the kings, and is proved Uther's son by Merlin, Ulfius and Ector.

• Book I, Part II: The Winning of a Sword

  Arthur challenges the Sable Knight, King Pellinore, is wounded and healed by a hermit, receives Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake, defeats Pellinore and learns from Merlin the worth of the sheath.

• Book I, Part III: The Winning of a Queen

  Disguised as a gardener's boy at Cameliard, Arthur champions Guinevere, overcomes Duke Mordaunt and King Ryence's party with the help of four knights, is proclaimed, weds her and founds the Round Table.

• Book II, Part I: The Story of Merlin

  Morgana le Fay sends Vivien to beguile Merlin, who teaches her magic that she uses to imprison him; Morgana then steals Excalibur for Sir Accalon, and Arthur barely survives their combat.

• Book II, Part II: The Story of Sir Pellias

  Pellias, the Gentle Knight, receives a gold necklace from the Lady of the Lake, frees captives and overthrows the Lady Ettard's champion, but Ettard shames him; Gawaine, who promised to help, wins Ettard for himself, and the Lady of the Lake heals the wounded Pellias and takes him into her lake.

• Book II, Part III: The Story of Sir Gawaine

  Gawaine fails in the quest of the white hart by killing a lady, then redeems himself by marrying the old woman whose answer saves Arthur from an enchanter, and by granting her her will.

Characters

• Arthur, king

  Foster son of Sir Ector who draws the sword from the anvil and becomes a brave, courteous and humble king, eager for adventure but taught to guard his life for his people.

• Merlin, enchanter and counselor

  The wise prophet who hides the infant Arthur, guides him to Excalibur and the Round Table, and is himself undone by Vivien.

• Sir Kay, Arthur's foster brother

  Sir Ector's son, whose broken sword sends Arthur to the anvil and who first tries to claim the sword's honor.

• Sir Ector, Arthur's foster father

  A trustworthy knight who raised Arthur as his own and testifies to his birth.

• King Pellinore, the Sable Knight

  A mighty knight who wounds Arthur at the fountain, is later overcome by him and becomes the first chosen companion of the Round Table.

• Lady Guinevere, princess of Cameliard and queen

  Daughter of King Leodegrance, who chooses the unknown gardener's lad as her champion before learning he is the king.

• Morgana le Fay, Arthur's half-sister and enchantress

  Queen who plots against Arthur, sends Vivien to Merlin and gives Excalibur to Sir Accalon.

• Vivien, enchantress

  A damsel who wins Merlin's love, learns his magic and uses it to imprison him.

• Sir Pellias, the Gentle Knight

  A courteous champion of the queen whose devotion to the proud Lady Ettard is answered by scorn and betrayal.

• Sir Gawaine, King Arthur's nephew

  A proud, hot-tempered knight who fails in his first quest and later shows the true nobility of knighthood in faithful duty.

• The Lady of the Lake, enchantress of the lake

  Keeper of Excalibur in the first book; in the second she heals Pellias and, in Gawaine's story, a Lady of the Lake becomes his wife.

Lessons

• Kingship as service

  Merlin tells Arthur that his life belongs not to himself but to his people, and Arthur accepts that he must keep the sheath and fight only in earnest. Pyle presents true kingship as responsibility before God rather than personal glory.

  • Why is Arthur angry when he learns the sheath protected him?
  • What changes his mind?
  • How does Arthur treat Excalibur afterward, and why?

• Humility before honor

  The future king works in a garden in a cap he refuses to remove, and the knights who mock him are made to serve him. Arthur's humility in Part III is the counterpart of his royalty in Part I.

  • Why does Arthur disguise himself at Cameliard?
  • How do the four knights learn who the gardener's lad is?

• Wisdom can be beguiled

  Merlin foresees his fate and still teaches Vivien the magic that binds him. The story warns that knowledge without self-command can be used against the one who has it.

  • Why does Merlin go with Vivien although he foresees danger?
  • What does Morgana gain from Merlin's fall?

• Duty wedded to inclination

  Gawaine marries the old woman because Arthur's word requires it, then gives her her will in courtesy. Pyle's closing teaching is that a person finds joy when inclination is wedded to duty.

  • What is the answer to the riddle, and how does Gawaine live it out?
  • How has Gawaine changed since the white hart quest?
  • Why does Pyle say one need not wear armor to be a true knight?

Context

Pyle draws chiefly on Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur (printed by Caxton in 1485) and on other medieval romances, reshaping the material for young readers as a story of chivalric ideals. He writes in an invented archaic English and frames each part with moral reflections, in the spirit of the American Arts and Crafts revival of medieval craft and the Victorian interest in Arthur seen in Tennyson's Idylls of the King. Pyle shapes episodes freely, for example in Arthur's disguise as a gardener's boy at Cameliard.

Composition

Pyle wrote and illustrated the book in 1902 and Charles Scribner's Sons published it in 1903. It was followed by The Story of the Champions of the Round Table (1905), The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions (1907) and The Story of the Grail and the Passing of Arthur (1910).

Reception

The series became a standard American children's Arthur for much of the twentieth century and is still in print. Pyle's pen-and-ink illustrations, modeled on early printed books, influenced generations of illustrators.

Comparisons

• sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight

  The medieval poem tests Gawain's courtesy and faith in a beheading game; Pyle's Gawaine is tested by a hard marriage and passes by courtesy.

• the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

  Pyle's earlier book uses the same archaic voice for a merrier outlaw world; the Arthur book is graver and more devotional.

• the-song-of-roland

  Both picture a Christian king and his sworn companions, but Roland's world is a war of loyalty to death while Pyle's is a romance of quests.

• troilus-and-criseyde

  Chaucer's courtly love ends in betrayal and grief; Pellias's love for Ettard is likewise betrayed by a friend.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The inscription on the stone and how often Arthur must draw the sword before the kings accept him.
• Arthur's fight with the Sable Knight and his rash insistence on renewing it before he has a sword.
• Merlin's question about the sword and the sheath, and Arthur's answer once he understands it.
• The cap Arthur refuses to take off in the garden at Cameliard, and what happens when he finally does.
• Gawaine's two quests: what he does wrong in the first, and what he does right in the second.

Key terms and names

Excalibur

The sword Arthur receives from the arm in the enchanted lake; its sheath keeps the wearer from bleeding.

Round Table

The ring-shaped table Merlin made for Uther, given to Leodegrance and then to Arthur, where the names of worthy knights appear in gold.

Seat Perilous

The one seat at the Round Table no knight may safely take except the one destined for it.

Errant knight

A knight who rides out seeking adventures to right wrongs and win honor.

Chivalry

The code of knighthood: courage, courtesy, loyalty, protection of the weak and service to God.

Assay

Pyle's archaic word for a trial or attempt, as in the assay of the sword in the anvil.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension How does Arthur first come to draw the sword, and why does Kay first claim it?
2. Comprehension Why does Merlin say the sheath of Excalibur is worth more than the sword?
3. Comprehension What riddle must Arthur answer, and how does he learn the answer?
4. Interpretation Arthur wants to fight by his own strength and not by magic, yet he accepts the sheath. Was he right to change his mind?
5. Interpretation Why does Pyle have the greatest king in Britain work as a gardener's boy? What does the disguise reveal about him?
6. Interpretation Merlin is the wisest man in the book and is undone by Vivien. What does this suggest about wisdom and self-control?
7. Big Question Is a promise made for someone else's sake as binding as a promise made for your own?

Faith Connections

• Ephesians 6:14-17 (Scripture)

  Paul's armor of God includes the girdle of truth, the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit. Pyle's blessing at the end of the Excalibur story turns sword and sheath into truth and faith in the same way.

• Mark 10:43-44 (Scripture)

  Whoever would be great must be servant of all. Arthur learns that a king's life belongs to his people, and he serves as a gardener's boy before he is proclaimed.

• Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur (Great Conversation)

  Malory's Arthur is the source of Pyle's; comparing the two shows how Pyle sharpens the lessons of humility and duty for young readers.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Arthur is made king by God's sign and proved by witnesses, and he must learn that kingship means guarding his life for his people. His knights are tested by quests that reveal their virtues and faults. Merlin's fall shows the danger of wisdom without self-command, and Gawaine's redemption shows the joy of duty faithfully done. Therefore Pyle argues that true knighthood is courage joined to humility and duty, available to anyone in his own calling.

Rhetorical device: allegorical moral close. Pyle ends the Excalibur story by blessing the reader with Faith that contains Truth as a scabbard contains its sword, turning the episode into a sermon in images.

Debate: Resolved: that Merlin was wrong to teach his magic to Vivien even though he foresaw his fate.

Memory Work

thou must bear in mind that thou art not as an ordinary errant knight, but that thou art a King, and that thy life belongeth not unto thee, but unto thy people

for it needs not that a man shall wear armor for to be a true knight, but only that he shall do his best endeavor with all patience and humility as it hath been ordained for him to do

Writing Prompts

Essay: Arthur, Pellias and Gawaine each face a test of loyalty. Choose two and argue which one shows more clearly what Pyle means by true knighthood.

Comparison with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: In the medieval poem and in Pyle's last story, Gawain proves his courtesy under a hard test. Compare the two tests and argue which better reveals the character of a Christian knight.

Medical Lens

Wounds and healing frame the story of Excalibur: Arthur is badly hurt by Pellinore and nursed by a hermit, and the sheath's power to stop all bleeding is the hinge of Merlin's lesson. Later Pellias is wounded and healed by the Lady of the Lake. These are romance healings, not clinical ones, but they show the medieval association of hermits and holy places with care of the wounded.

• Book I, Part II, Chapter Second

  Arthur, sorely wounded by the Sable Knight, is carried by Merlin to a forest hermit who tends his wounds.

  WAR Wounds Nursing Caregiving
• Book I, Part II, Chapter Third

  Merlin explains that the sheath of Excalibur keeps its wearer from losing a drop of blood.

  WAR Wounds
• Book II, Part II, Chapter Sixth

  Pellias, wounded in the forest, is brought to a hermit and then healed by the Lady of the Lake.

  WAR Wounds Nursing Caregiving

Creative Prompts

• Classroom

  Have students write Arthur's reply to Merlin in their own words, explaining why a leader's life belongs to the people he serves.

• Essay

  Compare Arthur at the anvil and Arthur in the garden at Cameliard: which shows more clearly that he is fit to be king?

• Adaptation

  Illustrate one scene in Pyle's manner with a decorated border and a caption in archaic English.

• Fiction

  Tell the gardener's lad episode from the point of view of the head gardener at Cameliard.

Further Reading

• Le Morte d'Arthur, Thomas Malory

  Pyle's principal source.

• The Story of the Champions of the Round Table, Howard Pyle

• Idylls of the King, Alfred, Lord Tennyson

• The Boy's King Arthur, Sidney Lanier