King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table Essay, Research Paper

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

By Howard Pyle

The book King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, was written by a scholar named Howard Pyle in the late 1800 s. Mr. Pyle spent seven years researching all the existing information about King Arthur. He rewrote them into four volumes and created this wonderful fantasy.

When King Arthur was born, his father was very sick. King Arthur s father told Merlin to bring his son somewhere safe until it was time for him to step up to the throne. Merlin brought the boy to an old farmer and told him to raise the boy until he returned. He said to name him Arthur. As the child became older he had the honor of being his brothers esquire-at-arms, and to carry his spear. His brother, named Sir Kay was a great knight. One day, Merlin returned and put a sword in a stone saying, WHO SO PULLETH OUT THIS SWORD FROM THE STONE THAT SAME IS RIGHT-WISE KING-BORN OF ENGLAND. As time passed on, many knights tried to remove the sword with no success. Of course, only Arthur would be able to remove the sword from the stone.

Arthur becomes king and the adventure begins. The story is filled with battle, romance and magic. By fighting the Black Knight and winning, King Arthur brought peace and harmony into the kingdom. The knight had to send his two sons as a pledge of good faith to serve in King Arthur s court. Arthur soon found out that it was the magic of the sword he was wearing that helped him defeat the powers of the Black Knight. He was disappointed and wanted to return the sword. How ever, Merlin convinced him that it was important to preserve his life as a King using what ever measures he had available to him.

His love for Lady Guinevere was the primary motivation for many of his battles. They were happily married until a friendship grew between Lady Guinevere and Sir Launcelot. The ending is very sad yet the book was also very enjoyable. It has inspired me to read more books of this era.