The Sword In The Stone (novel)
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''The Sword in the Stone'' is a 1938 novel by British writer T. H. White. First published by Collins in the United Kingdom as a stand-alone work, it later became the first part of a tetralogy, ''
The Once and Future King ''The Once and Future King'' is a collection of fantasy novels by T. H. White about the legend of King Arthur. It is loosely based upon the 1485 work ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' by Sir Thomas Malory. It was first published in 1958 as a collection ...
''. A fantasy of the boyhood of King Arthur (in the story an orphan named Wart who draws the sword from a stone to discover his true identity), it is a '' sui generis'' work which combines elements of legend, history, fantasy and comedy.
Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...
adapted the story to an animated film, and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
adapted it to radio. ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' included the novel in its list of the 100 Best Young-Adult Books of All Time. In 2014, ''The Sword in the Stone'' was awarded a retrospective Hugo Award for Best Novel for 1939.1939 Retro-Hugo Awards
at TheHugoAwards.org. Retrieved 10 April 2015


Background

The premise is that Arthur's youth, not dealt with in
Sir Thomas Malory Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author of ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', the classic English-language chronicle of the Arthurian legend, compiled and in most cases translated from French sources. The most popular version of ''Le Morte d'Ar ...
's '' Le Morte d'Arthur'' (1485), was a time when he was tutored by Merlyn to prepare him for the use of power and royal life. Merlyn magically turns him into various animals at times, and he also has more human adventures. The setting is loosely based on
Medieval England England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early Modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the econ ...
, and in places it incorporates White's considerable knowledge of medieval culture (e.g., hunting, falconry and
jousting Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying to strike the opponen ...
). However, it makes no attempt at consistent historical accuracy, and incorporates some obvious anachronisms.


Plot of the ''Once and Future King'' version

The Wart is an orphan boy being raised by
Sir Ector Sir Ector , sometimes Hector, Antor, or Ectorius, is the father of Sir Kay and the adoptive father of King Arthur in the Matter of Britain. Sometimes portrayed as a king instead of merely a lord, he has an estate in the country as well as pro ...
in the Castle Sauvage surrounded by the Forest of the same name. Alongside Ector's son Kay, Wart is training as a knight, although he can only rise to be Kay's squire because he is of common birth. Chasing a tiercel goshawk that Kay had let get away during their falconry practice, Wart gets lost in the Forest Sauvage. He is shot at by an unseen bowman, and he encounters
King Pellinore King Pellinore (alternatively ''Pellinor'', ''Pellynore'' and other variants) is the king of Listenoise (possibly the Lake District) or of "the Isles" (possibly Anglesey, or perhaps the medieval kingdom of the same name) in Arthurian legend. In ...
who is busy hunting the Questing Beast. Eventually, he meets the wizard Merlyn who is living backward in time, and frequently speaks of things that he has seen in the future. Wart and Merlyn return to Ector's castle, and the wizard becomes the boys' tutor. He pays special attention to Wart. Merlyn turns him into a fish, and together they explore the castle's moat. In one of their excursions, the boys and Merlyn encounter
Little John Little John is a companion of Robin Hood who serves as his chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men. He is one of only a handful of consistently named characters who relate to Robin Hood and one of the two oldest Merry Men, al ...
, who leads them to
Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
(referred to as Robin Wood) and
Marian Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queenslan ...
. Their extended stay with Robin culminates in an encounter with a griffin. Kay manages to slay the beast, taking its head as a trophy. During the fray, the griffin breaks the Wart's collar bone. While Wart is stuck in bed, Merlyn sends a spell through his bedroom keyhole to turn him into an ant. Wart crawls into the ant farms in his room and learns that ants think in binary terms of "Done" or "Not Done". After his
clavicle The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the r ...
heals, Merlyn later changes Wart into a
badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...
, and then a wild
goose A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the ...
that flies so high as to not be able to perceive national boundaries, a pacifist message. Wart is confused about why he is tasked with keeping watch while the other geese eat. He assumes that he is meant to look out for rival geese, but the very notion that geese would eat their own kind is offensive to them. When Kay is ready to be knighted, Sir Ector and his retinue travel to
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, where he owns some property. As Kay approaches the tournament field, he realizes that he has left his sword back at the inn. Wart is sent back to retrieve it, but finds the inn locked. He finds a sword stuck in an anvil atop a stone in a churchyard. When Wart touches the sword, his senses heighten. He is unable to pull it out, but as he tries again, the voices of all the animals and friends he has made give him encouragement and remind him of the lessons they taught him. On the third try, the sword comes loose, and Wart rushes to Kay with it. When Kay learns that Wart pulled it from the anvil, he knows it is the sword that will determine
Uther Pendragon Uther Pendragon (Brittonic) (; cy, Ythyr Ben Dragwn, Uthyr Pendragon, Uthyr Bendragon), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons in sub-Roman Britain (c. 6th century). Uther was also the father of King Arthur. A few ...
's successor. He tells Sir Ector that ''he'' pulled it from the stone. However, when Ector asks him to replicate the feat, Kay admits that Wart was responsible. Wart is terrified when Sir Ector and Kay bow to him as their King. After he is crowned, Wart is given gifts from all over the world and from his friends, both animal and human. Sir Ector sends him a dunce cap, which transforms into Merlyn. The wizard explains that Wart is Uther's son, and that his real name is Arthur.


Revisions

The English Collins first edition was partially rewritten for Putnam in America. The version appearing in 1958 in the tetralogy was substantially revised, partly to incorporate events and themes that White had originally intended to cover in a fifth volume (which was finally published after his death, as '' The Book of Merlyn''). To this end, the revised version includes several new episodes, including the ant and goose episodes, but leaves out some of the episodes that had appeared in the original (notably Merlyn's battle with Madam Mim which appeared in the Disney film). Some critics considered the revised version to be inferior to the original. Publishers have tended to carry on using the original versions when they were published independently of the tetralogy; the original, American, and "Once and Future King" versions are still in print.


Adaptations


Film

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
made an animated film adaptation of '' The Sword in the Stone'', first released on 25 December 1963 by Buena Vista Distribution. Like most Disney films, it is based on the general plot of the original story, but much of the substance of the story is considerably changed.


Radio dramatization

The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
broadcast a six-part radio dramatisation in 1939, with incidental music by
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
. A single surviving 25-minute episode, ''Wart and the Hawks'', is available to stream online. It was revived in 1952, following re-discovery of Britten's score after it had been thought lost.Britten Pears Foundation, Britten Thematic Catalogue http://93.93.131.5/works/BTC861 A further BBC radio adaptation in 1982 starred
Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online e ...
as Merlyn. Hordern had already starred as another great literary wizard,
Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works '' The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawl ...
's
Gandalf Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels '' The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a wizard, one of the ''Istari'' order, and the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien took the name "Gandalf" from the Old Nor ...
, in the BBC's 1981
radio adaptation Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
of ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...
''.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sword In The Stone, The 1938 British novels Modern Arthurian fiction British bildungsromans 1938 fantasy novels Works based on Merlin Novels by T. H. White William Collins, Sons books British novels adapted into films