The sword and the anvil

The story, as Malory tells it

Literature One Christmas, on Merlin’s advice, the Archbishop calls all the lords of the land to London to pray for a sign showing who should be king. Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, vol. 1 (Caxton’s text), Project Gutenberg ↗

Literature In the churchyard of the greatest church in London (Malory admits his French book does not say whether it was St Paul’s) a great square stone appears, with a steel anvil on it and a sword stuck through the anvil. Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, vol. 1 (Caxton’s text), Project Gutenberg ↗

Literature In Malory, the sword stands in an anvil on a stone, with gold letters: ‘Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born of all England’. Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, vol. 1 (Caxton’s text), Project Gutenberg ↗

Literature Lord after lord tries and fails. Ten knights are set to guard the sword, and a tournament is called for New Year’s Day to keep the lords together. Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, vol. 1 (Caxton’s text), Project Gutenberg ↗

Literature On the way to the tournament Sir Kay finds he has left his sword at his father’s lodging, and sends young Arthur, his foster brother, back for it. Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, vol. 1 (Caxton’s text), Project Gutenberg ↗

Literature The house is empty, because everyone has gone to watch the jousting. Not wanting Kay to be without a sword, Arthur rides to the churchyard and pulls the sword out of the stone ‘lightly and fiercely’. Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, vol. 1 (Caxton’s text), Project Gutenberg ↗

Literature Kay knows the sword at once and tells his father, Sir Ector, that he must be king. Ector takes them both back to the church to find out the truth. Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, vol. 1 (Caxton’s text), Project Gutenberg ↗

Literature Many lords are angry that a boy ‘of no high blood’ might rule them, so the test is repeated at Candlemas, at Easter and at Pentecost. Each time only Arthur can draw the sword. Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, vol. 1 (Caxton’s text), Project Gutenberg ↗

Literature At Pentecost the common people cry out together, ‘We will have Arthur unto our king’, and Arthur is crowned. Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, vol. 1 (Caxton’s text), Project Gutenberg ↗

Where the sword-from-the-stone idea came from

Literature Robert de Boron’s verse romance Merlin (very early 1200s) told how Arthur won the crown by drawing a magic sword from a stone. Britannica: Arthurian legend ↗

Literature Nobody knows for certain who Sir Thomas Malory was. The only known knight of the time with a similar name was Thomas Malory of Newbold Revell in Warwickshire, and Britannica thinks he was probably the author. Britannica: Sir Thomas Malory ↗

Literature Malory says he finished his book in ‘the ninth year of the reign of King Edward the Fourth’, which Britannica works out as March 1469 to March 1470. Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, vol. 2 (Caxton’s text), Project Gutenberg ↗ Britannica: Sir Thomas Malory ↗

Literature The only surviving manuscript, now in the British Library, was written in Newgate (London) between 1469 and 1470. British Library: Add MS 59678, the Winchester Malory (catalogue) ↗

Literature Malory completed the book in about 1470, and William Caxton printed it in 1485. Britannica: Sir Thomas Malory ↗

What history can say

History It is not certain whether the Arthur of the stories was based on a real person. Britannica (Students): Arthur ↗

History Museum Wales concludes that if Arthur was a real person, he probably lived in the 6th century. Museum Wales: Who was King Arthur? ↗