The Sword in the Stone (novel) facts for kids
First edition
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| Author | T. H. White |
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| Original title | Story of Arthur and The Sword in the Stone |
| Illustrator | Robert Lawson |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Once and Future King |
| Genre | Fantasy, Arthurian Legend |
| Published | 1938 Collins |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 312 |
| Followed by | The Queen of Air and Darkness |
The Sword in the Stone is a famous novel by British writer T. H. White. It was first published in 1938. Later, it became the first part of a four-book series called The Once and Future King.
This fantasy story tells about the childhood of King Arthur. It mixes parts of old legends, history, and funny moments. Walt Disney Productions made the story into an animated film. The BBC also made it into a radio show. Time magazine even put the novel on its list of the 100 Best Young-Adult Books of All Time. In 2014, The Sword in the Stone won the Retro-Hugo Award for Best Novel for the year 1939.
Contents
About the Story
This book imagines what King Arthur's childhood was like. Other old stories, like Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, don't talk much about his early life. In White's story, Arthur is taught by the wizard Merlyn. Merlyn helps prepare him to become a powerful king.
Merlyn sometimes uses magic to turn Arthur into different animals. This helps Arthur learn important lessons. He also has many human adventures. The story takes place in a setting that looks like Medieval England. It includes details about medieval life, such as hunting, falconry (hunting with birds), and jousting (knights fighting with lances). However, the book also includes some things that don't fit the time period, just for fun.
The Story of Young Arthur
The main character is a boy named Wart. He is an orphan being raised by Sir Ector in Castle Sauvage. Wart trains to be a knight alongside Sir Ector's son, Kay. But because Wart is not from a noble family, he can only become Kay's squire. A squire is a knight's assistant.
One day, while practicing falconry, Kay lets his hawk fly away. Wart chases the hawk and gets lost in the Forest Sauvage. He meets King Pellenore, who is hunting a strange creature called the Questing Beast. Eventually, Wart meets the wizard Merlyn. Merlyn lives backward in time, so he often talks about things that will happen in the future.
Wart and Merlyn go back to Sir Ector's castle. Merlyn becomes the boys' teacher, paying special attention to Wart. Merlyn uses magic to turn Wart into a fish. Together, they explore the castle's moat.
Later, the boys and Merlyn meet Little John and Robin Hood (called Robin Wood in the book) and Marian. They stay with Robin's group for a while. During this time, they fight a griffin, a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. Kay bravely kills the griffin and takes its head as a prize. But during the fight, Wart breaks his collar bone.
While Wart is recovering, Merlyn turns him into an ant. Wart crawls into ant farms in his room. He learns that ants think in simple terms: "Done" or "Not Done." After his bone heals, Merlyn changes Wart into a badger. Then, he turns Wart into a wild goose. As a goose, Wart flies so high that he cannot see country borders. This teaches him about peace. Wart is confused about why he has to keep watch while the other geese eat. He thinks he should look out for rival geese, but the geese find the idea of fighting their own kind very strange.
When Kay is ready to become a knight, Sir Ector and his group travel to London. Sir Ector owns property there. As Kay gets ready for a tournament, he realizes he left his sword at the inn. Wart is sent to get it, but the inn is locked. He then finds a sword stuck in an anvil on top of a stone in a churchyard.
When Wart touches the sword, his senses become very sharp. He tries to pull it out but cannot. He tries again, and the voices of all the animals and friends he has made encourage him. They remind him of the lessons they taught him. On his third try, the sword comes loose. Wart quickly takes it to Kay.
Kay realizes that this is the special sword that will show who will be Uther Pendragon's next king. He first tells Sir Ector that he pulled it from the stone. But when Sir Ector asks him to do it again, Kay admits that Wart was the one who pulled it out. Wart is scared when Sir Ector and Kay bow to him as their new King.
After he is crowned King, Wart receives gifts from all over the world and from his animal and human friends. Sir Ector sends him a dunce cap, which magically turns into Merlyn. The wizard explains that Wart is actually Uther's son, and his real name is Arthur.
How the Book Changed
The first English version of The Sword in the Stone was slightly changed for its release in America.
The version that appeared in the The Once and Future King series in 1958 was changed a lot. This was partly to add events and ideas that T. H. White had planned for a fifth book. For example, the revised version includes the parts where Wart turns into an ant and a goose. However, it leaves out some parts from the original story, like Merlyn's fight with Madam Mim. This fight was later shown in the Disney film. Some people think the original version of the book was better than the revised one. Publishers often still print the original versions when they are sold separately from the four-book series.
Other Versions of the Story
Film
Walt Disney made an animated movie based on The Sword in the Stone. It was first released on December 25, 1963. Like many Disney films, it uses the main ideas of the original story. However, many parts of the story are changed quite a bit for the movie.
Radio Shows
The BBC made a six-part radio show of the book in 1939. It had music by Benjamin Britten. The show was brought back in 1952 after Britten's music was found again.
Another BBC radio show was made in 1982. It starred Michael Hordern as Merlyn. Hordern had also played another famous wizard, Tolkien's Gandalf, in the BBC's 1981 radio show of The Lord of the Rings.
Images for kids
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First edition cover
See also
In Spanish: La espada en la piedra para niños
