On to Arthurian Legend

#3  The Sword and the Stone by T.H. White

"King Arthur" by Charles Ernest Butl

 This is the beginning to the legendary tale of King Arthur and his knights.  It’s a later adaptation written by English author T.H. White in the 1930s and later published as the novel The Once and Future King.  This telling is dubbed a ‘classic of the fantasy genre’ and is well renowned in the literary world as one of, if not the most beloved of the tales of King Arthur.

Taking all of this into consideration, I picked it up and started to read.  But unfortunately, my own knowledge of Arthurian legend being the BBC show Merlin and some Disney movie (which I vaguely remember watching as a child) made this story somewhat difficult to follow. *Disney's The Sword and the Stone

The narrative is definitely of a past generation when you could openly make connections between the fantasy world in the book and the present real world.  Comparing sounds or objects to things that wouldn’t exist like the sun to a copper penny, for instance.  (though an automobile would be worse)

It made me realize how distracting this imagery on two 'planes' can sometimes be, and how the novel in general has come a long way in the past century.  

But, don’t get me wrong.  The story itself paints a beautiful picture.  The language is very intricately detailed and thoughtful.  Almost a little too thoughtful compared to the junk that makes it on the shelves nowadays.

You really have to stop and imagine as you go, and this takes a little extra time and mental energy.  After I began to rush to read through it, (it’s a pretty big book, 640 pg) it started to become a chore.  Instead, I decided to read each of the four parts in a week to really take the time to understand the story better.  It is a relatively rich legend, and requires this extra attention.

And so far, I found it most interesting that while reading, old memories of  the film The Sword in the Stone have resurfaced.  Mainly, I just recall the scene of them singing and swimming around as fish.  Here it is.

Original Picture