Cartoon by Gareth Pitchford
King Uther loved Igraine of Cornwall but he couldn't marry her.
Merlin, the magician, said he would help if Uther gave him his first son.
Uther and Igraine were married and they had a baby son, Arthur.
Merlin took Arthur and gave him to Sir Ector and his family to look after.
Many years later King Uther fell ill and died.
The other lords of the land fought as to who would become king.
The Archbishop and Merlin called all the people to the church. A magical stone had appeared.
An inscription on the stone read, "Whoever pulls this sword from this stone is the true born king of all Britain."
Nobody could pull the sword from the stone so they decided to have a contest to see who was strongest instead.
Sir Ector, Arthur and his step-brother Sir Kay, went along.
Sir Kay was in the tournament but he'd forgotten his sword!
Arthur went back to get it but he couldn't find it.
He decided to borrow the sword in the stone for Kay to use.
Kay was amazed at what his brother had done.
Word soon spread that Arthur had pulled the sword from the stone.
Merlin explained that Arthur was Uther's son and was the true born King of all Britain.
©1998 G. Pitchford. All Rights Reserved.