Original Story: Original Story from King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang. Source.
Author's Note: This week, I really struggled with what kind of story I wanted to rewrite. I thought about having a point-of-view narrative from Arthur's adoptive father, about a land corrupt with slavery and a peasant named Arthur who rises and becomes the wisest king ever known. I thought about making the Sword in the Stone be lifted by a person of pure-heart and not because of bloodline because I believe there should be something more special about a protagonist than who their parent was. However, several rough outlines of these plot points in, I was running out of time. Instead, I decided to try a cometic, light-hearted tone of a King Arthur who will not put up with any nonsense in his court. One of those things being how all his knights abandoned Camelot's people to search for the Holy Graal, which they would never be able to find because of their sins. Another thing was how Merlin knew how the woman he loved, Vivien, would one day kill him, but Merlin does nothing to prevent his own death. In short, people made stupid decisions which caused a lot of chaos to befall Camelot later down the line, so I decided to make King Arthur put a stop to these stupid decisions. This is a very bad rough draft I had no time to polish so PLEASE tell me how you think I can improve it. Thank you!
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| King Arthur (1903) by Howard Pyle. Source. |
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The Holy Graal
For Christmas dinner, the Knights of the Round Table had gathered in the revered halls fo Camelot to toast merrily for their good fortune and good fortune to come. However, the ruckus stilled as a brilliant light filled the halls. There was the Holy Graal, which Jesus had drank from during The Last Supper. A warm feeling filled the hearts of the people near it and felt bereft as the light dimmed and the Holy Graal vanished from sight once more. The ruler of these halls, King Arthur, felt grateful for the miracle and was about to announce for the party to commence when his right-hand-man Sir Lancelot stood.
"My King, forgive me but I ask that you pardon my oath to serve you and Camelot. The high purpose to find the Holy Graal is a calling I shall not ignore!"
To Lancelot's bold degree, all the other knights too proclaimed their wish to search for the Holy Graal.
"No. You are nor pardoned and as knights, you must still fulfill your obligations to me."
"What do you suppose will happen to Camelot if you suddenly leave? Bandits and foreign armies will march in and harm the people we swore to protect. And do you really think any of you are worthy to find the Holy Graal when I can see your own lust for honor through such a quest?'
The knights looked down, ashamed.
King Arthur spoke, "My friends, let us instead enjoy the company we have and should you still wish to go on this quest for the right reasons, train someone to take your place so the land will not be without protection."
The knights agreed.
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Merlin's Lover
King Arthur was looking over reports t his desk when his old friend Merlin the Wizard scrambled into the room. However, something was very different about his serious friend. For one thing, Merlin's pupils were heart-shaped which King Arthur was positive was impossible. However, King Arthur had no time to think on the matter further, for Merlin began to speak.
"Oh, Artie! She is just the most wonderful creature I've ever beheld. I just wish we could stay together forever! You know..."
King Arthur blinked. 'Ah, so Merlin is talking about Lady Vivien again, is he? Honestly, who would have thought the old wizard could act like a puppy in love." Something clicked into Arthur's mind.
"Merlin, what did you just say?'
"I said that Vivien is the heart of my body, and that--"
"No, before then."
"Before--oh, you mean how I said that I will gladly accept her face as the last I will ever see?"
"Yes, that. What does that mean?"
"Well, you see, Vivien plans on killing me with a spell that I'm currently teaching her! She's so talented at magic!"
"Merlin, come here real quick."
Merlin walked towards King Arthur and was promptly knocked out by a hit to the head.
Later that evening, Lady Vivien was charged with poisoning Merlin with a love potion and was charged with treason for her plans to weaken he crown by assassinating Merlin.
Hi Rebekah! I loved how open you were in your author's note. It can be a real struggle to try to come up with an interesting story only to be left with no time to actually write it. I've fallen into that trap multiple times. Regardless, your finished project was still great! There were so many issues that could be fixed with a simple intervention by Arthur and not seeing that happen was frustrating. I'm glad you fixed that. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Rebekah,
ReplyDeleteI like the change you made to Merlin's Lover. It also didn't make much sense to me that Merlin would just let Vivian kill him and I could see King Arthur stepping in and taking matters into his own hands. It was also funny when King Arthur hit Merlin in the head and knocked him out after Merlin told Arthur she was going to kill him. Good job!