The Once and Future King

Considered one of the most complete and unique portrayals of the immortal legend of King Arthur

White recreates the epic saga of King Arthur, from his childhood education and experiences until his death. 

The Once and Future King is a 20th century rewritten version of the legend.

The first unified story of the legend was written by Sir Thomas Malory in the 15th century, entitled Le Morte d’ Arthur (The Death of Arthur)

  Other versions of the legend include the musical Camelot

by Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Loewe, Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King” (an epic poem), & Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court

The Sword in the Stone - published in 1938 recounts Arthur’s childhood, his education, and how he became king

The Queen of Air and Darkness (originally titled The Witch in the Wood) followed in 1939 - tells the story of the evil Queen Morgause (known as Morgan Le Fey in Malory’s tale), her four sons, and the child she created with Arthur for the purpose of taking over Camelot

The Ill-Made Knight (1940) is the complete history and story of Lancelot and the Knights of the Round Table, the quest for the Holy Grail, his love for the King Arthur’s wife, Guenevere

The Candle in the Wind (1941) chronicles the fall and demise of Camelot to the end of Arthur’s life

The final book in White’s series is The Book of Merlyn which recounts the life of Arthur’s mentor, the wizard Merlyn - this novel is not included in The Once and Future King

ALL FIVE NOVELS WERE WRITTEN DURING ONE OF THE MOST TURBULENT TIMES IN MODERN HISTORY - WORLD WAR II - White was greatly affected by the war and before the novels were put together in one volume, he revised the novels with one theme in mind:

TO FIND THE ANTIDOTE TO WAR

Use of anachronisms (allusions that are out of chronological order in time) Novel is set in medieval times but references are made throughout the novel of people, places, events that were not invented or on the map during the setting of the story

Purpose: to help readers relate the life of Arthur to modern society, to teach moral lessons from history (several allusions to WWII); he attempts to search and propose solutions to problems in the modern world 

Adds new characters not in the original legend and/or changes adds unique features to the existing characters (Lancelot in particular)

Purpose: did not want to create a monotonous recreation of the original story - wanted to add his own vision

  King Pellinore is an added character - he uses this

character for satirical purposes - he pokes fun at medieval life

 

Emphasis on Arthur’s Education: It defines Arthur’s personality, morals and outlooks on life. This emphasis was not in Malory’s legend so it makes White’s story unique and sets it apart from the others

White’s favorite passage from his book which serves as his powerful message to his readers:

“The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlyn, is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then - to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn” (White 183).

Humor - White claims that humor “makes the medicine go down easier.”

He characterizes Merlyn, who is supposed to a wise and intelligent mentor, as a disorganized, feeble old man (see Chapter 3 - Sword)

Portrayal of King Pellinore and Sir Grummore Grummersom in their comic duel - exposes the humor of chivalric life 

So… White’s goal was to rewrite a story that had been around for centuries in a new way which would make it interesting for his readers. His addition of new themes, anachronisms, characters, and new episodes such as Arthur’s education, gives his novel a unique flair w/o straying too far from the original legend. The Once & Future King is a classic and considered on of the best retellings of the Arthurian legend.

 

Born in Bombay India in 1906 Received little attention from his parents - raised by an ayah/

mother belittled his looks and he grew up ashamed and resentful

Family moved to England when he was 5, they left and returned to India without him, leaving him with his grandparents

Attended a strict and cruel public school - except for one master who encouraged him to write. White was grateful to him until he died

Parents divorced when he was 14 - the whole thing was such a “disaster” that White spent the rest of his life on a crusade “to learn”

He tried everything - he could paint, shoot, fly airplanes, dive, fish, race cars, be a falconer, which led him to tame and train a hawk (see reference in Sword in the Stone)

Graduated Cambridge Univ. with honors, devoted to his task of writing, traveled, pursued his passions

Lived a solitary life, few close friends