Other editions of book The Sword in the Stone

Kay and his foster-brother (known as the Wart) are living in the glorious castle of Sir Ector amid the wild and beautiful Forest Sauvage. But they are given a tutor-- the magician Merlyn. And so begins one of the most inventive and charming retellings of the Arthurian legend, the first part of The Once and Future King. Through a series of adventures that involve being turned into animals, an encounter with a very hungry witch and a meeting with the real Robin Hood, Merlyn instructs his young charges in the ways of the world, and broader wisdom as well. One of them will need it-- the King has died leaving no heir, and a rightful one must be found by pulling a sword from an anvil resting on a stone. . . The British novelist Terence Hanbury White was born in India in 1906. He graduated from Queens' College, Cambridge with a degree in English, and soon became a full-time writer. A naturalist interested in hunting and fishing, his pursuits often influenced his writing. He died in Greece in 1964. Neville Jason trained at RADA where he was awarded the Diction Prize by Sir John Gielgud. He has worked with the English Stage Company, the Old Vic Company and the RSC as well as in films, TV and musicals. He is frequently heard on radio. His readings for Naxos AudioBooks include Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, Tolstoy's War and Peace and Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

Growing up in a colorful world peopled by knights in armor and fair damsels, foul monsters and evil witches, young Arthur slowly learns the code of the gentleman. Under the wise guidance of Merlin, the all-powerful magician for whom life progresses backward, the king-to-be becomes expert in falconry, jousting, hunting, and swordplay. He is transformed by his remarkable old tutor into various animals so that he may experience life from all points of view. In every conceivable way, he is readied for the day when he, alone among Englishmen, is destined to draw the marvelous sword from the magic stone and become the King of England.The first book from the collection The Once and Future King.310 pages, with a reading time of ~4.75 hours (77,718 words), and first published in 1938.