King Uther Pendragon was the glorious king. Unfortunately, his lust for women caused him to fall in love with Igraine, wife of Gerlois, the Duke of Cornwall. With the help of Merlin, he takes the form of Gerlois and seduces her, while the real Gerlois is out at war, and when Gerlois falls in battle, Uther keeps the form and marries Igraine. But in return for this magical intervention, Uther agreed to give Merlin whatever child came out of this union, thus Arthur. King Uther is comparable to Zeus, who was a great king, but had a slight problem with loving another's wife. Merlin is in connection similar to Aphrodite, who was a devious soul who helped Zeus(Uther) in seducing women.

 

 Humble Beginnings of Arthur

Merlin gave Arthur to Sir Ector to foster him, telling him not to disclose the information about Arthur's parentage till the right moment came. Arthur grew being his foster brother's, Sir Kay, squire. When the mystical stone appeared with the mystical sword proclaiming that he who pulled the sword from the stone would be the rightful heir of Uther Pendragon, Sir Kay and Sir Ector took Arthur along to go to the competitions where whoever won would be declared king, since no one was able to pull the sword from the stone. When they got to the competitions, Arthur forgot Sir Kay's sword back at the inn. Sir Kay sent Arthur off to find the sword, but the inn was locked. Arthur noticed a sword in a stone and pulled it out, not realizing it was the sword in the stone. When he presented the sword to Sir Kay, Sir Kay and Sir Ector both noticed that it was the sword. They asked him where it was and he showed the stone without a sword. He placed the sword back in and pulled it out. After many times, more and more people were convinced. This was when Ector revealed his parentage, and that he truly was the heir. This was a devious plot developed by Merlin.

 

 The Queen, the Table, Excalibur, and the Knights

   King Arthur eventually married Guinevere, daughter of Leodegan, the owner of the Round Table. Leodegan gave the Round Table to Arthur as a dowry, and King Arthur thus established the Knights of the Round Table. The principal knights at the table were Sir Agravian, Sir Balan, Sir Balin le Savage, Sir Bedivere, Sir Bors, Sir Gaheris, Sir Galahad, Sir Gareth, Sir Gawain, Sir Kay, Sir Lancelot, Sir Mordred, King Pellinore, Sir Tristan, and Sir Percival. Sir Galahad, being the purest knight at the table, sat at the fabled seat, Seige Perilous, which only the purest knight could sit in and live. After a battle with a giant, Arthur broke his sword that came from the stone. Merlin took Arthur to the realm of the Lady of the Lake, whom gives Arthur the mystical sword, Excalibur. Excalibur was an extremely powerful sword, one that all men coveted. The Round Table and the Knights of the Round Table can be slightly compared to Jesus and his Twelve Apostles at the Last Supper, where they sat at a table. This may of been a wanted comparison by the authors of the Arthurian Legends, since the Knights went on the Quest for the Holy Grail, the Chalice which Jesus shared his blood with his Apostles at the Last Supper.

 

         The Conspiracy behind Camalot

     Arthur sent some of his knights out to go and find the Holy Grail, this quest originally was led by Sir Percival, but later he was replaced with Sir Galahad as the leader of the Quest. While Arthur was away on a campaign in Gaul, Arthur's treachorous nephew, Mordred(also his son when Arthur was seduced by his half-sister Morgause), jointly rules Camalot with Guinevere, and convinces her to have an affair with Sir Lancelot, and with Guinevere busy, Mordred takes complete control and makes piece with the Saxons, whom Arthur destroyed on his campaign. He rushes home and as one of his first business, to dispatch with his unfaithful wife. He has her tied to a stake and burned, but at the last moment he regrets his choice and has Merlin send a mystical rain, and Lancelot comes and saves her. Both Lancelot and Guinevere go into exile and seperate. They follow lives of religion, Guinevere becoming a sister, Lancelot a hermit brother. They only meet again when Lancelot recieves in a dream news that Guinevere is dieing.

 

  The Downfall of Camalot and the Round Table

  Arthur declared war upon Mordred, and the Knights of the Round Table took sides on which army they fought with. Arthur and Mordred engaged in battle by the River Camel by Cornwall, most likely a wanted thing by the authors since the whole story of Arthur began with Uther seducing the Duke of Cornwall's wife, Igraine, and becoming Duke of Cornwall himself in disguise. Both Mordred and Authur dealt fatal blows to each other, and the Knights of the Round Table was no longer a whole.

 

    Arthur and Avalon

 In his dieing moments, Arthur was attended to by Morgan Le Fay and Bedwyr, a warrior in Arthur's army. Arthur asked Bedwyr to throw Excalibur into the river so that it can return from whence it came. Bedwyr took Excalibur, but returned still possesing the sword. Arhtur asked the same request again, but once again Bedwyr did not have the hart to throw it in. When he came back, Arthur asked once more to throw Excalibur into the water, and this time Bedwyr followed orders, and when he did, the same mystical hand that gave Arthur the sword, rose and took it back. When Bedwyr returned to Arthur, he was gone. The fairy folk took Arthur and placed him on a barge to Avalon, the mystical island, where he rests. But it is said that he will return when Britain needs him the most.

 

   Merlin and the Lady of the Lake

  At the last battle of the Knights of the Round Table, Merlin attempted to come, but at the last moment the Lady of the Lake, Nimue(Or Vivaine) came and seduced him. As she seduced him, she convinced him to tell her all of his magic, and then she captured him in a large bush (or forest) of thorns, where she keeps him with her for all eternity, but there is a similar belief as of Arthur that Merlin will return to Britain at its most dire hour. This aspect that the greatest heroes will return again may be connected to Jesus Christ's ressurection on the Biblical New Testament, that he will return to Israel when it dispells its enemies.