King arthur and his knights of the round table door Roger Lancelyn Green

KING ARTHUR, the knights of the round table. By Antonia Fraser. I read the third editition from1993 of uitgeverij Dolphin in London. The first edition was from 1954. The book has 201 pages, and 15 chapters. Main characters: King Arthur, he’s the person about wich the book is written, he’s the son of Uther Pendragon and Igraine, when he was a baby, Merlin took him to another family who would raise him, he didn’t knew he was the son of the king until he drew the sword from the stone; when he needed a sword for a tounament, he saw a sword stuck in the stone, he didn’t read the text on the stone, and drew the sword from the stone, without any effort, when he was in the crowd, people cried that he would be the new king of Britain. When the sword breaks, Arthur is very sad, and Merlin leads him to the forest, where the lady of the lake, reveals the sword Excalibur to him. From another king, he got the round table, and soon he has many knights. He is in love with lady Gwenevere. Lady Gwenevere, Arthur’s beautiful wife, who is actually in love with sir Lancelot, she was given as a “present” from her father, after Arthur had helped him. Sir Lancelot, one of Arthurs best knights, and he is also in love with Lady Gwnevere, he is very popular by the ladies, he learns that sir Galahad, the best knight of the world, is his own son, because, when he was on one of his adventures, he fell in love with the maid of Astolat, after she had poisoned him. Sir Galahad, he is the best knight of the world, he is still very young, and it looks like he is never tired. He, together with sir Lancelot and sir Percival goes on the quest for the holy grail, he is the only one who can see him, but after he took him he died. Gareth, One day he appears in Camelot, everybody makes fun of him, because he has weird clothes, and an ugly horse, and he is still a boy. They give him work in the kitchen, but one day, when a girl calls for help, because her sister is kidnapped, Gareth is the only one who will help her, she is not very satisfied with him, and treats him bad, when he saves her sister, he falls in love with her, evantually they marry, and he has won his spurs. Morgan le Fay, she is an evil witch, she is the wife of Mordred, the king of England between Uther and Arthur, she stills plots to bring about Arthurs downfall. Mordred jr., He is the son of Morgan and Mordred, he is one of the knights of the Round table, and Arthur trusts him, but in secret he helps his mother, when Merlin warns Arthur, Artrhur won’t believe him. Merlin, the wizard, he appears suddenly, sometimes when someone is in need, sometimes for no reason, he knows a lot about secrets of other people.He’s very old and wise, when Arthur was a baby, he let him grow up in another family. The story is about the middle ages. It describes the whole life of King Arthur. The story is happening in Britain, Ireland, Spain and France. The story is written in a chronological order. The story is told by an outsider, but he is in favor of Arthur and his knights.
The story: When Uther Pendragon died, everybody thought the rule of the Pendragons had ended, but this wasn’t true, Merlin, the wizard had taken Uther’s only son when he was still a baby, and he took him to a family who would raise him as their own son. When Arthur is 18, he draws the sword from the stone, and becomes the king of Britain. He marries Lady Gwenevere, who is actually in love with Sir Lancelot, one of Arthur’s best knights. As a present he gets the round table from another king. In the end, there is a huge fight, wich kills Sir Lancelot, but nobody has ever seen Arthur die, and there is a myth, that he will come back when Britain is in need. The story contains action, love and many other things, It’s a historical novel. It is not a realistic story, because there is a lot of magic in it, but it’s based on the life of King Arthur. The story is not only about the round table, but there are many stories in it. I have read Arthur en de zienersteen, which is a little about the same subject, only it was a Dutch book. I liked the story, it was difficult to read, because there were a lot of old words in it, but once I read a few chapters I didn’t mind anymore, and you learn many new words. Antonia Fraser writes all sorts of historical books. Some other books she wrote are : Robin Hood, Mary Queen of Scots and King Charles II. Her most recent book was Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot. She won many literary awards, like the the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Antonia Fraser is married to Harold Pinter and lives in London.