Part 1.
The Winning of King Ud.
Chapter 1.
How Sir Kay fought at London Town, broke his sword, and was given a new sword by Arthur.
Among the many worthy men who came to London for the contest was the noble knight Sir Hector of Bonmaison.
Sir Hector brought with him his two sons.
The elder, Sir Kay, had already shown great bravery and promise.
The younger, Arthur, was still a boy of only eighteen.
He was currently serving as Kay's Esquire at Arms.
This was very much like a knight's assistant.
Sir Hector and the boys brought with them a great staff.
They had beautiful tents of green silk that had been decorated with the family crest.
When they arrived at the field where the contestants were to gather, they were not alone.
There were kings and dukes with their courts and no fewer than twenty thousand lords and ladies.
There were so many flags and banners that the sky was totally hidden.
Watching the scene, the Archbishop of Canterbury smiled.
It was going to be an amazing event.
The men would not only be competing on Christmas Day to pull the sword out from the anvil.
There would also be a contest at arms to be held during the three days before the sword pull.
To this contest, the archbishop invited all knights who were of noble enough birth condition and quality to compete.
Sir Kay, of course, was found fit, and he was entered into the contest.
The young Arthur was very proud of his brother.
He was happy to carry Kay's flag before him onto the field of battle.
When the day of the tournament arrived, the audience sat so closely together that the field seemed to be fenced in by a solid wall of human souls.
At the archbishop's signal, a single herald came forth and blew a strong trumpet blast.
The doors at the opposite ends of the field were opened and the first two parties of knights entered, filled the field with their shining armor and other accessories.
At the herald's second trumpet blast, the knights leaped toward each other with their spears drawn.
The whole earth seemed to groan beneath the straining feet of the knights warhorses and the roar of the clashing and breaking spears.
When the first battle was over and the knights had left, the field was covered with pieces of broken metal.
The crowd, realizing it had been holding its breath, seemed to exhale as one.
The field was cleared for the next round.
Sir Kay had done very well during that first round.
At one point, he had held off two opponents at once.
Because of this, he was sure that he was ready for the second round.
This one was to involve swords instead of spears.
The herald blew his trumpet again, and the knights were off.
Almost instantly, Sir Kay proved himself again.
This time, he held off five opponents at once.
Maybe here, however, Sir Kay grew too confident.
When a huge and powerful knight Balamorginus, approached and challenged him, the youthful Sir Kay laughed and accepted at once.
Swearing to beat Balamorginus just as he had the others.
Sir Kay hit his rival in the head with his sword.
He hit Balamorginus so hard upon his helmet that Balamorginus' brain swam about in his head.
Unfortunately, as Balamorginus recovered and grew less dizzy, Sir Kay realized that his sword blade had snapped in two.
He was left with no weapon.
Arthur, Sir Kay cried, quick, rush to our father's tent and get me another sword.
Arthur ran as quickly as he could, but when he arrived at the tent he found no one and no weapons there.
Suddenly, he remembered a certain sword he had seen pushed into an anvil nearby.
Surely he thought that sword would suit his brother's purposes very well.
The guards were gone when Arthur arrived at the church, where Merlin's sword and anvil lay.
They, too, were watching the contest.
There was no one to stop him as he hopped up onto the block of marble, bent his body and drew the sword with wonderful ease.
Wrapping the sword in his cloak, he ran to bring it to his brother.
When Sir Kay saw the sword, which of course he recognized, he was so stunned that he stood perfectly still.
It was as if someone had magically turned him to stone.
Finally, he stuttered, Where did you get that sword?
Arthur, who was completely innocent, explained, and Sir Kay, who was not so innocent, decided.
What he decided was that he would say he had pulled the sword from the anvil himself.
Tell no one about this, he told Arthur, who once again innocently agreed.
Sir Kay, however, did want to tell someone.
Go get our father, he said.
Arthur ran and asked Sir Hector to come quickly, for he had never seen Sir Kay look quite that way.
"'Surely something important has happened,' he said.
When Sir Hector arrived, he saw that Arthur was right.
His eldest son's face was as white as ashes of wood, and his eyes shone brightly.
"'Oh, sire,' Kay said, "'I must show you something wonderful.'
Sir Kay took his father by the hand and brought him to a table on which he had rewrapped and laid Arthur's sword.
Sir Kay pulled back the cloak to show his father the shining metal.
Sir Ector knew the sword at once.
"'How did you get this?' he asked his son.
Sir Kay stalled.
"'I broke my original sword and then got this one instead.'
"'My son!'
Hector exclaimed.
"'If you drew this sword out from the anvil, then you are the rightful king of Britain.
But if you indeed drew the sword out, you should just as easily be able to push it back in.'
You will need to draw it out again, with witnesses.
Sir Kay was troubled.
Who could push a sword back into a solid block of iron, he wondered.
Why, that would be a miracle.
But if his brother, who was nothing special, could pull it out, then surely he, who felt himself to be much more special, could push it in and then pull it back out as well.
