Told and re-told throughout the centuries, King Arthur's Court and the days of Camelot still exist in the imaginations of children and adults. I have begun where others have ended. From the scene of the his final battle, Arthur is taken by barge to Avalon to heal his wounds. In Avalon Arthur becomes aware of the forces that made him King and receives words of enlightenment that will guide his self-discovery. As the mysteries of Avalon unfold, the Swordsman who made Excalibur with his "head, heart, and hands" sends Arthur deeper into the woods to be alone with nature. There in a dream he sees his departed teacher Merlin and realizes that "Merlin and Camelot could exist again in his mind and in his soul, safe within a dream, always there to bring forward whenever he chose." Before Arthur leaves the forest he becomes aware of the ten life stages of man and the truth that has always been available to those who search for it. "The common folk, as legend had it, believed King Arthur would return again and some say he was sleeping in the Isle of Avalon. He was not asleep, however, but awakening to his true self. He was who he always wanted to be...Arthur...Arthur of Avalon.
Arthur of Avalon
A Legendary Tale of King ArthurBy Gary L. CarlsonAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2010 Gary L. Carlson
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4520-5847-4 Contents
I. King Arthur.............................1II. The Final Battle.......................7III. Avalon................................17IV. The Oak Grove..........................21V. Lady Eunice.............................29VI. The Great Circle.......................33VII. The Forest............................41VIII. The Shining Eyes.....................49IX. The Wood Spirit........................57X. Arthur's Dream..........................65XI. The Man of Ages........................73XII. Arthur of Avalon......................81
Chapter One
King Arthur
As he sat on top of his horse in the early gray morning after the rain, King Arthur waited for the battle to begin near the moors and overgrown marshes of the river that brought in ships from the sea. The water reflected the sky.
Arthur paused to remember the early instruction of his teacher and mentor, Merlin, as he looked up at the sky ... 'observe the heavens and the stars and the moon and sun in them, everything else being unimportant.' Arthur pulled back on the reins as another horse approached. It was Sir Bedivere.
Sir Bedivere was portly for a knight and lacked a little of the fighting instinct. Not desirous of going to battle at every whim, he was a welcome relief.
"What brings you here with such urgency?" the King inquired.
"My lord, I have a message sent from Mordred's camp."
Arthur opened the missive and read aloud, "It is hereby accepted that on this day, a formal truce shall be signed on condition that I, Sir Mordred, be granted the Lordship of Cornwall and Kent and succession to the British Throne upon the death of King Arthur of England."
Arthur did not trust Mordred. "Only last night you revealed to me another letter read aloud to the court in my absence."
"While you were out of the country ... in France."
The words were chiseled in stone in Arthur's memory, Mordred would have them on his grave ... 'That on the date herein ascribed, King Arthur of England was witnessed to have died of mortal wounds delivered to the chest and head.' ... "He seems preoccupied by my death."
"Mordred no longer wants to be recognized as heir to the throne. It is not enough. He wants to be King!" Sir Bedivere vented his anger.
"Smiling, always smiling, eyes unafraid of death, eyes that carry with them the knowledge of a terrible sin ... the little bastard. I should never have recognized him as my son."
Sir Bedivere did not say a word. Arthur's illegitimate son, Mordred, conceived through enchantment, was raised in a secret forest by Arthur's half-sister Morgan Le Fay until he was of age to assert his claim as heir to the throne. At first the King refused to acknowledge Mordred as his son, but once confronted, Arthur knew down deep that naive innocence and even deception were no excuse in the cause and effect of life. Ultimately he had to recognize Mordred as his son and heir to the throne.
"We do not have much time before we are to meet Sir Mordred and sign the truce. Sir Bedivere, I want you to do two things for me with great haste."
"Yes, Your Majesty," replied a curious Sir Bedivere.
"I want you to find me those papers on which you had recorded my account of the early history of Camelot, and I want you to find me an alert young man who has the stamina to return unaided to his nobleman's castle." The King knew what he wanted, and he knew it was the right thing to do. With thunder rumbling in the distance, Sir Bedivere rode away to follow the King's command. The storm was approaching and the rage of war.
King Arthur called desperately for the one who could help him, guide him, and give him hope. "Merlin, where are you? I need you now more than ever."
An enchanter gifted with the sight, Merlin had seen his own destiny close at hand and before leaving Camelot foretold Arthur the main events of his life.
"You warned me, Merlin! You warned me! But why didn't I listen?" The King did not want to bring to consciousness what he knew to be true. Arthur collapsed his forehead in the palm of his hands. For a fleeting moment, he could feel his hands, his fingertips reaching, stretching as if to pluck his eyes out. He did not want to see what he knew to be true.
"Deception." It was the one thing Arthur had grown to hate. "I loved them!" Arthur screamed. Gwynevere, his Queen, and Sir Lancelot, the greatest Knight of the Round Table, had betrayed the King's trust. Arthur had never wanted to prove their adultery, hoping in time that everything would set itself right. Allowed to fester in the dark reaches of his mind, the deception, once exposed by Mordred, had to be dealt with.
"I sentenced her because it was the law to sentence her." The sweat ran from his forehead into his eyes. He didn't move to wipe it away. He didn't move at all. For a moment, there was no thunder, only silence.
Mordred had provoked dissension and enlisted twelve of Arthur's Knights to be constantly aware of the lovers' every move. Confronted in the Queen's chamber, Lancelot killed all twelve of Arthur's Knights. Arthur's trusted friend and the Knight he loved the most became his mortal foe. As King, Arthur must uphold the laws of justice and the sentence for adultery.
Lancelot saved Gwynevere from being burned at the stake, and escaped to Lancelot's castle in France where they were joined by other knights sympathetic to their cause.
King Arthur then led an army to France where Lancelot was able to hold them off. Not wanting to press the battle any further, they agreed to a compromise. Lancelot would be granted safe passage to escort the Queen back to Camelot where she would be received without judgment by the King.
The young knights who followed Mordred, however, were filled with nationalistic pride. Raised to war, there were those who wanted a conquest in France against Lancelot, others sought revenge for the slain knights, and there were always the ancient hatreds. It was as though King Arthur and Mordred were nothing but figureheads to complex forces which seemed to be under a kind of impulse, and the impulse was to war.
"Your Majesty," Sir Bedivere had returned, the requested papers clutched in the hands of a thirteen-year-old boy. The King eyed the young man whose destiny he would change. They dismounted and the boy knelt on one knee in front of his King with his head bowed. Arthur crossed to the young man and lifted his chin so that he could see his eyes. The boy did not look away. The King looked at Sir Bedivere and nodded his affirmation.
Arthur stepped back to retrieve his sword Excalibur from its sheath. "What is your name, young man?"
"Tom of Warwick," he humbly replied.
"Were you prepared to fight today?"
"Oh yes, my lord."
The King was pleased and saddened by his determination. Pleased that he was so willing to serve but saddened that he was so young.
"You will not fight today or tomorrow but rather find your way safely back to your nobleman's castle with these papers. There you must never raise a sword except in defense and as a last resort. You are to keep yourself from battle and remain alive to teach the ideas that first began in Camelot. Do you understand?"
"Yes, my lord," the loyal subject responded.
With the sword in both hands and placing the tip of the sword on the boy's...
