Arthur's+Birth

Uther Pendragon was a king that ruled over England. He was a good king to all of Britain, men from other countries feared him, and woman dreamt about him. However, when Uther found a woman he wanted to marry, Igraine of Cornwall, she refused to marry him and wanted nothing to do with him. So Uther became depressed and distraught since she would not be with him, he became sick, and did not have much life left in him.
 * The most common story of Arthur's Birth:**

At the time there were magicians, who could do anything they liked. Including the famous magician Merlin, who could appear places and then disappear. He could harm people or help them. King Ulther sought out Merlin to help fix his broken heart.

Merlin came to help out Uther, by getting Igraine to love him and marry him, only if Uther did something in return for him. Uther agreed to the promise, which was once the two, Uther and Igraine had a child they would immediately bring them to the gates where Merlin would be waiting to take the child.

Uther and Igraine married and had a grand and joyful wedding, soon afterward the two had a baby, named Arthur Pendragon. Uther kept his promise and brought the baby to the gate of the castle, where Merlin was awaiting. Merlin wrapped baby Arthur in fancy gold cloth and then took him to Sir Ector. Sir Ector and his wife raised him as their own along with their own son Kay, and made them big and strong.

Two years later, Uther then became sick again, he called for Merlin to help him. Merlin tried but was unable to save King Uther, but he promised to help him with the kingdom. Uther then died. Merlin then put a statue in the castle courtyard that stated whoever could pull the sword of out from the statue would be the new king of England.

All the knights and strong men could not pull out the sword, however the many times they tried. When Arthur, Kay and Ector where on their way from whales to London, Arthur and Kay got in a big argument. To solve the argument Arthur had to go back and retrieve the sword that Kay had left behind. On his way back he passed the statue, and pulled out the sword. Not really knowing what that meant he rode back to Kay and Ector, thinking now that he got that sword he didn’t have to go all the way back to retrieve the other sword.

When Arthur arrived Ector realized it was not the same sword and asked where he had gotten it from. When Arthur told the story, they returned back to the statue to return the sword. When it was replaced, Ector then tried to release it, and then Kay tried, both without any success. Arthur then tried and it easily came out again. People began to cheer for Arthur. Everyone began yelling, “King Arthur.” Just as promised on the statue Arthur then became King.

Just as promised the magic of Merlin had made the statue only work by the hand of Arthur. Uther had gotten the help he had wanted. He had past down his kingdom to his son Arthur.

Geoffrey of Monmouth, writing in the 12th century was the first to write about Arthur's Birth, although King Arthur had been heard of in earlier writings. Malory's //Morte Darthur// in the 15th century is writing of Arthur from his birth to his death.
 * The Orgins of the tale:**

The story has changed over time due to the fact that King Arthur is part of many different legends, that were written by many different Authors, in different time periods. The Author's change up the stories a little to make Arthur look either better or worse. The story has also been cut down to shorter versions because the story is very long. Geoffrey's book mentions Arthur's birth along with a bunch of other stories. It is said that Geoffrey was very good at mixing myth with facts, so the stories strayed away from reality.
 * Changes through traditions:**

"The popular notion of Arthur appears to be limited, not surprisingly, to a few motifs and names, but there can be no doubt of the extent to which a legend born many centuries ago is profoundly embedded in modern culture at every level."

King Arthur is shown in Arthur the Aardvark, season 3, episode "The Return of the King." Arthur pulls out the sword, when no one else can and he then becomes king of the Medieval Fair.
 * Modarn way the story is portrayed:**


 * Characteristics of the Story:**
 * Death
 * Birth
 * Magic
 * Father Son relationship
 * Do anything for love

One connection that we see from Arthur's birth is when Uther dies he wants to make sure that his kingdom is in good hands, and with his son Arthur. Just like in Arthur's death, Arthur is the one dying and he wants to make sure that he passes his kingdom down to his cousin.
 * Connections:**

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