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Literature / Sword of the Rightful King

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Sword of the Rightful King is a 2003 retelling of Arthurian Legend written by Jane Yolen. The story details the events leading up to Arthur's famous freeing of Caliburnus from the stone. This retelling is notable because Arthur is already the High King at the start of the story and the whole sword-in-stone situation is a trick devised by Merlinnus to strengthen Arthur's claim to the throne.

Arthur has been High King for four years now, but he still struggles to bring the unruly chieftains and minor kings of Britain to heel. He is a compassionate and charismatic ruler, but he lacks the experience and royal blood needed to command their respect.

Chief among his rivals is Morgause, his half-sister and the witch-queen of the North. From her stronghold in Orkney, Morgause plots to put one of her sons, if not herself, on the throne. She has sent her sons to Cadbury under the guise of friendship, but neither Arthur nor Merlinnus are surprised to learn she’s sent an assassin as well. At the same time, a mysterious boy named Gawen arrives at court and quickly endears himself to the king and his advisors.

Merlinnus knows that the kingdom needs a sign to rally around Arthur. Something that smacks of destiny. He has a plan. Now he just needs to pull it off before Morgause can get her way.


This book contains examples of:

  • Absurdly Youthful Mother: Merlinnus remembers meeting Morgause when she was seven or eight, while he was watching over Igraine's pregnancy with Arthur. If Arthur is twenty-two, then Morgause is about thirty years old. Gawaine, her oldest child, is 18, so Morgause would have been just twelve years old when he was born! Of course, given the time period...
  • Always Identical Twins: Gaheris and Gareth are identical twins as well as Single-Minded Twins.
  • Big, Screwed-Up Family: Morgause and her sons. The father, King Lot, is dead and whether he was healthy enough to sire young Medraut before passing is a matter of rumour. Morgause is possessive of her sons because they are her key to the throne of Britain, but she cares little for their wellbeing and blames them for weakening her magic each time she gave birth. Gawaine hates his mother and has joined up with her nemesis to spite her. The brothers are prone to quarrelling among themselves. At one point, Gawaine loses his temper and accidentally chokes his young brother.
    • When you remember that Morgause is Arthur's stepsister, and that Arthur's father Uther married their mother after killing Morgause's birth father, it starts looking even more screwed-up.
  • Bonfire Dance: The common folk celebrate the summer solstice by dancing and leaping around bonfires.
  • The Bully: Agravaine takes sadistic pleasure in tormenting animals and his social inferiors. One of his character-defining scenes has him whip an ostler whose horses didn’t meet his standards. The servants call him “Hard-Hands” behind his back and he has ruined many a good horse by mistreating it. Fortunately, he gets better, though he retains his Hair-Trigger Temper.
  • Bullying a Dragon: Agravaine makes the mistake of punching Gawaine, who is sick and tired of his younger brother's bad attitude. For comparison, Gawaine is an adult who has trained with the best combat masters in the land, while Agravaine is fifteen and still weak from seasickness. Gawaine ends up hitting back harder than intended and almost kills Agravaine.
  • The Chooser of the One: Arthur is destined to be king because Merlinnus says so.
  • Court Mage: Merlinnus supports Arthur with advice and the occasional bit of magic.
  • Decapitation Presentation: Gawaine presents a bandit’s head to Arthur after the bandit kills Arthur’s beloved dog. Arthur reminds Gawaine that they’re Christian now and refuses the present.
  • Disney Villain Death: Hwyll falls to his death when Gawen pushes him off a rampart.
  • Evil Matriarch: Morgause is the Big Bad and the mother of five sons.
  • Excalibur in the Stone: The sword in the stone is Caliburnus (an alternative name for Excalibur). It is a well-made sword but not inherently magical. It turns out that the sword Arthur pulls from the sword is an unnamed Caliburnus-prototype and the true Caliburnus was pulled by Gwen.
  • Forced Sleep: Morgause bids one of her handmaidens to slip a sleeping potion into the wine at a feast. Everyone in Cadbury falls into a deep sleep that night except for Morgause and Gawen, whose cup was commandeered by Agravaine.
  • The Good King: In keeping with tradition, Arthur is a kind and merciful king. For example, he spares a pair of impoverished would-be horse thieves and sends them away with a small coin each so they can get their livelihoods back.
  • The Grand Hunt: Arthur enjoys hunting more than being a king. He and Gawaine hunt for stag.
  • Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Arthur and most sympathetic characters have blonde hair. This contrasts specifically with Morgause’s tangled black hair.
  • He Knows Too Much: The spy has killed at least two people directly and another indirectly because they know his face and might compromise his cover.
  • Identical Twin Mistake: Gawaine is one of the few people who can tell Gaheris and Gareth apart, and even then it usually comes down to behavioural tics (like the way they hold their heads) rather than physical differences.
  • Instant Messenger Pigeon: Averted. Morgause’s spy sends three messenger pigeons back to their home cote in Orkney. Only one makes it back but it is exhausted by the journey and dies soon afterward.
  • Lovable Jock: Arthur prefers hunting, riding, and fighting to studying Latin or holding court. However, he is extremely likeable and treats his men well.
    • Gawaine is similarly athletic and a decent guy.
  • Love Potion: Morgause enchants Arthur into wanting to marry her at the same feast where she slipped everyone a sleep potion.
  • Machiavelli Was Wrong: Arthur inspires love in his followers by treating them well. He can be tough when necessary (like when he threatens to strip Agravaine of his titles), but he prefers to make his subjects feel valued and respected.
  • Magnetic Hero: Arthur has great personal charisma and understands how to command people's loyalty. Agravaine, who starts the story firmly in his mother's camp, switches after meeting Arthur in person. Presumably this is how Arthur assembled his other Companions, including Gawaine, Lancelot, and Galahad.
  • Messy Hair: Yolen loves to describe the “elf-knots” in Morgause’s billowing black hair.
  • My Beloved Smother: Morgause acts very possessive towards her sons, especially her youngest. She is always trying to manipulate them according to her own ambition. This ends up backfiring on her eldest, Gawaine, and causes him to go to Arthur’s side.
  • Old Dog: Arthur has an old white brachet hound. She has been with him since he was a young boy and now spends most of her time dozing at his feet. She still has enough pep to defend her master from bandits, but at the cost of her own life.
  • Old Retainer: Hwyll has been a loyal servant of the Orkney royal household for many years. He is Morgause's most trusted servant.
  • Only the Chosen May Wield: According to the legend on the stone, only the rightful king of Britain can pull the sword from the stone. In truth, nobody can pull the sword unless Merlinnus speaks a counter-spell first. Unless they think creatively like Gawen and loosen it up with butter.
  • Regent for Life: Morgause wants to rule through her sons, if she cannot become a queen in her own right.
  • Reluctant Ruler: Arthur muses to himself that everyone but him wants to be the High King. This lack of selfishness and personal ambition is what makes him such a good ruler, in Merlinnus' opinion.
  • Revenge: Gwen disguised herself as a boy and came to Cadbury to train as a knight so she could kill Gawaine, who she believed to have abandoned her sister. She knew that this plan would take years to come to fruition but committed to it anyway. Fortunately revenge becomes unnecessary when she learns that Gawaine truly loves Mariel and only left because of his mother's interference.
  • Sibling Rivalry: Arthur and his foster brother Kay were friendly rivals growing up, though they had the occasional scrap, like the one where Arthur broke Kay's nose (Kay remembers it differently). As adults, Kay is Arthur's trusted seneschal. Despite his honoured position, Kay secretly envies his younger brother's place as king, as shown by his nightly attempts to draw the sword from the stone.
    • Morgause's sons have tense relationships stemming from their mother's manipulation. Agravaine in particular butts heads with his big brother Gawaine. Both look down on their bratty little brother Medraut for being Morgause's favourite.
  • Smart People Know Latin: Merlinnus is a scholar who reads Latin and is familiar with the great works of the Romans. Gawen surprises him by recognising a quote from Andronicus. Arthur, by comparison, struggles with conjugations and declensions.
  • Stating the Simple Solution: Gawen is very good at this. Is the throne uncomfortable? Add a cushion! Is nobody taking up the king’s invitation to try pulling the sword? Make it an official order instead! Is the sword stuck in a hunk of rock? Grease it up with butter!. It comes with being Wise Beyond Their Years.
  • Sweet Polly Oliver: Gawen is actually the princess Gwenhwyvar.
  • Single-Minded Twins: Gaheris and Gareth are always together and often Speak in Unison.
  • Unrequited Tragic Maiden: Mariel is heartbroken after her lover Gawaine leaves her with no explanation, wasting away from illness and losing her beauty. Gwen wants revenge on Gawaine, who she sees as The Casanova, but later learns it was Relationship Sabotage by Morgause.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: Morgause is able to turn herself into a gannet and a few doves into beautiful handmaidens.
  • Weapon Wields You: Morgause's spy sends Arthur a gift: a dagger that, when unwrapped, possesses the messenger and makes him attack Arthur.
  • Weddings for Everyone: In the final chapter, Gawaine marries Mariel and Arthur marries her sister Gwenhwyvar.
  • Wise Beyond Their Years: Gawen is very perceptive, well-educated, and mature for a young teen. Justified in that she’s actually twenty-one and has a noble’s education. Arthur, for his part, is only twenty-two but is canny and has a great understanding of people.
  • Wise Tree: Merlinnus consults the oak trees in a sacred grove when he needs advice. They don't respond with words, but Merlinnus is able to interpret their rustlings and the fall of acorns as answers.
  • Wizard Classic: Merlinnus is old (for the time period), wise, and of course, magical. He wears his robes of office for ceremonial occasions, though the traditional “wizard hat” in this setting has soft earflaps and baubles hanging from the crown.
  • Wizard Workshop: Merlinnus and Morgause both have their magical workshops, bursting with magical writings and potion ingredients. Morgause’s tower is especially creepy, with a Magic Cauldron and jars of preserved dead things.

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