The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Book 1, Prologue-Part 1

Reading Check

1. Who is Sir Ector’s older son?

2. Why do some of the royals and nobles, like Lot and Urien, refuse to accept Arthur as the rightful king even after he demonstrates that he can pull the sword from the stone?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Uther send Arthur to live with another family?

2. How does Ector discover that it was really Arthur who pulled the sword from the stone?

3. After Lot’s and Urien’s forces are defeated, who comes to live with Arthur in his court as part of the terms for ending the war?

Paired Resource

“Once Upon a Trope: The Lost Heir”

• This Mythcreants comic pokes fun at the “lost heir”/“return of the true king” literary trope.
• This resource relates to the theme of Identity and Disguise.
• What is this comic making fun of? List examples (from stories, games, or film) of people who are secretly the “rightful” heirs to the throne or some other powerful position. Why do you think this archetype is so popular? How do you think it contributes to the enduring popularity of the Arthur legend?

“Italy’s Sword In The Stone Isn’t A Fake, According To Chemical Analysis”

• This article from The Guardian describes research into the authenticity of a legendary Italian sword that appears to have been thrust through solid rock.
• What does the evidence found by researchers suggest is true about this sword? Does the research indicate how the sword got into the stone? When you first read about Arthur pulling the sword from the stone, how realistic did you think this part of his story is? Did reading this article change your mind in any way?

Book 1, Part 2

Reading Check

1. Because they do not know his real identity, what does everyone call the knight who wounded Sir Myles at the bridge?

2. Who does the knight who fought Myles and Arthur at the bridge turn out to be?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Merlin end up going along with Arthur as he rides to fight the knight who killed Sir Myles?

2. How does Arthur meet Guinevere?

3. When Arthur gets angry about the magic in Excalibur’s scabbard, what does Merlin tell him?

Paired Resource

Dedication to Idylls of the King

• This first section of Tennyson’s classic poem is dedicated to Victoria’s husband Prince Albert and enumerates Albert’s virtues as a leader.
• This resource relates to the theme of Kingship as Instructive Model for Citizenship.
• In the late 1800s, British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote a long poem about King Arthur called Idylls of the King. This is the poem’s dedication, directed at the husband of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert. Why do you guess Tennyson would dedicate a poem about Arthur to Albert? Do you think that Arthur shows some of these same virtues? What evidence is there in the story of Arthur and the Sable Knight that Arthur is meant to be a role model?

Book 1, Part 3

Reading Check

1. What two things does King Ryence demand that King Leodegrance give up?

2. Who kills Mordaunt?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Merlin help Arthur with his plan to observe Guinevere?

2. How does Geraint become Guinevere’s servant?

3. What does Merlin tell the wedding guests about the “Seat Perilous”?

Paired Resource

“Wilderness” and “The Peace of Wild Things”

• These two brief and accessible poems—the first by Carl Sandburg and the second by Wendell Berry—take sharply different stances on the difference between the human and “natural” worlds.
• This resource relates to the theme of Green Space Versus Courtly Space.
• Both poems contrast the human and non-human worlds. How do they take different approaches to this same contrasting idea? Which of the poems most closely resembles the way nature is depicted in The Story of King Arthur and His Knights? What evidence from the book supports your interpretation? Is Guinevere’s garden a “green,” natural space or a “courtly,” human space—or is it somewhere in between?

Book 2, Foreword-Part 2

Reading Check

1. Whom does Morgana recruit to help her distract Merlin so that she can get revenge on Arthur?

2. After she returns to living in Arthur’s court, what does Morgana make a copy of?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What upsets Morgana about Arthur’s choice to make Tor a Knight of the Round Table?

2. How is Merlin betrayed by the woman he is in love with?

3. How does Arthur permanently lose Excalibur’s magic scabbard?

Paired Resource

“Morgan le Fay”

• This resource page by a University of British Columbia professor explores the characterization of Morgana in various sources, offering classical paintings as examples of these characterizations.
• What are some of the ways Morgana (Morgan le Fay) has been characterized in different sources? Which of the paintings on this page depicts Morgana most closely to the way Pyle depicts her? What evidence in The Story of King Arthur and His Knights supports your choice?

Book 2, Part 2

Reading Check

1. Who is Pellias trying to rescue when he goes to the red knight’s castle?

2. Which knight angers Guinevere by hitting her dog?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Pellias meet the Lady of the Lake?

2. Why does Lady Ettard forgive Pellias so quickly?

3. What unusual effect does Nymue’s medical treatment have on Pellias?

Paired Resource

“The Judgment of Paris—The Apple of Discord”

• This 4-minute animated video shares the story of when Paris was called upon to choose the most beautiful goddess.
• This resource explains the Book 2, Part 2, Chapter 1 allusion to the Judgment of Paris.
• What is an “allusion”? What is the relationship of Paris’s story to the events that take place at Guinevere’s May party (Book 2, Part 2, Chapter 1)? Given what happens in the Paris story, do you think this allusion is meant to portray Guinevere and Ettard sympathetically or critically? What other details in the book support your opinion?

Book 2, Part 3

Reading Check

1. What is Gawaine’s nickname?

2. Whom does the elderly woman who saved Arthur’s life choose to be her husband?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Sir Ablamor of the Marise challenge Gawaine to a fight?

2. Under what two conditions does the black knight agree to spare Arthur’s life?

3. What wish for the reader does the narrator express at the end of the Book 2 Conclusion?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White

• This classic novel about King Arthur’s youth is most appropriate for advanced middle grade readers or younger YA readers.
• Shared themes include Identity and Disguise and Green Space Versus Courtly Space.
• Shared topics include the Arthurian legends, leadership and mentorship, friendship, chivalry, magic, and adventure.     
• The Sword in the Stone on SuperSummary

The Camelot Code by Mari Mancusi

• In this middle grade fantasy novel, young Arthur travels in time to the 21st century. Once he knows the fate that lies in store for him in his own time, he decides he is better off staying in the future.
• Shared themes include Kingship as Instructive Model for Citizenship and Identity and Disguise.
• Shared topics include the Arthurian legends, leadership and mentorship, friendship, magic, and adventure.

Cursed by Thomas Wheeler, illus. by Frank Miller

• This young adult illustrated novel poses the question “What if the sword had chosen a queen”? It follows Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, on her quest to unite her country and fulfill her destiny.
• Shared themes include Kingship as Instructive Model for Citizenship and Green Space Versus Courtly Space.
• Shared topics include the Arthurian legends, leadership and mentorship, friendship, magic, and adventure.