ived his mystic initiation among the holy silences of the hills.

"I am no more Snowbird, the child," the boy said, looking at them
fearless and as though already King. "Henceforth I am Arth-Urthyr,[62]
for my place is in the Great Bear which we see yonder in the north."

So all there acclaimed him as Arthur, the wondrous one of the stars, the
Great Bear.

"I am old," said his father, "and soon you shall be King, Arthur, my
son. So ask now a great boon of me and it shall be granted to you."

Then Arthur remembered his dream.

"Father and King," he said, "when I am King after you, I shall make a
new order of knights, who shall be pure as the Immortal Ones, and be
tender as women, and simple as little children. But first I ask of you
seven flawless knights to be of my chosen company. To-morrow let the
wood wrights make for me a round table, such as that where we eat our
roasted meats, but round and of a size whereat I and my chosen knights
may sit at ease."

The king listened, and all there.

"So be it," said the king.

Then Arthur chose the seven flawless knights, and called them to him.
"Ye are now Children of the Great Bear," he said, "and comrades and
liegemen to me, Arthur, who shall be King of the West.

"And ye shall be known as the Knights of the Round Table. But no man
shall make a mock of that name and live: and in the end that name shall
be so great in the mouths and minds of men that they shall consider no
glory of the world to be so great as to be the youngest and frailest of
that knighthood."

And that is how Arthur, who three years later became King of the West,
read the rune of the stars that are called the Great Bear, and took
their name upon him, and from the strongest and purest and noblest of
the land made Knighthood, such as the world had not seen, such as the
world since has not seen.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 61: A Gaelic legend, by Fiona Macleod.]

[Footnote 62: Pronounced _Arth-Ur_. In the ancient British language,
_Arth_ means Bear, and _Urthyr_, great, wondrous.]

EXPRESSION: Read this selection very carefully to get at the true
meaning of each sentence and each thought. What peculiarities do
you notice in the style of the language employed? Talk about King
Arthur, and tell what you have learned elsewhere about him and his
knights of the Round Table. In what respects does this legend
differ from some other accounts of his boyhood? Now reread the