Archbishop of Canterbury, the churchman who in all England was
the most beloved, and said:

"Sir, it is my advice that you send to all the great lords of the
realm and bid them come to London by Christmas to choose a king."

The archbishop did as Merlin advised, and at Christmas all the
great lords came to London. The largest church in the city stood
not far from the north bank of the Thames. A churchyard
surrounded it, filled with yew trees, the trunks of which were
knotted with age. The powerful lords rode up in their clanking
armor to the gate, where they dismounted, and giving their horses
into the care of their squires, reverently entered the church.

There were so many of them that they quite filled the nave and
side-aisles of the building. The good archbishop, from where he
stood in the chancel, looked down on them all. Just behind him
was the altar covered with a cloth of crimson and gold, and
surmounted by a golden crucifix and ten burning candles. In front
of him, kneeling under the gray arches which spanned the church,
were the greatest men in the kingdom. He looked at their stern
bronzed faces, their heavy beards, their broad shoulders, and
their glittering armor, and prayed God to make the best man in
the land king.

Then began the service. At the close of the first prayer some of
the knights looked out of the window, and there in the churchyard
they saw a great square stone. In the middle of it was an anvil
of steel a foot high, and fixed therein was a beautiful sword. On
the sword was some writing set in with gold which said:

"Whosoever pulls this sword out of this stone and anvil is the
real king of all England."

The knights who read this told the archbishop, but he said:

"I command you all to keep within the church and still pray to
God. No man is to touch the sword until all the prayers are
said."

After the service was over, the lords went into the churchyard.
They each pulled at the sword, but none could stir it.

"The king is not here," said the archbishop, "but God will make
him known. Meantime, let ten good knights keep watch over this
sword."

The knights were soon chosen, and then the archbishop said that
on a fixed day every man in the kingdom should try to pull the
sword out of the anvil. He ordered that on New Year's day all the
people should be brought together for a great tournament to be
held on the south bank of the Thames, near London bridge. After a
few days spent in