Charlie Friesen

Charlie Friesen

The Sword and the Circle

Rosemary Sutcliff

Fantasy/Epic Adventure

Challenge

Pg. 87

1. The Sword and the Circle is an adaptation of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. So far in the book, Arthur has grown up, and has pulled the Sword out of the Stone. He has become high King of Britain, and has been on many adventures and battles. When he first gained his kingship, he was able to drive the Saxons, the Irish and the Scots out of Britain. Then he went on have quests in his own kingdom. First, Arthur battled a knight who did not let anyone pass unless they jousted with him, and Arthur beat him and then the knight, King Pellinore, became one of Arthur's best knights. Then Arthur, King Pellinore and another knight went on a quest to save a damsel who was kidnapped by a dark knight. Finally, where I left off, Merlin, Arthur's mentor, and a wizard, had just gone into his deep sleep under a hawthorn tree, until he wakes up to help Arthur. Also, Lancelot, Arthur's soon to be best knight, has just been awarded his knighthood under King Arthur.

2. I really enjoy this book. I think that it is really well written. Some of the language used, in fact most of it, is a bit older style English, but that just adds character to the piece. Sutcliff could have written this in a very modern tone, but she decided not to, in order to maintain some of the character of the story. Also, it is interesting to see how these people of medieval Britain lived. Many of the things they do are quite different from what we do today. Also, just the adventures that Arthur and his knights go on are very interesting, and reveal a lot about the character of the knights, and Arthur himself.

3. I theme that I have noticed so far in the book is learning from your mistakes. The knights of King Arthur have made many, many mistakes. One time, King Pellinore was on a quest for King Arthur, and he rode by a wounded knight and his wife, who begged Pellinore to help the knight. But King Pellinore was too caught up in his quest to stop and help. When King Pellinore came back from his quest, he found the knight dead, and the knight's wife, dead, she committed suicide because she was so upset at her husband's death. After that, King Pellinore swore that he would always help someone in distress. Another time, Gawain, another of Arthur's knights, accidentally killed a knight's wife instead of the knight, when she threw herself over her husband's body to beg Gawain for mercy. Gawain then learned to always treat people with mercy if they beg for it. In all these scenarios, the knights are learning about how to treat themselves, and I believe that they will continue to learn throughout the book.

4. My favorite character would have to be King Arthur himself. When King Pellinore and Gawain came back from their quests mentioned above, it was Arthur who was forgiving, and told these knights what they should learn. He is always fair with everyone, and fights valiantly. He will not fight an unjust fight, and he is always courteous during a joust. Arthur always knows how to handle a situation. But most of all, he is a good fighter, general, and leader. He was made for being the High King of Britain. Without him, there is not story.

5. My least favorite character would have to be Morgan La Fay. She is Arthur's half sister, but is a witch. She has been trying to steal the crown from Arthur for quite a while. So lately, she was plotting her most devious scheme. She would kill her husband, have her lover, who is one of Arthur's knights, kill Arthur in a duel, but neither of them know who they are actually fighting. But in the fight, Arthur is able to get the upper hand, even though Morgan made sure her lover had Arthur's sword Excalibur. But Arthur took his own sword form Morgan's lover, and almost killed him, but then Arthur realized that this knight was his own knight. Still, he died three days later. Obviously, this caused Arthur much grief and Morgan is very evil, which is why she is my least favorite character.

6. My prediction for what will happen to Arthur will be that mostly things get along as they were before. Arthur and his knights will go on more quests, and that Lancelot will prove himself to be a great knight. There will be some other knights that will join Arthur. Eventually, when times comes Merlin will come out of his sleep under the Hawthorn Tree and will assist Arthur in his time of need. But Merlin had a prophecy that Arthur's wife Guenever will cause trouble, and the trouble will come out eventually, sometime soon, probably.