The+Death+of+King+Arthur

Period 3 By Brady Horne and Isaac Lacombe

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King Arthur died in a very noble and tragic way. Arthur and Gawain were out confronting Lancelot, so Arthur put his son Mordred in charge of his kingdom for the time being. Mordred decided to turn on his father because he was thirsty for the throne. Meanwhile Gawain was struck by Lancelot's sword, so Gawain wrote a letter to him just before he died. During this time, Mordred was building up his own army. Arthur had heard about this and dreamed what he should do the next day. Arthur's dream told him he should create peace with Mordred for 30 days or else he would die. Arthur told his loyal knights and they believed the dream and called for a meeting of peace. Arthur told his knights that at any sign of a sword blade from Mordred's army, they should attack. Mordred told his soldiers the very same thing. When creating peace, horses disturbed an adder (a snake) which bit one of Mordred's knights. The knight drew his sword in response to the snake's bite and chopped of its head. The sword caught the gleam of the sun and Arthur's army saw this clearly. Battle then rang out and lasted all day long. The battle was very fierce and all but Mordred, Sir Lucan, Sir Bedivere, and King Arthur had died. Arthur saw Mordred sitting among the dead corpses and asked Lucan for Excalibur. Arthur charged Mordred screaming, and with force, broke Mordred's helmet in half. Mordred knew he would die, so he took his last breath and all of his strength to stab Arthur's stomach. Mordred died right on the battlefield as Arthur collapsed on top of him. Sir Lucan and Bedivere ran to Arthur and carried him to the Lake of Avalon. The journey was too much for Sir Lucan, and he died of his wounds. Sir Bedivere began to cry and Arthur said to him, "Don't cry, Bedivere. Take my sword, Excalibur, and throw it into the lake." Bedivere walked to the lake and saw the jewels on Excalibur's hilt and decided not to let it go to waste. Therefore, he hid it behind a rock and told Arthur he had done as he was told. Arthur asked Bedivere what he had seen, and Bedivere responded, "My King, nothing spectacular has happened." Arthur told Bedivere that he knew Bedivere was lying, and so Bedivere went back to throw Excalibur into the lake. Once again, temptation overtook him and he hid the sword. The same thing happene d again where Arthur knew Bedivere was lying. Arthur said, "Bedivere, I am very weak and if you do not throw Excalibur into the lake, you will have killed me." This time, Bedivere obeyed his king and threw Excalibur into the lake with all his might. Then, a white hand appeared out of the water and caught the sword. The hand circled the sword three times and went under. Bedivere then went back to Arthur and explained what he had seen. Arthur then thanked Bedivere and asked him to carry himself to the lake. Two women of the names Morgan Le Fay and The Lady Of The Lake rode up to the shore in a canoe. They carried Arthur away in the boat to Avalon where no human has ever gone. Arthur assured Bedivere that he would be back someday. ======



The Death of King Arthur By: Alex Castina & Matthew Daniels Period 7 King Arthur's death was quite remarkable and is told in many different ways. Here is one version of his death retold by the Phoenix Reading Resources. Sir Gawain convinced King Arthur to attack Sir Lancelot because he had slept with Arthur's queen. As the effect of Authur's absence, Mordred was put in charge and then declared himself king. This angered Aurthur and he returned to fight him for the crown. Arthur killed Mordred but Mordred was able get one last blow on Arthur before he died. Right before Arthur died, Excalibur was given to the Lady In the Lake. Another version, retold by Rosalind Kerven, is similar and different to the other version mentioned before in many ways. King Arthur, two of his knights, and Mordred were the only ones left after the day-long battle. Mordred charged Arthur, but Arthur stabbed him underneath his shield in the heart. Just before dying, Mordred slashed Arthur's helmet down, killing him. One final version, retold by Trina Schart Hodges is much different than the other two versions. Arthur's army and Mordred's army had fought each other three times, Mordred's losing each. After awhile, they agreed to sign a peace treaty. Both leaders, Arthur and Mordred, and six of their soldiers went to the center of the battlefield to sign the treaty. One of the soldiers had seen a snake so he drew his sword to kill it. The other army thought it was a sign of war and betrayal so they fought again. Arthur, one of his knights, and Mordred were the last three alive after the battle. Arthur charged Mordred, striking him with his lance but upon death, Mordred brought down his sword, impaling Arthur's helmet, killing him. Those are the three different versions that we read on King Arthur's death. 