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Key words£ºKing
Arthur,
Saxons, Excalibur,
battle,
Armorica
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Genre£ºlegend |
Topic£ºKing
Arthur |
Words:1100 |
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ESL, English,
Story, Tale, Legend, Folktale, Myth,
Fable, Learning, Teaching |
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"Oh, Holy Virgin," Arthur said.
"Please give me the strength to defeat this enemy." |
King Arthur and
the Saxons
-Told by
Sir Roland
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Author£ºShaun
Flewellen |
Source£ºstudents.ou.edu
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Nation£ºEngland |
Date£º2008-9-7 |
(Saxon Archers attacking
Arthur's Knights,
by H. J. Ford)
¡¡
As I (Sir Roland) said
Arthur and Gueneverre had been married for ten years now, and
life inside Camelot was good. However, life outside Camelot was
growing ever darker. A new army had begun to ravage Northern
England. This army was one of the fiercest we had ever seen, and
they called themselves the Saxons.
There were in fact twelve battles between Arthur and the Saxon
Leader. The last was the greatest battle that had ever been
fought in our land. It was called the battle of Mount Badon.
It was a cold and foggy morning in October. The soldiers of
Camelot sat on their horses side by side with the soldiers of
Armorica. King Hoel of Armorica was a friend of Arthur for many
years, and he proudly rode next to Arthur into battle.
The two armies sat on the foothills of Mount Badon watching the
Saxon army march towards us. The Saxons had amassed an army of
over 10,000. Twice the size of the two armies of Camelot and
Armorica combined. The Saxons were vicious men. They pillaged
and burned villages and towns, leaving none alive.
Arthur rode out in front of the army dressed in armor fit for
only the greatest of kings. His breastplate was molded from the
finest gold any man had seen. His helmet was made of pure gold
and was engraved with a picture of a dragon. His shield, which
he called Priwen, was as wide as some men, and it bore a picture
of the Holy Virgin. Clenched in his right hand, Arthur held the
means to our victory; the sword Excalibur.
Arthur turned to face his outnumbered and frightened army and he
filled us with inspiration.
"My friends, do not fear the army that lies before us. For they
are weak. They have no courage and they have no honor. I see
before me the finest of my country men. And I say to you today,
that I am proud to fight and to die next to all of you."
(Yelling from the army)
"Today we will vanquish the Saxon threat forever! We will prove
to all that we will not allow our country to be invaded and
destroyed. We will fight to our last breath, and we will take
our enemy with us into the after life."
(Yelling from the army)
"Now ride with me, my brothers! Ride with me to victory, and you
shall live in the hearts of all men forever!"
(Yelling from the army)
With that we prepared ourselves for battle and rode toward the
Saxon army. Arthur and Hoel led our men down the mountainside
right into the heart of the awaiting Saxons. When the two armies
collided, it made a sound like lightning striking the ground. We
cut through the first wave of their defenses rather easily. The
second wave was much more difficult. The Saxons began shooting
arrows at us. Many men fell due to the arrows. After what seemed
like an eternity of battle, we had final killed off the second
wave of Saxons. It seemed impossible to believe, but we had
actually cut through almost half of the Saxon army. We lost many
men doing this but we now stood on almost even ground with them.
We now dismounted our horses and began attacking on foot.
To the West a cloud began to rise, and without warning a
lightning bolt had stuck through several of the Saxons. Then
another hit and another. Many of the Saxons were on fire and
others began to flee. I looked towards Mount Badon, and through
the fog I could make out the silhouette of Merlin, summoning the
elements to his command.
Thanks to Merlin's help, we now outnumbered the Saxons who did
not flee. Leading their charge was their leader. He was a large
man, at least seven feet tall, and he held a sword in one hand
and a giant hammer in the other. He tore through several of our
soldiers, smashing their heads in before they could even lift
their swords.
Arthur summoned him.
"You, Saxon. You have blood to pay."
"Arthur! At last we meet. I have long searched for someone worth
killing."
With that Arthur and the Saxon leader embraced in battle. I
could not see the entire fight for I was busy fighting my own
battles. I did see that Arthur was brilliant. It seemed that he
could not be touched. Then two other Saxons came at Arthur from
behind. Sir Kay sprung after them and tried to save Arthur. One
of the Saxons landed a blow to Arthur's right hand, forcing him
to drop Excalibur. Kay began battle with the Saxons, but they
both landed their swords to his midsection. The two Saxons then
turned their attention to Arthur. The raised their swords to
strike him, and suddenly they both fell to the ground dead. Sir
Tristram, who was a marksman with a bow, had shot two arrows
simultaneously, and killed both Saxons.
Arthur turned back to the Saxon leader. The Saxon thrust his
hammer at Arthur, and Arthur ducked under his shield. Arthur
looked frantically for Excalibur. He did not see where it had
fallen in the commotion. The Saxon came at Arthur again, this
time cracking his shield.
"Oh, Holy Virgin," Arthur said. "Please give me the strength to
defeat this enemy."
"My lord," Sir Kay shouted. "Your sword!"
Arthur turned and saw his half brother, bleeding from the
stomach, holding Excalibur. Arthur then took his shield and
slammed it into the Saxon's face. The Saxon stumbled, and Arthur
reached back as Kay threw Excalibur to him. Arthur took
Excalibur and sliced the Saxon's hammer from his hand. Arthur
then cut through both of his legs. The Saxon leader fell to the
ground on the bloody ends of his knees and looked up at Arthur.
"Well done my lord," the Saxon said, as Arthur cut Excalibur
through his neck.
When the war had ended many men that I was close to had died.
Sir Kay did not survive his wounds. Merlin told us he had bled
too much on the battlefield. Sir Kay smiled to Arthur as he took
his last breath and said to him, "Good-bye little brother".
Many of the women including Queen Gueneverre served as nurses
for the wounded. Sir Tristram and I lay next to each other,
grieving for our lost friends and admiring our victory. We sat
talking two days after the battle and we both noticed that the
Queen seemed to fancy caring for Sir Lancelot among all the
other men, especially since he was not injured as much as
others.
¡¡
(Lancelot and Guinevere,
artist unknown)
¡¡
Discussion£º
1. How many battles did
Arthur fight with the Saxons?
2. How many soliders were
there in Camelot and Armorica armies?
3. Who was King Hoel?
4. What did the Saxon
leader say when he was killed by Arthur?
5. Who died at the end of
the battle?
¡¡
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