Ector, Kay, Pellinore, Arthur, and Archimedes travel to London for the tournament. Moments before Kay's match, Arthur realizes that he has forgotten Kay's sword at their inn, which is now closed because of the tournament. Archimedes notices a sword in a stone in a nearby churchyard and points it out to Arthur, who pulls the sword from the stone, unwittingly fulfilling the Sword in the Stone’s prophecy. A good while after that, when they had been whistling and luring and following the disturbed and sulky hawk from tree to tree, Kay lost his temper. Resolving to make amends, Merlin plans on educating Arthur full-time. However, Merlin's knowledge of future history confuses Arthur, prompting Merlin to appoint Archimedes as Arthur's teacher. Merlin transforms Arthur into a sparrow and Archimedes teaches him how to fly. Soon after, Arthur encounters Madam Mim, an eccentric, evil witch who is Merlin's nemesis. Merlin arrives to rescue Arthur before Mim can destroy him, and Mim challenges Merlin to a wizards' duel. Despite Mim's cheating, Merlin outsmarts her by transforming into a germ and infecting her, illustrating the importance of knowledge over strength. The King of Britain, Uther Pendragon, dies, leaving no heir to the throne. As his most powerful knights fight to decide who will succeed, a mysterious sword appears in a stone. Whoever pulls the sword from the stone will be the next king. This quote is from the final scene in the book, in which Merlyn tells Wart that he has known about his true parentage and his eventual ascent to the throne all along. He also says that he has been training him in preparation to be a good ruler. This quote is important to the book in that it marks Wart's transition from his life as a child to that of an adult with weighty responsibilities. As Merlyn calls him Wart one last time before switching to the title "King Arthur," he definitively ends the latter's playful adolescence and childhood and announces the start of his many challenges and duties.

The name Excalibur ultimately derives from the Welsh Caledfwlch ( Breton Kaledvoulc'h, Middle Cornish Calesvol), which is a compound of caled, ' hard ', and bwlch, ' breach, cleft '. [1] Caledfwlch appears in several early Welsh works, including the prose tale Culhwch and Olwen ( c. 11th–12th century). The name was later used in Welsh adaptations of foreign material such as the Bruts (chronicles), which were based on Geoffrey of Monmouth. It is often considered to be related to the phonetically similar Caladbolg, a sword borne by several figures from Irish mythology, although a borrowing of Caledfwlch from the Irish Caladbolg has been considered unlikely by Rachel Bromwich and D. Simon Evans. They suggest instead that both names "may have similarly arisen at a very early date as generic names for a sword". [1] [2] In the late 15th to early 16th-century Middle Cornish play Beunans Ke, Arthur's sword is called Calesvol, which is etymologically an exact Middle Cornish cognate of the Welsh Caledfwlch. It is unclear if the name was borrowed from the Welsh (if so, it must have been an early loan, for phonological reasons), or represents an early, pan-Brittonic traditional name for Arthur's sword. [3] In the early 1950s, he published two non-fiction books. The Age of Scandal (1950) is a collection of essays about 18th-century England. The Goshawk (1951) is an account of White's attempt to train a northern goshawk using traditional rather than modern falconry techniques. [11] He wrote it at his cottage in the mid-1930s, but he did not publish it until his agent David Garnett discovered it and insisted that it be published. [11] In 1954, White translated and edited The Book of Beasts, an English translation of a medieval bestiary written in Latin. a b Townsend Warner, Sylvia (1978). "The Story of the Book". In White T.H. (ed.). The Book of Merlyn. London: Fontana/Collins. ISBN 0-00-615725-4. Games: Kingdom Hearts • Disney Magic Kingdoms • Disney Emoji Blitz • Disney Heroes: Battle Mode • Disney Sorcerer's ArenaWhen Kay learns that Wart pulled it from the anvil, he knows it is the sword that will determine Uther Pendragon's successor. He tells Sir Ector that he pulled it from the stone. However, when Ector asks him to replicate the feat, Kay admits that Wart was responsible. Wart is terrified when Sir Ector and Kay bow to him as their King.

Arnold, Ivor, ed. (1938). "Introduction I.—Les mauscrit; V.—Choix du manuscrit base". Le roman de Brut de Wace. Vol.1. Paris: Société des anciens textes français. pp.i–xiv, lix–lxvi. Text in tome 1 (vv. 1–9004) does not yet mention sword, but Cf. birth of "Artus" at v. 8735n Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may be attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Traditionally, the sword in the stone that is the proof of Arthur's lineage and the sword given him by a Lady of the Lake are not the same weapon, even as in some versions of the legend both of them share the name of Excalibur. Several similar swords and other weapons also appear within Arthurian texts, as well as in other legends.Writing in his autobiography, Peet said he decided to write a screenplay before producing storyboards, though he found the narrative "complicated, with the Arthurian legend woven into a mixture of other legends and myths" and that finding a direct storyline required "sifting and sorting". [19] After Disney received the first screenplay draft, he told Peet that it should have more substance. Peet lengthened his second draft by elaborating on the more dramatic aspects of the story, which Disney approved of through a phone call from Palm Springs, Florida. [19] kestrel a small, reddish-gray falcon, noted for its ability to hover in the air with its head to the wind. Merlin • Arthur • Archimedes • Madam Mim • Sir Ector • Sir Kay • Sir Pellinore • Scullery Maid • Sir Bart • Wolf • Girl Squirrel • Granny Squirrel • Merlin's sugar bowl

Cantwell, Mary. "Books of the Times: Letters to a Friend" (book review), The New York Times, 10 September 1982. Retrieved on 2008-02-13. The 36th Academy Awards (1964)". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved May 15, 2016. Meanwhile, The Sword in the Stone was developed solely by veteran story artist Bill Peet. After Disney had seen the 1960 Broadway production of Camelot, he approved the project to enter production. [16] Ollie Johnston stated, "[Kahl] got furious with Bill for not pushing Chanticleer after all the work he had put in on it. He said, 'I can draw a damn fine rooster, you know.' Bill said, 'So can I. '" [17] Peet recalled "how humiliated they were to accept defeat and give in to The Sword in the Stone... He allowed them to have their own way, and they let him down. They never understood that I wasn't trying to compete with them, just trying to do what I wanted to work. I was [in] the midst of all this competition, and with Walt to please too." [18] Marc, Christopher (September 18, 2018). "Disney's Live-Action 'Sword In The Stone' Movie Adds 'Bumblebee/28 Weeks Later' Cinematographer". Geeks WorldWide . Retrieved December 30, 2018.

Merlin appears in the world builder video game Disney Magic Kingdoms as the guide for the player during the game progress, and as the owner of Merlin's Shop, where the players can buy and sell in-game items, as well as other options that Merlin can perform. [47] In a November 2023 update to that game, Merlin became a fully playable character, while Arthur was also added to the game; both were done in celebration of the film's 60th anniversary. [48] Merlin also appears as one of the villagers in Disney Dreamlight Valley, filling a similar role as a guide who teaches the player new mechanics during the early portions of the game. Brown, Kenneth (August 1, 2013). "The Sword in the Stone Blu-ray Review". Blu-ray.com. Blu-ray.com, Inc . Retrieved February 28, 2021. Wright, T. (ed.); Gaimar, Geoffrey. Gaimar, Havelok et Herward, Caxton Society, London, 1850, p. 2. According to Sylvia Townsend Warner's 1967 biography, White was "a homosexual and a sado-masochist." [5] He came close to marrying several times but had no enduring romantic relationships. In his diaries of Zed, a young boy, he wrote: "I have fallen in love with Zed... the whole situation is an impossible one. All I can do is behave like a gentleman. It has been my hideous fate to be born with an infinite capacity for love and joy with no hope of using them." [5] Patch Notes – Update 76 The Sword in the Stone". disney-magic-kingdoms.com. Gameloft . Retrieved November 16, 2023.

Disney Writers Prep for Trio of New Features". Variety. June 28, 1944. p.3 . Retrieved December 26, 2019– via Internet Archive. Wart and Merlyn return to Ector's castle, and the wizard becomes the boys' tutor. He pays special attention to Wart. Merlyn turns him into a fish, and together they explore the castle's moat. In one of their excursions, the boys and Merlyn encounter Little John, who leads them to Robin Hood (referred to as Robin Wood) and Marian. Their extended stay with Robin culminates in an encounter with a griffin. Kay manages to slay the beast, taking its head as a trophy. During the fray, the griffin breaks the Wart's collar bone. This was the last animated Disney feature film to have the words in the voice talent credits saying "With the Talents of." Dutton, Marsha L. (2007). "The Staff in the Stone: Finding Arthur's Sword in the 'Vita Sancti Edwardi' of Aelred of Rievaulx". Arthuriana. 17 (3): 3–30. doi: 10.1353/art.2007.0018. JSTOR 27870843. S2CID 162363447. Later, they practice jousting and Wart bemoans the fact that he will never become a knight. Following this, King Pellinore arrives and tilts against Grunmore Grummerson, a knight in the service of Ector. Pellinore loses and the match devolves into a brawl. After this, on a dreary day, Wart decides he wants to become a hawk, which Merlyn allows him to do. He runs into Cully, Kay's falcon, in a group of militaristic falcons and is forced to demonstrate bravery to them. He succeeds and is celebrated with a song from the company.

When he first becomes a fish, the Wart has difficulty manipulating his fins and swimming in a straight line, and like the frightened boy that he is, he asks Merlyn to accompany him. Merlyn agrees, but not before explaining to the Wart why he will only accompany him on this one adventure: "Education is experience, and the essence of experience is self-reliance." With this remark, White suggests to the reader Merlyn's methods and goals as a teacher. Although a teacher should be able to answer any of his student's questions (as Merlyn suggests with his remark about "what he is for"), he should ultimately guide his student's education, rather than "spoon feed" him easy solutions to difficult problems. After Merlyn transforms himself into a tench (or carp) and shows the Wart how to stay level and live in "two planes, not one," the Wart must realign his perceptions and see the world from a different point-of-view to accommodate his new situation — something that any leader must be able to do when faced with a crisis. White's description of the Wart seeing the water's spectrum being separated into seven parts accentuates this idea: To truly become educated, one must be able to apprehend the world in a way to which he was previously unaccustomed. When the Merlyn attempts to correct the Wart's zigzagging by telling him, "You swim like a boy," he, too, is suggesting this same idea. A passing swan, who informs the Wart that it is not "deformed" as the Wart assumed it was, also causes the Wart to reconsider his past assumptions about life in the moat and people very different from himself. Seldom Re-Peeted: The Bill Peet Interview". Hogan's Alley (Interview). Interviewed by John Province. May 10, 2012 . Retrieved December 28, 2019. While Kay is child ish, the Wart is child like in his naiveté and tendency to be easily impressed; according to the narrator, the Wart is "a born follower [and] hero-worshipper." Throughout the first five chapters, White emphasizes this aspect of the Wart's personality. For example, when the Wart first meets King Pellinore (on the trail of the Questing Beast), he thinks that Pellinore is the epitome of chivalry and heroism. The narrator describes Pellinore this way: "He was mounted on an enormous white horse that stood rapt as its master, and he carried in his right hand, with its butt resting on the stirrup, a high, smooth, jousting lance, which stood up among the tree stumps, higher and higher, till it was outlined against the velvet sky. All was moonlight, all silver, too beautiful to describe." The Brave Little Toaster (1987) • Valiant (2005) • The Wild (2006) • A Christmas Carol (2009) • Gnomeo & Juliet (2011) • Mars Needs Moms (2011) • Strange Magic (2015) • The Lion King (2019)