The Sword in the Stone

The Sword in the Stone is a novel by T. H. White, published in 1938, the first part of a tetralogy The Once and Future King. It was made into a film by Walt Disney Productions, and there was also a BBC radio adaptation. The book includes several well-known characters, but uses uncommon spellings including Merlyn and Robin Wood.

The revisions

The version appearing in 1959 in the tetralogy was substantially revised, partly to incorporate events and themes that White had originally intended to cover in a fifth volume (which was finally published after his death, as The Book of Merlyn). To this end, the revised version includes several new sequences and leaves out some of the sequences that had appeared in the original (notably the sequence that was the basis of the Mad Madam Mim scenes in the Disney film).

Related Topics:
1959 - The Book of Merlyn - Mad Madam Mim

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However, many critics considered that the revised version was actually inferior to the original. Some publishers have more recently gone back to using the original version, at least when it is published independently of the tetralogy.

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Presumably the reason why White did this was that The Sword in the Stone is basically a rather whimsical fantasy of Merry England, and its connection with the classical Arthurian legend was actually rather limited, although what it did take from the Arthurian legend was accurate. However it was awkward to treat this as the first part of a more serious treatment of the Arthurian legend. It is also possible that White felt in a darker mood after the Second World War.

Related Topics:
Merry England - Second World War

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White is an example, along with Jerome K. Jerome and Compton Mackenzie, of a serious writer who became best remembered for a comical work.

Related Topics:
Jerome K. Jerome - Compton Mackenzie

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