they all went back and made him do it again. Legend stated that whoever removed the sword from the stone was supposed to be crowned King of Camelot. No one wanted young Arthur to be king. They waited a month and had many people come and try to pull the sword out of the stone but no one else could. Two months later, on Easter, they tried again and still no one could remove the sword. Finally, after another effort they admitted that it must be God's will and so they crowned Arthur King of Camelot until his death. (Macleod, 5-8) Merlin, who influenced Arthur greatly, was said to be a real person. Merlin was the illegitimate son of a nun. Fictionally, many believed he came from an evil father and Merlin was supposed to be the opposite of Jesus Christ, but because he was baptized at an early age, he was not an evil man. Merlin helped Arthur's father gain control of the throne. Merlin is also said to have made Stonehenge as a memorial to four hundred sixty Britons who were murdered at a peace conference. He also used his powers to create the sword in the stone so that Arthur could later become King and prove his ancestry. Merlin created the Lady of the Lake who made Arthur a magical sword called Excalibur. The Lady of the Lake eventually gained so much power that she had more than Merlin and she created herself a son, Lancelot of the Lake (also known as Sir Lancelot). She caused Merlin to fall in love with her because she was scared of being enslaved by him. She imprisoned him in a glass tower. His imprisonment, Merlin believed, was the cause of Arthur's death because Merlin could not be present at a battle in which Arthur was hurt. Merlin felt a lot of grief for what had happened and exiled himself to Caledonian Forest where he eventually died. His bones were found and were said to be buried at Marlborough College in Wiltshire or at Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island) off the coast of Wales. (Arthurian 1-5) ...
