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Before author T.H. White was even born there were already plenty of [Picture of Camelot and King Arthur books]

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versions of the story of King Arthur floating around. So by the time White

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took a crack at it in 1958 with the once and future king, was there really [T.H. White smoking a pipe]

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anywhere interesting he could take this story. Well luckily for him and for us yes

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indeedy. Even though White used the same characters and plot he made something

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fresh and new like a chef who uses familiar ingredients to create something [Chef cooking in a kitchen]

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spectacularly different. And don't worry he didn't just burn everything to

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a crisp in order to stand out, this guy knew what he was doing. We can see how [Chef serves a plate of burnt food]

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White's approach was different by examining his take on King Arthur versus

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the King Arthur of Thomas Malory's Le Mortte d'Arthur, the French version..

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One huge difference is how the respective authors treat Arthur's childhood. In Mallory's [Toddler stood next to a sword]

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version Arthur's childhood tutelage and coronation are all covered in the first

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few pages. Jees Malory you know writing fiction is not a race right? White on the [Someone writing very quickly]

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other hand really takes his time with Arthur's youth focusing a lot on his

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early life and education. By slowing things down White shows how Arthur [Kid with a crown looks bored of class]

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developed as a moral being before the crown was even set on his head.

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Ah, backstory anyhow that sort of thing takes time

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you can't just expect to get a morally upstanding King by handing him a crown [Man laid of a sofa]

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and a manual on ethics. The two authors also end up with different approaches to [Woman comes in with a crown and a manual]

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war. Malory focuses a lot on battles so his Arthur is a battle-tested warrior.

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White's on the other hand is a lot more contemplative, so for his own safety he [King Arthur dressed in battle gear]

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does a lot of his contemplation while off the battlefield. [King Arthur thinking]

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Arthur worries about the struggle between might and right, just because you

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have the biggest army with the biggest swords doesn't mean you should use them

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all the time. It's not that White's Arthur thinks those swords ought to be used for [Large of army of swordsman]

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other things like playing golf, he's just concerned that power ought to be

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used by a just and ethical form of government. One that only uses force in

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cases of self-defense. Well not too much fun for all the war [Man spinning nunchucks]

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mongers out there but well you can't please everyone. The general anti-war [Angry people looking to fight]

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sentiment of the once and future king makes sense if we think about when it

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was written, in the shadow of World War II and in the middle of the

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Cold War. While those who lived through the war didn't see it as a glorious [Soldiers on a battlefield with explosions going off]

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honorable adventure but as the carnival of horrors triggered by the use [War veteran in a rocking chair]

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of unjust force. In other words not something the author is going to be wild

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about, at the end of the day we get an Arthur with emotional depth and

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individuality. A thoroughly modern character with thoroughly modern [King Arthur in front of a castle]

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thoughts, of course if you prefer one who runs around screaming in a funny voice

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well there's always the brilliant Monty Python version. [Cow falls out the sky and man runs around]

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