They lived in the same one-roomed hut with their families, few chickens, litter of pigs, or with a cow possibly called Crumbocke – most dreadful and insanitary! But they liked it.

It has never been an economic proposition for an owner of cattle to starve his cows, so why should an owner of slaves starve them? … The villeins were labourers. Only neither the villein nor the farm labourer starved, when the master was a man like Sir Ector. The Saxons were slaves to their Norman masters if you chose to look at it in one way – but, if you chose to look at it another, they were the same farm labourers who get along on too few shillings a week today. the nostalgia for former days is writ-large and T H White delights in his romantic view of the past:Įverybody was happy. Interestingly in the context of the 1938 club. As long as you’re willing to take it with its rather dubious political philosophy, it’s a highly enjoyable tale. If anything, it reminded me of Nancy Mitford’s novels (we’re told ‘Magicians were considered rather middle-class by the true jousting set in those days‘). Through a rather confusing historical slight of hand, Robin Hood is a significant minor character and life is really rather good fun for everyone. ‘The Sword in the Stone’ is to the later books in ‘The Once and Future King’ what ‘The Hobbit’ is to ‘The Lord of the Rings.’ The 1938 book is a charming children’s story populated by talking animals, a Dumbledore-style Merlin and jolly English types. Like reading Tolkien, White’s work gains in depth as it progresses. As a book-hog however, I naturally couldn’t stop with just one volume … ‘The Sword in the Stone’ was the start of a wonderful journey into White’s complete vision of an Arthurian past. White’s twentieth century re-telling of the Arthurian legend – perfect, as I was, at that time, making my way through Mallory’s medieval version of the tale (you can read my review of his epic story here). The answer was, of course ‘The Sword in the Stone,’ which was an excuse to finally get started on T. When the notice went out in February, I immediately started hunting through my monstrous to-be-read list to see what might fit the bill. My thanks to Kaggy’s Bookish Ramblings for hosting the 1938 club this year.

The sword in the stone 1938