“The Once and Future King” study guide
The Once and Future King
BOOK ONE – The Sword in the Stone
Chapters 1 – 12
1. What does Kay’s lack of a nickname reveal about his character? Why is Arthur called
Wart?
2. For what reason does Kay claim the privilege of carrying the goshawk and flying her
instead of giving Wart a turn with the hawk?
3. Why does Wart decide to stay with Cully instead of going home with Kay? Why is this
an act of courage?
4. Explain the biblical allusion on page 17.
5. Find an example of personification on page 18.
6. Briefly describe King Pellinore. What is the Questing Beast, and why is Pellinore
searching for it?
7. Define anachronism and find an example of one when Wart first meets Merlyn.
8. Briefly describe Merlyn’s physical appearance.
9. Who is Archimedes? Why does Wart think he is special? List some characteristics about
owls that Merlyn believes make them special creatures.
10. Merlyn sets the breakfast table before Wart’s arrival. How does Merlyn explain to Wart
why the table is set for two?
11. At the end of Chapter Four, why does Wart exclaim, “I must have been on a Quest!”?
(Pg. 37)
12. List two magical feats Merlyn performs for Sir Hector to demonstrate that he is the
master of white magic. What limitation does Merlyn himself put on the use of magic?
13. What is the foreshadowing Merlyn uses on Kay?
14. How is Merlyn’s first spell communicated?
15. Merlyn is teaching life lessons to Wart by turning him into different creatures. What do
you think Wart might have learned by his encounter with the sick Mrs. Roach?
16. “Mr. P” or “Old Jack” is the King of the Moat. In the following passage, he discusses his
views on power, love, and pleasure.
“There is nothing,” said the monarch, “except the power which you pretend to
seek: power to grind and power to digest, power to seek and power to find,
power to await and power to claim, all power and pitilessness springing from
the nape of the neck.…Love is a trick played on us by the forces of evolution.
Pleasure is the bait laid down by the same. There is only power. Power is of
the individual mind, but the mind’s power is not enough. Power of the body
decides everything in the end, and only Might is Right.” (Pg. 52)
What life lesson does Wart learn from the King of the Moat’s views on power?
17. What happens to Wart’s celebratory arrow? What are the reactions of the two boys?
18. Find an example of a pun a page 7.
19. In Chapter Seven, Wart tells Merlyn that he wishes he were a proper son of Sir Ector in
order to be a knight like Kay. What would Wart do if he could be a knight? What would
he call himself?
20. In what ways can the match between Sir Grummore and King Pellinore be considered a
satire on knights and jousting matches?
21. In what ways does Merlyn think the hawks in the mews are like cavalry officers?
22. The colonel (Cully) makes frequent allusions, which seem to make no sense. List some
of them.
23. What lesson about life does Wart learn after spending the night with the hawks?
24. What metaphor describes Wart on page 86?
25. In Chapter Nine, Wart and Kay have a fight because Kay is jealous that Merlyn turns
Wart into different animals, but does not turn Kay into anything. Kay thinks Merlyn is
being unfair. Merlyn tells Wart the parable of Elijah and the Rabbi Jachanan. Briefly
summarize the parable and state the life lesson it is teaching.
26. Why is Merlyn unable to turn Kay into an animal? What does Wart’s insistence that
Merlyn provide Kay with an adventure reveal about Wart’s character?
27. Find an example of humor when Little John escorts the boys to see Robin. What is
unusual about the young boys having adventures with Robin Hood?
28. How does Robin describe the fairies? Who is Morgan le Fay?
29. Find a simile on page 108.
30. How are the Dog Boy, Friar Tuck, and Wat taken prisoner by the fairies? Why does Robin
want Kay and Wart to help rescue them?
31. Briefly describe a griffin. What does Kay ask Robin for as a prize for helping rescue Dog
Boy, Friar Tuck, and Wat? What reward does Wart want?
32. What does Morgan do to prevent her prisoners’ escape?
33. What kills the griffin?
Chapters 13 – 24
1. What does the sign, “EVERYTHING NOT FORBIDDEN IS COMPULSORY,” at the
entrance to the ant tunnel reveal about ant society? (Pg. 122)
2. Why is Wart frustrated when he tries to express himself in the ant language? Why is it
dangerous to ask a question?
3. Why does King Pellinore nurse the Questing Beast back to health?
4. In Chapter Seventeen Wart, Merlyn, and Archimedes discuss their favorite birds. Why
does Wart like the rooks, Archimedes prefer the pigeons, and Merlyn like the chaffinch?
5. Explain the irony at the end of Chapter Seventeen.
6. Why does Merlyn turn Wart into an owl? List one important characteristic about owls
that Wart learns in this adventure.
7. Review the following exchange between Wart and the goose. What lesson about life does
Wart learn from his experiences as a goose?
“Do you all come here from different places?” [asked Wart]
“Well, in parties, of course. There are some here from Siberia, some from
Lapland and I can see one or two from Iceland.”
“But don’t they fight each other for the pasture?”
“Dear me, you are a silly,” she said. “there are no boundaries among the geese.”
“What are boundaries, please?”
“Imaginary lines on the earth, I suppose. How can you have boundaries if you fly?
Those ants of yours–and the humans too–would have to stop fighting in the
end, if they took to the air.” (Pg. 170)
8. What can you infer from the last section of Chapter Nineteen, the conversation between
Kay and Wart?
9. How does Wart feel about the prospect of being Kay’s squire instead of being a knight
himself?
10. List the steps Kay must undergo to become a knight.
11. If Wart could be a knight, what would he want to do?
12. Sir Ector sends Wart to Merlyn so the old magician can help cheer up Wart. What does
Merlyn think is the best way to fight sadness?
13. What special physical characteristics does a badger possess?
14. Wart is unable to convince the hedgehog to uncurl because the hedgehog believes Wart,
who is now a badger, will eat him as soon as he uncurls. What advice does the badger
give to Wart on how to uncurl a hedgehog? State a lesson about life based on this advice.
(Hint: Remember the motto of the King of the Moat: “Might is Right”)
15. Briefly summarize the myth of how man became the master of the animals. State a life
lesson Wart learns from this myth.
16. The badger tries to educate Wart on the nature of war. The badger points out that man
is one of the very few species who make war on bands of the same species. For what
reasons does Wart think he would like to go to war?
17. Why is King Pellinore excited because King Pendragon is dead?
18. Wart does not know the story of the sword. Why, then, does he try to pull it out? What
happens to help Wart remove the sword?
19. What is Wart’s favorite present at his coronation?
20. Define a fantasy novel. List three elements of a fantasy novel found in Book One.
BOOK TWO – The Queen of Air and Darkness
Chapters 1 – 7
1. Trace the family relationship between Queen Morgause of Lothian and Orkney with King
Uther Pendragon. What is King Arthur’s connection to Queen Morgause? How do
Morgause’s sons, Gawaine, Gaheris, Gareth, and Agravaine, feel about the Pendragon
family?
2. Study the following passage from the story and use it to answer the following three
questions.
“You, see it is a question of the people, as well as of the kings. When you said
about the battle being a lovely one you were thinking like your father. I want
you to think like yourself, so that you will be a credit to all this education I have
been giving you–afterwards, when I am only an old man locked up in a hole.”
(Pg. 224)
3. What is Merlyn trying to encourage Arthur to do?
4. Why does Merlyn refer to himself as “…an old man locked up in a hole”? (Pg. 224)
5. Merlyn and Arthur discuss the reasons for fighting wars. According to Merlyn, what is
the destiny of Man? What question that Arthur asks makes Merlyn happy?
6. Find an instance of both anachronism and foreshadowing on page 226.
7. It is clear that Merlyn does not approve of wars; why does he tell Arthur, “There is one
fairly good reason for fighting–and that is, if the other man starts it.” (Pg. 232)
8. Describe King Conor’s death. What is the life lesson taught by the legend of his death?
9. In Chapter 6, Arthur begins to formulate his code of chivalry. What does he conclude
about the philosophy of Might is Right? For what reasons does Arthur believe Merlyn is
helping him to win battles, when Arthur knows Merlyn disapproves of war?
10. Briefly discuss the basic elements in Arthur’s plan to create an order of chivalry which
upholds the premise of Might for Right instead of Might is Right.
11. Why do Gaheris, Gawaine, Gareth and Agravaine decide to try and catch a unicorn?
12. Briefly describe the mythology of unicorns, which helps the boys know how to catch
one.
13. Which of Queen Morgause’s four sons is the leader? Which one is the most
compassionate?
Chapters 8 – 14
1. Describe the round table Arthur wants for his knights. Where does Arthur find a suitable
table?
2. How does Merlyn answer the King when Arthur suggests that a good reason for starting
a war might be to force people to accept a new way of life that might be good for them?
What Merlyn’s answer to Arthur’s question?
3. Define comic relief. Find an example of comic relief in Chapter 9.
4. Briefly summarize the parable about the man who comes face to face with Death. State
the life lesson Merlyn is teaching Arthur with this parable.
5. Merlyn tells King Arthur that Arthur’s tombstone will read “Hic jacet Arthurus Rex
quandam Rexque futurus.” (Pg. 287) Translated into English, this means, “the once and
future king.” Why do you suppose White selects this phrase for the title of this novel?
6. King Arthur fights the battle of Bedegraine in a new way. White writes that “Arthur
began with an atrocity and continued with other atrocities.” (Pg. 298) List three ways
Arthur alters the traditional way of fighting a battle. What literary term does White use
throughout the description of the battle?
7. What is a Spancel? How does Queen Morgause plan to use the Spancel when she visits
King Arthur?
8. Throughout these chapters, Merlyn is trying to remember something important that he
needs to tell Arthur. In Chapter 14, he finally remembers. What does Merlyn wish he
had remembered to tell Arthur? How do you think Merlyn’s failure might affect Arthur’s
future?
9. Who is Mordred? Why do you think White ends this second book with the following
passage: “…but it seems, in tragedy, that innocence is not enough”? (Pg. 312)
BOOK THREE – The Ill-Made Knight
Chapters 1 – 18
1. Why does Lancelot decide that when he is grown and becomes a knight, his name will
be the Ill-Made Knight?
2. Briefly describe Lancelot’s first meeting with King Arthur. After this meeting, what two
goals does Lancelot set for himself?
3. Uncle Dap helps Lancelot train to be a great knight just as Merlyn helped Arthur to
become a great king. Which mentor do you think is the most effective?
4. Why is Lancelot disappointed to learn from Merlyn that King Arthur has already established
a round table with one hundred knights?
5. The narrator in this story sometimes breaks the narrative to speak directly to the reader.
Find a short passage in Chapter 4 where the narrator does this.
6. In Chapter 4, Lancelot meets Guenever for the first time. Briefly describe her. How does
Lancelot feel about her at their first meeting? What happens at the end of Chapter 4 to
change Lancelot’s opinion of the Queen?
7. What is Arthur’s connection to the Orkney faction which includes Gawaine, Gaheris and
Agravaine? For what reasons does Arthur believe the Orkney knights are having trouble
adapting to King Arthur’s Order of Chivalry?
8. How does Arthur respond once he realizes Lancelot and Guenever are falling in love?
9. Why does Lancelot decide to leave King Arthur’s court to go on quests?
10. Briefly describe the two quests in chapter 8 that involve treachery.
11. How does Lancelot show his love for Guenever even when he is away on his quests?
What is lacking in the Queen’s relationship with Arthur, thereby making her vulnerable
to Lancelot’s love?
12. What is Arthur’s definition of civilization? Why does he think his plan of Might for Right
is no longer working?
13. A tragic flaw is a defect of character that brings about a great person’s downfall. Review
Lancelot’s feeling for the Queen as presented in Chapter 10. What do you think might
be Lancelot’s and Arthur’s tragic flaw?
14. Which of Lancelot’s adventures is White referring to in the following passage? What
miracle does Lancelot believe he performs as part of this adventure? Why do you think
he might look back on this adventure with “awful grief”?
“On the way to Corbin Lancelot had a strange adventure, which he remembered
for many years with awful grief. He was to look back on it as the last adventure
of his virginity, and to believe, day by day for the next twenty years, that before
it had happened he had been God’s man, while, after it, he had become a lie.”
(Pg. 369)
15. Lancelot is furious with Elaine when he realizes she is not Guenever. What does
Lancelot think Elaine has stolen from him? How does Elaine feel about Lancelot? Why
does she plan to call their child, if she conceives one, Galahad?
16. What excuse does White offer in Chapter 13 for Guenever’s ability to betray her husband
to seek out a relationship with Lancelot?
17. At the end of Chapter 15 White writes,
“Now, in their love, which was stronger, there were the seeds of hatred and fear
and confusion growing at the same time: for love can exist with hatred, each
preying on the other and this is what gives it its greatest fury.” (Pg. 386)
What is the nature of the hatred Lancelot and Guenever feel for each other?
18. Find a passage in Chapter 16, which helps the reader to understand why King Arthur
ignores the affair between Lancelot and the Queen.
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19. At the end of Chapter 18, the Queen confronts Lancelot because Elaine has once again
tricked Lancelot into sleeping with her. The Queen orders Lancelot from the castle
telling him to “Never show your face in it again. Your evil, ugly, beastlike face.” (Pg. 395)
Lancelot seems to go mad, jumps from a window, and disappears. What inner demons
do you think this incident awakens in Lancelot, which pushes him over the edge into
insanity?
Chapters 19 – 45
1. How is Lancelot rescued from his madness?
2. Why does Lancelot now refer to himself as the Chevalier Mal Fet?
3. In Chapter 23, Lancelot’s son is briefly introduced. How is Galahad as a child different
than Lancelot was as a child?
4. Elaine knows that Lancelot is going to return to King Arthur’s court and Guenever. What
does she ask of Lancelot before he departs?
5. What is the legend of how Gareth becomes a knight? How does Lancelot feel about
Mordred?
6. Cite an incident from the story to help explain the following statement King Arthur
makes to Lancelot. “It [the round table] was a mistake because the Table itself was
founded on force. Right must be established by right…” (Pg. 428)
7. Now that England is civilized, there are no more battles for Arthur’s knights to fight.
Without outside challenges, the behavior of the knights is beginning to deteriorate.
What new direction for the knight of the round table does Arthur propose for his
knights? Define the Holy Grail.
8. Briefly describe Sir Galahad’s shield. Point out the significance of its design.
9. Why is Sir Lionel, in Chapter 29, annoyed with his brother Bors? Describe the four trials
Bors must undergo to prove to God that he is worthy of finding the Holy Grail.
10. In Chapter 30, King Arthur tries to counsel Aglovale, King Pellinore’s son, who is
determined to seek revenge for his brother Lamorak’s death. Arthur says to Aglovale,
“…a king can only work with his best tools.” What is he referring to? (Pg. 450)
11. Describe Lancelot’s appearance when he finally returns to Arthur’s court after searching
for the Holy Grail.
12. Who finds the Holy Grail? When will they be returning to Camelot? Why do you suppose
the Grail will not come to Camelot.
13. In Chapter 32, Lancelot tries to tell Arthur and Guenever what he has learned about
himself while looking for the Holy Grail. What does Lancelot consider to be his greatest
sin? What lesson about the nature of man do the birds teach Lancelot?
14. What did Lancelot have to do to be absolved of his past sins?
15. How does Lancelot defend his son Galahad when Arthur tells Lancelot that the other
knights dislike Galahad because they believe he is cold and inhuman?
16. Lancelot is denied the honor of going with Galahad to find the Holy Grail. In the passage
below, Lancelot tries to explain to Guenever why he was unworthy. What unspoken sin
keeps Lancelot from accompanying Galahad?
Guenever complained: “If you were in a state of grace, I can’t understand why
you should have been left.”
“It is difficult,” said Lancelot.
He opened his hands and looked between them on the table.
“Perhaps my intentions were bad,” he said at length. “Perhaps, inside myself,
unconsciously, you could say, I had not a proper purpose of amendment…”
The Queen was subtly radiant as she listened.
“Nonsense,” she whispered, meaning the opposite. She pressed his hand warmly,
and Lancelot took it away. (Pg. 468)
17. Chapter 34 discusses Guenever’s character. What explanation does White offer for
Guenever’s decision to have the affair with Lancelot? Why is his resolve to remain in a
state of grace difficult for her to accept?
18. What four reasons does Lancelot give to Guenever to help her to understand why he is
discontinuing their affair?
19. What is happening in court, in general?
20. How does Lancelot save the day for the accused Queen?
21. Why does Arthur fail to intervene to save Queen Guenever? In what way is this failure
an example of irony?
22. For what reasons does Lancelot decide to visit Elaine once again? How does Elaine die?
23. In Chapter 41, how does Lancelot manage to alienate the Orkney clan?
24. Why does Sir Meliagrance capture Queen Guenever? How does the Queen manage to
alert Lancelot to her troubles?
25. In Chapter 41, King Arthur fights against Lancelot in the tournament. Describe King
Arthur’s state of mind at this point in the story.
26. Sir Meliagrance accuses the Queen of sleeping with one of the knights when he discovers
blood on her bed. The blood is from Lancelot’s hand, but Meliagrance does not know
this. Lancelot tries to stop Meliagrance’s accusations by letting him know that if he
persists in accusing the Queen of adultery, Lancelot will be her champion and
Meliagrance will have to fight him. Meliagrance then says:
“I know you are the best knight in the world, but be careful ‘ow you fight in a
wrong quarrel. God might strike a stroke for justice, Sir Lancelot, after all.…”
[Lancelot] added very meanly: “So far as I am concerned, I say plainly that none
of these wounded knights was in the Queen’s room.” (Pg. 505)
How do you think Lancelot feels about himself at this point in the story? Elaine is dead,
Lancelot is sleeping with Arthur’s wife, and Camelot is decaying. What can be inferred
from Lancelot’s last statement above?
27. Why does Sir Meliagrance persist in his accusation that Queen Guenever has been
unfaithful to King Arthur? What does he do to help ensure his victory in the battle?
28. Lancelot escapes from Meliagrance’s dungeon and defeats him in battle. Meliagrance
asks for mercy, but the Queen refuses to give it to him. Why do you think Guenever
wants Meliagrance dead? What do you think of her decision?
29. At the end of Book Three, White writes:
In the middle, quite forgotten, her lover was kneeling by himself. This lonely
and motionless figure knew a secret which was hidden from the others. The
miracle was that he had been allowed to do a miracle. “And ever,” says Malory,
“Sir Lancelot wept, as he had been a child that had been beaten.” (Pg. 514)
Study this passage. What is the true miracle in the Sir Urre incident? Why do you think
Lancelot is portrayed as a beaten child?
BOOK FOUR – The Candle in the Wind
Chapters 1 – 9
1. Why do both Agravaine and Mordred dislike King Arthur?
2. How does Mordred plan to discredit King Arthur?
3. What occurs between Mordred and the brothers? What is the cause?
4. White writes that at the time of King Arthur’s rule, England is in the Middle Ages, but
that the Middle Ages are “not so dark.” He writes, “Lancelot and Guenever were gazing
on the Age of Individuals.” (Pg. 531) Describe some examples of life in Arthur’s
England, which help to support White’s beliefs.
5. In Chapter 4, why does Lancelot want to run away with Guenever? What reasons does
she give for staying with Arthur and continuing the affair?
6. For what reasons does Arthur believe Mordred is justified in hating him?
7. What is Arthur saying about justice in the following passage from Chapter 4?
“Far from being willing to execute his enemies, a real king must be willing to execute his
friends.” (Pg. 550) Why do you think Arthur is taking the time to explain his ideas of
justice to Lancelot and Guenever?
8. In what way, in Chapter 5, does Arthur suggest that justice decided by combat, is as
unfair as justice which is argued in a court?
9. Why do you think Arthur agrees to let Mordred break into the Queen’s room if Lancelot
is there?
10. Lancelot decides to go to Guenever even after being warned by Gareth that it is a trap.
Why does Lancelot fail to listen to this warning? What is ironic about Lancelot’s refusal
to listen?
11. Before going to Guenever’s room, Lancelot forgets his sword. How does he manage to
kill the first knight that enters Guenever’s room? Who is this knight?
12. Why does Lancelot fail to take Guenever with him after he fights his way out of her
room? What do the lovers exchange before parting from each other?
13. Of the men who went to Guenever’s room to trap Lancelot, why is Mordred the only
survivor?
14. Why do Gaheris and Gareth agree to help strengthen the guard around the doomed
Queen? Who else is going to help strengthen the guard?
15. Cite incidents from the story to prove or disprove the following statement: Arthur
believes that it is impossible to stop the consequences of an unjust act.
16. What proof is there at the end of Chapter 9 that Lancelot is responsible for Gareth and
Gaheris’ deaths?
17. The first line of Chapter 9 reads, “On a bright winter day, six months later, Joyous Gard
was invested.” (Pg. 587) Define what White means when he says Joyous Gard is
invested.
18. Why does Lancelot refuse to fight Arthur even though his own men are beginning to
think Lancelot is a coward?
19. What is Guenever’s solution to the problem?
Chapters 10 – 14
1. For what reasons does Gawaine plan to continue to seek revenge against Lancelot even
if the Pope restores Queen Guenever to her throne? Why does Gawaine believe he will
have King Arthur’s support?
2. What is Lancelot’s punishment for killing Gareth?
3. Why does King Arthur leave Mordred in England as the Lord Protector?
4. What evidence is there in Chapter 11 that Mordred is insane?
5. Briefly describe Mordred’s plan to take Arthur’s place as King of England.
6. In Chapter 12, Arthur makes the following generalizations about life. Under what
circumstances does he make them? Who is he referring to?
“People who say they are no good are always the good ones.” (Pg. 617)
“The bravest people are the ones who don’t mind looking like cowards.” (Pg. 617)
7. Why do you suppose Gawaine, on his deathbed, writes a letter of forgiveness to
Lancelot?
8. What assumption about the nature of mankind does Arthur believe, which he has used
as the basis for the structure of his life?
9. In Chapter 14, old King Arthur looks back on his life and tries to figure out the causes
for wars. List three possible reasons for war. At the end of the story, what does Arthur
conclude about the reasons man makes war?
10. What is the significance of the title of Book Four?
11. The last words in this novel are “The Beginning.” Why do you think White ends the
book this way? How does the ending of the book relate to the title of the novel?
12. Define tragedy. For what reasons do you think this story is or is not a tragedy?
