The Once and Future King

The Holy Grail—the cup (in earlier versions, a platter) used by Christ at the Last Supper—has achieved mythic status as the ultimate quest undertaken by Arthur’s knights. In White’s retelling, when Arthur sends his knights in search of it, his reasons are twofold: to give purpose to their restless energy and to instill a fresh dose of religious virtue into his Round Table. The quest, however, is perilous, and it becomes far more than a search for an old relic. The Grail quest requires each seeker to confront his own fears and frailties. It’s a metaphysical and spiritual quest just as much as a physical one, and half of Arthur’s knights do not survive the trial. The only knights to ultimately succeed (e.g., Galahad) exhibit such otherworldly perfection that they seem barely human to those around them. In this way, the Grail quest serves as a microcosm of the novel’s attitude toward The Importance of Cultural Myths, symbolizing both the ideal to which Arthur’s court aspires and the flawed yet sympathetic reality.

Nothing symbolizes Arthur’s court and his age of chivalry like the Round Table. Its very shape is a radical departure, both physically and symbolically, from the old order. Rectangular tables are built with a hierarchy in mind—the king sits at the head—but a round table has no position of authority. All parties sitting around it are equal—a revolutionary concept in an age of absolute rule. Circles also represent unity, a shape without rigid borders, again symbolizing Arthurian England, a place united under one banner and one king.

Arthur’s education takes the form not of books or rote practice but of experiencing firsthand the natural world. Merlyn has decided that the best way to prepare a leader is to give them direct experience with the animal kingdom, which the novel suggests has much in common with the human world, with human society organizing itself along much the same lines as those of various animals: Ants are militaristic, fish are monarchal, and geese are cooperative and nonterritorial.

In symbolizing the close ties between humans and nature, Arthur’s education also pays homage to a lost era of English history. The wilderness that the novel depicts, and humanity’s connection to it, has gradually faded as industrialization has gained ground. The Once and Future King’s nostalgia is not merely for a more “magical” world but for one in which human beings and nature coexisted and cooperated rather than competed.