Arthur Becomes Kirrg

T. H. WHITE

if you happen not to have lived in

England
of rhe twelfth century, or
Old
the
was,
it
and
in a remote castle on the
whenever
borders of rhe Marchesr ar that, you will find
it difficult to imagine rhe wonders of their
Perhaps,

journey.

The road, or track, ran most of rhe dme

of the hills or downs,
and they could look down on either side of
rhem upon the desolare marshes where the
snowy rCeds sighed, and rhe ice crackled, and
the duck in the red sunsets quacked loud on
the winter air. The whole counry ivas like that.
Perhaps there would be a moory marsh on one
side of the ridge, and a forest of a hundred
thousand acres on rhe other, with all rhe grbat
branches weighted in white. They could sometimes see a wisp of smoke among the lrees. or
a huddle of buildings far out arnong the impassable roads, and twice they came ro quite
respectable towns which had sevdral inns to
boasr of, but on the whole it was an England
without civilization. The berter roads were
clearid of cover for a bowshor on either side
of them, Iest rhe traveler shcjuld be slain by
along the high ridges

hidden rhievesThey slepr where they could; somgtimes in

the hut of some cottdger iyhb was prepared to
welcome them, sometimes in the castle of a
Marchs: boundaries rhar are in disput

brother knight who invited them to refresh

themselves, someLimes in rhe frrelight and fleas

of a dirty little hovel wirh a bush tied to a pole

outside it-this was the sign.board used at ihat
time by inns-and once or twice on the open
ground, all huddled together for warmth be_
tween rheir grazing chargers. Wherever they
wenr lnd wherver they slepr, the east wiird
whisded in rhe reeds, and the geese went oyer
high in the starlighr, honking ar rhe shrs.
London was full to tbe brim. If Sir Ector had
not been lucky enough to own a little land in
Pie Street, on which there srood a respectable
inn, they would have been hard put ro ir to

find a lodging. But he did own it, and as a

matter of fact drew most of his dividends?
from that source, so ihey were able to get three
beds among the five of them. They thought
themselves fortunate.

On the 6rsr day of rhe tournament, Sir Kay

managed ro ger them on the-way to the lists3
at least an hour before rhejousts could possibly
begin. He had lain awake all nighr, imagining
how he was going to beat the best barons in
England, and he had nor been able to eat his
breakfast. Now he rode ar the front of the
2. dividends: Whire k having fun wirh

hisrory-. Today,

of

course, a dividnd is paid to siockholders ina co.porarion.

Sir Eoor would have received feudal tithes.

3. lists: fields where rhe rournament is held.

Arthur

Bcomes

King

753

cavalcade, with pale cheeks, and Wart wished

there was something hepould do to calm him

down.

For country people, who only knew the dismantled tilting groudd' of Sir Ector's castle,
rhi scene which met their eyes was ravishing.
It was a huge green pit in the earti, about as
big as the arena at a football march- It lay ten
feet lower than the surrounding corrnry, with
sloping banks, and the snow had been swept
offit. It had been kept warm with srraw; which
had been cleared off that morning, and now
the close-worn grass sparkled green in the
white landscape. Round the arena there was a
world of color so dazzling and moving and
twinkling as to make one blink one's eyes. The
wooden grandsrands were painted in scarlet
and white. The silk pavilions5 of famous people, pitcheil oh every side, were azure and
green and saffron and checkered. The pen-

"Beuer go and ferch it," said Sir Ector. 'lYou

have time-"
"My squire will do," said Sir Kay. 'iWhar. a
mistake ro make! Here, squire, ride hard baik
to the inn and fetch my sword. You shall iave

ing, or-cbarting wirh lances. Tilts are thdsami asjousts.

if you fetch it in rime."

The Wan went as pale as Sir Kay was, and
Iooked as if he were going to strike him- Then
he said, "It shall be done, master," and rurned
his ambling palfreyT against the stream of newcomers. lrle began to pusb-his way roward their
hostelry as besr he inight.
"To offer me money!" cried rhe Wart ro himself. "To look down at this beasrli lirtle donkeyaffair off his grear charger and to call me
squirel Oh, Merlyn, give me parience wirh the
brute, and stop me from rhrowing his fihhy
shilling in his face."
When he got ro the inn it was closed. Everybody had thronged to see the famous rournament, and the entire household had followed
after the mob. Those were lawless days and ir
was not safe to leave your house-or even to
go to sleep in ir-unless you were cerrain thar
it was impregnable- The wooden shutrers
bolted over lhe doy,/nstairs windows were two
inches thick, and the doors were doublebarred.
"Now what do I do," asked rhe Wart; "to
earn my shilling?"
He looked ruefully'at .the 6lind liule inn,
and began to laugh.
"Poor Kay," he said: "All that shilling stuff
was only because he was scared and miserable,
and now he has. good cause to be. Well, he
shall have a sword of some sort if I have to
break into the Tower of London.
"How does one get hold of a sword?" he
continued. "Where can I steal one? Could I
waylay some knighr even if I am mounted on
an ambling pad, and take his weapons by

emblems. A pnnoDcel is sl'laller than a pnnon.

7. palfrey: saddle horse, usually

nons and pennoncels9 which floated everywhere in rhe sharp wind were flapping wir}
every color of the rainbow, as they strained
and slapped at thiir flagpols, and t}re barrier
down the middle of the arena itsdlf was done
in chessboard squaies cif blick and white. Mosr
of the combatants and their friends had not
yet arrivd; but one could see from those few
who had come how the very people would turn
the scene into a bank of flowers, and how rhe
armor would flash, and the scalloped sleeves
of the heralds jig in the wind, as they raised
their brazen rrumpets ro their lips to shake rhe
fleecy clouds of winter with joyances and fan-.
fares.

"Good heavens!" cried Sir Kay. "I have left

my sword at home-"
"Can'tjoust without a swordj'said Sir Grummore. "Quite irregular."
4. tiltint ground: grounds

where the knighu pracrice rih-

5. pavilions: tenrs.
6. puDons and pennorrcels: flags bearing rhe knighrs'

754

THE LECEND OF KING ARTHUR

a shilling

a small

and gentle one

force? There must be some swordsmith

or ar_
morei in a grear rdwn like this, whose shop

would be srill open.,'

He turned his mount and canrered offalong
the sreer. There was a quiet churchyard at
rh!
end of ir, with a kind of square in front of rhe
church door. In the middle of the square there
was a heavy stone with an anvil on it,
and a
fine new swijrd was sruck through the anvil.
"Well," sgit rhe Wart,,.I suppose it
is some
sort of war memorial; but it will have ro do.
I
am sure nobody would grudge Kay a war me_
morial, if they knew his desperate srraits.,,
He" tied his reins round a post of rhe lych
gate,5 strode up the gravel path, and rook
hold

of the sword.

"Come, sword," he said. ".I musr cry your

mercy and take you for a berter cause.

"This is exrraordinary," said the Wan. ,.I feel
strange when I have hold of this sword, and I
notice everything much more clearly. Look it
the beautiful gargoyles of the church, and of

the monastery which it belongs ro_ See how

splerrrlidly all the famous banners in the aisle
are waving. How nobly thar yewe holds up rhe
red ffakds of its rimbers ro worship God. How
clean the snow is. I can smell somerhing like
fetherfew and sweer briar-and is it musii thar

hear?"

ft was music, whether of panpipes or of recorders, and rhe light in rhe churchyard was
so clear, without being dazzling, that one could
have picked a pin out rwenry yards away.
"There is something in rhis place," said the
Wan- "There are people. Oh, people, what do
you want?"

Nobody airswered hirn, but rhe music was

loud and the light beautiful.
"People," cried the Warr, ,.I must take rhis
sword. It is nor for me, but for Kay. I will bring

it back-"

t *, roofed gare.teading

inro a churchyard.

l- ll.:l
e.
yew: evergreen rree wirh wide-spreading limbs.

There was still no answer, and Wart turned

back ro rhe anvil. He saw the golden letters,
which he- did nor read, and thejewels
on the
pommel,ro flashing in the lovely light.
"Come, sword,', said the Warr-

- He took hold of .the handles with

both

hands, and srained against the

srone. There
was a melodious consortu
on the recorders,

but nothing moved.

The Wart let go of the handles, when
they
were. beginning to bite into
the palms of his
ha.nds, and srepped back, seeing
sars.
"It is well fixed," he said.
H.
hold of it again and pulled with
all
.,o:k
,.
hts, mrght.
music played more strongly,
.The
and the light all about the churchyard
gloru'ed
like amethysts; but the sword still stuckl
"Oh, Merlyn,,, cried the Wart, ..help
me to

ger rhis weapon."

There was a kind of rushing noise, and a
.long
chord played along with it. All round the

churchyard there were hundreds of old

friends. They rose over the church wa.ll all
togethe-r, like the punch and
Judy ghosts of

remembered days, and there were badgers

and
nightingales and vulgar crows and hares. and
wild geese and falcons and fishes and dogs and

dainty unicorns and solitary wasps and

.
corkindrillsr2 and hedgehogs and giiffinsrg
and rhe thousand orher animals he had met.

They.loomed round rhe church wall, the loveis

and helpers of the Wan, and rhey all spoke
solemnly in rurn. Some of them had iome
from rhe banners in the church, where they

were painted in heraldry some from rhe

waters and the sky and the fields aboui_but
all, down to rhe smallest shrew mouse, had
I0. Ilmmel: the rounded, ornamenal knob on rhe han_
dle Ot the srrord.
ll. consort: harmony.
12- corkindriUs: beisa feared in medieval does, now
ldenthed

as crocodiles.

13-.griffins: huge, myrhical animals, half lion and half

eagle.

Arthur

Becomes

King

ZES

come ro help on account of love. Wart felt his

power grow-

"Put your back into ir," said a Luce (or pike)

off one of the heraldic banners, .,as you once
did when I was going ro snap you up. Remember that power springs frord the nape of the
neck."

"What

found

it

stuck

in a

stone, ourside a

ously, waiting

for his rurn. He had not paid

much attention to his squire..

"Thar is a funny place rc find one,,' he said.

it was stuck through an anvil.,,

"Whatl'cried Sir Kay, suddenly rounding
upon him. "Did you just say this sword wai
"Yes,

abour those forearms," asked z

Badger gravely, "thar are held together by a

chesr? Come along, my dear embryo, and find
your rool."
A Merlinra sitting at rhe top of the yew tree
cried our, "Now then, Captain Wart, what is
the first law of the foot? I rhought I once heard
somerhing about never letting go?"

"Don't work like a sulling

woodpecker,',

urged a Tawny Owl affectionately. ..Keep up

a steady efforr, my duck, and you will have it
yet."

A White-front said, "Now, Wart, if you were

once able ro fly rhe.great Norrh Sea, surely you
can coordinate A few little. wing.muscles here
and there? Fold your powers together, wirh the
spirit of your mind, and it will come our like
-buttdr. Come along, Homo sapiens, foi all we

humble friends of yours are waiting here to

cheer."

There was a lot of cheenng, a noise like a

hurdy-gurdy which wenr on and on. In rhe
middle of this noise, after a long time, he saw
Kay and gave him the swbrd. The people ar
the-rournamenr wele makihg a, frightful
lgw"
"But rhis is nor my sword," said Sir.Kay.
"It was rhe only one I could get,l'said the
Wart. "The inn was lockedll .'
"It is a nice-looking sworil: Where did you
.

get it?"
Merlin: European falcon

stuck in a stone?"
"lt wasj' said the Wart. ..lt was a son of war

memorial."

Sir Kay stared at him for several seconds

in amazemenr, opened his mouth, shur ir
again, licked his lips, then rurned his back
and plunged through the crowd. He was look_
ing for Sir Ector, and the Wari followed after

him.
"Father," cried Sir Kay, ',come here a moment."
"Yes, my boy," said Sir Ector. ,,Sple;did falls

these professional chaps do inanage. Why,

whatt rhe matter, Kay? You look as white as a
sheet."

"Do you remember that sword which the

King of England would pull out?,'
r

The Warr walked up ro the grear sword for

thq third rime. He put out his right hand softly
and drew it out as genrly as fiom a scabbard.

14.

"I

church."
Sir Kay had been watching the tilting new-

es.

"Well, here it is.

pulled ir out."

have it.

It

is

in my hand.

Sir Ector did not say anything silly. He

looked at Kay and he looked at the Wart..Then
he stared it Ka! again, long and lovingly, and.
said, "We wili go back ro rhe chuich-,,
"Now then, Kay," he said; when they were at

the church door. He looked at his firstborn

kindly, but straighr between the eyes- ,iHere is

the stone, and you have the sword. It will make
you the King of England. You are my son that
I am pr<iud of, and always will be, whatever
you do. Will you promise me that you took it
out by your own might?"
Kay looked ar his father. He also looked at
the Wart and at rhe sword.
Arrhur

Becomes

King

757

Then he handed thepword ro rhe Wart quire

quietly.
He said,

"I

am a liar. Wart pulled it out."

As far as the Wart was concerned, there was

a time after this in which Sir Ector kepr relling

him to put the sword back into thi srcnewhich he did-and in which Sir Ecror and Kay
then vainly tried to rake it our. The Wart rook
ir out for rhem, and stuck ir back again once
or twice. After rhis, tbere was another rime
which was more painful.
He saw thar his dear guardian was looking
quite old and powerless, and rhat he was kneeling down with difficulty on a gouryrs knee.
"Sir," said Sir Ector, without looking up, although he was speaking to his own boy.
"Please do nor do this, Farher," said the Wart,
kneeling down also: "Let me help you up, Sir
Ector, because you are making ine unhappy."
"Nay, nay, my lord," said Sir Ector, with some
very fedble old tears. "l waS never your father
nor of your blood, but i wote well ye are of an
higher blood than I wend ye were."
"Plenty of people have rold me you are nor
my father,'l said the Warr, "but it does not mat-

dear, oh, dear, I wish I had neyer seen that

filthy sword at all."
And the Wart also burst into rearsAfter Arthur becones hing, he is plunged. into war
uith a number ol local rukrs oJ Engl.and. anl ScotIand uho d.o not accept his ight to rule tfum. Engla.nd in the Middlc Agu, lihe most of Europe, uas
gouerned, according to the

feulal

system. This meant

that the King of England did not rule the whale

land directly. He rubd it thrmgh hcal leadtrs, eacli
of uhom was all-pouerful in hb oun taritory but
uos ako bound tu rhe hing b1 an oath of obed.ienceLot, menti.trned in this selection, is the lead.er of those
uho are f.ghting agah.st Arlhur.

In

King

folhuing selectiqn ue see Arlhur as the

of Enghznd. He is preparing to unite hi: hingthe

d,om and, establish

a neu order-ome that uiLl tm-

phasize peau and. good d,eeds.

ter a bit."
"Sir," said Sir Ector humbly, "will ye be my
good and gracious lord when ye are king?"

"Don'r!" said the Wart.

"Sir," said Sir Ector, "I will ask no more of
you but that you will make my son, your foster
brother, Sir Kay, seneschalr6 ofall yriur lands?"
Kay was kneeling down too, and it was more
than the Wart could bear.
"Oh, do stop," he cried. "Of course he can
be seneschal, if I have got to be this king, and,
oh, Father, don'r kneel down like thar, because
it breaks my heart. Please ger up, Sir Ecror,
and don't make everything so horrible. Ob,
gor,,ly: aqicted. wirh gout, a disease rhar causes a pain-

15,'
rut swertrng

ot the ptnts,
16. seDeschal (s[D''shel): chief adminishror of a med;_

eval noble's

758

estare.

THE LECEND OF KING ARTHUR

In this illumination, Arthur,

borses one

shown ar the lefr, un-

of rhe rebels. Ms. Fr. 95, f.

Bib[or-heque NatioDale, Frris

173 v-

The King of England painfully climbed the

two hundred and eight steps which led to Mer_
lyn's rower room, and knocked on the door.
The magician was inside, with Archimedesrz
sitting on che back of his chair, busily trying to
find the square root of mihus one. He had
forgorten how to do it.
"Mertyn," said the king, panting, ..1 want ro
ralk to you."
He closed his book with a bang, leaped to
his feet, seized his wand of lignum vitae,r8 and
rushed at Arrhur ds if he were rrying to shoo
away a stray chicken. ...
"Go away!" he shouted. "Whar are you doing
here? Whar do you mean by it? Arent you the
King of England? Go away and send for me!

Get out of my room! I never heard of such

thing! Go away at once and send for me!',

"But I am here."
"No, you're not," rerorted the old man

re_

sourcefulln And he pushed the king out of the

door, slamming ir in his face.
"Well!" said Arrhur, and he went off sadly
down the two hundred and eight sdh!.
An hour later, Merlyn presJnted himself. ih
.

the Royal Chamber, in answer to a.srimmoris

which had been delivered

bi

a page.

"That's betrer," he said, and sat down comforubly on a carpet chest.

"Stand up," said Arthur, and he clapped his
hands for a page to take away rhe seat.
Merlyn stood up, boiling wirh indignation.
The whites of his knuckles blanched as he
clenched them.

"About oui cohveriatibn.oh the,subject of

chivalry," began the king in an airy tone. . . .

"I don't

recollect such a conversation,"

"No?"

"I have riever been so insulted in my life!"

"But I am rhe king,l' said Anhur. .,you can'r
sit down in front of the king."
17. Archimedes: Merlyn's owl.
18. ligDum vitae: tjrin for "wood oflife.'

"Rubbish!"

Arrhur began to laugh more than

was

seemly, and his foster brother, Sir Kay, and his

old guardian, Sir Ector, came out from behind

the throne, where they had been hiding. Kay

took off Merlyn's har and put it on Sir Ector,
and Sir'Ector said, "Well, bless my soul, now I
am a necromancer.te Hocus-Pocus." Then
everybody began laughing, including Merlyn
evenrually, and seats were sent for so that they
could sir down, and bottles of wine were
opened so thar it should not be a dry meedng.
"You see," he said proudly,,,I have summoned a council."
There was a pause, for it was the first time
thar Arrhur had made a speech, and he wanted
to collecr his wir for it.
"Well," said the king. ,,It is about chivalry. I
wanr ro ralk about that."
Merlyn was immediately watching him with

a sharp

eye- His.knobbed fingers.fluttered

among the surs and secret signs of his gown,
but he would norlrelp-tlie speakin you
dght
say thar rhrs riiO-rhft-was dle A-dcal bne in his
career-the momenr iowards wlfch he had
been living backward for heaven knows how
many cinturies, and...now. he was to. see for
certain whether he had lived in vain.
"l have been thinking," said Arthur, ,.about
Might and Right. I dont think things ought to
be done because you are able to do them. I
think they should be done because you ought
to do them. After all, a penny is a penny in
any case, however much .Might is exerted on
either side, ro prove rhat it is or is not. Is that
plain?"
Nobody answered"Well, I was talking to Merlyn on the battle-

menr one day, and he mendoned that the last

batde we had-in which seven hundred
kernszo were killed-was not so much fun as I
t9 rrecromancer: masi(ian.
20

kerns: lowborn

f#t

soldiers

Anhur

Becomes

King

759

had thought it was. Of gourse, battles are not

fun when you come to.rhink about riem. I
mean,. people oughr nor ro be killed, ought
they? It is berter to be alive.
"Very well. But the [unny thing is thar Merlyn was helping me ro win battles. He is srill
helping me, for thar matter, and we hope ro
win rhe barde of,.Bedegraine rogether, when it
comes off-"
"We will," said Sir Ector, uho was in rbe
secret.2l

"Thar seems to me ro be inconsisrent. Why

does he help me to fight wars, if they are bad
things?"
There.was no answer from anybody, and rhe
king began to speak wirh agitation.

"I could only think," said he, beginning ro

blush, "I could only think thar l-rhar wethar he-rhat he wanred to win them for

reason.'

He paused and looked at Merlyn, who

turned his head away.
"The reason wis-was it?-the reason was
that if I could be rhe master of my kingdom
by winning rhese two batrles, I could srop rhem
afterwards and then do something about th
business of Might. Have I guessed? Was I
right?"
The magician did not turn his head, and his
hands lay srill in his lap.
"I was!" exclaimed Arthur.
And he began talking so quickly rhat he
could hardly keep up with himself.
"You see," he said, "Might is nor Right. Bur
there is a lot of Might knocking about in this
world, and somerhing has to be done abour it.
It is as if People were half horrible and half
nice. Perhaps they are even more than half
horrible, and when they are left ro themselves
they run wild- You ger the average baron thar
we see.nowadays, people like Sir Bruce Sans
2l
the

jn

the secret. Merlyn has devised

batrle.

secret plan ro

win

Piti, who simply go clod-hopping round the

country dressed in steel, and doing exacrly
what they please, for sporr. It is our Norman
idea about rhe upper classes having a monop-

oly of power, wirhout reference to justice.

Then the horrible side gers uppermosr, and
rhere is rhieving and plunder and torture. The
people become beass.

"But, you see, Merlyn is helping me to win

my two battles so that I can stop this. He wants

me to pur rhings righr.

"Lot and Uriens and Anguish22 and rbose_
rhey are the old world, the old-fashioned order
who want to have their private will. I have got

to vanquish tbem with rheir own weapons_

they force ir upon me, because they iive by
force-and rhen the real work wi begin- This
baule ar Bedegraine is the preliminiry, you
see. h is qFter rhe battle that Merlyn is wanting
me to think abour."
Anhur paused again for commenr or en_
couragement, but the magician's face was
turned away. It was only Sir Ector, sirting next
to him, who could see his eyes.
"Now whar I have thought," said Arthur, ..is
this- Why can'r you harness Might so that it
works for Right? I know it sounds nonsense,
birt, I mean, you can'tjust say there is no such
thing. The Mighr is there, in the bad half of
people, and you can't neglect ir. You can't cut
it out, but you might be able to direct it, if you
see whar I mean; so that it was useful instead
of bad."
The audience was interested. They leaned
forward to listen, except Merlyn.
"My idea is that if we can win this battle in
fronr of us, and get a firm hold of rhe counrry,
then I will institute a sort of order of chivalry.
I will not punish the bad knighs, or hang Lot,
bur I will rry ro.ger rhem into our Order. We
shall have to make it a great honor, you see,
22- Irt and Urins and Anguish local rulers in Brirain
before Arthur_

Arthur

Becomes

King

761

and make ir fashionable and all rhat. Eyerybody must want to be in. And then I shall make
rhe oath of the order rhat Might is only to be
used for Right- Do you follow? The knights in

my order will ride all over the world, still

dressed in steel and whacking away with their
swords-that will give an oudet for wanting ro

whack, you understand, an outlet for what

'spirir-but
Merlyn calls the foxhunting
they
will be bound to strike only on behalf of whar
is good, to restore what has been done wrong
in the past and to help the oppressed and so
forth. Do you see rhe idea?.It will be using the
Might instead of fighdng against it, and turning a bad thing into a good. There, Merlyn,
that is all I can think of. l,, have thought as
hard as I could, and I suppose I am wrong, as
usual. But I did think. I can't do any better.
Please say somerhint!"
The magician stood up as suaight as a pillar,
stretched our his arms in both direcrions,
looked at the ceiling and said the fint 6w
words of rherNunc Dimitris.29
23. NDnc Dirrittis: rhe ride of $ Song ofsimeon (Luke
2: 29--32), from irs fiIsr words in l-arin. The Nunc Dimirlis
begins: "ford, now lettesi rhou thy servanr depan iri pcace
. . . For mine eyes hive sein thi sdvation.- Accordirig ro
the Bibtical accounr, Simeon was an old man who f,ad
t'een allowed by God to live long enough ro sce rhe Messiah. When rhe childJesus was bioughrio him, he urtered
lhese words and \r2s rcedv ro .liF

Reading Check
l.

Why have Sir Ecror and the

tlaro

boys come ro London?

2. Why does Sir Kay send his

s_quire

back to the inn?

3. Whar problem does Arthur find

when he reaches the inn?

4. What does Artlrur assume about

the sword in the stone when he

fint

sees ir?

5. Whdt kind of help does Arthur

in drawing rhe swdrd orit of

ger
rhe

srone?

6. How does Sir Ector test Arthur?

7. Why does Merlyn send the king
away from his room .in rhe tower?

8. Why does Arthur have Merlyn's

seat removed?

9. What does Arthur" intend to do

about the rebels afier he conquers
them?

10. What is Arthur's idea about Might

and Right?

For Stud y and Discussion

Analyzing and lntet preting the Selection

l. In this episode,

how does White show us

that Arrhur was not a very likely person to
become the King'bf England?
2. White's main . source for his novel was
Thomas Malory's Le Murtt Darlhur. But Malory tells us very little about the thoughs or
feelings of the main characters. White, bn the
other hand, makes his characters seem like real
people, so thar lve can identify with them.

a. What thoughts and feelings does Arthur

express after Sir Kay has rather rudely ordered him to find his sword? b. In this incident, what kind of person does White sh<tw
the young Anhur to be?

?62

THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR