The Sword in the Stone
novel 1938 The Once and Future King
Record
| First published | 1938 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780399225024 |
Synopsis
An orphan boy named Wart is raised in a medieval castle and trained as a knight's squire. When the wizard Merlyn becomes his tutor, he uses magic to transform Wart into various animals, providing him with unique lessons about the world. The story follows Wart's journey as he discovers his true identity and destiny.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Once and Future King
- Series: not part of a registered series (standalone work within its universe)
- Author: T.H. White
Notes
- The original standalone 1938 edition, textually distinct from the version revised for the 1958 omnibus: the original includes a Madame Mim/Merlyn magical-duel sequence and other comic material later cut, and lacks the ant-colony/wild-geese episodes added from Book of Merlyn in 1958. Disney's 1963 animated film drew on this 1938 text, not the 1958 revision. Registered separately to preserve the historical record without double-counting content against the unified 1958 Core Canon entry.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within The Once and Future King (standalone work): position 1 of 4: next The Witch in the Wood (1939)
Sources
← The Once and Future King dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.