King Arthur and the Round Table (Campfire Story)

In the early days of Arthur's reign, the great hall at Camelot was a noisy place. The KNIGHTS came from every corner of Britain, and they were brave and strong. But they were also proud, and every one of them wanted to sit closest to the king.

At the long feasting table, the best seat was at the head, beside Arthur. The next best was beside that, and so on down the table to the very foot, by the door, where the drafts blew in and the dogs begged for scraps. And every single feast, the KNIGHTS argued about who should sit where.

'I should sit nearest the king,' said one. 'I have won six tournaments!'

'You?' said another. 'My grandfather was a king!' THUMP went his fist on the table.

'And I,' said a third, 'have slain a giant!' THUMP!

One Christmas, the quarrel grew so hot that swords were drawn right there in the hall, and two good KNIGHTS were nearly killed over a chair. Arthur stood up and roared for silence. When the hall was quiet, he looked at all of them, sadly. 'We are supposed to be the protectors of this land,' he said. 'And we cannot even eat supper together.'

That night Arthur could not sleep. He walked the halls of Camelot until morning, thinking. How could he make his KNIGHTS stop fighting over who was first?

A few days later, a carpenter came to Camelot with a wagon, and the wagon carried the strangest table anyone had ever seen. It was perfectly round. It was so big that it took two hundred men to carry it into the great hall, and there were seats all the way around it, each one exactly like the next.

The KNIGHTS walked around and around it, scratching their heads. 'But where is the head of the table?' one asked.

'There isn't one,' said Arthur, and he smiled. 'At a round table, no seat is higher than any other. The newest squire and the oldest lord sit side by side. Even the king's chair is no better than yours. Here, every knight is equal, and every knight is honored.'

The hall was silent. Then one by one, the KNIGHTS sat down. For the first time anyone could remember, there was no quarrel at supper.

But Arthur was not finished. 'A seat at this table,' he said, 'is not a reward for being strong. It is a promise. Every knight who sits here must swear an oath, and keep it, every day of his life.'

And so, at the great feast of Pentecost, the KNIGHTS of the Round Table stood, laid their hands on their swords, and swore the oath of chivalry. They promised:

To never be cruel, and never do murder or outrage.
To always flee from treason, and never betray a friend.
To show mercy to anyone who asks for mercy.
To always help those who need protecting.
And never to fight in a wrongful cause, not for any law, and not for all the riches of the world.

Every year at Pentecost they swore it again, so that no knight could ever say he had forgotten. And the KNIGHTS of the Round Table became the most famous company of heroes the world has ever known. Not because they were the strongest, though they were strong. Because they kept their oath.

'KNIGHTS!'

Storyteller tips: for Scouts, pause after the oath and ask which parts of it sound like the Scout Oath and Law. Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind and brave are all in there.

A great round table made over 700 years ago still hangs on the wall of the Great Hall at Winchester Castle in England, painted with the names of Arthur's knights.