Hunter David's story about The Once And Future King

I first read ‘The Once and Future King’ in my early teens, at a time when boys read stories of fantasy and adventure. But I found a book that was more than just a ripping yarn. It is a re-working of Mallory’s ‘Morte d’Arthur’, written ostensibly for children but with adult wisdom – simply told with deceptive depth. The book remains true to Mallory in telling the story of Arthur and his knights but through the prism of the author’s experience of the first half of the 20th century. Ultimately, the story is a tragedy as might triumphs over right but, even in defeat, the struggle is worthwhile.

TH White is a romantic with an idealised vision of the Middle Ages, in reaction to the awful things he sees happening in the modern world. Nevertheless, like his characters, he tries to make sense of what is happening and is too honest to find simple answers or simple villains. It is not easy trying to live up to your ideals and the main characters all struggle – and fail – in various ways. Yet their struggle is all the more heroic because of their weaknesses. And sometimes struggle is all we have.

The life-changing part for me was the description of Lancelot - ‘the ill-made knight’ – who, despite public acclaim, suffers from bouts of depression and mental illness. Lancelot believes himself unlovable. He looks at his reflection and sees only his own ugliness. He struggles always to be good because he sees a blackness within himself and is afraid of the monster he thinks he will become if he ever lets go. I could identify with that and how many other children fear they are unlovable or feel guilty about the ‘darkness’ of their ‘true’ nature?

Through this book, I began to come to come to terms with myself. If I could sympathise with Lancelot, I needn’t be so hard on myself. At the start, just knowing that others felt these things was a revelation and a comfort. Later, it gave me tolerance and understanding of others as I grew up and out of my own childhood and teenage angst.

But the book is so much more. It is a story well told and an old story re-told. And it has all the rich detail and complexity of a finely woven tapestry. Arthur is the ‘candle in the wind’, trying to do the right thing against the odds and, if that is not an inspiration to generations of young and old idealists, it should be.