The Once and Future King (1958) — Index
Author: T.H. White
Published: 1958 (composite of The Sword in the Stone 1938, The Witch in the Wood 1939, The Ill-Made Knight 1940, The Candle in the Wind 1958)
Full text: once-and-future-king-white-1958.pdf (Berkley 1958, 27 MB) — in ~/dev/wget/white/ (copyright; not in repo)
White’s Primary Sources (Downloaded)
All full texts in ~/dev/wget/white/ (copyright; not in repo):
| Source | File | Notes |
| Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur (c. 1470) | malory-morte-darthur-gutenberg.txt | White’s main source; Cambridge thesis subject; basis for Round Table, Arthur, Lancelot, Grail |
| J.A. Giles (ed.), Old English Chronicles | giles-old-english-chronicles-incl-geoffrey-gutenberg.txt | Includes Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136)—earliest major Arthurian text; also Gildas, Nennius |
| Lady Charlotte Guest (tr.), The Mabinogion | mabinogion-gutenberg.txt | Welsh tales; includes Culhwch and Olwen—oldest Arthurian tale (pre-Galfridian), Arthur’s court, knights |
Sources Not Yet Downloaded
- French Vulgate Cycle (13th c.) — Malory’s French sources; Lancelot-Grail cycle
- Wace, Roman de Brut (1155) — Verse adaptation of Geoffrey; first mention of Round Table
- Layamon, Brut (c. 1190) — First English Arthurian poem
- Chrétien de Troyes — Perceval (Grail), Lancelot
Plot Summary
Arthur’s life from boyhood (Wart, tutored by Merlin) through kingship, the Round Table, Lancelot and Guinevere, the Grail quest, Mordred’s betrayal, and Arthur’s death. White modernizes Malory with 20th-century idiom, comedy, and themes of war, human nature, and governance. The Round Table—knights in fellowship around a circular table—is central.
Cross-References
- Jupiter replaces Saturn: “Pre-Galfridian Arthurian legend describes King Arthur (Jupiter) orbiting a round table with Lancelot (Mars) and lesser knights defending Britain from fire-monsters (Sun), dragons and witches (Venus).”
- Planets at War: “The new ‘Round Table’ configuration dominated by Jupiter kept the planets close in a circular mini-orbit.”
- Planets at War / Round Table configuration
Saturnian Cosmology Mapping
- Arthur and Merlin = two aspects of Jupiter (same character split). Merlin parallels Moses; long flowing beard = coma ejection from Jupiter’s south pole = Mountain of Heaven (Sinai, Olympus).
- Holy Grail = Tree of Life, Yggdrasil, Axis Mundi—the Golden Age configuration “lost” when it ended. The quest = seeking a new sun age.
- Once and Future King = slow emergence of our Sun over time to drive away all the fallen god-kings.
Investigations
- white-saturnian-round-table-investigation.md — thesis: Arthur/Merlin = Jupiter (dual aspect); Grail = Tree of Life; Once and Future King = Sun emergence; Mars, Venus, Earth, Jupiter in “Round Table” nonlinear configuration.
- white-excalibur-sulphur-mercury-investigation.md — Sulphur + mercury: White does not mention them; Excalibur (1981) adds an alchemical catechism (Merlin–Morgana). Book–movie differences; managed-disclosure hypothesis (suppressed gold-transmutation knowledge, British Empire / currency protection).
Keywords: #Once #Future #King
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