In Book II, The Queen of Air and Darkness, Arthur devises the idea of the Round Table. The Round Table is integral to his concept of Might vs. Right; Arthur wants to find a way to harness the power of Might to ensure Right, so that violence is only ever committed to uphold justice. Fundamental to this idea is the Order of the Round Table—a sort of club where knights keep true to the values of justice and morality to be a part of the Order. The Round Table is conceived as a mechanism for maintaining equality between the knights and so they do not squabble over rank. The Round Table becomes a symbol throughout the novel for Arthur's idea of justice—its literal non-hierarchical form symbolizes Arthur's quest to uphold morality and dissolve the superficial, hierarchical system of chivalry.
The Round Table Quotes in The Once and Future King
The The Once and Future King quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Round Table. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Book 3, Chapter 27
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Simple because we have got justice. We have achieved what we were fighting for, and now we still have the fighters on our hands. Don't you see what has happened? We have run out of things to fight for, so all the fighters of the Table are going to rot.
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Book 4, Chapter 14
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There would be a day—there must be a day—when he would come back to Gramayre with a new Round Table which had no corners, just as the world had none—a table without boundaries between the nations who would sit to feast there. The hope of making it would lie in culture.
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The Round Table Symbol Timeline in The Once and Future King
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Round Table appears in The Once and Future King. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 2, Chapter 8
...Merlyn about his vision for the Order. Arthur decides the knights must sit at a round table , to prevent hierarchy, and that he will call them the Knights of the Round...
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Book 4, Chapter 14
...his papers. He is tired; he has been broken by the recent two battles. The Round Table is now dispersed. He feels that he has failed the service Merlyn trained him for—to...
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Book 3, Chapter 9
...the kingdom. Arthur quickly turns somber and admits that things are going poorly with the Round Table . He had originally created the Table as a way to combat violence and establish...
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...Morgause’s attention and love. Lancelot brushes off King Arthur’s concerns and proudly declares that “The Round Table is the best thing that ever happened.” Arthur, who had been holding his head in...
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