ARTHUR, KING Son of Uther Pendragon, king of Britain, and Igraine, wife of Duke Gorlois of Cornwall, Arthur was conceived out of wedlock, and brought up by the wizard Merlin. As a youth he revealed his true heritage by drawing out the magical sword Excalibur from the stone into which it had been thrust, and from which none but the true king of Britain could budge it. Crowned at the age of fifteen, Arthur's military campaigns were always successful, and he soon expanded the British Empire, but his doom was sealed when he married Guinevere, against the advice of Merlin. Guinevere was in love with Sir Lancelot, and the infidelity of his queen cost Arthur an uprising by his nephew, Mordred. A great battle ensued, and almost all of Arthur's Knights of the Round Table were slain, Arthur himself badly wounded. He cast Excalibur into a lake, and was himself taken by the fairies to Avalon.