Saturday Rave: The Sword in the Stone by TH White.

"Who's there?"shrieked Galapas, wheeling round at the fifth cell.
"It's nothing," cried Merlyn. "Only a mouse."
The giant Galapas whipped out his mighty sword, and stared backwards down the narrow passage with his torch held high above his head.
"Nonsense," he said. "Mice don't talk in human speech."
"Eek," said Merlyn, hoping this would do.

Young Wart is taken on a whole series of adventures by Merlin as he grows up (which he does, like all of us, without really noticing it).

The Sword in the Stone is a glorious mash-mash of beauty ('the big logs roared in the fire - the beech blue-flamy and relentless, the elm showy and soon gone, the holly bright, or the pine with his smoking scents') and anachronisms (one of Galapas's cells has an advertising man in it) and fun.

And then there's the cunning title, which lets us know from the start that there's going to be a happy ending at last.

There are knights, monsters, and the Questing Beast, too.

Really, what more could anyone want?

Word To Use Today: sword. This word is from the Old High German swert. Swords having been always special and useful, it's always meant pretty much the same thing.