In Hartford, Connecticut in the year 1889, Hank Morgan, the supervisor of a gun factory, gets into a dispute with some of his workers. Eventually, one of the workers whacks him over the head with a crowbar, knocking him out. When he awakes some time later, or actually earlier, he finds himself under an Oak tree in England in the year 528. He is then challenged to a joust by Sir Kay, the knight that found him, and quickly climbs up the same tree that he had awoken under to evade capture. However, he is eventually caught and taken to Camelot, where he is brought before King Arthur’s knights of the round table. At first, Hank thinks that he has gone insane and is in an institution, but he gradually realizes that he is actually in sixth-century England. King Arthur gives the order for Hank be burned at the stake on June 21.
Hank then quickly recalls that a significant solar eclipse occurred on June 21, 528. He uses his far more advanced knowledge and cunning skills to attempt to convince King Arthur to let him go. He sends Clarence, a young boy, to deliver a message to King Arthur stating that he will use his magic to blot out the sun if he is not released. However, King Arthur pays him no attention, and on the day of Hank’s execution, the eclipse begins. King Arthur, who is, by this point, a nervous wreck, releases him. He is then made the prime minister and becomes respected by the court. Merlin the wizard envies Hank’s position, and feels that it conflicts with his own. He attempts to convince the people that Hank is not a wizard and cannot perform any miracles, but just to prove him wrong, Hank makes a batch of gunpowder and destroys Merlin’s tower. This secures Hank’s reputation as a powerful wizard and makes Merlin hate him even more.
Years go by as Hank begins to modernize Camelot. He builds roads and sets up schools and factories, where he teaches the people his modern ideas. He introduces newspapers, telephones, and bicycles along with other smaller inventions to try to improve the lives of people in the Dark Ages. Then he meets a girl named Sandy and they get married and leave the country for a little bit. While they are away, war breaks out between King Arthur and Lancelot in which Arthur is killed. The country sinks into chaos. When Hank returns, he hides out in a cave with some teenagers that are loyal to him. They use modern defenses like landmines and even electric fences to battle Lancelot’s fearsome army. Hank is wounded and the teenage boys bring him back to their cave. Merlin returns to exact his revenge and casts a spell on them so that they would fall into an enchanted sleep. Hank then awakes back in nineteenth-century Connecticut in his own bed dying, and the only thing he can think of is Sandy.
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