The Passing of Arthur

     So it is a little late for me to start blogging, but better late than never.  I enjoyed the passing of Arthur, mainly because it brought about change.  I felt that this time period with Arthur as king was a great time of prosperity and triumph, but it was of tradition.  Yes traditions are great, but sometimes if that is all that is followed then there is no growth.  The kingdom would be stuck in a time where tradition ruled the day.  Like waiting for something to happen before anyone could eat diner, should had been a tradition that never even started.  If I'm hungry, I better be eating dinner with or without something happening.
     Now it is the end of King Arthur's reign and now he must give his sward back to the Lady of the Lake.  Reading this passage again, I took throwing the sward back into the lake as a chance of rebirth.  Merlin prophesied Arthur would come again, so I looked at this, that because it was his sward why not place it where no one else can get it.  Then when he comes again, go back and take the sward again.
     We also talked about in class how in line 155ish the sward became a "he", but Arthur describes it as a "he" first in like 36.  I think this is why Sir. Bedivere, and most likely other knight would call it a "he".  If their king did, then they would follow suit.
     For someone that is cut in the head, Arthur does a really good job at articulating specific details about the things Sir. Bedivere is supposed to see and hear when he throws the sward into the lake. Literally this would not be possible.  If concussions prevent people from articulating properly, then a wound "so deeply smitten through the helm" would certainly immobilize someone.
     So I ignored the reality and saw that the wound represented the inner battles Arthur faced during his life, and that's why the wound was so deep.  Giving up his sward represented accepting that his reign his over and that he is dead inside.
     The symbolism in Sir. Bedivere taking three times could be compared with the Jesus story with Peter denying knowing Jesus three times.  I interpreted it as Sir. Bedivere seeing the tradition of King Arthur's kingdom coming down, and all of the people they knew were dying or dead.  I didn't look at the multiple times meaning different things, but that he was conflicted.  If this was going to be the end of Arthur, he wanted to make sure it was the truth.
     At the end of the poem, there were three queens dressed in black.  There is the in three again in the poem.  I never fully understood why there needs to be threes, but there should have been one.  At the end the poem talks about the sun bringing in the New Year.  After thinking, to me it seems like this whole thing took place in the time of the celebrations Arthur would have.  That is just crappy timing for his court to have to say their goodbyes to their beloved king and have their first festival without him.  Well onwards and upwards and just like this poem is the end of a tradition, this is the end of my blog post.