Shiny!

Hey, all! Sorry I haven't been blogging lately...registration has been looming over me like a sinister Sword Bridge (yay, references!) but I'd never miss a blog post! What I wanted to talk about today was the parallels between The Lady of Shalott and the Passing of Arthur from The Idylls of the King. 
                First of all, Tennyson's writing is beautiful...so melancholy. There was one line that especially caught me eye from The Idylls of the King (around line 125):

"Thou wouldst betray me for the precious hilt;
Either from lust of gold, or like a girl
Valuing the giddy pleasure of the eyes"

In other words, Arthur is displeased with Sir Bedivere, so he's calling names. (I'm not sure if I'd be much better if my head was split.)

 Here is another section describing the appearance of Arthur's beloved sword (around line 51):


"There drew he forth the brand Excalibur,
And o'er him, drawing it, the winter moon,
Brightening the skirts of a long cloud, ran forth
And sparkled keen with frost against the hilt:
For all the haft twinkled with diamond sparks,
Myriads of topaz-lights, and jacinth-work
Of subtlest jewellery. He gazed so long
That both his eyes were dazzled as he stood..."


As you can see, Excalibur is described as being bright like a star, leaving Bedivere in awe as a girl would be from seeing something pleasurable. (You know how us silly girls are...) 
 
Let's look at a girl he may have parallelism with in The Lady of Shalott:

"The gemmy bridle glitter'd free, 

Like to some branch of stars we see 

Hung in the golden Galaxy. 

The bridle bells rang merrily  85           

As he rode down to Camelot: 

And from his blazon'd baldric slung 

A mighty silver bugle hung, 

And as he rode his armour rung,            

Beside remote Shalott.  90  

All in the blue unclouded weather 

Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather, 

The helmet and the helmet-feather 

Burn'd like one burning flame together,            

As he rode down to Camelot.  95

As often thro' the purple night, 

Below the starry clusters bright, 

Some bearded meteor, trailing light,            

Moves over still Shalott.   

His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd; 100

On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode; 

From underneath his helmet flow'd" 

 This is how The Lady of Shalott sees Lancelot. She is as much as in awe of Lancelot as Bedivere is in seeing Excalibur. But is it Excalibur himself (yes...I wrote like Tennyson!) that has Bedivere in awe, or is it what the sword is symbolizing:  King Arthur, The Round Table, and Camelot? Most importantly, King Arthur and his rein. In seeing Escalibur shine bright like a diamond (lol), Bedivere is filled with nostalgia of once was as The Lady of Shalott is filled with a similar emotion upon seeing Lancelot. This, of course, introduces the question on whether one can feel nostalgia for something he or she has never experienced?

Unless you just have a really bad memory like this character.

In seeing the beautiful, curly haired Lancelot, The Lady is filled with the sorrow of what could have been: a life of love, passion, and glory, possibly with him. When Bedivere feels sorrow at the idea of the end of the Round Table, it is because these knights have experienced love, passion, and glory together. While Bedivere may realize that throwing Excalibur in the lake will bring on the death of Arthur, The Lady of Shalott realizes that Lancelot may bring upon the death of herself.

"She has a lovely face."

Well that was philosophical. I feel like Cicero. Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

 

Oh! Such Magnificence and Fame in Your Round Shape!

The title does, in fact, refer to the Round Table; the one that brought all of King Arthur's knights together for some nice, manly bonding in politics and war ( Ah those bloody Romans).  And perhaps just to chat...no probably not.

They just look so symmetrical, it's amazing! I really like this depiction of the round table from First Knight

But you are probably thinking "Duh, the Round Table is Arthur 101" and you would be right, since it is brought up so often in Arthurian legends that it goes hand in hand with Camelot! However, to me the table also brings together the knights whom I have grown up reading about since I first began my journey with this king of legend.

The  book above was written by Gerald Morris, and is included in my influence map! I read the book in sixth grade, and it actually focuses more on Gawain, and his page Terence, then on King Arthur. This book also made me more fascinated with the knights of the round table in general ( it was also humorous as the front cover demonstrates, I mean I usually don't ride a horse in that manner). So instead of focusing on the king himself the books succeeded in glorifying Arthur through his knights and the people, much like legends show.

"...these three rings represent
the unity of our kingdom.
As a knight, I took an oath...to protect Camelot, King Arthur
...and Excalibur."

With the round table, and the knights who sit there, there comes to mind the great sword of King Arthur: Excalibur. I grew up with the beautiful movie Quest for Camelot ( thus the picture) and so I have always viewed the sword as a mighty magical gift that brings the kingdom together. Yet, in the reading Geoffrey refers to the sword as Caliburn. I was puzzled at that moment but after looking into the name I discovered it was the same sword but just different context. Meaning: it is the difference between Welsh legend (Caledfwich) and the later altered name in Continental Europe: Excalibur. Yes, it bothered me immensely why the sword had different names! Glory to the internet for leading me to salvation!