King Arthur: The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king!
Dennis the peasant: Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony… you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you! If I went ’round sayin’ I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they’d put me away! - Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The Holy Woman The Lady of the Lake
- Role: The Enigmatic Guide and Guardian of Excalibur
- The Lady of the Lake is a mystical figure who aids Arthur by granting him Excalibur and assisting Merlin.
- Symbolism: She embodies the feminine aspect of the divine, offering wisdom, magic, and protection.
- Purpose: She acts as a bridge between the mortal world and the magical otherworld.
Lady of the Lake is a Sophia figure….
There likewise I beheld Excalibur Before him at his crowning borne, the sword That rose from out the bosom of the lake, And Arthur rowed across and took it--rich With jewels, elfin Urim, on the hilt, Bewildering heart and eye--the blade so bright That men are blinded by it--on one side, Graven in the oldest tongue of all this world, "Take me," but turn the blade and ye shall see, And written in the speech ye speak yourself, "Cast me away!" And sad was Arthur's face Taking it, but old Merlin counselled him, "Take thou and strike! the time to cast away Is yet far-off." So this great brand the king Took, and by this will beat his foemen down.
- Alfred Lord Tennyson - The Coming Of Arthur
Excalibur
Sidney Lanier. The Boy's King Arthur
“The legend of Excalibur may have originated from the ancient Celtic tradition of casting precious items, including swords, into pools or lakes as offerings to a water goddess. Many such items have been discovered by archaeologists in the beds of dried-up lakes across Europe. For example, almost 200 such votive offerings – including swords - have been found at Llyn Cerrig Bach, a lake in Anglesey, North Wales. The Romans documented that such practices were believed to bring good fortune. They even adopted the custom themselves by tossing coins into springs and ponds, eventually giving rise to the tradition of wishing wells. The Romans also noted that British Celts would cast warriors’ swords into lakes as part of a funerary rite as offerings to a goddess, a very similar theme to the story of Arthur's sword being thrown to the mysterious water nymph, the Lady of the Lake, as the king lies dying.”
"According to the legend, Arthur demonstrated his innate right to be the legitimate king of all of England by passing the so-called test of the sword, namely, by successfully taking a sword out of a great quadrangular stone on the altar of the temple, obviously a variation of the 'stone of kings' that belonged to the ancient tradition of the Tuatha de Danaan. Here we find a double, convergent symbolism. On the one hand, we have the general symbolism of the 'foundation stone', which hints at the polar idea; thus the allegory and the myth allegedly refer to a virile power (i.e., the sword) that needs to be drawn from that principle. On the other hand, to take the sword out of the stone may also signify the freeing of a certain power from matter, since the stone often represents this meaning. This also agrees with another episode in the legend, that in which Arthur, led by Merlin, seizes the sword Caliburn or Excalibur, which is held by a mysterious arm hovering over the waters. But this weapon, forged in Avalon, is related to the Supreme Center; its being held above the water symbolizes a force detached from the conditions of the material, passional, and contingent life, to which a fundamental aspect of the symbolism of water always referred. Such a life must be overcome, not only by those who yearn to receive a regal mandate from the 'center' and become leaders of men in a higher sense, but also by every knight who wants to be worthy of belonging to the followers of Arthur and ultimately to find the Grail again." –Julius Evola, The Mystery of the Grail
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Nimue (Viviane)
The Enchantress
- Role: The Lady of the Lake and Merlin’s Protégé
- Nimue is an enigmatic figure often associated with the Lady of the Lake. She is Merlin's apprentice, lover, or both, and in many versions, she ultimately traps Merlin in a cave or tree.
- Symbolism: Nimue embodies the dual nature of magic—creation and destruction, nurturing and controlling. She serves as a counterbalance to Merlin’s wisdom.
- Purpose: She protects Arthur by giving him Excalibur and, in some tales, acts as a mentor to other knights.
