27. EXCALIBUR. Arthur's magical sword. It is described in The Coming of Arthur, ll. 295 f., as:
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."
It has been variously held that Excalibur typifies temporal authority, or spiritual power. The casting away of the sword, therefore, represents the inevitable change in which human things are involved, and even faith itself. Compare Morte d'Arthur, ll. 240-241.
Magical weapons and enchanted armour are a portion of the equipment of almost all the great legendary heroes. Their swords and their horses usually bear distinctive names. Roland's sword was Durandal, and Charlemagne's was Joyeuse.
37. FLING HIM. The sword is viewed as possessing life.
THE MIDDLE MERE. Compare a similar classical construction in Oenone, l. 10, topmost Gargarus.
53-55. THE WINTER MOON—HILT. The frosty air made the moonlight more than usually brilliant.
60. THIS WAY—MIND. An echo of Vergil's line, Aeneid, VIII. 20. Atque animum nunc huc celerem, nunc dividit illuc. "And he divides his swift mind now this way, now that."
63. MANY-KNOTTED WATER FLAGS. Dr. Sykes has a careful note on this expression (Select Poems of Tennyson; Gage & Co.). "The epithet many-knotted is difficult to explain. The possible explanations would refer the description to (1) the root-stock of the flag, which shows additional bulbs from year to year; (2) the joints in the flower stalks, of which some half-dozen may be found on each stalk; (3) the large seed-pods that terminate in stalks, a very noticeable feature when the plant is sere; (4) the various bunches or knots of iris in a bed of the plants, so that the whole phrase suggests a thickly matted bed of flags. I favour the last interpretation, though Tennyson's fondness of technical accuracy in his references makes the second more than possible."
70-71. I HEARD—CRAG. It is interesting to read Chapter V., Book XXI. of Malory in connection with Tennyson's version of the story. He is throughout true to the spirit of the original. A propos of lines 70-71, we find in Malory: "What saw thou, there?" said the King. "Sir," he said, "I saw nothing but the waters wap and the waves wan." Tennyson, in these two lines, gives us a consummate example of creative imitation.