La Maja del Tarot by Leonora Carrington. Source: ArtStack
So a girl in Sweden pulled a sword out of a lake–to be specific a fifteen-hundred year old sword which, even though I’m not very good at math, would, I think, date it to the sixth century. And naturally I thought, all hail our new Queen who, appropriately enough, is named Saga, although she can call herself whatever she wants, especially if she’s holding a sword. This could, for all we know, be Excalibur. It’s not clear where Avalon really is and, as far as we know, Arthur traveled to Scandinavia before shuffling off his mortal armor. Maybe Bedivere followed him and that’s where he sent Arthur’s legendary sword back to the Lady Of The Lake. It’s where Beowulf came from, and maybe where he went back to after his dust-up with Grendel and his aquatic skirmish with Grendel’s mother, but that’s another story. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords may not be the basis for a system of government but a young woman finding a sword while swimming could very well be a sign of something. And, hey, how often does that sort of thing happen, anyway?
Well, as it turns out, it also happened last year. In England. According to the report that sword isn’t that old and was probably a film prop, but I think that may be a clever deception. How often do film props get left lying around? And how many films have been shot at the legendary Dozmary Pool anyway? Even though nearby Bodmin Moor is where Sherlock Holmes chased the infamous Hound of the Baskervilles, but he didn’t do it with a sword, and a dip into the muddy waters of the internet didn’t turn up any of the film adaptations making use of the location. A few documentaries have been shot there but none that are likely to have left any swords lying around.
Maybe this is a mystery best left unsolved, and maybe these two separate finds coming so close together is just a coincidence, but I still hope there’s a bright future for these young women who aren’t afraid to seize an opportunity.
I’ve ALWAYS wanted to find a sword in a lake when swimming! Luckyyyyyy!
Clearly you’re picking the wrong lakes. For all we know European lakes are filled with swords and it just occurred to me that might even be the inspiration for that part of the Arthur myth.
But if you find a gold ring in a lake treat it with care.
Wow–and I was excited to find gold flakes in a stream in Alaska!
At least you’re not carrying the gold flakes around calling them “my precious”. And finding gold flakes is pretty cool. You got to keep them. I’m pretty sure the girl in Sweden has to give up her sword to some dumb old museum or something.
Hell, I get excited when I find $5 in my coat pocket from last winter. Surprises are good.
Finding %5 in a coat pocket from last winter is an especially good surprise. That’s a great way to start the season.
How often does one have the opportunity to quote Monty Python naturally? Quoting Monty Python usually stands on its own or as a pun or a meme. Very nicely done. Also, my first thought after reading your first sentence.
And you referenced Beowulf AND Grendel. I thought I was the only renegade reader who actually appreciated Beowulf! I think we would be good friends if we ever met.
Monty Python is so deeply embedded in my consciousness that I find myself quoting it sometimes without even thinking about it.
And really aren’t there a lot of readers who appreciate Beowulf? Tolkien really brought it to attention as a great work of literature and of course there’s John Gardener’s books. I’m just sort of kicking myself now that I didn’t reference Sir Gawain and The Green Knight.
Anyway I’m glad we’d be good friends.
😂😂 This made my day! This is the wondrous stuff of legend! (And a dream come true for any fantasy-loving-adolescent! ahem me forever!)
“So flash’d and fell the brand Excalibur:
But ere he dipt the surface, rose an arm
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
And caught him by the hilt, and brandish’d him
Three times, and drew him under in the mere.” (Tennyson, Morte d’Arthur)
This comment absolutely made my day. Thank you so much for reminding me of Tennyson. My college years are more years behind me than I care to think about but I’ve never forgotten these lines that inspired me to write a villanelle many years ago:
O me! for why is all around us here
As if some lesser god had made the world,
But had not force to shape it as he would,
Till the High God behold it from beyond,
And enter it, and make it beautiful?
-from Idylls Of The King
I once found a wallet full of cash sitting on a fence at a friend’s house. It was amazing because it was the exact same wallet I had left on the fence there two days before. Things don’t have to be ancient to be precious.
Camelot would never work today, though. Too scandalous for our politics. 😉
Wait. You left a wallet full of cash on a fence and then found it again two days later exactly where you left it?
Anyway Camelot was scandalous even in its own time. That’s why Arthur’s kingdom fell apart.
Girl power! And the blog might be mightier than the sword, Chris.
I’ve noticed that a lot of bloggers are women–including most of my favorite bloggers–and that definitely shows girl power.
Fun stuff like this never happens to me…
Hey, you make all kinds of fun stuff for yourself. Which is better–something that just happens to you or an adventure you create for yourself?
I’m just disappointed that one turned out to be a film prop 😉
I’m disappointed by that too, but the mystery is, which film? It must have been lost by someone passing through which makes it a little more interesting.