ENG 283E: Our Premodern Epics: How Epics Create Culture and Vice Versa

Malory's Morte D'Arthur - Lady of the Lake Warren Zhang

King Arthur is gifted the second Excalibur by the Lady of the Lake. After losing in a duel against Pellinore, where the latter famously "smote King Arthur's sword in two pieces" (Chapter XXIII), our protagonist is brought by Merlin to the Lady of the Lake, the location of whom is speculated to have been at numerous places (much like the rest of the epic). The Lady of the Lake tells Arthur "if ye will give me a gift when I ask it you, ye shall have it" (Chapter XXV). In Arthur's head, this sounds relatively fair; a sword for an unnamed favor in the future was reasonable at the time because he needed to regain the confidence of his subjects, something the advisers of his court held of the utmost importance. He sought out the means to reestablish himself as a superior knight, and so he agreed to repay a favor in the future. This event confirms "the role of violence in the constitution of masculine identity" (Finke, 117). Not only does it explain King Arthur's wanting to be seen as a competent knight, but it also leads to the later death of a huge number of others, furthering the violent culture that was prevalent at the time Malory had written the Morte D'Arthur. The Lady of the Lake later asks Arthur for Balin's head, but this exchange results in Balin ironically beheading her instead. Because this places him in Arthur's bad graces, he attempts to accumulate a massive body count in order to win back his respect, and this is one of the more violent showings of manhood in the epic. The events that unfold simply because Merlin wanted to get Arthur another sword is essential in understanding the culture of Arthur's kingdom and what they prioritized; it became increasingly clear that they believed violence was a necessary evil in order to preserve traits such as chivalry, masculinity, and honor.

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