Arthur Receiving Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake

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Arthur Receiving Excalibur from the Lady of the
Lake

• Mural at the Oxford Union Library
• by John Hungerford Pollen

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The Mural (painted between 1857 and 1859)
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The Artist John Hungerford Pollen

• Lived 1820 to 1902
• First worked with the Pre-Raphaelites on the
  Oxford Union Murals
• Before this, he was Professor of Fine Arts at
  Dublin, where he decorated Merton Chapel
• Later did stained glass work, most notably at St.
  Wilfreds, Ripon

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The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

• A secret society founded in rebellion to the
  Royal Academy
• Led by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
• Believed that the only true great art came from
  before the 16th century (CA 316)
• Subject matter based on medieval tales, bible
  stories, mythology, and nature
• Also drew on Shakespeare, Keats, and Tennyson

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The Story Arthur Receives Excalibur

• In those old days, one summer noon, an arm
• Rose up from our the bosom of the lake,
• Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
• Holding the sword and how I rowed across
• And took it, and have worn it like a king.
• Morte DArthur, lines 29-33, Tennyson, 1842
  (Course Anthology p. 308)

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The Story Arthur Receives Excalibur

• The sword Arthur pulled out of the stone broke in
  two during a fight with King Pellinor
• Arthur receives Excalibur from the Lady of the
  Lake
• Excalibur means Cut-Steel and was originally
  called Caliburn which means a magical sword
  from Avalon
• The magical scabbard protects the bearer from
  harm
• The sword is returned to the lake after Arthur is
  fatally wounded

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The Story The Lady of the Lake

• Ambiguity about her identity
• The one who gives Arthur the sword is unnamed
• The one who takes it back is called Niniane,
  Viviane, Vivien, or Nimue
• Called Nimue when referring to her romance with
  and imprisonment of Merlin
• Shares roles with Morgan Le Fay sometimes
  considered aspects of the same character

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The Story The Lady of the Lake

• Origins
• A Celtic water deity
• In Celtic tradition, offerings (such as weapons
  or other valuables) to the water goddesses were
  thrown into bodies of water
• Tradition retained today by throwing coins into
  water