The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur

The famous sword of King Arthur functions both as a motif and a symbol in the novel. As a motif, it illustrates the idea of unlikely heroes, as both Arthur and Collum are unknown at the time they get a hold of the sword. This shows that the sword recognizes their innate purity and heroism.

While Excalibur is conflated with the sword that Arthur pulled out of the stone when he was a teenager, Bedivere notes that the two swords are, in fact, different. The sword in the stone breaks during an early battle, after which Merlin accompanies Arthur to a lake. The hand of the Lady of the Lake—a Pagan water deity—rises from the water, presenting Excalibur to Arthur. Thus, Excalibur in the novel symbolizes both Pagan magic and Christian grace. The ruler who accepts both is the most apt king or queen for Britain. Lancelot, who throws Excalibur in the mud in Ystradel’s land, thereby symbolically rejecting the sword’s dual nature, can never be that king. Guinevere, on the other hand, understands the sword’s true nature, which is why Collum presents the sword to her.

The Holy Lance is an important Christian relic in the Arthurian lore, referring to the spear with which a Roman soldier pierced Jesus’ side to check if the latter was dead. The Lance has an ambiguous nature in folklore and can be destructive. In The Bright Sword too, the Lance behaves strangely. It injures King Bran simply because the king dared to pick it up and disappears. Later, when the knights of the Round Table take up the quest for the spear, the relic leads them along a tortuous path. The ambiguous portrayal indicates that in the novel, the Lance symbolizes the dogmatic and exclusionary aspects of Christianity.

In some folk stories, Arthur is not dead but just resting on the magical island of Avalon, from which he will return one day to rule England. The text uses Avalon as a motif and symbol. The motif of Avalon illustrates the theme of The Reconstruction of Identity and Purpose in the Absence of Leadership. Since the characters are lost without Arthur, they cling to the hope that the king is alive at Avalon and will be resurrected. As the association with resurrection shows, Avalon borrows from Christian symbolism. Like Jesus, Arthur will also rise to reclaim his rightful place as king of Britain. Thus, Avalon is a symbol of hope and life beyond death.

It can be argued that the reason Avalon became a central element in Arthurian lore is that successive generations used it to build a nationalist consciousness and establish the idea of a king ordained by God. For instance, for the medieval Welsh people, the return of Arthur of Avalon was a reason for them to defend their lands against Anglo-Saxons. Later, royal dynasties such as the Plantagenets would claim they were ruling in Arthur’s stead. Grossman subverts the lore by decisively killing off Arthur’s character in Avalon, with Arthur himself stating that he does not wish to return. Thus, in the novel, Avalon ultimately symbolizes change.