The Imagery of the Shrine
Merlin recounts, “I had already done homage, in the small hours between moonlight and sunrise, in the forest shrine where Arthur had lifted the sword of Maximus from the stone altar, and by that act declared himself the rightful king... I had a debt to pay to the gods of the place…It was sacred first to the gods of the land itself, the small spirits that haunt hill and stream and forest, together with the greater gods of air, whose power breathes through cloud and frost and speaking wind…But the place was still haunted with all its ancient holiness; the older gods received their sacrifices, and the nine-fold lights still burned unquenched by the open doorway.” The shrine is utterly consecrated, considering that it offers a platform through which mortals covey their sacrifices to the gods. The copious numbers of goads that are associated with the shrine allude, thus, to polytheism. King Arthur seeks the approval of the gods by participating in a ritual which involves the symbolic sword.
The Imagery of “The Great Sword of Maximus”
Merlin explains, “Here, (Chapel in the green) I had finally hidden the great sword of Maximus (whom the Welsh called Macsen), until the boy should come of an age to lift it, and with it drive the kingdom’s enemies out and destroy them. The Emperor Maximus himself had done so, a hundred years before, and men thought of the great sword now as a talisman, a god-sent sword of magic, to be wielded only for victory, and only by the man who had the right.” The sword is utterly mystical based on the power it confers to the lifter. It cannot be replaced by any other sword; hence, Merlin undertakes the duty of safeguarding it. Its magical attributes differentiates it from all other swords. Moreover, its capacity to endure for a century accentuates its supremacy.
