The Excalibur

King Arthur's history and legend is intimately linked to the magic and mysterious sword Excalibur. As Merling the wizard and the protector of Arthur, has proclaimed, only the one able to put the sword out of the stone would be the king. Arthur, knelt in front of the stone fulfilled this deed, took the sword, went with it to the cathedral and offered it in the altar. Arthur was anointed with the Sacred Oil and in presence of all the barons and common people, he solemnly swore to be a loyal king and to defend Truth and Justice all the days of his life.

King Arthur was guided by Merlin and the sword. Excalibur brought a new rule to Britain. Arthur won twelve great battles and brought twelve years of peace to Britain. Arthur had a round table to seat over 150 knights in his castle - Camelot. The table was made of very valuable wood and magic. It was created by Merlin as a wedding present when Arthur married Guinevere. There are rumors that said that Merlin enchanted the table to make it invincible when Arthur was alive. The round table was a majestic and powerful table. With the knights of the round table, King Arthur had many adventures. But eventually, he was mortally wounded in a rebellion led by his nephew Mordred.



When King Arthur approaching death, he asked Sir Bedivere to return the Excalibur to Lady of the Lake who was the owner of the sword. Nonetheless, Bedivere believed the sword was too precious to throw into a lake so he only pretended to discard the sword into the lake. When he returned to King Arthur, Arthur asked him what he saw when he tossed the sword into the lake. He replied that the sword just vanished under the water. He did this on two occasions and King Arthur reprimanded him both times and ordered him to the lake with Excalibur the third time. This time, Bedivere listened to the wish of King Arthur and tossed Excalibur into the lake. A hand belonging to the Lady of the Lake came from the depths of the lake, grabbed the sword and pulled it under. King Arthur then passed away.

總感覺 King Arthur 在臨死前，會有著袁崇煥這首詩的感慨：

戰守逶迤不自由，偏因勝地重深愁。
榮華我已知莊夢，忠憤人將謂杞憂。
邊釁久開終是定，室戈方操幾時休？
片雲孤月應腸斷，樁樹凋零又一秋。

摘自《袁崇煥．偕諸將遊海島》

是戰是守的方略苦受朝廷牽制，不能自由，見到大好河山，更加深了憂愁。對榮華富貴我早已看得極淡，滿腔忠憤，卻只怕別人要說是杞人憂天。外敵的侵犯最後總是能平定的，但朝廷中爭權奪利的鬥爭卻實是大患，不知幾時方能停止？看到天上浮雲，冷清清的月亮，又想到我父親逝世，傷心得腸也要斷了。