Week 12 Story: Excalibur
Lightning (Wikimedia)
Excalibur
Arthur burst through the thicket and into the clearing. Finally, he had reached the center of the Black Forest. Fighting demons and beast throughout, Arthur had journeyed for many nights upon the request of Merlin through the evil enclave of trees. The wise old wizard had sent Arthur here in search of the most legendary sword known to man: Excalibur.
Having finally reached the center of the forest, Arthur could not find the sword, only a lake filling the large clearing in the trees with water so still it seemed a black sheet of the finest ebony. At once, the Lady of the Lake was beside him.
“Go,” she whispered.
And without question Arthur knew what he must do. As a young boy Arthur had been told of the legendary sword, and that only he who is worthy would be able to walk across the dark water to reach it. With his first step, the water held, but the sky grew dark and storm clouds gathered, thunder rumbled in the distance. As he walked further and further the storm grew more intense. But Arthur kept on as the winds whipped around him and torrential rains poured down.
As he neared the center he felt something strange, a ghastly white hand had reached out of the lake and hit his ankle. Arthur began to run, but more and more hands reached out from the dark abyss to try and catch the hero. He tried to outrun them but the storm grew more and more intense until he was caught in the eye of a hurricane. With nowhere to run the hands took hold. Arthur fought with all of his might but the demons were too strong and he began to sink into the depths.
He screamed over the roar of the storm with outstretched hands, “Lord, why have you forsaken me?”
And at once lightning came down from the heavens and struck Arthur’s hand, endowing him with Excalibur. The sword beamed light in a righteous supernova and the hands recoiled in fear. Arthur swung Excalibur with all of his might, banishing the demons and at once the storm was clear, the lake once more placid.
Arthur walked back to the shore, and thanked the Lady of the Lake, who asked only a favor in return.
Author’s Note: I adapted this story from Andrew Lang’s story “The Sword of Excalibur,” in which King Arthur is traveling without sword, causing Merlin to bring him to the home of Excalibur. In the original story he comes upon a lake where a hand sticks out of the center holding the sword. He asks the lady of the lake if he can have the sword and she gives it to him in exchange for a favor. Arthur then rows out to the sword and takes it. I thought that the backstory of the legendary Excalibur could use a bit more excitement. I mixed up the exposition to fit the plot action I injected. I wanted to keep the element of Christianity, which seems to permeate Arthur’s stories, as well as adding a bit of fantasy with the arms and hands of some demons trying to drag him down.
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Hi Drew,
ReplyDeleteI hadn't read the original story before, so reading through your author's note helped me understand better. I like how you made your version more exciting, but didn't change the story too much. I also liked how you decided to keep the Christianity elements in the story, since it seemed to be important to the character in the original story.
Hey Drew. I like how you added a lot more to the backstory of how Arthur got the sword Excalibur. I have never read the original story but when you said he just rows to the middle of the lake and finds the sword that seemed a little dull. The hands reaching out trying to grab him and stop him definitely added some thrilling aspects to the story.
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