We find that there are many tales of
Arthur’s birth, lineage, and upbringing that are passed around the kingdom;
ranging from being Gorlois’ son to Sir Anton’s son. Leodogran asked Merlin
about who Arthur’s father was and he was given this riddle,
“Rain, rain, and
sun! a rainbow in the sky!
A young man will
be wiser by and by;
An old man’s wit
many wander ere he die.
Rain, rain, and
sun! a rainbow on the lea!
And truth is this to me, and that to
thee;
And truth or clothed or naked let it be.
And truth or clothed or naked let it be.
Rain, sun, and
rain! and the free blossom blows:
Sun, rain, and
sun! and where is he who knows?
From the great
deep to the great deep he goes.” (pg. 31-32)
I
found the meaning of this riddle to be difficult to understand and decipher.
The parts that don’t make much sense to me are the lines regarding “Rain, rain,
and sun!” or lines similar to that. My interpretation of this riddle is (line
by line):
“Rain, rain, and sun! a rainbow in
the sky!” I am not sure of the meaning of this line.
“A young man will be wiser by and by;”
As men grow older they become wiser from the many things that they have learned
over the years.
“An old man’s wit may wander ere* he
die.” A man’s thoughts can wander before he dies.
“Rain, rain, and sun! a rainbow on the
lea*!” I also don’t know what the meaning of this line is.
“And truth is this to me, and that to
thee;” This is a true fact to me, and so should be a true fact to you.
“And truth or clothed or naked let it
be.” Regardless if the truth is plain to you, or hidden, it is still truth and
should not be questioned.
“Rain, sun, and rain! and the free
blossom blows:” I’m not entirely sure what this line means, but I get the
impression that it is talking about the freedom of truth.
“Sun, rain, and sun! and where is he who
knows?” Where is the person who knows the truth?
“From the great deep to the great deep
he goes.” This line also confuses me, I don’t really understand it, yet I get
the impression it has something to do with death.
The
general meaning of this riddle, to me, is that the truth doesn’t really matter
and is up to men to decide as they grow older and gather more facts about the
world. Really, it doesn’t matter who Arthur’s true father is because he is
going to be a great king no matter what his lineage is. I also feel as though
this riddle is like a taunt to Ledogran, like Merlin is saying “I know the
truth, but I won’t tell!” Maybe in this text we are never to know the true parentage
of Arthur.
*Note:
a lea is a meadow or a pasture
*Note
2: ere means before
I find it interesting that King Leodogran finds the birth to be strange at first. I mean every other savior in these literary works come from some form of twisted relationship so you would think it would be widely recognized as a sign of glory by now.
ReplyDelete“An old man’s wit may wander ere* he die.” can also simply mean that old men forget things as they get older. And yes I suspect it was Merlin poetically saying I won't tell either because I don't want to or shouldn't. If Merlin goes around telling everyone what's true no one will think and learn for themselves. Also ultimately Arthur's parentage doesn't matter he earns the right to be called king through his deeds and the wisdom he gains.
ReplyDeleteThis is text is from the Victorian era where extra marital relationships are scandalous so Arthur's parentage is even more important. In that context if Arthur was born from an extra marital relationship the readers, themselves, would be scandalized and offended, so Arhtur's parentage has to be masked to make it palatable.
Good point, the eras these novels were written in give us good insight into why certain events occur or certain events are masked. I’m curious to see what other events that we read about in Malory are masked in some way or glanced over in order to protect the readers of that era.
Delete