Sword, Meet Lake
The last of Tennyson’s Idylls, “The Passing of Arthur,” finds Arthur engaged in an all out civil war with the forces that his nephew, Mordred, has ranged against him. This idyll details Arthur’s despair at the total dissolution of the fellowship he created in the first idyll, “The Coming of Arthur.” It also tells the story of Bedivere’s three attempts to fulfill his promise to Arthur to adios Excalibur into a nearby lake.
Bedivere fails twice, first tempted by Excalibur’s beauty, and then by the fact that it's basically the perfect symbol of Arthur's existence (and awesomeness). Both times he fails to chuck the sword in the lake, he lies to Arthur. Which is fitting, if you think about it. See, his failure continues the theme of broken vows and promises that has threaded through the “Idylls.” When Arthur figures out what Bedivere actually did, he thinks it's representative of the general faithlessness that's overtaken his lands—and the failure of the awesome authority he used to hold over his subjects.
Bedivere’s three tests also mirror the three tests with which Arthur established his kingship in the first idyll: the defeat of the Pagans, the creation of the fellowship of the Round Table, and his marriage to Guinevere. Ah, the full circle ending.
Happily Ever After?
Bedivere's third attempt is a successful one. Which is nice, because it ends the final idyll on a note of optimism. As Arthur says, “A man may fail in duty twice, / And the third time may prosper” (297-298). Arthur’s faith in humans’ ability to redeem themselves and do what’s right, which he also demonstrated in his forgiveness of Guinevere, is finally rewarded in Bedivere’s success—just as it was in Guinevere’s repentance for her two-timing ways. And the final line of the poem, “the new sun rose bringing the new year” (469), sounds a hopeful note even as it mourns the passing of the old in favor of the new.