How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
‘Sir, there be many rumors on this head:
For there be those who hate him in their hearts,
Call him baseborn, and since his ways are sweet,
And theirs are bestial, hold him less than man;
And there be those who deem him more than man,
And dream he dropt from heaven.’
(“Coming of Arthur,” 177-182)
King Leodogran asks Arthur’s knights to tell the story of his origin, since rumors are swirling that he is not the legitimate heir to the former king. The rumor that Arthur is “baseborn” could be motivated by the jealousy of Arthur’s inferiors. The other rumor is that Arthur is “more than man,” or supernatural in origin. This is the story Bellicent will tell Leodogran in a few lines. Bedivere’s belief, however, falls in the middle: he thinks Arthur is a regular man, the legit son of the former king, and therefore has every right to rule the kingdom.
Quote #2
[…] ‘When I met
Merlin, and ask’d him if these things were truth—
The shining dragon and the naked child
Descending in the glory of the seas—
He laugh’d as is his wont, and answer’d me
In riddling triplets of old time.’
(“Coming of Arthur,” 396-401)
Bellicent has heard a story from Merlin’s dying master, Bleys, about Arthur’s descent from the heavens in a fairy ship. When she asked Merlin to confirm the story, though, he just laughed at her and answered with a riddling rhyme (see the following quote) that questioned the sanity of old men and the possibility of ever knowing the truth about anything. Bellicent’s decision to share that with Leodogran is interesting, given that she’s trying to convince him to marry Guinevere to Arthur. Bellicent seems less concerned about confirming Arthur’s legitimacy than adding to his mystique.
Quote #3
‘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.
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.’
(“Coming of Arthur,” 405-410)
Merlin’s answer to Bellicent’s question about Arthur’s true origins is this riddling rhyme, which basically states that truth is in the eye of the beholder. “He who knows” passes from “the great deep to the great deep.” In other words, he is basically inaccessible to normal humans.