You know how they say, “better late than never”? That’s not really the case for Collum of Mull. To be fair to Collum, he didn’t know he was too late when he set out from his remote island home for Camelot. He didn’t know until he marched in through the gates in his stolen armor that it was too late. It’s only when he arrives in the hall that houses the legendary Round Table with only a few knights mournfully lounging around it that Collum learns that King Arthur and most of the great knights are dead, killed at the Battle of Camlann. Lev Grossman’s masterful The Bright Sword does not begin auspiciously.
Collum dreamed of taking part in the adventures of Arthur and his knights, getting his spurs and earning a place at the Table. Without Arthur and no clear heir to the throne, there’s no one to knight Collum let alone send him on an adventure. No one’s even sure if the old magic works anymore with Arthur gone. But even though Arthur’s knights feel like the world has ended, life has to go on. And so it does, in fits and starts, as Collum and Merlin’s apprentice, Nimue, cajole the remaining knights into rallying to save the kingdom from Saxons and pretenders to Arthur’s crown.
I marveled at the way that Grossman captured the episodic, sometimes dreamlike plot lines of medieval literature. He doesn’t shy away from the anachronism of Morte d’Arthur and other collections of Arthuriana; all of the knights have plate armor even though they’re in post-Roman Britain, for example. One of the knights, Sir Palomides, is from Baghdad, even though Baghdad hadn’t been founded yet. In between chapters covering Collum’s journey, Grossman includes the stories of the remaining knights. Most of these knights are peripheral characters in the canonical tales of Arthur, apart from Sir Bedivere. Grossman also creates new plots for Morgan le Fay and Lancelot.
The biggest struggle all of these characters face is figuring out what to do without Arthur and, possibly, the magic and mystery of his age. Collum has a lot of his illusions about chivalry and honor shattered as he learns the truth about some of his heroes, including the king himself. Was Arthur a good king if he kept rushing off after the Grail or the Spear of Longinus? Who actually administered the kingdom with the king away and his advisor, Merlin, off harassing women? Is there even room in the world for knights errant anymore?
The Bright Sword is an incredible book, absolutely incredible. I never though I would love Arthuriana (courtly love makes me roll my eyes and I am bored by black and white characters), but Grossman breathed new life into the old characters and stories. I can’t say enough good things about this novel.
