Long Live the Queen!
Last summer, an eight-year-old girl called Saga pulled a sword out of a Swedish lake. In this article, she raises the question of whether that makes her a queen. As a Storyteller, I was particularly excited when Saga noted that people immediately connected her action of pulling the sword from a lake with the famous legend of King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake who conferred kingship upon him in the way that Saga herself unconsciously replicated, more than a thousand years later. That evidence of connection with legends and stories of the distant past makes my spirit soar.
At the same time, there is a darker undercurrent to this story. Saga undoubtedly recovered the pre-Viking weapon because, as her father explained to her, "it had been the hottest summer for 260 years", which resulted in a noticeable drop in the lake's water level. These hot temperatures across Europe are a double-edged sword indeed, revealing ancient and long-lost or forgotten treasures or markings in the landscape, at the same time as they herald a new and dangerous future for Saga and her children.
Perhaps the sword can be interpreted as a message from our ancient ancestors: a warning that difficult times may be on the way.... and that new and youthful female leadership may be the answer to the problems we face.
Long live the Queen! May she lead us wisely and well.
