45 pages • 1-hour read
Over Sea, Under Stone
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Themes
Arthurian Legend as Living Myth in the Modern World
Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising sequence draws on the legend of King Arthur to frame the protagonists’ arc as a journey of mythical proportions. In Anglo-Saxon mythology, King Arthur is depicted as a heroic warrior who ruled fairly and led noble knights in a battle against evil forces. In these tales, he is typically armed with Excalibur, his legendary sword, and aided by a powerful wizard named Merlin. Because various accounts from different regions of Great Britain and France have added to the myth over time, some elements of the original legend may vary. In more modern times, the legend of King Arthur has been adapted into a number of novels, movies, and other formats, gaining enduring popularity. Like Cooper’s series, other contemporary works often emphasize the supernatural and romantic elements of the story, which can be more easily adapted to the conventions of modern fiction.
Cooper’s narrative initially treats Arthurian legend as mere folklore, but the children’s explorations gradually reveal it to be historical fact, and this approach is designed to imbue the “real world” with a sense of wonder and intrigue. Through this fantastical world-building, Cooper introduces the adventures of Simon, Jane, and Barney, three regular children from modern day England who become involved in an epic quest that transcends history and reality. Notably, the narrative purposefully blurs the line between myth and history, as when Jane comments that fairy tales were “perhaps […] true once, but nobody could remember when” (72). Likewise, the artifacts and clues that the children encounter further reinforce the idea that the Arthurian legends are based in historical fact. This concept builds up to the final revelation of Great-Uncle Merry’s true identity as Merlin.
Over the course of the story, the young protagonists recreate parts of the Arthurian legend by directly following in Bedwin’s footsteps across the Cornish—or Logres—landscape. In several instances, Barney imagines himself as “a knight entrusted with a sacred mission” (129), and he therefore symbolically embodies the legacy of King Arthur’s sacred mission. This parallel reinforces Barney’s heroism and innate sense of “knightly” morality, for he is often inspired by the tales he has read of Arthurian knights who also faced dangers from evil characters. Simon, Jane, and Barney collectively bring the myth of King Arthur to life in the contemporary world, and in doing so, they increase the stakes of their own adventure.
At the end of the book, the issue of whether the Arthurian legends are fact or fiction is revisited with the scholars’ argument about the authenticity of the grail. This shift reestablishes the ambiguity of the Arthurian myth but also lets Cooper imply that the events of her story should hold a rightful place in history rather than in literature. In turn, this tactic heightens the sense of intrigue and anticipation as the novel’s conclusion heralds the new adventures to come.
The Archetypal Battle of Good Versus Evil
Throughout the novel, the young protagonists represent the forces of good, while Hastings and the Withers represent the forces of evil. The parallel between the three children and King Arthur’s knights frames them as unequivocally heroic and moral. In addition, their youth emphasizes those qualities due to the underlying Christian ideology that associates children with moral purity. Although the narrative makes no specific mention of religion, the spiritual undertones of the Arthurian legend enhance the epic, mythical dimensions of the novel. For example, Great-Uncle Merry suggests that the children are fated to find the manuscript when he says, “I did have an idea you might find it, because I know you three very well” (80). The presence of supernatural forces is further evidenced when the kidnapped Barney later confronts Hastings with words that are not his own. As the narrative states, “Barney never knew afterwards what put the words into his head; he spoke before he thought, almost as if someone else were speaking through him. He heard himself saying clearly, ‘In the name of King Arthur, and of the old world before the dark came’” (182-83). This passage shows Barney channeling an authority that speaks through him, for his statement does not necessarily stem from his own beliefs; instead, it represents a form of supernatural or divine intervention. The narrative therefore clearly characterizes Barney as a vessel for King Arthur’s legacy. Significantly, this moment positions Barney and his siblings as equal counterparts to the adult antagonists, not as weak, vulnerable targets.
The final confrontation at Kemare Head highlights the role of the children as divinely motivated agents of the Light, and this dynamic becomes clear when “[t]he whole world seemed to stop and centre round the towering black-clad man and a small boy: one will against another, with Barney saved by his own fury from the full force of the commanding glare driving into his eyes” (227). In this scene, Barney and Hastings oppose one another directly, and the boy’s pure conviction in his sacred mission allows him to resist Hastings’s evil influence and hypnotic abilities, which act as symbols of the villain’s moral corruption. In short, Barney fully embodies the moral principles attributed to King Arthur, and it is no accident that the boy imagines himself as one of Arthur’s knights and believes that he has been “entrusted with a sacred mission” (129). Although Barney initially plays at being a knight, his games gradually gain a realistic edge, building to the climactic moment when he stands in the power of his youthful innocence and defeats the novel’s most evil character.
Landscape as a Vessel of Myth and Memory
As in the rest of Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising series, the setting of this first installment significantly contributes to the author’s emphasis on history and mythology. Although Trewissick is a fictional village, it is strongly inspired by the real coastal villages of Cornwall, and the novel accurately depicts key details of traditional Cornish seaside life. For example, the descriptions of the village mention whitewashed, slate-roofed houses, Cornish fishing boats in the harbor, and sea-wise locals like Mr. Penhallow, the amiable fisherman. In addition, Trewissick is surrounded by hills covered with tall grass and rocky cliffs that reinforce the sense of adventure and intrigue that characterizes the story.
At the very beginning, Barney points out that Cornwall used to be known as the realm of Logres in King Arthur’s time, and this detail foreshadows how deeply intertwined the history and geography of the place truly are. Indeed, the protagonists’ quest is literally embedded into the landscape itself, for Bedwin’s map is a drawing of the Trewissick coast and points to clues that are part of the natural scenery, such as the standing rocks, the position of the sun, or the cliffs of Kemare Head. Crucially, these elements have endured across the millennia, and this fact reinforces the setting’s air of ancient history. By following in the legendary knight’s footsteps, Simon, Jane, and Barney symbolically become a part of that same history, and their actions blur the division between past and present. The parallels between these disparate times are further reinforced by Great-Uncle Merry’s comments about the cyclical nature of the battle between good and evil. He tells the children that this battle “goes on all round us all the time, like two armies fighting. And sometimes one of them seems to be winning and sometimes the other, but neither has ever triumphed altogether” (74). In many ways, his words are designed to bind the three children to the ancient knights’ mission.
Even the more ominous moments of the story are steeped in the mystique of ancient legends. When Barney finds himself alone in a dark tunnel at the end of the book, he is initially afraid but he then identifies with Bedwin and finds himself comforted because in his eyes, the cave takes on a mythical dimension that transcends time. This inner shift therefore represents the climax of Barney’s emotional and physical journey. Throughout the entire novel, the Cornish village and its surrounding landscape provide a provocative backdrop to the protagonists’ adventures, heightening the children’s sense of wonderment. In addition, the setting’s numerous historical and mythological elements frame the siblings’ journey as an epic quest akin to that of King Arthur’s knights.
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