Herodias was a Jewish princess who first married one uncle only to divorce him and then marry another uncle, who possessed higher social status and wealth. Apparently the act of marrying the brother of your living ex-husband went against Jewish law and customs of the time and this offended not only the Jewish constituency but also John the Baptist, who Herodias is said to have played a leading role in the execution of.
However, I think what the lyrics are referring to is the figurehead of the Cult of Herodias, which was based on the same person as the historical Herodias (outlined above) but also associated with Diana, the virgin godess from Roman Mythology that remains important in Wicca.
Graal is the French version of Holy Grail and Caliburn is old english for Excalibur.
So, the first verse is written from the perspective of King Arthur. Arthur is portrayed as a pagan English king that Christianity perverted.
Also I think it is possuble to read into the first verse the possibility that Arthur is either dying or loosing a battle and offers Excalibur and the Holy Grail to the gods in return for victory/survival. This is supported by the second verse which basically talks about the shores being the place where Arthur's soul will rest.
Uther Pendragon was the name of King Arthur's father.
Quite cleverly Dani personifies Mordred as a snake "Then treachery, a wingless beast, came crawling to my court" when the battle of Camlann was supposedly caused by a knight drawing his sword in order to kill a snake, which went against the terms of the truce.
Ok basically I think this song is clearly from King Arthur's perspective as he lies dying on the field of battle on Camlann, as his life flashes past him. I think more than anything hetwists the tale of King Arthur by pointing out the obvious pagan components of the Arthur legend such as Moganna
Herodias was a Jewish princess who first married one uncle only to divorce him and then marry another uncle, who possessed higher social status and wealth. Apparently the act of marrying the brother of your living ex-husband went against Jewish law and customs of the time and this offended not only the Jewish constituency but also John the Baptist, who Herodias is said to have played a leading role in the execution of.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herodias
However, I think what the lyrics are referring to is the figurehead of the Cult of Herodias, which was based on the same person as the historical Herodias (outlined above) but also associated with Diana, the virgin godess from Roman Mythology that remains important in Wicca.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_%28goddess%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_Herodias
Graal is the French version of Holy Grail and Caliburn is old english for Excalibur.
So, the first verse is written from the perspective of King Arthur. Arthur is portrayed as a pagan English king that Christianity perverted.
Also I think it is possuble to read into the first verse the possibility that Arthur is either dying or loosing a battle and offers Excalibur and the Holy Grail to the gods in return for victory/survival. This is supported by the second verse which basically talks about the shores being the place where Arthur's soul will rest.
Uther Pendragon was the name of King Arthur's father.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendragon
Arcturius I presume to be some kind of perversion of Artorius the latin word for ploughman from which Arthur is originally derived.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur
Camlann is the place where Kng arthur's final battle took place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camlann
Quite cleverly Dani personifies Mordred as a snake "Then treachery, a wingless beast, came crawling to my court" when the battle of Camlann was supposedly caused by a knight drawing his sword in order to kill a snake, which went against the terms of the truce.
Ok basically I think this song is clearly from King Arthur's perspective as he lies dying on the field of battle on Camlann, as his life flashes past him. I think more than anything hetwists the tale of King Arthur by pointing out the obvious pagan components of the Arthur legend such as Moganna
anyway I'll post more latter...