I think this song is about chivalry, being prepared to love someone and never ask anything of them. The arthurian resonance runs through most of it - the spirit left Camelot and had to be recovered through a great quest for the grail- which lead to a perilous chapel in the forest, the black knight, the sword in the lake. I wonder if the familiar sting of the woodcutter's swing could also related to the story of Gawain and the green knight.
In the end, chivalry is not love, it is its own thing. If you love someone and never ask anything of them, you're living in an idealised world, not a real relationship. I think that is part of what this song is all about.
I think this song is about chivalry, being prepared to love someone and never ask anything of them. The arthurian resonance runs through most of it - the spirit left Camelot and had to be recovered through a great quest for the grail- which lead to a perilous chapel in the forest, the black knight, the sword in the lake. I wonder if the familiar sting of the woodcutter's swing could also related to the story of Gawain and the green knight.
In the end, chivalry is not love, it is its own thing. If you love someone and never ask anything of them, you're living in an idealised world, not a real relationship. I think that is part of what this song is all about.