A New World Leader: 8yr old Pulls 1000yr old Sword from Lake

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around an 8-year-old girl who reportedly pulled a 1000-year-old sword from a lake in Norway, prompting various reactions, humor, and references to popular culture, particularly Monty Python's portrayal of King Arthur.

Discussion Character

  • Humorous, Meta-discussion, Cultural reference

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants share a news link about the sword discovery, highlighting its historical significance.
  • One participant humorously references Monty Python's "The Lady of the Lake" scene, suggesting a comedic take on the legitimacy of leadership derived from such an event.
  • Another participant expresses confusion about the humor in the Monty Python reference and requests clarification.
  • A participant identifies the lake's location as Vidöstern in Sweden and expresses admiration for the sword.
  • Several participants discuss the comedic elements of Monty Python, including its satire on authority and monarchy, and the absurdity of the situation presented in the film.
  • One participant draws a parallel between the Monty Python scene and the concept of authority in governance, noting the humor in the contrast between fairy tales and political theory.
  • Another participant mentions the cultural significance of Spam in relation to the Spamalot parody, providing context for the humor.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally engage in humorous banter and cultural references, but there is no consensus on the understanding of the humor or the relevance of the Monty Python references, as some express confusion.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express difficulty in understanding the humor and cultural references, indicating a potential gap in shared knowledge of Monty Python and its context.

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With tongue firmly in cheek … a few lines from Monty Python …. sorry I just couldn't resist, considering your thread title :biggrin::-p

King Arthur The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water,
signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king!
Dennis Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!
King Arthur Be quiet!
Dennis You can’t expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you.

Dave
 
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and to follow that up with Spamalot:

 
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This must be some neat humor which I so far do not understand. The post #2 was interesting and I wish I could understand it. The video in post #3 I find dull and do not understand. I wish you or whoever would explain #2 better.
 
jedishrfu said:
from a lake in Norway
Sweden (I'm Swedish) and here's the lake: Vidöstern lake on Google Maps.

Edit: Very cool story, and very cool sword! I would like to have one of those at home. :)
 
symbolipoint said:
This must be some neat humor which I so far do not understand. The post #2 was interesting and I wish I could understand it. The video in post #3 I find dull and do not understand. I wish you or whoever would explain #2 better.
In "Le Morte d'Arthur" the sword called Excalibur was given to King Arthur by the Lady of the Lake.
Here's a clip from the movie Excalibur:
 
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DennisN, thanks for the help.

whenever someone gives a gift and especially if you did not expect it, you need to ask, "What will this cost me?"
Or, "What will this cost and of whom?"
 
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symbolipoint said:
This must be some neat humor which I so far do not understand. The post #2 was interesting and I wish I could understand it. The video in post #3 I find dull and do not understand. I wish you or whoever would explain #2 better.

Monty Python is a British comedy team that did a lot of crazy movies including a parody of King Arthur. Some of the jokes were the King and his squire using the sound of clacking coconuts to simulate horses galloping along. There were a lot of silly sight gags as well and the humor was very edgy.

The Spamalot is refers to the SPAM product that was used during WW2 as a ration. Its basically canned pork and ham:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(food)

People make fun of it perhaps because initially they had too much of it as a basic food. It was considered a poverty food but it did help the war effort and solved the problem of meat spoilage.

King Arthur was from Camelot so Monty Python changed their parody to be Spamalot. You can get a sense of the silliness by reading the wikipedia article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spamalot
 
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symbolipoint said:
The post #2 was interesting and I wish I could understand it

Here is the relevant scene from Monty Pyton and the Holy Grail



It's a satire on the legends of King Arthur in which the king was proclaimed by his weidling of a magical sword, given to him by a spirit living in a lake. The fairy tail is contrasted with a very pedantic and in depth analysis on how exactly governments should derive their authority. Plus the idea of anarchist peasants not understanding they live under a monarchy is pretty funny.
 
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Ryan_m_b said:
Plus the idea of anarchist peasants not understanding they live under a monarchy is pretty funny.
I thought they were an autonomous collective? :biggrin:
 
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  • #12
Although this does not fit the topic, post #9 reminds me of Rocky And BullWinkle cartoons of long-past and some of the other stories shown on that program.

Anyway, that video is the perfect quote of the earlier post.
 
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  • #13
The idea also reminds me of the interesting commentary which were later shown in some of the cartoons in some of the works of Michael Moore (his movies).
 

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