In the book Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson there are many things throughout the different stories that show mist imagery. The significance of mist imagery is important. It could mean something new is coming, represent good, bad, or death. Mist can also help give a sense of feeling. Mist imagery can foreshadow events and lead a reader to think further into the story and what would happen.
When the Lady of the Lake gave Excalibur to Arthur in "The coming of Arthur," a mist of incense curled about her and her face. She was hidden and could not be seen. The mist signifies that the Lady of the Lake is to precious to be seen. The sword that was given to Arthur symbolizes something new and good. Arthur uses this sword to help King Leodogran fight a battle. They won this battlw and in return Arthur wanted to marry King Leodogran's daughter, Givinevere. King Leodogran didn't know if Arthur was of noble birth, and couldn't decide if he should allow the marriage. Arthur's birth was not truely known and King Leodogran had to find someway of knowing the truth. Later that night King Leodogran had a dream. "Stream'd to the peak, and mingled with the haze/ And made it thicker; while the phantom king/ Sent out at times a voice; and here or there/ Stood one who pointed toward the voice, the rest/ Slew on and burnt, crying,No king of ours,/ No son of Uther, and no king of ours;'/ Till with a wink his dream was changed, the haze/ Descended, and the solid earth became/ As nothing, but the King stood out in heaven,/ Crown'd. And Leodogran awoke, and sent" (Tennyson 32-33). In this quote about mist imagery it gives an answer. When the mist clears and the king could see, it symbolizes that his answer was clear to him. The answer was yes, let Arthur marry Givinevere. .
In "Merlin and Vivien", Merlin describes how he is feeling using the word mist. "An ever-moaning battle in the mist" (Tennyson 147).
