the precise meaning of the anima paradigm has become seriously diluted in Jungian studies. Under the rubric of this fantasy, there is a rich trade of “smuggled hypotheses, pretty pieties about eros, and eschatological indulgences about saving one’s soul through relationship, becoming more feminine, and the sacrifice of the intellect.”

This version acknowledged the magical elements—the story could not be told without them—but made them so minor they were afterthoughts. The Lady of the Lake was merely a prop to get the sword back to Arthur. Not one of the few magical beings who had sided with him against the Dark Queen was present. But Camelot had abandoned magic; perhaps even its