It is a common proverb that all things occur in threes, and in fact many phases of life occur in combinations of three. There is the threefold concept of body, mind and spirit, which encompasses the physical, mental and spiritual makeup of a human being. There is the fact that we live first as a child, then as an adult and finally as an elderly person and that there are three stages in the life of a woman, that of a young girl, of a mother and of old woman. There is also the aspect of time as in the past, present and future. There are the three acts of birth, life and death. Some people believe in the combination of birth, death and rebirth (i.e. life after death), and in the tradition of the Christian faith, the number three, symbolized by the Trinity ( Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer), has come to mean wholeness. By examining excerpts from the poem "The Epic" and the book The Idylls of the King, particularly "The Passing of Arthur," we discover that there is a surprising amount of Trinitarian symbolism in Tennyson's works. Three times, Arthur must ask Sir Bedivere to throw the sword Excalibur into the lake. It is actually a test of faith, which encompasses body, mind and spirit, meaning it is tested physically, mentally and then spiritually. After being mortally wounded, King Arthur told Sir Bedivere to "take Excalibur, / And cast him far into the midst: / Look what ye see, and bring me a word lightly" (Norton, 1298, 204- 6). When he first brings the sword to the water's edge, he cannot bring himself to throw it away because of the Excalibur's blinding beauty. Tennyson describes the Excalibur as "brightening", "glittering", "glittering with diamond sparks, / Myriads of topaz lights..." Bedivere "gazed so long / That both his eyes were dazzled" (Norton , 1298, 222-7). He returns to Arthur, who sends him back to complete his mission. Thus, Sir Bedivere fails his first test, that of the physical domain. On the second test, he faces a mental challenge as the second time, Bedivere determines that if he throws the Excalibur into the water, "a precious thing, worthy of mention, / Should thus be lost forever from the earth ... What good would it do if it were done” (Norton, 1299, 257-60) His own intelligence stands in the way of what he knows to be true, and he lacks confidence in his king and in him. mortality, because he doesn't want Arthur to be forgotten..