See Also

Excalibur

Excalibur is the mythical sword Sword

Sword is a term for a long edged weapon, used by various civilizations throughout Eurasia [i] and North Africa [i] ... 

 of King Arthur King Arthur

King Arthur is an important figure in the mythology [i] of Great Britain [i], where he appears as the id ... 

, sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe [i] and to the east of Ireland [i] ... 

. Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. The sword was associated with the Arthurian legend Matter of Britain

The Arthurian legend or the Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the legend [i]s that ... 

 very early; in Welsh Welsh language

Welsh , is a member of the Brythonic [i] branch of Celtic [i] spoken natively in Wales [i] ... 

, the sword was called Caledfwlch.

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Encyclopedia



Excalibur is the mythical sword Sword

Sword is a term for a long edged weapon, used by various civilizations throughout Eurasia [i] and North Africa [i]... 

 of King Arthur King Arthur

King Arthur is an important figure in the mythology [i] of Great Britain [i], where he appears as the id ... 

, sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe [i] and to the east of Ireland [i] ... 

. Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. The sword was associated with the Arthurian legend Matter of Britain

The Arthurian legend or the Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the legend [i]s that ... 

 very early; in Welsh Welsh language

Welsh , is a member of the Brythonic [i] branch of Celtic [i] spoken natively in Wales [i] ... 

, the sword was called Caledfwlch.

Forms and etymologies

The name Excalibur came from Old French Excalibor, which came from Caliburn used in Geoffrey of Monmouth  . There are also variant spellings such as Escalibor and Excaliber . One theory holds that Caliburn[us] comes from Caledfwlch, which in turn comes from Caladbolg , a legendary Irish Ireland

Ireland is the third largest [i] island [i] in Europe [i]. ... 

 sword . Another theory states that "Caliburnus" is ultimately derived from Latin chalybs "steel", which is in turn derived from Kalybes, the name of a Sarmatian Sarmatians

The Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae were a multi-ethnic confederacy mentioned by classica... 

 ironworking tribe. Another theory holds that Excalibur was originally derived from ensis caliburnus, "Calibian sword", which might point to a Mediterranean Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a part of the Atlantic Ocean [i] almost completely enclosed by land: on the nor... 

 origin. This is noted and used by the historian Valerio Massimo Manfredi in his novel The Last Legion . According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, Excalibur was originally derived from the Latin phrase Ex calce liberatus, "to liberate from the stone". In Malory, Excalibur is said to mean "cut-steel", which some have interpreted to mean "steel-cutter".

Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone


In surviving accounts of Arthur, there are two originally separate legends about the sword's origin. The first is the "Sword in the Stone" legend, originally appearing in Robert de Boron's poem Merlin Merlin

Merlin Ambrosius - also known in Welsh as Myrddin Wyllt , and besides as Merlin Caledonensis... 

, in which Excalibur can only be drawn from the stone by Arthur, the rightful king. The second comes from the later Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin, which was taken up by Sir Thomas Malory. Here, Arthur receives Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake Lady of the Lake

The Lady of the Lake is the name of several related characters who play integral parts in the Arthurian legend [i]... 

 after breaking his first sword in a fight with King Pellinore. The Lady of the Lake calls the sword "Excalibur, that is as to say as Cut-steel."

As Arthur lay dying, he tells a reluctant Sir Bedivere Bedivere

In Arthurian legend [i], Sir Bedivere is the Knight of the Round Table [i] who returns Excalibur [i] to... 

  to return the sword to the Lake by throwing it into the water. Bedivere thinks the sword too precious to throw away, so twice only pretends to do so. Each time, Arthur asks him to describe what he saw. When Bedevere tells him the sword simply vanished underwater, Arthur scolds him harshly. Finally, Bedivere throws Excalibur into the Lake. Before the sword strikes the water's surface, the hand of the Lady of the Lake reaches up to grasp it and pull it under. Arthur leaves on a death barge with the three queens, where as his legend says, he will one day return to save Britain from a threat.

Malory records both versions of the legend in his Le Morte d'Arthur Le Morte d'Arthur

Le Morte d'Arthur is Sir Thomas Malory [i]'s compilation of some French and English [i]... 

, and confusingly calls both swords Excalibur. The film Excalibur Excalibur

Excalibur is the mythical sword [i] of King Arthur [i], sometimes attributed with magical powers or asso ... 

attempts to rectify this by having the Lady of the Lake only repair the sword after it is broken.

History


Caledfwlch


In Welsh legend, Arthur's sword is known as Caledfwlch. In Culhwch and Olwen, it is one of Arthur's most valuable possessions and is used by Arthur's warrior Llenlleawg the Irishman to kill the Irish king Diwrnach while stealing his magical cauldron. Caledfwlch is thought to derive from the legendary Irish weapon Caladbolg, the lightning sword of Fergus mac Roich. Caladbolg was also known for its incredible power, and was carried by some of Ireland's greatest heroes.

Caledflwch is vividly described in the Mabinogion Mabinogion

The Mabinogion is a collection of prose [i] stories from medieval [i] Welsh [i] ... 

:-
Then they heard Cadwr Earl of Cornwall being summoned, and saw him rise with Arthur's sword in his hand, with a design of two serpents on the golden hilt; when the sword was unsheathed what was seen from the mouths of the two serpents was like two flames of fire, so dreadful that it was not easy for anyone to look. At that the host settled and the commotion subsided, and the earl returned to his tent. "Iddawg, who is the man who brought Arthur's sword?" "Cadwr Earl of Cornwall, the man whose task it is to arm the king on the day of battle and conflict."

from The Dream of Rhonabwy, from The Mabinogion, translated by Jeffrey Gantz.

Caliburn to Excalibur

Geoffrey of Monmouth's
History of the Kings of Britain is the first non-Welsh source to speak of the sword. Geoffrey says the sword was forged in Avalon and Latin Latin

Latin is an ancient Indo-European language [i] originally spoken in Latium [i], ... 

izes the name "Caledfwlch" to
Caliburn or Caliburnus. Continental writers altered the name further — first to Escalibor, then to Excalibur — when his influential pseudo-history made it to Continental Europe. The legend was expanded upon in the Vulgate Cycle , also known as the Lancelot-Grail Cycle, and in the Post-Vulgate Cycle which emerged in its wake. Both included the work known as the Prose Merlin, but the Post-Vulgate authors left out the Merlin Continuation from the earlier cycle, choosing to add an original account of Arthur's early days including a new origin for Excalibur.

Other information

The story of the Sword in the Stone has an analogue in some versions of the story of Sigurd Sigurd

* Ring cycle [i]
  • Marvel Comics, Thor #294-300 [i]

... 

 , who draws his father Sigmund Sigmund

This article is about the mythological hero Sigmund, for other meanings see: Sigmund [i].
... 

's sword out of a tree where it is embedded.

Interestingly, in several early French France

France, officially the French Republic, is a country [i] whose metropolitan territory [i] ... 

 works such as Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail Perceval, the Story of the Grail

[i] of [[Chrtien de Troyes]... 

and the Vulgate Lancelot Proper section, Excalibur is used by Gawain Gawain

Sir Gawain is King Arthur [i]'s nephew and a Knight [i] of the Round Table [i]... 

, Arthur's nephew and one of his best knights. This is in contrast to later versions, where Excalibur belongs solely to the king. In the Alliterative Morte Arthure , Arthur is said to have two legendary swords, the second one being Clarent, stolen by the evil Mordred Mordred

ory:Fictional rebels]] [i]
[i]
... 

. Arthur receives his fatal blow from Clarent.

According to some speculators, the legend of the Sword in the Stone is possibly a reference and remembrance in storytelling of the techniques of Bronze Age Bronze Age

... 

 sword-making technology. Simply described, the technique involved casting a sword using molten bronze into a mold consisting of two halves. There is a hollow in the shape of a sword formed by the two halves. The two halves run the length of the sword, and shape the flat of the blade as well as the handle. The mould halves can be made of hardened clay or of stone. When the molten bronze hardens and the halves are separated, one half is left with a "sword in the stone," resting inside one of the halves. In its own right it is a magical moment, impressive enough to have remained as a poetic image, transformed by writers who did not know or remember the possible origin of the phrase. However, the tales of Arthur apparently first arose in the post-Roman Dark Ages, long after the Bronze Age, though some say he had appeared in legends by then. There may also be a figurative meaning, in that the sword is concealed in the stone in the sense that metal is found as an ore within the earth.

Attributes

In many versions, Excalibur's blade was engraved with words on opposite sides. On one side were the words "take me up", and on the other side "cast me away" . This prefigures its return into the water. Another version, by one Mary Stewart, represented Caliburn as the hereditary sword of the near-legendary warrior Magnus Maximus Magnus Maximus

Magnus Clemens Maximus , also Maximianus, was a usurper [i] of the Western Roman Empire [i] ... 

; engraved on it the phrase TO HIM UNCONQUERED. By this account, it was taken by Maximus's kinsmen to North Wales Wales

Wales is one of four constituent parts [i] of the United Kingdom [i]. ... 

 after his death in Italy, later to be retrieved by Merlin the Enchanter and hidden by him on the strange island of Caer Bannog, from which Arthur took it. In addition, when Excalibur was first drawn, Arthur's enemies were blinded by its blade, which was as bright as thirty torches. Excalibur's scabbard was said to have powers of its own. Injuries from losses of blood Blood

Blood is a highly specialised circulating [i] tissue [i] consisting of se ... 

, for example, would not kill the bearer. In some tellings, wounds received by one wearing the scabbard did not bleed at all. The scabbard is stolen by Morgan le Fay Morgan le Fay

In Arthurian legend [i], Morgan le Fay, alternatively known as Morgaine, Morgain, Morgana ... 

 and thrown into a lake, never to be found again.

In the book "Sword of the Rightful King" by Jane Yolen, Excalibur is made by Merlinus out of fire and water, Along with a spell causing any man trying to pull out the sword, other than Arthur, would fail.

The 19th century 19th century

The 19th century lasted from 1801 [i] through 1900 [i] in the Gregorian calendar [i].
... 

 poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson was Poet Laureate [i] of the United Kingdom after William Wordsworth [i] ... 

, described the sword in full Romantic Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in late 18th century [i] Western Europe [i] ... 

 detail in his poem "Morte d'Arthur", one of the Idylls of the King:

There drew he forth the brand Excalibur,
And o’er him, drawing it, the winter moon,
Brightening the skirts of a long cloud, ran forth
And sparkled keen with frost against the hilt:
For all the haft twinkled with diamond Diamond

Diamond is the hardest known natural material and one of the two best known forms of carbon [i], whose ... 

 sparks,
Myriads of topaz Topaz

Topaz is a mineral [i], a nesosilicate [i] of aluminium [i] and fluorine [i] with the ... 

-lights, and jacinth-work
Of subtlest jewellery.

Video games

Swords named Excalibur or similar occur in some videogame Computer and video games

A computer game is a computer [i]-controlled game. ... 

s, for example Final Fantasy Final Fantasy

is a series of computer and console role-playing games [i] produced by Square Enix [i] ... 

series, the Soul Calibur Soul Calibur

Soul Calibur is the second game in the Soul series of fighting game [i]s developed and produced... 

series, , Tales of Symphonia Tales of Symphonia

is a video game [i] first released for the Nintendo GameCube [i] and later for the PlayStation 2 [i].... 

, Onimusha Blade Warriors Onimusha Blade Warriors

Onimusha Blade Warriors is a multi-player game from the Onimusha series [i]. ... 

, Secret of Mana Secret of Mana

is the second video game in the Seiken Densetsu [i] series of role-playing games [i] ... 

, , , RuneScape RuneScape

image = |developer = Jagex [i] Ltd.
... 

, World of Warcraft World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game [i] developed by Blizzard Entertainment [i] ... 

, City of Heroes City of Heroes

City of Heroes is a massively multiplayer online role-playing [i] computer game [i] based on ... 

,
Fate/Stay Night Fate/stay night

is a Japanese [i] visual novel [i] game created by TYPE-MOON [i] in 2004 that has been adapted into an... 

,
Ace Combat Zero Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War is a video game [i] that takes place 15 yea ... 

, Nethack NetHack

NetHack is a single-player roguelike [i] computer game [i] originally relea ... 

and .

See also


External links

  • .