The Excalibur is one of the most popular if not the most popular sword in history and fiction. In fact, you probably already know a thing or two about this legendary blade already. The sword has a very rich history behind it. So rich that many versions about its story exist. If you would like to get Excalibur for yourself, check it out here on Amazon.
The most well known and accepted story about the Excalibur is that it once belonged to King Arthur. Just as popular as the sword itself, King Arthur was also a very well known, powerful, fictitious figure.
The sword and the man are so legendary that they exist, or their names are at least borrowed, in many stories, films,
What makes the Excalibur more than just an ordinary weapon is that it has magical properties. Just the scabbard of the sword alone gives its owner invulnerability to any physical harm.
The story goes that the one who pulls the blade out of the stone is to be declared the rightful king. Again, there are different interpretations of the sword. Some even claim that the Sword in the Stone and the Excalibur are two different swords.
But just what really is the story of the Excalibur?
What is the Origin of Excalibur’s Story?
As mentioned earlier, there are more than just several tales about Excalibur. Regardless, most if not all of them are very exciting and intriguing stories. They tell tales about rulers, knights, magic and power.
Among the myriad of stories though, no one can ever tell which among all of them is true or if one is even true at all. What is certain though is that as time progressed, more and more elements have been added to the lore.
The beginning of Arthur’s Legend, which is closely tied to the story of the Excalibur, originated from Celtic poetry that
Seeing Britain’s vulnerability, the Saxons began their attack. The chaos lasted for several centuries but not a lot of records were kept, therefore, not much is known about this time period.
What survived was the Celtic poetry that told a tale of very skilled warriors, such as Gwawrddur. During the year 1130, Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote The History of the Kings of Britain.
His sources were celtic poetry, myths and writings that did mention Arthur and battles that might have really happened during the invasion. His book, The History of the Kings of Britain, had Arthur as the centerpiece.
In the story, Arthur had a wise adviser named Merlin. It was from this book that the story continued to evolve until more elements were added. The book was a culmination of over 600 years of history since the Saxon invasion.
The debate of the book being a factual history is rooted from its sources combining poetry, myth and realistic events. This means that Arthur might not have even lived at all. If he did however, he might have been a very powerful warrior or leader.
To sum it up, the story of Excalibur originated from the Saxon invasion. It is widely known that a lot of magic is fused within the story of King Arthur and the Excalibur. For example, the very origin of the sword came from magic.
It was forged in Avalon which is a magical realm. The sword was still very powerful. At one point, Arthur was able to slay 470 men single-handedly during his battle with the Saxons.
There’s a handful of
What are the Characteristics of Excalibur?
Excalibur was actually first anchored in an anvil, not in stone. The anvil was later changed to stone over the years. As for its powers, and as mentioned earlier, it can enable the wielder to become a one many
In other stories, the Excalibur is said to be so bright it’s compared to that of thirty lit torches. Also, it is said the scabbard of the sword is actually much more powerful than the sword itself. Merlin even mentioned that the scabbard is worth 10 Excalibur swords.
This is because the scabbard allows the owner of the sword to be unharmed. With the scabbard, the owner of the sword is said to lose no blood.
Excalibur, though powerful, can’t be passed on. This is an iconic
The origin of the sword then came from a mystical realm. Even if there are
Where are the Origins of the Excalibur?
Knowing who, what created, or where the Excalibur came from you must know of the prologue of Arthur’s story. Before Arthur, his father, Uther Pendragon, was the king of all of Britain. He was a mighty ruler that had a very wise aide by his side, Merlin.
Merlin, by himself, has his own interesting story. He is a powerful wizard that helped Uther achieve many great things. Geoffrey described Uther to be a kind king and one that defends his people.
During Uther’s reign, he had a liking to Igerna, wife of Gorlois. Gorlois is the
Gorlois, knowing just how motivated Uther was, sent Igerna to Tintagel. Tintagel is a well-protected castle thought to be impregnable to attacks. Uther was very clever though, he went to Merlin for help, who then gave him a concoction.
This concoction transformed Uther’s appearance into that of Gorlois. Having the appearance of his foe, Uther easily went past the castle’s defense making his way to Igerna. He finally had his way with her and slept with her.
As a result, Arthur was conceived. The morning after their fateful night, Gorlois death was known. Uther was the victor and married Igerna. After some time, Uther and Igerna had a daughter they named Anna Morgause.
With Merlin’s help though, there was a catch. Uther was to give Arthur to Merlin when he was born. When Arthur was born, Merlin took him from his mother and left him to his foster father, Sir Ector.
When Uther died, chaos broke out. Everyone was asking who the new ruler was going to be but there was no clear answer. No one knew about Arthur. Because of this, a lot of nobles wanted to take the king’s place instead.
To put an end to the chaos, Merlin summoned a magic sword and plunged it into an anvil. Again, through the evolution of the story, the anvil was changed to a stone. Merlin told everyone that whoever can pull the sword from the stone will be crowned the new king.
The news of the sword reached a lot of people. A lot of very strong men tried with all their might to pull the sword out of the stone. Much to their dismay, not one of them could was able to get the blade out.
Inevitably, Arthur was the only one who was able to pull the sword from the stone. During the time that he did however, he was just 15. As young as he was, no one wanted to become his subordinates.
To prove himself, Arthur had to go to battle. From hereon, there were then different versions for Excalibur’s story. At some point, Arthur battled with King Pellinore. With his fight against another king, his sword broke.
He then had to go to the lady of the lake to get a new sword. In one story, the sword in the stone and the sword given to him by the lady of the lake was the same blade. In another, the sword given to him by the lady of the lake was different and was the true Excalibur.
Both of those stories had the Excalibur coming from a mystical realm. From one story, it was summoned by Merlin and restored by the lady of the lake. From the other, the lady of the lake produced the Excalibur for King Arthur.
Of course, there was also the version where the sword was forged in Avalon. If you’re confused with the story of the Excalibur, that’s not surprising. A lot of parts with the story of Arthur had many alterations that you just can’t find one canonized story.
Who Was Able to Wield or Carry the Excalibur?
Although a lot of people were able to hold it. They tried to pull out the sword from the stone, that really can’t be counted as wielding the weapon. Everyone failed except but one boy. The person destined to wield the sword, was Arthur.
As we already know, Arthur was the son of Uther Pendragon and Lady Igraine. He led many battles to victory until he was betrayed by his nephew, Mordred.
Among the few who were able to carry the sword is Sir Girflet. In one variation of the story, he survived against the final clash of Arthur and Mordred. As the only one able to, he was tasked by Arthur to throw the Excalibur back to the lake from which it came from.
With
They could not see the point of why they should just throw such a powerful and majestic weapon away. Instead of throwing it away, they hid the weapon. However, Arthur knew that he was disobeyed and once again ordered the knight to throw it to the lake.
Finally, his order was carried out. Upon throwing the Excalibur to the lake, a hand shot out of the water and caught the sword. It waved the sword a bit and carried it down beneath the lake.
Why Does the Story of Excalibur Have Many Different Versions?
Geoffrey’s Book – The History of the Kings of Britain
The first to write the story of King Arthur was Geoffrey of Monmouth. Although the story of Arthur were forging together pieces of records and myth during the Saxon invasion, Geoffrey was able to write his book 600 years after the said attack.
Before the Saxons, it was the Roman empire that conquered Britain. Before the Romans left, they never taught or trained the British how to defend their land. This led to Britain to become ultimately vulnerable to any attacks.
During the fifth century, around 410 CE, the Saxons realized the vulnerability of Britain and made their move. From 410 to 1066, the Saxons ruled over the British. Over the 600 years of the Anglo-Saxon period, not many records were kept.
It was then during 1130 when Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his book, The History of the Kings of Britain. His book was supposed to piece together celtic and latin sources he found to tell the history of what had happened over the few hundred years that have passed.
However, accounting his book as history is a very generous statement. There were a lot of gaps during the 600 years. What he then used to fill those gaps were myths and poetry to sew everything together.
Realistic accounts of battles and places
In his writing, Arthur didn’t rule from Camelot. In his book, the place was called Caerleon. Through time, Geoffrey’s book rose to popularity. Soon, his book was then translated from Latin to French.
The Translation of the Book from Latin to French
It was a poet named Wace who did the translation of the book during 1155 CE. However, instead of simply doing the translation, he added more elements to the book. It was Wace who added the round table.
In his addition to the book, it was said that King Arthur had the round table made for a certain purpose. The round table was made so that when Arthur and his guests are seated around it, everyone would be equally placed.
This means that no one could boast that he or she had a higher position.
The Introduction of the Holy Grail and the Many Adaptations
After Wace finished his translation, another French poet wrote a series of romances that made the book even more popular. The French poet was Chretien de Troyes. He added a lot including the story of Lancelot and other knights.
Chretien was also the person responsible for Arthur’s love triangle with Guinevere and Lancelot. More importantly, it was Chretien who added the Holy Grail to the story. As we already know, the Holy Grail was said to be the cup that Jesus used during the last supper.
From Chretien’s work, multiple adaptations followed. These adaptations weren’t just limited to French adaptations but also extended to other languages. The adaptations that followed were the cause for some names to be changed.
For instance, Caerleon became Camelot. From Caledfwlch, the name of the sword became Caliburnus and eventually, Excalibur.
The 15th Century – Sir Thomas Malory
During the 15th Century, the collection of all the adaptations were fused together by Sir Thomas Malory. His book would then be what would be called, Le Morte D’Arthur.
All the previous adaptations caused for the story to have a lot of different versions. This is why with some versions, names of characters, places and even the sword are different.
What Are Other Swords Rumored to be the Excalibur?
Although Excalibur is the most well known magical sword stuck in a stone, there is one other sword that almost has the same story. In fact, it might just actually be the actual Excalibur.
Experts even say that this sword we are about to share with you might actually even be the inspiration for Excalibur. The sword said to be the inspiration for Excalibur or is the Excalibur itself is said to be the legendary sword in the stone of Galgano.
But unlike Excalibur, the sword of Galgano actually exists. Yes, it exists and you can even visit the sword. Before we talk more about the sword, it’s important that we first know more about its owner, Saint Galgano.
Galgano was actually the very first saint who’s canonization was conducted via a formal process made by the Roman Church. His canonization was done during 1185 which was only a few years after his death.
Saint Galgano was born
If he died on 1181, that would mean Geoffrey has written his book first, which was in 1130. Even 1148 which was the year Galgano was born is still years ahead of Geoffrey’s writing. How can Galgano’s sword be the inspiration for Excalibur?
To start, we mentioned earlier that in Geoffrey’s book, Excalibur still did not come from any magical realm. In his book, the sword was forged in the Isle of Avallon. This means that it could still be possible for Galgano’s sword to have great influence on Arthur’s story.
Going back, Galgano was trained in war and was both violent and arrogant. During his youth, he spent his life in wealth as a knight. This was because he was a son of a minor noble. Later in his life, he changed his ways and chose to become that of a hermit instead of going to wars.
It was said that Saint Galgano began his journey of holiness after he saw the archangel
Right after he met the archangel Michael, Galgano then declared that he will take the path of a hermit the following day. The news
Following his mother’s advice, Galgano went on his horse and made his way to his fiance. Along the way though, his horse suddenly reared throwing him away. To his surprise, Galgano was lifted by a force he could not see.
However, he heard a very angelic voice and told him to go to Mount Montesiepi. At the foot of the hill, he again heard the voice which told him to be still and to look at the top of the hill. There he saw a temple with Jesus, Mary and the 12 apostles.
The voice then told him to go to the top of the hill. Once he reached the top of the hill, the voice once again talked to him and instructed him to abandon all his worldly desires. At first, Galgano objected what was told of him to do.
The task for him was just easier said than done. He went on to say that the task is seemingly like splitting a stone with a sword. It was just impossible. He even tried to prove his point by pulling out his sword and thrusting it into a stone.
Much to his surprise, the sword easily went through it. It was a realization for him and ever since then, he resided on the hill and lived on as a hermit. On the hill, peasants would often visit him and ask for his blessing.
Galgano also made friends with the animals that lived on the hill. At one point, there is a legend that mentioned that the devil sent an assassin to kill Galgano. This demon assassin took on the form of a monk but did not succeed in accomplishing his mission.
Wolves protected Galgano and killed the assassin. Galgano though, died at an early age of 33. 4 years after his death, he was then canonized. The sword that Galgano plunged into a stone on the hill still exists to this day.
It’s now inside a temple that is today known as Cappella di San Galgano a Montesiepi.
So, Just What is the Excalibur?
The many adaptations also
Knowing just what the Excalibur truly is is a question that no one has yet to answer and perhaps will be a question that will never be answered. After all, it’s a sword based on different forms of writing.
If it did though, we doubt much of its magical properties are true. However, the closest thing to bring the Excalibur to life is the sword of Galgano. Studies even suggested that with the sword, the mummified arms kept inside the chapel were as old as the sword itself.
Yes, along with the sword, a pair of mummified arms are also housed inside the chapel. This is to support the legend that anyone who attempts to pull the sword from the stone will have their arms ripped from their body.
If this is true, this could mean that the sword of Galgano does have its own unique magical properties. But then again, Galgano being able to easily thrust the sword into the stone is a miracle of its own.
To think of Excalibur and the sword of Galgano as two same or different blades is up to you. Regardless, we hope we helped you with knowing more about Excalibur in general. It’s history and legend is rich but is also just as mysterious.
What do you think could be the Excalibur? Is it really the sword of Galgano? Does the sword really exist? Regardless, we hope we helped you with knowing more about the legendary sword of king Arthur, the most famous magical sword, Excalibur.