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{{short description|Legendary sword of King Arthur}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox fictional artifact
|name            = Excalibur
|image           = File:Arthur-Pyle Excalibur the Sword.JPG
|caption         = ''Excalibur the Sword'' by [[Howard Pyle]] (1903)
|alt             =
|source          = [[Matter of Britain]]
|first           =
|type            = [[Legendary sword]]
|owner           = [[King Arthur]], [[Merlin]], [[Lady of the Lake]], [[Morgan le Fay|Morgan]], [[Bedivere]], [[Griflet]], [[Gawain]]
|traits          =
|uses            = Proof of Arthur's [[Divine right of kings|divine right]], magic weapon, ritual item
|affiliation     = [[Avalon]]
}}
'''Excalibur''' is the [[Legendary swords|mythical sword]] of [[King Arthur]] that may [[magic sword|possess magical powers]] or be associated with the rightful [[sovereignty]] of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]''. Excalibur as the "sword in the stone" functioning as the proof of [[King Arthur's family|Arthur's lineage]] is an iconic motif featured throughout most works dealing with Arthur's youth since its introduction in [[Robert de Boron]]'s [[Merlin (Robert de Boron poem)|''Merlin'']].<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44697440 | jstor=44697440 | last1=Stock | first1=Lorraine K. | title=Reinventing an Iconic Arthurian Moment: The Sword in the Stone in Films and Television | journal=Arthuriana | date=2015 | volume=25 | issue=4 | pages=66–83 | doi=10.1353/art.2015.0047 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> The sword given to the young Arthur by the [[Lady of the Lake]] in the tradition that began soon afterwards with the ''[[Post-Vulgate Cycle]]'' is not the same weapon, but in ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'' both of them share the name of Excalibur. Several similar swords and other weapons also appear within Arthurian texts, as well as in other legends.

== Forms and etymology ==
The name ''Excalibur'' ultimately derives from the [[Welsh language|Welsh]] {{lang|cy|'''Caledfwlch'''}} ([[Breton language|Breton]] {{lang|br|'''Kaledvoulc'h'''}}, [[Middle Cornish]] {{lang|cnx|'''Calesvol'''}}), which is a [[Compound (linguistics)|compound]] of {{lang|cy|caled}}, {{gloss|hard}}, and {{Lang|cy|bwlch}}, {{gloss|breach, cleft}}.{{sfn|Bromwich|Simon Evans|1992|pp=64–65}} Caledfwlch appears in several early Welsh works, including the prose tale ''[[Culhwch and Olwen]]'' ({{c.|11th–12th century}}). The name was later used in Welsh adaptations of foreign material such as the {{lang|cy|Brut}}s (chronicles), which were based on [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]. It is often considered to be related to the phonetically similar {{lang|cy|[[Caladbolg]]}}, a sword borne by several figures from [[Irish mythology]], although a borrowing of {{lang|cy|Caledfwlch}} from the Irish {{lang|ga|Caladbolg}} has been considered unlikely by [[Rachel Bromwich]] and D. Simon Evans. They suggest instead that both names "may have similarly arisen at a very early date as generic names for a sword".{{sfn|Bromwich|Simon Evans|1992|pp=64–65}}{{sfn|Green|2007|p=156}} In the late 15th to early 16th-century Middle Cornish play {{lang|cnx|[[Beunans Ke]]}}, Arthur's sword is called {{lang|cnx|Calesvol}}, which is etymologically an exact Middle Cornish cognate of the Welsh {{lang|cy|Caledfwlch}}. It is unclear if the name was borrowed from the Welsh (if so, it must have been an early loan, for phonological reasons), or represents an early, [[Common Brittonic|pan-Brittonic]] traditional name for Arthur's sword.<ref>Koch, John. ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'', Volume 1, ABC-CLIO, 2006, p. 329.</ref>

Welsh author Geoffrey of Monmouth, in his Latin chronicle {{lang|la|[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]}} (''The History of the Kings of Britain'', {{c.|1136}}), [[Latinisation (literature)|Latinised]] the name of Arthur's sword as {{lang|la|'''Caliburnus'''}} (possibly influenced by the Medieval Latin spelling {{lang|la|calibs}} of [[Classical Latin]] {{lang|la|chalybs}}, from the Greek {{transliteration|grc|chályps}} ({{lang|grc|χάλυψ}}), {{gloss|steel}}). Most Celticists consider Geoffrey's {{lang|la|Caliburnus}} to be derivative of a [[Lost literary work|lost]] [[Old Welsh]] text in which {{lang|owl|bwlch}} (Old Welsh {{lang|owl|bulc[h]}}) had not yet been [[Lenition|lenited]] to {{lang|wlm|fwlch}} ([[Middle Welsh]] {{lang|wlm|vwlch}} or {{lang|wlm|uwlch}}).{{sfn|Ford|1983|p=271}}{{sfn|MacKillop|1998|pp=64–65, 174}}{{sfn|Bromwich|Simon Evans|1992|pp=64–65}} [[Geoffrey Gaimar]], in his [[Old French]] chronicle {{lang|fro|[[Estoire des Engleis]]}} (1134–1140), mentions Arthur and his sword: "this Constantine was the nephew of Arthur, who had the sword '''Caliburc'''" ("{{lang|fro|Cil Costentin, li niès Artur, Ki out l'espée Caliburc}}").<ref>Hardy, T. D. and Martin, C. T. (eds./trans.), Gaimar, Geoffrey. ''L'Estoire des Engles'' (lines 45–46), Eyre and Spottiswoode, London, 1889, p. 2.</ref><ref>Wright, T. (ed.); Gaimar, Geoffrey. ''Gaimar, Havelok et Herward'', [[Caxton Society]], London, 1850, p. 2.</ref> In [[Wace]]'s {{lang|fro|[[Roman de Brut]]}} ({{c.|1150–1155}}), composed in Old French, the sword is called {{lang|fro|'''Caliburn'''}} ({{lang|fro|Chaliburne}}, {{lang|fro|Caliburne}}, {{lang|fro|Calibuerne}}),{{Refn|Chaliburne v. 9279, Caliburne v. 10083 Caliburn 11547 Calibuerne 12891 12910 12926.<ref name="arnold-t2-1940"/>}}{{Refn|Ivor Arnold's edition uses 22 manuscripts including fragments, and as to base text, considers the continental ''N'' (BnF français 1454) best, and ''D'' (Durham, Cathedral Library, C. IV. 27) and ''P'' (Penrose) best among the insular (Anglo-Norman) copies.<ref name="arnold-t1-1938"/>}} {{lang|fro|'''Calabrum'''}}, {{lang|fro|'''Callibourc'''}}, {{lang|fro|'''Calabrun'''}}, {{lang|fro|Chalabrun}},{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Zimmer omits "Chalabrun" counting it as inclusive in 3 occurrences of "Calabrun ".<ref name="zimmer1890"/>}}  and {{lang|fro|'''Escalibor'''}} (with additional variant spellings such as {{lang|fro|Chalabrum}}, {{lang|fro|Calibore}}, {{lang|fro|Callibor}}, {{lang|fro|Caliborne}}, {{lang|fro|Calliborc}}, {{lang|fro|Escallibore}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Misspelt "Escaliborc" (at v. 13330) by Zimmer.<ref name="zimmer1890"/>}} found in various continental manuscripts).<ref name="lerouxde_lincy1838"/><ref name="zimmer1890"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Le Roux de Lincy relied on continental manuscripts,<ref name="lerouxde_lincy1838-mss"/> but there were insular (Anglo-Norman) copies as well.<ref name="blacker1996"/>}} Various other spellings in the later medieval Arthurian literature have included ''Calibourch'', ''Calibourn'', ''Calibourne'', ''Caliburc'', ''Escaliber'', ''Escalibur'', ''Excalibor'', and finally the familiar ''Excalibur''.<ref>Zimmer, Heinrich. "Bretonische Elemente in der Arthursage des Gottfried von Monmouth", ''Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur'', Volume 12, E. Franck's, 1890, p. 236.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_LF4EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT178|title=The Roman King Arthur?: Lucius Artorius Castus |first=Tony |last=Sullivan |date=14 July 2022 |publisher=Pen and Sword Military |isbn=9781399084031 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Legend==
=== The Sword in the Stone and the Sword in the Lake ===
{{multiple image
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| image1 = An island story; a child's history of England (1906) (14801002423).jpg
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| image2 = CRANE King Arthur asks the lady of the lake for the sword Excalibur.jpg
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| caption1 = Arthur draws the sword from the stone in [[Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall]]'s ''[[Our Island Story]]'' (1906). Here, as in many more modern depictions of this scene, there is no anvil and the sword is lodged directly within the stone itself
| caption2 = "King Arthur asks the Lady of the Lake for the sword Excalibur". [[Walter Crane]]'s illustration for [[Henry Gilbert (author)|Henry Gilbert]]'s ''King Arthur's Knights: The Tales Retold for Boys and Girls'' (1911)}}

Romance tradition elaborates on how Arthur came into possession of Excalibur. In [[Robert de Boron|Robert de Boron's]] c. 1200 French poem ''[[Merlin (Robert de Boron poem)|Merlin]]'', the first known tale to mention the "sword in the stone" motif, Arthur obtained the British throne by pulling a sword from an anvil sitting atop a stone that appeared in a churchyard on Christmas Eve.<ref>Bryant, Nigel (ed, trans), Merlin and the Grail: Joseph of Arimathea, Merlin, Perceval: the Trilogy of Prose Romances Attributed to Robert de Boron, DS Brewer, 2001, p. 107ff.</ref> In this account, as foretold by [[Merlin]], the act could not be performed except by "the true king", meaning the [[Divine right of kings|divinely appointed king]] or true heir of [[Uther Pendragon]]. (As [[Thomas Malory]] related in his English-language Arthurian compilation, the 15th-century ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'', "whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born of all England."<ref>Sir Thomas Malory, William Caxton. ''Morte Darthur: Sir Thomas Malory's Book of King Arthur and of His Noble Knights of the Round Table''. p. 28. J. B. Lippincott and Company, 1868.</ref><ref group="lower-alpha">This line from Malory is also quoted in the 1938 Arthurian novel ''[[The Sword in the Stone (novel)|The Sword in the Stone]]'' by British author [[T. H. White]] as well as its [[The Sword in the Stone (1963 film)|Disney adaptation]].</ref>) The scene is set by different authors at either explicitly London (historical [[Londinium]]) or generally in the land of [[Logres]] (which can be a city and also associated with London<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ywEEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA267 | title=The Arthur of the French: The Arthurian Legend in Medieval French and Occitan Literature | date=15 October 2020 | publisher=University of Wales Press | isbn=978-1-78683-743-1 }}</ref>), and might have been inspired by a miracle attributed to the 11th-century bishop [[Wulfstan (died 1095)|Wulfstan of Worcester]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27870843|jstor = 27870843|title = The Staff in the Stone: Finding Arthur's Sword in the 'Vita Sancti Edwardi' of Aelred of Rievaulx|last1 = Dutton|first1 = Marsha L.|journal = Arthuriana|year = 2007|volume = 17|issue = 3|pages = 3–30|doi = 10.1353/art.2007.0018|s2cid = 162363447|url-access = subscription}}</ref> After many of the gathered nobles try and fail to complete Merlin's challenge, the teenage Arthur, who up to this point had believed himself to be biological son of [[Sir Ector|Ector]] and went there as a squire to his foster brother [[Sir Kay|Kay]], succeeds effortlessly. Arthur first achieves this feat by accident while unaware of the contest and unseen. He then returns the sword to its place in the anvil on a stone, and later repeats the act publicly as Merlin comes to announce his true parentage.

[[File:Dozmary Pool - geograph.org.uk - 1570107.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dozmary Pool]], a lake in Cornwall associated with the legend of Excalibur due to its proximity to [[Slaughterbridge]], a potential location of the [[Battle of Camlann]]<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mVkoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT66 | title=The Lost Tomb of King Arthur: The Search for Camelot and the Isle of Avalon | isbn=9781591437581 | last1=Phillips | first1=Graham | date=11 April 2016 | publisher=Simon and Schuster }}</ref>]]

The identity of this sword as Excalibur is made explicit in the Prose ''Merlin'', a part of the thirteenth-century ''[[Lancelot-Grail]]'' cycle of French romances also known as the ''Vulgate Cycle''.<ref>Micha, Alexandre (ed.). ''Merlin: roman du XIIIe siècle'' (Geneva: Droz, 1979).</ref> Eventually, in the cycle's finale Vulgate ''Mort Artu'', when Arthur is at the brink of death, he enigmatically orders his surviving knight [[Griflet]] to cast Excalibur into a nearby lake. After two failed attempts to deceive Arthur, since Griflet felt that such a great sword should not be thrown away, he finally does comply with the wounded king's request. A woman's hand emerges from the lake to catch Excalibur, after which [[Morgan le Fay|Morgan]] appears in a boat to take Arthur to [[Avalon]]. This motif then became attached to [[Bedivere]] (or [[Yvain]] in the chronicle ''[[Scalacronica]]''), instead of Griflet, in the English Arthurian tradition.{{sfn|Lacy|1996}}

However, in the subsequent [[Post-Vulgate Cycle]] variants of the ''Merlin'' and the ''Merlin Continuation'', written soon afterwards, Arthur's sword drawn from the stone is unnamed. Furthermore, the young Arthur promptly breaks it in his duel against King [[Pellinore]] very early in his reign. On Merlin's advice, Arthur then goes with him to be given the actual Excalibur by a [[Lady of the Lake]] in exchange for a later boon for her (some time later, she arrives at Arthur's court to demand the head of [[Sir Balin|Balin]]). In the Post-Vulgate ''Mort Artu'', it is this sword that is eventually hurled into the pool [[Battle of Camlann|at Camlann]] (or actually [[Salisbury Plain]] where both cycles locate the battle, as do the English romances) by Griflet in the same circumstances as told in the story's Vulgate version. Malory included both of these stories in his now-iconic ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' while naming each of the swords as Excalibur: both the first one (from the stone), soon shattered in combat in a story taken from the Post-Vulgate ''Merlin Continuation'', and its replacement (from the lake), returned by Bedivere in the end.{{sfn|Malory|1997|p=[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:2?rgn=div1;view=fulltext 7]}}{{sfn|Malory|1997|p=[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:3.7?rgn=div2;view=fulltext 46]}}

=== Other roles and attributes ===
In the Welsh tales, 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. Though not named as Caledfwlch, Arthur's sword is described vividly in ''[[The Dream of Rhonabwy]]'', one of the tales associated with the ''[[Mabinogion]]'' (as translated by Jeffrey Gantz): "Then they heard [[Cador|Cadwr Earl of Cornwall]] being summoned, and saw him rise with Arthur's sword in his hand, with a design of two [[Chimera (mythology)|chimeras]] on the golden hilt; when the sword was unsheathed what was seen from the mouths of the two chimeras was like two flames of fire, so dreadful that it was not easy for anyone to look."{{sfn|Gantz|1987|p=184}}<ref group="lower-alpha">Nineteenth-century poet [[Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson|Alfred, Lord Tennyson]], described the sword in full [[Romanticism|Romantic]] detail in his poem "Morte d'Arthur", later rewritten as "The Passing of 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]] sparks, / Myriads of [[topaz]]-lights, and [[jacinth]]-work / Of subtlest jewellery."''</ref>

Geoffrey's ''Historia'' is the first non-Welsh text to speak of the sword. Geoffrey says the sword was forged in Avalon and Latinises the name Caledfwlch as ''Caliburnus''. When his influential pseudo-history made it to continental Europe, writers altered the name further until it finally took on the popular form ''Excalibur''. Its role was expanded upon in the Vulgate Cycle and in the Post-Vulgate Cycle which emerged in its wake. Both of these prose cycles incorporated the Prose ''Merlin''. However, the Post-Vulgate authors left out the original ''Merlin'' continuation from the earlier cycle, choosing to add an original account of Arthur's early days including a new origin for Excalibur. In some versions, Excalibur's blade was engraved with phrases on opposite sides: "Take me up" and "Cast me away" (or similar). In addition, it said that when Excalibur was first drawn in combat, in the first battle testing Arthur's sovereignty, its blade shone so bright it blinded his enemies.<ref>Malory writes in the [[Winchester Manuscript]]: "''thenne he drewe his swerd Excalibur, but it was so breyght in his enemyes eyen that it gaf light lyke thirty torchys.''"</ref>

In [[Chrétien de Troyes]]' late 12th-century Old French [[Perceval, the Story of the Grail|''Perceval'']], Arthur's nephew and best knight [[Gawain]] carries Excalibur, "for at his belt hung Escalibor, the finest sword that there was, which sliced through iron as through wood"<ref>Bryant, Nigel (trans., ed.). ''Perceval: The Story of the Grail'', DS Brewer, 2006, p. 69.</ref> ("{{lang|fro|Qu'il avoit cainte Escalibor, la meillor espee qui fust, qu'ele trenche fer come fust}}"<ref>Roach, William. ''Chrétien De Troyes: Le Roman De Perceval ou Le Conte Du Graal'', Librairie Droz, 1959, p. 173.</ref>). This statement was probably picked up by the author of the ''Estoire Merlin'', or Vulgate ''Merlin'', where the author asserts that Escalibor "is a [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] name which means in French 'cuts iron, steel, and wood{{'"}}<ref>Loomis, R. S. ''Arthurian Tradition and Chrétien de Troyes'', Columbia, 1949, p. 424.</ref> ("{{lang|fro|c'est non Ebrieu qui dist en franchois trenche fer & achier et fust}}"; the word for 'steel' here, ''achier'', also means 'blade' or 'sword') and comes from medieval Latin {{lang|la|aciarium}}, a derivative of {{lang|la|acies}} 'sharp', so there is no direct connection with Latin {{lang|la|chalybs}}). It is from this fanciful etymological musing that Thomas Malory got the notion that Excalibur meant 'cut steel'<ref>Vinaver, Eugène (ed.) ''The works of Sir Thomas Malory'', Volume 3. Clarendon, 1990, p. 1301.</ref> ({{"'}}''the name of it,' said the lady, 'is Excalibur, that is as moche to say, as cut stele''{{'"}}).

[[File:Arthur-Pyle Queen Morgana loses Excalibur His Sheath.JPG|thumb|upright=1.1|"Queen Morgana Loses Excalibur His Sheath." [[Howard Pyle]]'s illustration for ''[[The Story of King Arthur and His Knights]]'' (1903)]]

In the Post-Vulgate version, used in Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' for the second Excalibur, the sword's [[scabbard]] is also said to have powers of its own, as any wounds received while wearing it would not bleed at all, thus preventing the wearer from ever bleeding to death in battle. For this reason, Merlin chides Arthur for preferring Excalibur over its sheath, saying that the latter is the greater treasure. The scabbard is, however, soon stolen from Arthur by his half-sister [[Morgan le Fay]] in revenge for the death of her beloved [[Accolon]], he having been slain by Arthur with Excalibur in a duel involving a false Excalibur (Morgan also secretly makes at least one duplicate of Excalibur during the time when the sword is entrusted to her by Arthur earlier in the different French, Iberian and English variants of that story). During Morgan's flight from the pursuit by Arthur, the sheath is then thrown by her into a deep lake and lost. This act later enables the death of Arthur, deprived of its magical protection, many years later in [[Battle of Camlann|his final battle]]. In Malory's telling, the scabbard is never found again. In the Post-Vulgate, however, it is recovered and claimed by another fay, Marsique, who then briefly gives it to Gawain to help him fight Naborn the Enchanter (a [[Mabon ap Modron|Mabon]] figure).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=klsMZ41xAREC&pg=PA203|title=Lancelot-Grail|first=Norris J.|last=Lacy|date=6 August 2010|publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd|isbn=9781843842385|via=Google Books}}</ref>

As mentioned above, Excalibur is wielded also by Gawain in some French romances, including the Vulgate ''Lancelot''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CzxyQLoj3a8C&pg=PA188|title=Sir Gawain: Knight of the Goddess|first=John|last=Matthews|date=25 March 2003|publisher=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co|isbn=9780892819706|via=Google Books}}</ref> The Prose ''Merlin'' also uniquely tells of Gawain killing the Roman leader [[Lucius Tiberius|Lucius]] with Excalibur.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UTNrEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA383|title=Prose Merlin|first=John|last=Conlee|date=1 September 1998|publisher=ISD LLC|isbn=9781580444163 |via=Google Books}}</ref> This is, however, in contrast to most versions, where Excalibur belongs solely to Arthur. A few texts, such as the English [[Alliterative Morte Arthure|Alliterative ''Morte Arthure'']] and one copy of the Welsh ''Ymddiddan Arthur a'r Eryr'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.heroicage.org/issues/1/habcg.htm |title=Brigantia, Cartimandua and Gwenhwyfar |publisher=The Heroic Age |date= |accessdate=2022-08-04}}</ref> tell of Arthur using Excalibur to kill his son [[Mordred]] (in the first of these, he also uses it to kill Lucius). In the Iberian post-Arthurian romance ''Florambel de Lucea'', Morgan later gifts Excalibur (''Esclariber'') to the eponymous hero.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BcAmDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT184 | title=The Arthur of the Iberians: The Arthurian Legends in the Spanish and Portuguese Worlds | isbn=9781783162437 | last1=Hook | first1=David | date=15 June 2015 | publisher=University of Wales Press }}</ref> Another late Iberian romance, ''[[Tirant lo Blanch]]'', features Arthur who was brought back to life by Morgan and then wandered the world for a long time while mad and able to talk only when having Excalibur in his hands. Finally, Morgan finds her brother imprisoned in the contemporary (15th-century) [[Constantinople]], where she restores him to his mind by making him gaze upon his reflection in Excalibur's blade.

==Connections and analogues==
=== Similar weapons ===
[[File:326 The Romance of King Arthur.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|"How Galahad drew out the sword from the floating stone at Camelot." [[Arthur Rackham]]'s illustration for [[Alfred W. Pollard]]'s ''The Romance of King Arthur'' (1917)]]

The challenge of drawing a sword from a stone (placed on the river just outside [[Camelot]]) also appears in the later Arthurian story of [[Galahad]], whose achievement of the task indicates that he is destined to find the [[Holy Grail]], as also foretold in Merlin's prophecies. This powerful yet cursed weapon, known as the Adventurous Sword among other names, has also come from Avalon; it is first stolen and wielded by Balin until his death while killing his own brother, then is briefly taken up by Galahad, and eventually is used by [[Lancelot]] to give his former friend Gawain a mortal wound in their long final duel. In the [[Old French]] ''[[Perlesvaus]]'', Lancelot pulls other weapons from stone on two occasions. In the Post-Vulgate ''Merlin'', Morgan creates the  copies of Excalibur itself as well as of its scabbard.

In [[Welsh mythology]], the Dyrnwyn ("White-Hilt"), one of the [[Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain]], is said to be a powerful sword belonging to [[Rhydderch Hael]],<ref>Tri Thlws ar Ddeg, ed. and tr. Bromwich (1978): pp. 240–1.</ref> one of the Three Generous Men of Britain mentioned in the [[Welsh Triads]]. When drawn by a worthy or well-born man, the entire blade would blaze with fire. Rhydderch was never reluctant to hand the weapon to anyone, hence his nickname Hael "the Generous", but the recipients, as soon as they had learned of its peculiar properties, always rejected the sword. There are other similar weapons described in other mythologies as well. Irish mythology features Caladbolg, the sword of [[Fergus mac Róich]], which was also known for its incredible power and was carried by some of Ireland's greatest heroes. The name, which can also mean "hard cleft" in Irish, appears in the plural, ''caladbuilc'', as a generic term for "great swords" in ''Togail Troi'' ("The Destruction of [[Troy]]"), a 10th-century Irish translation of the classical tale.<ref>Thurneysen, R. "Zur Keltischen Literatur und Grammatik", ''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie'', Volume 12, p. 281ff.</ref><ref>O'Rahilly, T.  F. ''Early Irish history and mythology'', Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1957, p. 68.</ref> A sword named [[Claíomh Solais]], which is an Irish term meaning "sword of light", or "shining sword", appears in a number of orally transmitted Irish folk-tales. The Sword in the Stone has an analogue in some versions of the story of [[Sigurd]], whose father, [[Sigmund]], draws the sword [[Gram (mythology)|Gram]] out of the tree [[Barnstokkr]] where it is embedded by the Norse god [[Odin]]. Apart from legendary swords, the only real ancient Sword in the Stone which still exists nowadays is kept since the medieval ages in the Chapel of  [[Galgano Guidotti|Saint Galgano]] at Montesiepi in Tuscany, Italy; it is associated with the 12th-century Italian legend of that saint in the tale of "Tuscany's Excalibur".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/16/rorycarroll.theobserver "Tuscany's Excalibur is the real thing, say scientists"]. ''The Guardian''. Retrieved 1 August 2021.</ref>

=== Arthur's other weapons ===
A number of different swords and other weapons have been also associated with Arthur. In the Alliterative ''Morte Arthure'', Clarent is the royal sword of peace meant for knighting and ceremonies as opposed to battle, which Mordred stole and then used to kill Arthur at Camlann.<ref>[http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/alstint.htm ''Alliterative Morte Arthure''], TEAMS, retrieved 26-02-2007.</ref> The Prose ''Lancelot'' of the Vulgate Cycle mentions a sword called Sequence (also ''Secace'' or ''Seure'') as borrowed from Arthur by Lancelot.<ref>Warren, Michelle. ''History On The Edge: Excalibur and the Borders of Britain, 1100–1300'' (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press) p. 212.</ref> In the Vulgate ''Merlin'', Arthur captures Marmiadoise (Marmydoyse), the marvellous sword of [[Hercules]], from the latter's descendant [[King Rience|King Rions]].  Marmiadoise's powers (such as causing wounds that would never heal) are so superior to those of Excalibur that Arthur gives Excalibur to Gawain.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QAnoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA108|title=Encyclopedia of Mythological Objects|first=Theresa|last=Bane|date=29 May 2020|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476639208 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

Early-Arthurian Welsh tradition knew of a dagger named [[Carnwennan]] and a spear named [[Rhongomyniad]] that belonged to him. Carnwennan ("little white-hilt") first appears in ''Culhwch and Olwen'', where Arthur uses it to slice the witch Orddu in half.{{sfn|Bromwich|Simon Evans|1992|pp=64–65}}{{sfn|Jones|Jones|1949|p=136}} Rhongomyniad ("spear" + "striker, slayer") is also mentioned in ''Culhwch'', although only in passing; it appears as simply Ron ("spear") in Geoffrey's ''Historia''. Geoffrey also names Arthur's shield as [[Pridwen]]; in ''Culhwch'', however, [[Prydwen]] ("fair face") is the name of Arthur's ship while his shield is named Wynebgwrthucher ("face of evening").{{sfn|Bromwich|Simon Evans|1992|pp=64–65}}{{sfn|Ford|1983|p=271}}

== Excalibur as a relic ==
Historically, a sword identified as Excalibur (Caliburn) was supposedly discovered during the exhumation of Arthur's purported grave at [[Glastonbury Abbey]] in 1191.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T_Ong1PZq_QC&pg=PA389|title=Henry II: New Interpretations|first1=Christopher|last1=Harper-Bill|first2=Nicholas|last2=Vincent|date=20 August 2007|publisher=Boydell Press|isbn=9781843833406|via=Google Books}}</ref> On 6 March 1191, after the Treaty of Messina, either this or another claimed Excalibur was given as a gift of goodwill by the English king [[Richard I of England]] (Richard the Lionheart) to his ally [[Tancred, King of Sicily]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rYbFIh92OQsC&pg=PA261|title=Anglo-Norman Studies XXI: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1998|first=Christopher|last=Harper-Bill|date=20 August 1999|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|isbn=9780851157450|via=Google Books}}</ref> It was one of a series of symbolic Arthurian acts by the [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]] monarchs, such as their association of the crown of King Arthur with the crown they won from the slain Welsh prince [[Llywelyn ap Gruffudd]].<ref>[https://www.medievalists.net/2020/09/king-arthur-edward/ “In Search of the Once and Future King: Arthur and Edward I”]. Medievalists.net. Retrieved 1 August 2021</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of magical weapons]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="arnold-t1-1938">{{cite book|editor-last=Arnold |editor-first=Ivor |editor-link=<!--Ivor Deiniol Osborn Arnold--> |chapter=Introduction I.—Les mauscrit; V.—Choix du manuscrit base |title=Le roman de Brut de Wace  |volume=1 |location=Paris |publisher=Société des anciens textes français |date=1938 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/LeRomanDeBrutTome1/page/n61/mode/2up |pages=i–xiv; lix–lxvi}} Text in tome 1 (vv. 1–9004) does not yet mention sword, but Cf. birth of "Artus" at [https://archive.org/details/LeRomanDeBrutTome1/page/n563/mode/2up?q=Artus v. 8735n]</ref>
<ref name="arnold-t2-1940">">{{cite book|editor-last=Arnold |editor-first=Ivor |editor-link=<!--Ivor Deiniol Osborn Arnold--> |title=Le roman de Brut de Wace |volume=2 |location=Paris |publisher=Société des anciens textes français |date=1938 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBQtAAAAIAAJ&q=Caliburn |at=vv. }}</ref>

<ref name="blacker1996">{{cite journal|last=Blacker |first=Jean |author-link=<!--Jean Blacker--> |title=Will the Real Brut Please Stand Up? Wace's Roman de Brut in Anglo-Norman and Continental Manuscripts |journal=Text |publisher=Indiana University Press |volume=9 |date=1996 |url=<!--N/A--> |at=pp. 175–176 and note2, 177, etc. <!--pp. 175–186--> |jstor=20698018}}</ref>

<ref name="lerouxde_lincy1838">{{cite book|editor-last=Le Roux de Lincy |editor-first=Antoine |editor-link=Antoine Le Roux de Lincy |title=Le roman de Brut |volume=2 |location=Rouen |publisher=Édouard Frère |date=1836–1838 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PqoZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA51 |pages=}}, '''2''': 51, 88, 213, 215 according to [https://books.google.com/books?id=PqoZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA323&q=calabrum index], but this was not exhaustive. The forms found were:<br/>
* {{lang|fro|Calabrum}}. v. 9514, p. 51 [var. Calibore (Cangé 73)]
* {{lang|fro|Callibourc}}, v. 10323, p. 88
* {{lang|fro|Calabrun}} v. 10341, p. 89; v. 13330, p. 215 [var. Caliborne (No. III/Cangé 73{{=}}K), both times and Escallibore (No. IV/7515<sup>3・3</sup>{{=}}J)  at 13330]
* {{lang|fro|Escalibor}}, v. 11938, p. 155
* {{lang|fro|Chalabrun}}, v. 13295, p. 213 [var. Calliborc (No. II/Cangé 69{{=}}H), Chalabrum, Callibor]
</ref>

<ref name="lerouxde_lincy1838-mss">{{harvp|Le Roux de Lincy|1836–1838}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6qkZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR17 Tome '''1''', pp. xvii–]. The four 13th cent. mss. he lists are :
* No I,  Bibl. du Roi, No 27 (olim 7535<sup>s</sup>, Cangé 69)<!--pp. xviii–, xxiv–v, xxxii– iii;-->→BnF fr. 1450, Arnold's "H"
* No. II, Bibl. du Roi, No 73 (olim Cangé 600)→BnF fr. 794, "K"
* No. III, Bibl. du Roi, No 180, Suppl. franç. (olim Cangé 600)
* No. IV, Bibl. du Roi, No 180 (olim Cangé 600)→ (olim 7515<sup>3・3</sup>, Colbert 2132 )→BnF fr. 1416, "J"
</ref>

<ref name="zimmer1890">(Caveat misspellings, misnumberings, etc. in:) {{cite journal|last=Zimmer |first=H. |author-link=Heinrich Zimmer (Celticist) |title=Bretonische Elemente in der Arthursage des Gottfried von Monmouth |journal=Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur |volume=12 |date=1890 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jwJQGfYZr-MC&pg=PA2363 |page=236<!--231–256--> |jstor=40612250}}</ref>
}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* ''The Works of Sir Thomas Malory,'' Ed. [[Eugène Vinaver|Vinaver, Eugène]], 3rd ed. Field, Rev. P. J. C. (1990). 3 vol. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-812344-2}}, {{ISBN|0-19-812345-0}}, {{ISBN|0-19-812346-9}}.
* {{cite book|last1=Bromwich|first1=R.|last2=Simon Evans|first2=D.|title=Culhwch and Olwen. An Edition and Study of the Oldest Arthurian Tale|url=https://archive.org/details/culhwcholwenedit00brom|url-access=registration|location=Cardiff|publisher=University of Wales Press|year=1992|isbn=9780708311271}}
* {{cite journal|last=Ford|first=P.K.|title=On the Significance of some Arthurian Names in Welsh|journal=[[Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies]]|volume=30|year=1983|pages=268–73}}
* {{cite book|last=Gantz|first=Jeffrey|title=The Mabinogion|year=1987|location=New York|publisher=Penguin|isbn=0-14-044322-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mabinogion0000gant}}
* {{cite book|last=Green|first=T.|title=Concepts of Arthur|url=http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/concepts|location=Stroud|publisher=Tempus|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7524-4461-1}}
* {{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=T.|last2=Jones|first2=G.|title=The Mabinogion|location=London|publisher=Dent|year=1949}}
* {{cite book|last=Lacy|first=Norris J.|title=Lancelot-Grail: The Old French Arthurian Vulgate and Post-Vulgate in Translation|location=New York|publisher=Garland|year=1996}}
* {{cite book|last=MacKillop|first=James|title=Dictionary of Celtic Mythology|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1998}}
* {{cite book|last=Malory|first=Thomas|author-link=Thomas Malory|title=Le Morte D'Arthur|publisher=University of Michigan Humanities Text Initiative|year=1997}}
* {{cite book|last=Micha|first=Alexandre|title=Merlin: roman du XIIIe siècle|location=Geneva|publisher=Droz|year=1979}}
{{refend}}

=== Further reading ===
* Lacy, N. J (ed). ''The New Arthurian Encyclopedia.'' (London: Garland. 1996). {{ISBN|0-8153-2303-4}}.

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Excalibur}}
* [https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/theme/Excalibur-and-sword-in-the-stone.html The Camelot Project at the University of Rochester: Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone]

{{Arthurian Legend}}
{{Celtic mythology (Welsh)}}
{{Geoffrey of Monmouth}}
{{Notable swords}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2025}}


[[Category:Arthurian legend]]
[[Category:Medieval European swords]]
[[Category:Fictional elements introduced in the 11th century]]
[[Category:Fictional swords]]
[[Category:Geoffrey of Monmouth]]
[[Category:Mythological swords]]
[[Category:Welsh mythology]]
[[Category:King Arthur]]