Excalibur

Excalibur is the most widely accepted name of the legendary sword of King Arthur, to which various extraordinary properties have been attributed throughout the many versions of the myth and subsequent stories.

Origin and etymology

According to Franklin R. Warren (2000, p. 19), the oldest source that speaks of the sword wielded by the first King of the Britons is the book History of the Kings of Britain, by Geoffrey of Monmouth, written around 1130, but there is no mention of his breaking free of the stone. Some years before, however, the monks of Cluny had spread the legend of the knight San Galgano (probably Gawain or Galván), which contains elements that coincided such as the sword inserted in the stone, which appears for the first time in Arthurian matter in the Merlin by Robert de Boron. However, the origin is older: the Roman Servius, in his famous commentary on Virgil's Aeneid, recalls that Hercules, wanting to test himself, stuck an iron bar into the ground and none managed to get it out but himself; A large mass of water gushed out of the hole, which later formed what is now known as Lake Vico, in the Ciminos mountains of Viterbo. Authors such as Christopher Hibbert (2004, p. 24) or Warren (2000), among others, do not hesitate to attribute the paternity of the invention of the name of the sword to Geoffrey. Both authors indicate the importance of these weapons in the Late Middle Ages, where each great hero carried his own, as is the case of Roldán with the Durandarte, which he himself could not break, or the Tizona del Cid Campeador.

There are several theories regarding the origin of its name. One of the most accepted is that it comes from the Latin Ex Calce Liberatus, which could be translated as Freed from the stone. Even so, in many writings she has been called by different names and it is possible that her current name derives from one of these: Caliburn , which probably derives from the Latin word Chalybs : steel; in the old Welsh tale "Culhwch and Olwen" it is named as "Caledfwlch", which derives from Old Gaelic caladbolg: "flashing sword& #3. 4;. It is accepted that the name was given by the Anglo-Norman poet Wace.

Obtaining Excalibur

King Arthur and Merlin collecting Excalibur offered by the Lady of the Lake.

There are various stories of how Arthur came into possession of the mythical sword.

When King Uther Pendragon died, Merlin forged a sword (Excalibur) on the island of Avalon (the island of fairies) and stuck it into a stone that was next to a London chapel. This version is the one collected, for example, in Merlin by the French Robert de Boron.

In The Vulgate Cycle, it is said that Arthur had broken his sword (the one with the stone) during a fight against Sir Pellinore. Merlin took him to a lake from which a beautiful young woman emerged, the Lady of the Lake. This Lady of the Lake was a powerful witch who could walk on water and had a castle at the bottom of that lake. The Lady had in her power Excalibur, a magical sword (the sword and the lake are two elements that coincide with the myth that Servius collects). Merlin asked her for said sword for her pupil and she gave it to him. The sword was kept in a scabbard that prevented the king from losing blood when he carried it into battle. Merlin warned Arthur to be careful, because one day a woman worthy of her trust would come along and take Excalibur's scabbard from him forever. This second version is the one taken up by Sir Thomas Malory.

In Welsh legend, Excálibur is called “Caledfwlch”, thus appearing in the romance of Arthur's warrior, where Llenllaawg, an Irish knight, steals a magical cauldron and kills a king named Diwrnach.

The disappearance of Excalibur

Bedivere throwing the mythical sword into the water. Illustration of 1894.

The most accepted story is that in which Arthur, dying, orders one of his knights to throw his sword into the pool where Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, lives. This knight, who first disobeys and then reluctantly accepts the order, is called Griflet, Bedivere, Lancelot, or Perceval, according to the story.

As the knight throws his sword into the pool, a hand clad in white silk (Nimue) rises from the surface of the water, seizes the sword, and then disappears into the depths. This story about the return of Excalibur to the lake could be based on the customs of some Celtic peoples of throwing into the lakes some belongings of the great warriors who had just died as an offering to their gods.

It is also said that the sword rests with the king in Avalon awaiting the day of his return.

The Sword of San Galgano

In the Abbey of San Galgano, near the city of Siena, Italy, a sword is found embedded in the ground, which has never been removed. The sword, which has survived over time, is protected by glass so that no one can damage it. Although the weapon is in the middle of the ruins of the abbey, the sword, from which only the handle protrudes, is close to the tomb of San Galgano.

In Video Games

• Saga The Legend of Zelda (known as the Bride of the Goddess in Skyward Sword and then as a Master Sword after merging with the 3 sacred flames in the same game)
• Final Fantasy Saga
• Saga Soul Calibur
• Reigns
• Saga Fire Emblem
• Borderlands (Parodia)
• King Quest
• Castlevania
• Sonic and the Black Knight
• Warframe as a playable character.
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
• Tomb Raider: Legend
• Saga Fate PlayStation Games,Mobile, Switch,PC(Views and Video Games)
• Terraria
• Golden Sun II: The Lost Age
• Smite
• Tales of Phantasia
• Dying Light (like EXPcalibur)
• Sunset Overdrive
• Tibia (like Excalibug)
• Hades (Excalibur is presented as a hidden aspect taking the Estigiana sword)

Cinema, TV and Comics

• 1963 The sword in the stoneWalt Disney Pictures.
• 1977 Monty Pyhton and the Holy GrailThe Pythons.
• 1980 Excalibur is the Power Object of the Kundalini Warrior called Zaboot at the Comic Karmatron and the Transformables of Óscar González Loyo.
• 1980 Excalibur is the main weapon of reincarnated King Arthur in the limited series Camelot 3000 published by DC Comics.
• 1981 Excalibur led by John Boorman.
• 1988 Saint Seiya The Sword was handed over to Shura of Capricorn by the goddess Athena as a reward for being his most loyal knight and he used it to attack his opponents.
• 1993 The SimpsonsIn episode 4 of season 5.
• 1995 Lancelot, the first gentleman with Richard Gere as Lancelot and Sean Connery as King Arthur.
• 1998 Merlin led by Steve Barron.
• 1998 The Magic sword: In Search of Camelot.
• 1999 Digimon Adventure Magnaangemon Sword
• 2004 King Arthur.
• 2006 Fate/stay night Wise of the Servant Knowledge.
• 2007 The last legion.
• 2008 MerlinBBC series.
• 2008 Soul Eater Secundary character.
• 2010 Avalon High Disney Channel. A sword is pulled into a school theater by Allie Pennington (Britt Robertson) being King Arthur's reincarnation.
• 2011 Fate/Zero Wise of the Servant Knowledge.
• 2012 High School DxD legendary weapon
• 2013 Sword Art Online Oberon sword in the Fairy Dance arch and later Kirito in the Calibur bow.
• 2014 The Librarians
• 2014 Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works Wise of the Servant Knowledge.
• 2015 Nanatsu no Taizai Sword of King Arthur Pendragon
• 2015 Minions Bob, the smallest minion, manages to draw the legendary sword, becoming King of England.
• 2015 Once Upon a time: Fifth season King Arthur's sword incomplete
• 2017 Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel Arma del servant Saber.
• 2017 Transformers: the last knight King Arthur's sword, which has a cybertronian artifact capable of directing the Knights of Cybertron. In the present time, a talisman becomes this sword by being used by Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg)).
• 2017 King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.
• 2019 Hellboy.
• 2019 Born to be King
• It appears as the weapon of the character Saber (Artoria Pendragon), both in the visual novel of 2004 Fate/stay night as in the light novel of 2006 Fate/Zeroas well as the video game for Fate/Grand Order mobile devices. It should be noted that the sword appears almost in any Fate delivery where the character of Artoria appears, so it can be found in much of the franchise.
• 2020 Damn!, series in which Nimue is shown carry the sword before King Arthur.
• 2020 Wizards: Tales of Arcadia by Guillermo del Toro.

King Arthur smashes the sword excalibur by slaying his sister Morgana with it. Merlin, Douxie, Archie, Clara and Steve visit the lady of the lake so that she is there to repair it.

• 2021 Eternals The sword Excalibur ended in the hands of the Eternal Makkari.
• 2022 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish The sword was part of the collection of "Big" Jack Horner magic items.