| Excalibur | |
|---|---|
| Matter of Britain element | |
 Excalibur the Sword byHoward Pyle (1903) | |
| In-universe information | |
| Type | Legendary sword |
| Owners | King Arthur,Merlin,Lady of the Lake,Morgan,Bedivere,Griflet,Gawain |
| Function | Proof of Arthur'sdivine right, magic weapon, ritual item |
| Affiliation | Avalon |
Excalibur is themythical sword ofKing Arthur that maypossess magical powers or be associated with the rightfulsovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found inGeoffrey of Monmouth'sHistoria Regum Britanniae. Excalibur as the "sword in the stone" functioning as the proof ofArthur's lineage is an iconic motif featured throughout most works dealing with Arthur's youth since its introduction inRobert de Boron'sMerlin.[1] The sword given to the young Arthur by theLady of the Lake in the tradition that began soon afterwards with thePost-Vulgate Cycle is not the same weapon, but inLe 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.
The nameExcalibur ultimately derives from theWelshCaledfwlch (BretonKaledvoulc'h,Middle CornishCalesvol), which is acompound ofcaled,'hard', andbwlch,'breach, cleft'.[2] Caledfwlch appears in several early Welsh works, including the prose taleCulhwch and Olwen (c. 11th–12th century). The name was later used in Welsh adaptations of foreign material such as theBruts (chronicles), which were based onGeoffrey of Monmouth. It is often considered to be related to the phonetically similarCaladbolg, a sword borne by several figures fromIrish mythology, although a borrowing ofCaledfwlch from the IrishCaladbolg has been considered unlikely byRachel 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".[2][3] In the late 15th to early 16th-century Middle Cornish playBeunans Ke, Arthur's sword is calledCalesvol, which is etymologically an exact Middle Cornish cognate of the WelshCaledfwlch. 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,pan-Brittonic traditional name for Arthur's sword.[4]
Welsh author Geoffrey of Monmouth, in his Latin chronicleHistoria Regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain,c. 1136),Latinised the name of Arthur's sword asCaliburnus (possibly influenced by the Medieval Latin spellingcalibs ofClassical Latinchalybs, from the Greekchályps (χάλυψ),'steel'). Most Celticists consider Geoffrey'sCaliburnus to be derivative of alostOld Welsh text in whichbwlch (Old Welshbulc[h]) had not yet beenlenited tofwlch (Middle Welshvwlch oruwlch).[5][6][2]Geoffrey Gaimar, in hisOld French chronicleEstoire des Engleis (1134–1140), mentions Arthur and his sword: "this Constantine was the nephew of Arthur, who had the swordCaliburc" ("Cil Costentin, li niès Artur, Ki out l'espée Caliburc").[7][8] InWace'sRoman de Brut (c. 1150–1155), composed in Old French, the sword is calledCaliburn (Chaliburne,Caliburne,Calibuerne),[10][12]Calabrum,Callibourc,Calabrun,Chalabrun,[a] andEscalibor (with additional variant spellings such asChalabrum,Calibore,Callibor,Caliborne,Calliborc,Escallibore[b] found in various continental manuscripts).[14][13][c] Various other spellings in the later medieval Arthurian literature have includedCalibourch,Calibourn,Calibourne,Caliburc,Escaliber,Escalibur,Excalibor, and finally the familiarExcalibur.[17][18]
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Romance tradition elaborates on how Arthur pulled out Excalibur. InRobert de Boron's c. 1200 French poemMerlin, 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.[19] In this account, as foretold byMerlin, the act could not be performed except by "the true king", meaning thedivinely appointed king or true heir ofUther Pendragon. (AsThomas Malory related in his English-language Arthurian compilation, the 15th-centuryLe Morte d'Arthur, "whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born of all England."[20][d]) The scene is set by different authors at either explicitly London (historicalLondinium) or generally in the land ofLogres (which can be a city and also associated with London[21]), and might have been inspired by a miracle attributed to the 11th-century bishopWulfstan of Worcester.[22]
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 the biological son ofEctor and had gone there as asquire to his foster brotherKay, 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.
The identity of this sword as Excalibur is made explicit in the ProseMerlin, a part of the thirteenth-centuryLancelot-Grail cycle of French romances also known as theVulgate Cycle.[24] Eventually, in the cycle's finale VulgateMort Artu, when Arthur is at the brink of death, he enigmatically orders his surviving knightGriflet 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 whichMorgan appears in a boat to take Arthur toAvalon. This motif then became attached toBedivere (orYvain in the chronicleScalacronica), instead of Griflet, in the English Arthurian tradition.[25]
However, in the subsequentPost-Vulgate Cycle variants of theMerlin and theMerlin Continuation, written soon afterwards, Arthur's sword drawn from the stone is unnamed. Furthermore, the young Arthur promptly breaks it in his duel against KingPellinore very early in his reign. On Merlin's advice, Arthur then goes with him to be given the actual Excalibur by aLady of the Lake in exchange for a later boon for her (some time later, she arrives at Arthur's court to demand the head ofBalin). In the Post-VulgateMort Artu, it is this sword that is eventually hurled into the poolat Camlann (or actuallySalisbury 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-iconicLe 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-VulgateMerlin Continuation, and its replacement (from the lake), returned by Bedivere in the end.[26][27]
In the Welsh tales, Arthur's sword is known asCaledfwlch. InCulhwch and Olwen, it is one of Arthur's most valuable possessions and is used by Arthur's warriorLlenlleawg the Irishman to kill the Irish king Diwrnach while stealing his magical cauldron. Though not named as Caledfwlch, Arthur's sword is described vividly inThe Dream of Rhonabwy, one of the tales associated with theMabinogion (as translated by Jeffrey Gantz): "Then they heardCadwr Earl of Cornwall being summoned, and saw him rise with Arthur's sword in his hand, with a design of twochimeras 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."[28][e]
Geoffrey'sHistoria is the first non-Welsh text to speak of the sword. Geoffrey says the sword was forged in Avalon and Latinises the name Caledfwlch asCaliburnus. When his influential pseudo-history made it to continental Europe, writers altered the name further until it finally took on the popular formExcalibur. Its role was expanded upon in the Vulgate Cycle as well as in the Post-Vulgate Cycle which emerged in its wake. Both of these prose cycles incorporated the ProseMerlin, but the Post-Vulgate authors left out the originalMerlin continuation from the earlier cycle, choosing to add an original account of Arthur's early days that includes a new origin for Excalibur.
InChrétien de Troyes' late 12th-century Old FrenchPerceval, Arthur's nephew and best knightGawain carries Excalibur, "for at his belt hung Escalibor, the finest sword that there was, which sliced through iron as through wood"[29] ("Qu'il avoit cainte Escalibor, la meillor espee qui fust, qu'ele trenche fer come fust"[30]). This statement was probably picked up by the author of theEstoire Merlin, or VulgateMerlin, where the author asserts that Escalibor "is aHebrew name which means in French 'cuts iron, steel, and wood'"[31] ("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 Latinaciarium, a derivative ofacies 'sharp', so there is no direct connection with Latinchalybs). It is from this fanciful etymological musing that Thomas Malory got the notion that Excalibur meant 'cut steel'[32] ("'the name of it,' said the lady, 'is Excalibur, that is as moche to say, as cut stele'"). In addition, it said by Malory and his sources 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.[33]
In the Post-Vulgate version (used in Malory'sLe Morte d'Arthur for the second Excalibur), the sword'sscabbard 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-sisterMorgan le Fay in revenge for the death of her belovedAccolon, 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 inhis 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 (aMabon figure).[34]
As mentioned above, Excalibur is wielded also by Gawain in some French romances, including the VulgateLancelot.[35] The ProseMerlin also uniquely tells of Gawain killing the Roman leaderLucius with Excalibur.[36] This is, however, in contrast to most versions, where Excalibur belongs solely to Arthur. A few texts, such as the EnglishAlliterativeMorte Arthure and one copy of the WelshYmddiddan Arthur a'r Eryr,[37] tell of Arthur using Excalibur to kill his sonMordred (in the first of these, he also uses it to kill Lucius). In the Iberian post-Arthurian romanceFlorambel de Lucea, Morgan later gifts Excalibur (Esclariber) to the eponymous hero.[38] 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. InPerceforest, the sword is described as having originally belonged toPriam and then taken byCassandra after the fall of Troy.[39] "The Sword in the Stone" story inPerceforest tells how it had ended up embedded in the 'Great Stone' centuries before the time of Arthur.[40]
The challenge of drawing a sword from a stone also appears in the later Arthurian story ofGalahad, whose achievement of the task indicates that he is destined to find theHoly 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. In the Post-Vulgate (and Malory), it if first both drawn from its scabbard in a contest and promptly stolen by Balin, who then wields it until his death when he uses it to kill his own brother. In this version, it is later briefly taken up by Galahad, who pulls it from a stone floating on the river just outsideCamelot, and eventually is used byLancelot to give his former friend Gawain a mortal wound in their long final duel. InPerlesvaus, Lancelot pulls a spear from stone pedestal. In the Post-VulgateMerlin (and Malory), Morgan creates the copies of Excalibur itself as well as of its scabbard.
InWelsh mythology, the Dyrnwyn ("White-Hilt"), one of theThirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain, is said to be a powerful sword belonging toRhydderch Hael,[41] one of the Three Generous Men of Britain mentioned in theWelsh 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 ofFergus 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" inTogail Troi ("The Destruction ofTroy"), a 10th-century Irish translation of the classical tale.[42][43] A sword namedClaíomh 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 ofSigurd, whose father,Sigmund, draws the swordGram out of the treeBarnstokkr where it is embedded by the Norse godOdin. 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 ofSaint 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".[44]
A number of different swords and other weapons have been also associated with Arthur. In the AlliterativeMorte Arthure, Clarent is the royal sword of peace meant for knighting and ceremonies as opposed to battle.Guinevere steals it for Mordred, who then uses it to kill Arthur at Camlann.[45] The ProseLancelot of the Vulgate Cycle mentions a sword called Sequence (alsoSecace orSeure) as borrowed from Arthur by Lancelot.[46] In the VulgateMerlin, Arthur captures Marmiadoise (Marmydoyse), the marvellous sword ofHercules, from the latter's descendantKing 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.[47]
Early-Arthurian Welsh tradition knew of a dagger namedCarnwennan and a spear namedRhongomyniad that belonged to him. Carnwennan ("little white-hilt") first appears inCulhwch and Olwen, where Arthur uses it to slice the witch Orddu in half.[2][48] Rhongomyniad ("spear" + "striker, slayer") is also mentioned inCulhwch, although only in passing; it appears as simply Ron ("spear") in Geoffrey'sHistoria. Geoffrey also names Arthur's shield asPridwen; inCulhwch, however,Prydwen ("fair face") is the name of Arthur's ship while his shield is named Wynebgwrthucher ("face of evening").[2][5]
Historically, a sword identified as Excalibur (Caliburn) was supposedly discovered during the exhumation of Arthur's purported grave atGlastonbury Abbey in 1191.[49] 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 kingRichard I of England (Richard the Lionheart) to his allyTancred, King of Sicily.[50] It was one of a series of symbolic Arthurian acts by theAnglo-Norman monarchs, such as their association of the crown of King Arthur with the crown they won from the slain Welsh princeLlywelyn ap Gruffudd.[51]
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Note: some of the existing swords are named after earlier legendary ones. | ||||||
