Mythology EXPLAINED: King Arthur and Excalibur [Arthurian Legend l Folklore]

Hey SubFuries, so according to every fantasy writer of the last century, a hero needs a lot of things. A trusty sidekick, no sense of perspective, but most importantly, a magic sword. King Arthur was no different. His sword was called Excalibur. Now, there are a couple of stories about how King Arthur got Excalibur. In the first version of the story, introduced by Robert de Beron, the sword and the stone in Excalibur are one and the same. You know the story? Little Arthur is taken from Uther Pendragon at birth and raised by a guy called Sir Hector, who turns out to be a pretty chill dude. Then when he's old enough, Arthur finds the sword in the anvil outside the church on Christmas Eve. Ooh, topical. With an advertisement, Who so pulleth out the sword of the stone as the rightful king of England? But because I am evil and want to destroy your childhood, Hahahaha. I'm here to tell you that that story probably isn't the original one. So, a lot of Arthurian legend was changed after the Christianization of Britain in the 7th century. And the inclusion of divine right and the church is probably something that happened later, after that point. The second version of the story involves Arthur getting Excalibur from a woman who lives in a lake sometime after he became king. Now, the Lady of the Lake is apparently a pretty forgettable person, because she's been called Vivienne, Nimue, Ninevehne, Irvine, and a dozen other names. And in some versions of the story, there's even two different ladies of the lake. Either way, in most cases, Merlin leads King Arthur to the Lady of the Lake after his original sword is broken. Cue Aragorn. Now, in a later version of the story, L'Immortateur by Thomas Mallory, the lady gives him the sword in exchange for a promise in the future, but she refuses to tell him what the promise will be. Wanting the shiny sword so desperately because he's a man and what kind of man can resist a shiny sword, he accepts the deal and goes on his merry way. Now, the Lady of the Lake eventually comes back and demands the head of Sir Baelin, but Baelin just chops off her head instead. Pro tip, never make unspecified promises to lake people. You may end up being asked to kill your friends. Now, this version of the story tends to follow the motif that you'll find in Celtic mythology of powerful weapons coming from the mystical Otherworld, and it emphasizes the relationship that the Celts had with the natural world around them, especially the importance that they placed on water as the giver and taker of life. Sadly, nothing in this story does much to explain why ladies giving out magic swords to strangers is a basis for good government. Of course, like all good magic swords, Excalibur needs magic powers, and the powers of Excalibur have been like every good Pokémon, evolving. Geoffrey Monmouth's work doesn't exactly describe Excalibur as magical at all, while the History of the Kings of Britain said it meant that Arthur could kill 470 men single-handedly, provided he talked to God about it first. Another story describes it as shining as bright as 30 torches, which is kind of a power, I guess, but, once again, these are all post-Christian interpretations of the story. So, instead, we should look to the old Celtic myths that Excalibur is probably based off, the sword of the most Irishly named hero ever, Fergus MacRoysh. And now, let me tell you, this sword was damn awesome. It made rainbows when you swung it and could cut off the tops of mountains, which would be useful for, uh, some reason. Don't judge me. Who doesn't want a rainbow sword? Now, oddly enough, in some early transliterations of the story, it's not even the sword Excalibur that's magical, but the scabbard. When Arthur says that he prefers the sword to the scabbard one time, Merlin throws a hissy fit. You are the more unwise, for the scabbard is worth ten of the sword. While you have the scabbard upon you, you shall never lose a drop of blood. Now, this is why Morgana Le Fay eventually steals the scabbard from Arthur so that he can die at the Battle of Camelot. We should probably talk about what happened to Excalibur in the end. So, after the Battle of Camelot, where King Arthur was mortally wounded by his son, maybe nephew, maybe brother, we really have no idea, Mordred, he had to figure out what to do with the sword In one version, King Arthur asked Sir Grifflet to return the sword, while in later stories, it was his father, Sir Bedivere. Whoever was, both of them, like Baromir, thought, Why not use this ring? So they hid it behind a tree and told Arthur that they throw it in, but their bluff skill was no match for his intelligence skill and he didn't believe them. So, they then went and threw their own sword into the lake, but he still didn't believe them because he thought that if they did, then there would be fireworks or something because it's such a fantastically magical sword. So, finally, Bedivere or Grifflet piss that they don't get their own magical sword, cast it into the water, the lady of the lake catches it and waves it around three times for some reason, before taking it back. So the whole returning it back to where it came from is something from ancient Celtic tradition, and you can see it in stories like The Lord of the Rings, where the one ring must be returned to the fires from whence it came. But, the tradition of magical swords in general goes back way throughout history. Excalibur might be one of the most famous, but it's by no means the first. Nothung is the sword of Sigurd in Norse mythology. There are the twin swords of Ganjing and Mooyi, which required human hair and nails to fuel the furnace that made them, and Harper is the sword of the Greek hero, Perseus. But the story of a mythical weapon, Excalibur here, isn't just about a magical sword, but it's about the relationship between man and the other world or the divine. That Arthur's power was given to him, but he had no right to pass it on, no matter how noble his successor could be, it had to be returned to the lady of the lake. It's teaching them humility, that great power is bestowed and never taken. Excalibur is often seen as validation for Arthur's right to rule as king. And this is because wielding the sword isn't just a symbol of might, but of virtue, justice, and chivalry. Weapons of great power embodying virtue is a common trope these days. Only a true Gryffindor can pull Godric's sword from the hat. The orb of Aldor can only be touched by a truly innocent person in the Belgariad. Myths invoke metaphor more often than any other medium, and Excalibur is no exception. It really just seems that King Arthur is the first Spider-Man. Suburay community, I am here with my wonderful friend, Allie. Hiya! So, Tim and I have wanted to do a video series on mythology and writing for a long time, and we need to know if you'd like to see more of this in the new year. It'll probably be on a new channel, so I'll share that with you when we make it, but for the moment, just tell us. Would you want to follow us on a new channel dedicated to exploring all kinds of mythology and folklore? As well as storytelling tips and discussions on how to write and construct narratives. Please let us know down in the comments below. That's all from us. Stay nerdy, Sapphires, and I'll see you in the future.