In the Arthurian legends, King Arthur famously has a special sword named Excalibur. This is one of the constant aspects of the legend, seen in almost every version of the legend over the centuries. Nevertheless, the details about this mighty weapon changed as the Arthurian legends evolved. What was Excalibur like in the very earliest version of the legend? And how did it change over time? Where do the most famous ideas about Excalibur come from? In this article, we will examine the answers to those questions and others.
The Welsh Origins of Excalibur
King Arthur famously appears in the texts of multiple renowned English writers, such as Sir Thomas Malory and T.H. White. Nevertheless, he is ultimately a figure of Welsh legend, originally portrayed as fighting against the early English. Plenty of the most famous elements of the Arthurian legends today can be traced back to medieval Welsh tradition. Thus, it is not surprising that the same applies to Excalibur.
The earliest trace of this special sword appears to come from Culhwch and Olwen. This is a Welsh prose tale, the earliest about King Arthur. Its exact date is unknown, but it is probably dated to c. 1100. This tale informs the reader of numerous aspects of Arthur’s kingdom. Included in the tale is Arthur’s special sword, Caledfwlch. This is the original Excalibur. There is no explicit reference to the sword having special powers or being otherworldly. The only indication that it is special other than by being Arthur’s sword is that a warrior seized it to kill a leader and all his men.
Why Was King Arthur’s Sword Called Excalibur?
How did the name “Excalibur” come from “Caledfwlch”? The answer is easier to discern when we look at the various forms that this sword’s name took in the various sources. After Culhwch and Olwen, it would appear that the next earliest record which mentions it is Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae, written in c. 1137. Geoffrey uses the spelling “Caliburnus.” We can already see how this forms a transition between “Caledfwlch” and “Excalibur.” However, it is worth looking at the other attested forms from the sources shortly after Geoffrey of Monmouth. These—more than one of which is from Robert Wace—include “Caliburc,” “Callibourc,” “Calibore,” and “Caliborne.”
All of these forms are from the 14th century, within decades of Geoffrey’s Historia Regum Britanniae. While the sources in which these forms appear were influenced by Geoffrey, they are early enough that they almost certainly contain some pre-Galfridian influence as well. Hence, some of these spellings likely reflect evolutions of “Caledfwlch,” independent of the form used by Geoffrey of Monmouth.
It is evident that the spellings “Caliburc” and “Callibourc” are simple corruptions of the Welsh “Caledfwlch.” The Welsh “f” was often exchanged for the letter “b,” while the letters “r” and “l” were often swapped for each other. This explains the Welsh “wlch” becoming “urc” and “ourch.” The only difference that is somewhat more difficult to explain is the absence of the letter “d” from the non-Welsh spellings. The fact that this letter is missing from apparently all non-Welsh references to this sword is unusual. This may indicate that the consonant cluster “df” or “db” was strange and unnatural to a medieval non-Welsh speaker. It is also possible that this resulted from influence from Medieval Latin, in which the word for “steel” is “calibs.”
In any case, the spelling “Caliburc,” although not the earliest attested spelling, was evidently corrupted further into having a final “n” instead of the “c.” This resulted in Geoffrey’s use of “Caliburnus,” popularizing this spelling.
Was Excalibur Miraculous in the Earliest Legends?
What do the earliest legends reveal about Excalibur or Caliburn? As we saw earlier, the appearance of this sword in Culhwch and Olwen does not tell us much about the sword or what, if anything, made it special. There is no reference at all to its origin. The only indication that it was more special than an ordinary sword is the fact that one of Arthur’s men takes it and uses it to slaughter an entire band of men and their leader. The fact that he took this sword rather than using his own sword suggests that Excalibur, or Caledfwlch, was more efficient at killing.
We find a similar suggestion to this effect in Geoffrey’s Historia Regum Britanniae. In this source, Arthur only uses it after his army struggles against the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Badon. Eventually deciding to use it, he draws it and calls on the help of the Virgin Mary. This may well hint at the sword being at least partially miraculous.
After drawing his sword, Arthur kills 470 men in a single charge. This phenomenal feat is similar in principle to what we saw earlier in Culhwch and Olwen. There, Arthur’s sword Caledfwlch was used to single-handedly kill a large body of men. This supports the conclusion that Arthur’s sword was viewed right from the start as being miraculous in some way. It gave its wielder incredible success in battle.
This is supported even further by the final appearance of Caliburnus in Geoffrey’s account. One of Arthur’s final battles was a fight against the Romans at the Battle of Siesia. At this battle, Geoffrey tells us that Arthur drew his sword and charged against the enemy. Just as at the Battle of Badon, Arthur did this after his men struggled against their opponents for some time. During this charge, Arthur’s sword instantly killed everyone it struck. This surely indicates that it had special powers and was not just viewed as an ordinary sword.
Was Excalibur the Sword in the Stone?
After Geoffrey’s famous version of Arthur’s career was written, various new elements were added to the legends as the decades went on. One of these elements was the Sword in the Stone. This was a special sword that was stuck in a stone in a churchyard, which only the true heir to the throne could withdraw. The most famous version of this legend comes from Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, written in the 15th century.
In this version, Arthur takes this sword out of the stone and uses it for some time. However, it soon breaks during battle, and then Arthur receives another sword from the Lady of the Lake, which is Excalibur. Many online sources claim that the Sword in the Stone was Caliburn, while the sword from the Lady of the Lake was Excalibur. This is incorrect. In reality, there is no distinction between Caliburn and Excalibur in the medieval sources. Furthermore, the earliest sources do not distinguish between the Sword in the Stone and the sword used by Arthur throughout his career. It is only much later that Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, is given an origin story separate from the Sword in the Stone. But even here, in Malory, the first sword is also named Excalibur.
The Most Famous Version of Excalibur
As we said, Thomas Malory’s account presents the most famous version of Excalibur. What exactly is this version? Just like in previous accounts, Excalibur is presented as a powerful and effective sword, almost miraculously so. Additionally, it shines an incredibly bright light that disorientates his opponents. However, the even more impressive aspect of it is not the blade but its scabbard. In fact, Malory presents Merlin as directly telling Arthur that the scabbard is more important than the actual sword.
The reason is that the scabbard had the ability to miraculously protect the wearer from harm so that any cuts received would not bleed. Therefore, if Arthur wore the scabbard, he could not bleed to death in battle. This would not give him complete immunity, but it would give him an exceptionally important advantage in any battle. However, Thomas Malory then wrote that the scabbard was stolen and thrown into a deep lake by Morgan le Fay, Arthur’s wicked half-sister. This allowed him to be killed at the Battle of Camlann despite wielding Excalibur.
What Do We Know About King Arthur’s Excalibur?
In conclusion, Excalibur was King Arthur’s special sword in the Arthurian legends. It originally appears in Welsh texts as “Caledfwlch,” which then evolved into “‘Caliburc” and then “Caliburn,” before finally becoming “Excalibur.” Despite a popular misconception, Caliburn and Excalibur both refer to the same sword, not to two different swords.
Right from the start, King Arthur’s sword appears to have been portrayed as affording the wielder near-miraculous success in battle. Later, it was given the origin of being stuck in a stone in a churchyard, designed to reveal the rightful king. Still later, it was divided into two different swords, each with a different origin, but both were named Excalibur. After the first Excalibur, from the stone, was broken in battle, Arthur received a new sword. This second Excalibur was given to him by the Lady of the Lake. It was miraculously efficient in battle, shone a bright light, and its scabbard afforded Arthur near invincibility in battle.
