Swords have always been a staple of fantasy stories and magic swords are central to so many mythologies. Swords signify power, but they are elegant, refined, inherently noble. Some swords can channel magic, like a wand, and others are magic themselves and can only be wielded by their proper owner. This is true of perhaps the most famous sword in any storytelling tradition- Excalibur, King Arthur’s sword, that which he pulled from the stone to become king of England. And yet, Excalibur is not mentioned in some of the oldest surviving stories of King Arthur. The first Arthurian legends were not culture defining when they were first told, and since Arthur was not important, none of his possessions were important either. As the the legends grew …show more content…
However, in the Latin chronicles, which are the oldest written records of Arthurian legend, no variants of Excalibur appear at all. Arthur is not even a king; he is referred to as “Arthur the soldier” in the Historia Brittonum, which was compiled around 800 (4). King Arthur is not culturally important to the Romans who were writing these stories initially, they are writing about him as a historical aberration or an idle curiosity. Later stories were told by people to whom Arthur was a symbol of a golden age to which their people might someday return, not as a lowly soldier who may not have existed who chased the Romans out of England centuries ago. This Arthur is unknown, unimportant, and so whatever items he may or may not have had with him also do not matter. Named weapons, especially named swords, are almost always associated with the most important the most important person in the story; the hero gets the magic sword, never the best friend, or the second in command, or a common soldier. In the Latin Chronicles, before Arthur’s legends have grown, he is not noteworthy, and neither is his
weapon”(329) in order to defend his pride. Before Arthur can put the axe to use, Gawain asks if the “melee may be [his]”(343), because “[the] folly befits not a king”(359), and modestly claims to be “the weakest…and of wit the feeblest”(355).
“Then Arthur as a lion, ran unto King Cradelment of North Wales, and smote him through the left side, that the horse and the king fell down; and then he took the horse by the rein, and led him unto Ulfius, and said, Have this horse, mine old friend, for great need hast thou of horse. ”(Le Morte D’Arthur,
In the Arthurian legend, the Sword in the Stone was said to be the key to the heir as only he would
Though the sword “had gone through many/ hand-to-hand fights… the fabulous powers of that heirloom failed” to harm his opponent (1524-1528). The sword is not powerful enough nor is it worthy of use by Beowulf, since it came from a man who is too cowardly to fight the monster himself. While Beowulf is unable to wield Hrunting, he uses another sword he finds during the battle to chop off the monster’s head. The latter sword happens to have a cultural connection since it has previously been fought with men of the Danes’ serving Beowulf well in the fight. Compared to the fight against Grendel, Beowulf needs a better way to defend himself because the mother’s strikes injure Beowulf while Grendel could not put up much of a fight.
[Arthur] burned with anger till his eyes shone like two torches and then he swore a mighty oath to rest no more until he had utterly destroyed those enemies. . .” Knowles incorporated many traces of malitude, aggression, and deceit(Knowles 33). The diction in these legends allow an insight on Knowles core beliefs that seem to differ from the expected; this alteration may have been the reason for the literary pieces popularity. Entertainment at this time was very mainstream and anything that proposed an opposition drew attention. J.T Knowles used uncommon mentalities in The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights
In the Medieval British legend King Arthur three character archetypes are prominent; the Hero, the Mentor, and the Villain. These archetypes are universal, found in myths from around the world. One ubiquitous archetype that is present in King Arthur
The idea of a farm boy becoming the true king was so repulsive to some nobles that they refused to acknowledge that Arthur was successful in pulling out a sword, forcing him remove the sword multiple times, until the common people demanded that Arthur has proven his worth and that he should be crowned king. Even after being crowned king, he was engaged in the Eleven Kings War, where eleven nobles claiming to be the true kings challenged Arthur to the throne. Arthur successfully, put down each rebellion and stood tall as the people’s new king (Source B3). Through time King Arthur became an astounding, relished leader with a true mind for the people. During his time as king, he inspired the idea of the Round Table, debatably King Arthur’s most
King Arthur is one of the best kings that has ruled over Britain, throughout all of history. Arthur ruled with honor, loyalty, and chivalry, which made him a great king. Many lessons that he learned on his journeys helped him to become the person that he is. Arthur’s journey becoming king can be seen in the novel The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White, and is very similar to Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey.
Father: Arthur's Father affected him by keeping him in the house and making him anti-social. The legend was that he was cutting papers for his scrapbook and he stabbed his father in the leg and returned to cutting the paper like nothing happened. He was taken to a courthouse and was locked up for a month, then his father said he would take care of everything, and kept him inside of the house. Afterwards, he didn’t come out of the house during the day because his father kept him inside, and prevented him from communicating with people. Because he didn’t go out during the day and also didn’t talk to anyone, he became mysterious to everyone.
The king only raised the Arthur from when he was little because of Merlin. Arthur has no idea that the King and the King’s real son are his biological father and brother until after he pulls a sword out of a stone. Arthur was helping his brother get ready for a joust and lost his brother sword in the process. When Arthur found out that the sword was missing he knew that he had to get his brother another one. Arthur was running through the woods and came across a sword in the stone called excalibur.
The medieval flail was a weapon that was used during the medieval times and was introduced in Medieval Flail 10th - 15th century around Europe and was invented by the Egyptians first as and agricultural tool and was later converted to a weapon. It was designed as a short staff with a spiked ball attached by chain it was most commonly used by knights on foot and knights on horseback had different designs being lighter and small. There was 4 different designs made for the medieval flail the first was designed by the Egyptians as a agricultural tool, the second was designed by the Switzerland in 1530, the third by Germany in the 16th century, and the last by French in the 15th century. When was the flail introduced?
(“From the Day of Destiny” pp 199). These heroes showed that not only did their strengths help them defeat evil, but also the help of their magical swords. In addition, both epic and romantic heroes shared courageous traits throughout the story that made them so memorable. When faced with the challenge of defeating the dragon Beowulf said to his followers “ this fight is not yours… except me” ( “from beowulf” pp 33).
Beowulf bravely follows her back to her home, where he must find a way to slay her. She also has a spell placed on her, so Beowulf’s sword does not harm her. Just as all hope seems to be lost, Beowulf spots a giant sword on the wall that can be used against the beast. The sword is “so massive that no ordinary man could lift [it]”, but Beowulf uses what strength he has left to lift the weapon (Beowulf 54). This scene in the story represents the Magic Weapon archetype.
Was King Arthur a favorable leader in his time of ruling? In King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green, Arthur is a strong leader because he shows bravery, loyalty, and chivalry which are all trates an excellent leader should have. King Arthur is a brave king because he was who pulled the Excalibur from its stone, not any other knight nor king. He had to step up and become a leader without any notice and that takes bravery and strength. “(...)Without stopping to read what was written on the stone, Arthur pulled out the sword at a touch(…)” (p.7).
The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities is used very often in the story, “Morte D’Arthur.” The Excalibur sword, round table, the young maiden walking across the lake, and the pursuit of the Holy Grail all are examples of symbolism used in Thomas Malory's, “Morte D’ Arthur.” ‘“‘And ye see any manner of sword drawn, look that ye come on fiercely, and so slay all that ever before you shadth, for in no wise I will not trust for this treaties.’”’ (Thomas Malory 498)