Excalibur

The Sword of Promised Victory

## Personal Profile

### Aliases

Caliburn, Caledfwlch, Calesvol, Kaledvoulc'h, Caliburnus, Holy Spirit, Sword of Everlasting Hope, Sword in the Stone (Mistakenly), Crowned Sword of Camelot, The Greatest Sword in all Creation

### Affiliations

Holy Spirit (Fused), Camelot, Great Britain, Arthurian Myth

## Section Header

### Owners

Arthur Pendragon, Oberon, Merlin (Temporary)

## Other

### Consciousness

Yes along with the Holy Spirit

**Excalibur** is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. The blade was the greatest creation of the Fae king Oberon and was blessed by God Himself to serve as a weapon of the righteous.

## Overview

The sword was said to have been forged by the blood of seven dragons whom wielded fire that burned hotter then brimstone. It was also made with the combination of both fae energy and holy energy, though more of the former than the latter. It was guarded by the fae, children of Life, before being passed on to King Arthur by the Ladies of the Lake and later returned to the lake before his death.

Throughout the centuries, the sword has been used by several kings of the Pendragon family, and after their deaths, their righteous souls were imbued within the blade itself then passed along to the next Pendragon heir. The last king to have used the blade was King Arthur himself. Excalibur's blade was engraved with phrases on opposite sides: "Take me up" and "Cast me away" (or similar). However, while the sword can be used mainly by the Pendragon family, it can also be wielded by those with a righteous heart and noble spirit but only its full potential can be unleashed by those who carry the blood of a Pendragon.

In addition, when Excalibur was first drawn, in the first battle testing Arthur's sovereignty, its blade blinded his enemies. When the blade truly becomes in sync with Arthur's spirit and soul, it bestows him mighty power that was more than capable of having him compete against and later overwhelm the dreaded Vortigern. The latest in line for the wielder of the sword was none other than Hellboy himself as his mother was a relative of Arthur.

## Description

The sword was said to have been forged by Merlin and the king of the fae, Oberon, in the land of Avalon. Its forging involved the blood of seven dragons, whom wielded fire that burned hotter than brimstone, and melded the fiery blood with Empyrean Steel which was believed to have been gifted to them by Gabriel as in one account of the tale, Merlin and Oberon were approached by the "man in lenin" who is equated with Gabriel.

The blade is capable of sensing the strength of those that grip its handle, and thus, determines who is deemed worthy of using the power it holds. Excalibur was mainly used to combat malevolent demons, destructive dragons, and despotic mad kings, whom terrorized kingdoms and villages to no end. Many dragons in particular are fearful of the blade, for it is one of the few weapons on Earth that can truly kill them.

In truth, the blade is far greater than a simple dragon-slaying blade as it is one of the greatest weapons in all of Creation, equal to Tenebris and the Lance of Longinus, and has been rumored to be able to even slay God. The blade only got greater after it was found out that is held two souls, one being the soul created by Oberon (like with most weapons he created, like Caliburn and Clarent) and the Holy Spirit itself presiding within.

The attributes of Excalibur, include words engraved on opposite sides of the blade, a scabbard that will prevent death by wounds or not bleed at all, and the power to create a light that blinds his enemies when he pulls the sword from the stone. Excalibur's scabbard was said to have powers of its own. Loss of blood from injuries, for example, would not kill the bearer. In some telling, wounds received by one wearing the scabbard did not bleed at all.

## History

The blade was crafted by the combined efforts of Merlin and Oberon who both conspired against an approaching darkness, with the former having received visions showcasing Briton being under the rule of Vortigern, Arthur's uncle, who would then give sanction to the false emperor Lucius Tiberius with his usage of the dark arts through *Trivia'*s teachings would not only threaten the kingdom of Camelot but also the worlds that lay beyond it such as Avalon. Moreover, Lucius would help aid Vortigern in the coup against the Pendragon family.

Using the blood of seven slain dragons that were brought to Oberon by Y Ddraig Goch then added the finishing touches thanks to Gabriel's contribution, the sword Excalibur was complete, prompting Merlin to destroy the ancient tower, which Lucius used as a base of operations to aid Vortigern, using the sword. The sword was then passed to the Lady of the Lake who bound it to the Pendragon bloodline.

## Myths and Legends

Historically, a sword identified as Excalibur was supposedly discovered during the purported exhumation of Arthur's grave at Glastonbury Abbey in 1191. On 6 March 1191, after the Treaty of Messina, either this or another claimed Excalibur was given as a gift of goodwill by Richard I of England (Richard the Lionheart) to his ally Tancred, King of Sicily.

In some versions, the sword in the stone and Excalibur are the same thing but in most they are separate. The Lady in the Lake is the one who gives Arthur the sword in the versions where it is not the sword in the stone.

It and Caliburn are often confused due to their close nature in the legend. Both the sword from the stone, later broken, and the new sword received from Vivian, are called "Excalibur", but that was because they were originally two separate stories. They were later combined into a single narrative, the former becoming known as Caliburn and the latter becoming known as Excalibur. There is also some debate about whether or not Excalibur was reforged from Caliburn, or if they were two completely different swords from the start.

The swords are similar in nature and appearance, though Excalibur is more suited to be used as a weapon. Excalibur has good performance as a sword, almost completely devoid of ostentatious ornamentation, and Caliburn is extravagantly adorned as a symbol of the king’s authority, making its rank as a weapon lower. There is a theory that Caladbolg is the same as Caledfwlch of Welsh mythology, making it a prototype of Excalibur.

### Etymologies

The name Excalibur ultimately derives from the Welsh Caledfwlch (and Breton Kaledvoulc'h, Middle Cornish Calesvol), which is a compound of caled "hard" and bwlch "breach, cleft". Caledfwlch appears in several early Welsh works, including the prose tale Culhwch and Olwen (c. 11-12th century). The name was later used in Welsh adaptations of foreign material such as the Bruts (chronicles), which were based on Geoffrey of Monmouth. It is often considered to be related to the phonetically similar Caladbolg, a sword borne by several figures from Irish mythology, although a borrowing of Caledfwlch from Irish Caladbolg has been considered unlikely by Rachel 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". This sword then became exclusively the property of Arthur in the British tradition.

Geoffrey of Monmouth, in his Historia Regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain, c. 1136), Latinised the name of Arthur's sword as Caliburnus (potentially influenced by the Medieval Latin spelling calibs of Classical Latin chalybs, from Greek chályps [χάλυψ] "steel"). Most Celticists consider Geoffrey's Caliburnus to be derivative of a lost Old Welsh text in which bwlch (Old Welsh bulc[h]) had not yet been lenited to fwlch (Middle Welsh vwlch or uwlch). In the late 15th/early 16th-century Middle Cornish play Beunans Ke, Arthur's sword is called Calesvol, which is etymologically an exact Middle Cornish cognate of the Welsh Caledfwlch. 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.

In Old French sources this then became Escalibor, Excalibor, and finally the familiar Excalibur. Geoffrey Gaimar, in his Old French L'Estoire des Engleis (1134-1140), mentions Arthur and his sword: "this Constantine was the nephew of Arthur, who had the sword Caliburc" ("Cil Costentin, li niès Artur, Ki out l'espée Caliburc"). In Wace's Roman de Brut (c. 1150-1155), an Old French translation and versification of Geoffrey's Historia, the sword is called Calabrum, Callibourc, Chalabrun, and Calabrun (with variant spellings such as Chalabrum, Calibore, Callibor, Caliborne, Calliborc, and Escaliborc, found in various manuscripts of the Brut).

In Chrétien de Troyes' late 12th-century Old French Perceval, Arthur's knight Gawain carries the sword Escalibor and it is stated, "for at his belt hung Escalibor, the finest sword that there was, which sliced through iron as through wood" ("Qu'il avoit cainte Escalibor, la meillor espee qui fust, qu'ele trenche fer come fust"). This statement was probably picked up by the author of the Estoire Merlin, or Vulgate Merlin, where the author (who was fond of fanciful folk etymologies) asserts that Escalibor "is a Hebrew name which means in French 'cuts iron, steel, and wood'" ("c'est non Ebrieu qui dist en franchois trenche fer & achier et fust"; note that the word for "steel" here, achier, also means "blade" or "sword" and comes from medieval Latin aciarium, a derivative of acies "sharp", so there is no direct connection with Latin chalybs in this etymology). It is from this fanciful etymological musing that Thomas Malory got the notion that Excalibur meant "cut steel" ("'the name of it,' said the lady, 'is Excalibur, that is as moche to say, as Cut stele'").

## Quotes

* *"Like I said, I saw all my creations as my own children, and while I do not like to play favorite, I will admit I am most proud of this one. A mighty majestic sword, built to symbolize hope and enteral victory, born from the essence of the planet, crafted by the greatest of crafters, blessed by the greatest of gods. It's a sword born to be wielded by Man. Not just any mere man, only those who are worthy, only those who would become kings and legends. [...] Many failed to understand this. I don't blame them for seeking it even if it's a lie. They seek the greatness and the glory that comes with the sword. They still do. They still wrong. Greatness comes **before** the sword. And because of that, they failed. And humanity still haven't found their chosen champion again. They are still not worthy."* - Oberon.

* *"It is a sword made for Man, and used to fight for Man. Supernatural folk like me has no reason to wield it."* - Merlin.

## Gallery

*Excalibur being wielded**Excalibur revealed by the Lady of the Lake**Vivian gifting Excalibur**The legend tells of the origin of Excalibur, of the Lady of the Lake and the sword restitution**Excalibur as the 'Sword of the Stone'*
## Trivia

* While the current location of Excalibur is unknown, it is believed to be either with God or in the center of Avalon.
	+ It was once believed to be kept by the Church in seven pieces though the "Excalibur" was merely a fake created by an unnamed angel and a bunch of priests and bishops.
* The scabbard of Excalibur was stolen by Morgan le Fay in revenge for the death of her beloved Accolon and thrown into a lake, never to be found again.
* Excalibur once was mistaken by a couple of Japanese magic casters with the divine blade Ame-no-habakiri.

## Image Sources

* (Richard-simon-devil-s-tooth.jpg) Excalibur by Richard Simon
* (Filipe-teixeira-06.jpg) Sword by Filipe Teixeira
* (Excalibur-19.jpg) The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights by Sir James Knowles
* (Excalibur!.jpg) Excalibur! by DonatoArts
* (Lady in the Lake Excalibur.jpg) Lady in the Lake by lifebytes
* (Lady of the lake by yrya chan ddh0rs2-fullview.jpg) Lady of the Lake by Yrya-chan
* (Luca-trentin-excalibur.jpg) Excalibur by Luca Trentin
* (Excalibur-merlin-on-bbc-16627896-1024-768.jpg) Excalibur from Merlin BBC
* (Arthur-Pyle Excalibur the Sword.jpg) Excalibur the Sword by Howard Pyle