What was the name of the sword Arthur pulled from the stone?

Question

It's not Excalibur because he got that from the Lady in the Lake after the sword in the stone broke in battle

Answer 1

It is Excalibur

Answer 2

Caladfwich

The Tradition: The Name "Excalibur" was first used for King Arthur's sword by the French Romancers. It was not the famous "Sword in the Stone" (which broke in battle), but a second sword acquired by the King through the intercession of his druidic advisor, Merddyn (Merlin). Worried that Arthur would fall in battle, Merlin took the King to a magical lake where a mysterious hand thrust itself up from the water, holding aloft a magnificent sword. It was the Lady of the Lake offering Arthur a magic unbreakable blade, fashioned by an Avalonian elf smith, along with a scabbard which would protect him as long as he wore it.

Towards the end of his reign, during the troubled times of Medrod's rebellion, Excalibur was stolen by Arthur's wicked half-sister, Morgan le Fay. Though it was recovered, the scabbard was lost forever. Thus Arthur was mortally wounded at the Battle of Camlann. The King then instructed Bedwyr (or Girflet) to return Excalibur to the lake from whence it came. However, when questioned about the circumstances of its return, Bedwyr claimed to have seen nothing unusual. Arthur therefore knew that Bedwyr had kept Excalibur for himself and sent him back to the Lake once more. Hurling the sword into the misty waters this time, Bedwyr saw the mystic hand appear to catch Excalibur and draw it beneath the rippling waters for the last time.

The Name: The earliest Arthurian stories give the name of King Arthur's sword as Caladfwlch, a Welsh word derived from Calad-Bolg meaning "Hard Lightning". Later it developed to become the Caliburn of Geoffrey and Monmouth and finally the Frenchified Excalibur that we know today.

Answer 3

I don't think the name of the sword from the stone is known. Excalibur is definitely the one from the Lady in the Lake though.

Answer 4

It is Excalibur, as the Lady of the Lake took the sword to repair it after it got broke in the battle and then returned it.

Answer 5

Long answer, but I think it explains the confusion:

Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur. The sword that Arthur alone was able to draw from the stone, thus denoting his kingship, was later broken. The true "Excalibur" with its scabbard, was given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake. On his death, it was eventually returned to the Lady of the Lake by Sir Bedivere.

"The sword was called "Excalibur", which means, "cut steel". Early tradition (by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace and Layamon), called the sword "Caliburn"; a magical sword from Avalon. The tale of Arthur drawing the sword out of the rock first appeared in Robert de Boron's French verse tale, called Merlin. But the English author, named Sir Thomas Malory (and in the French Suite du Merlin ("Prose Merlin"), c. 1240), wrote that the sword that Arthur had pulled out of stone was not Excalibur; in fact, Arthur broke his first sword in the fight against King Pellinor. Shortly after, Arthur then received a new sword from the Lady of the Lake, which was explicitly called Excalibur. Malory distinguished the sword Arthur pulled out of a rock from the sword he received from the Lady of the Lake, and it was the second sword that was the true Excalibur." (Timeless Myths, "Legend of Excalibur" see link)

Thus, in Welsh legend, Arthur's sword is known as "Caliburn", which is thought by some to be a corruption of the name "Caledvwlch" or in Irish "Caladbolg" which means "hard lightning", a magic sword in the Mabinogion.

Answer 6

Starting from the basis that it didn't really happen, and that as a myth there are countless versions, Excalibur is neither correct nor incorrect.

Some say Uther Pendragon (Arthur's Dad) got the sword from the Lady of the Lake. Some say the sword is called Calibran.

Take your pick - there will never be a 'correct' answer.

Answer 7

It was Excalibur. I think he pulled it from the stone and later took it again from the lady in the lake. Or possibly, there are 2 different versions of the story.

Answer 8

Excalibur

Answer 9

Dont be stupid you guys Excalibur and the sword in the stone are completely different swords, thats what I think, I'll explain-

Sword in the stone was what proclaimed him king when he was a wee little squire.

Excalibur was given him by the lady of the lake many years later for the fight against Mordrid at the last battle.

I believe he infact had two swords in his possesion!

Answer 10

I thought the Lady in the Lake fixed Excalibur for him? And some texts call int "Caliban" not Excalibur.

Answer 11

Yes it is Excalibur. He gave it to the Lady of the Lake for safe keeping and when and got it back off her when he needed it again.