King Arthur wielded the legendary sword Excalibur. An older spelling of
Excalibur is ex Caliburno. Probably the first spelling was Caliburnus.
The Latin word chalybs means steel. In the medieval French material
Excalibur once belonged to Gawain. Later works the sword solely belongs
to Arthur. In certain texts Excalibur is also the Sword in the Stone.
In most of the mythos they are different swords. This will be explored
later.
In Welsh, the sword was called Caledfwlch (or Caledvwlch). Caledvwlch
means The Hard Cleft. The word Caledfwlch could derive from Calabolg
which was a legendary Irish weapon. Caladbolg was the lightning sword
of Fergus mac Roich. Caladbolg was also known for its incredible power,
and was carried by some of Ireland's greatest heroes. The word calad
means hard and the word blog means lightning. The image of hard
lightning is similar to the description of the staffs of light bore by
the Egyptian Djedi priests. They were partly the model for the Jedi
from the Star Wars movies.
The lightning sword is close to the description of the Sword of Light
of Nuada in Irish lore. The Irish name for this sword is Claíomh
Solais. This sword is one of the four treasures of the Tuatha Dé
Danann and it came from the otherworldly city Gorias. Nuada
Airgeadlámh (Nuada of the Silver Hand) was a king and leader of
the Tuatha Dé Danann. The Sword of Light glowed with a bright
light, was undefeatable and could cut its foe in half.
Caledflwch is described in the Mabinogi in the Dream of Rhonabwy, "Then
they heard Cadwr Earl of Cornwall being summoned, and saw him rise with
Arthur's sword in his hand, with a design of two serpents on the golden
hilt; when the sword was unsheathed what was seen from the mouths of
the two serpents was like two flames of fire, so dreadful that it was
not easy for anyone to look. At that the host settled and the commotion
subsided, and the earl returned to his tent. 'Iddawg, who is the man
who brought Arthur's sword?' 'Cadwr Earl of Cornwall, the man whose
task it is to arm the king on the day of battle and conflict. ' "
The two intertwining serpents was the Pendragon. One serpent was red
and the other was white.
On one side of the blade are the words “Take Me Up” and on the other
side it says “Cast Me Away.” It must be returned to the water. The
sword Excalibur was a double edge sword.
The power of the scabbard was to protect its bearer from injury. The
scabbard was stolen by Morgan le Fay and thrown into a lake. It was
never recovered.
Excalibur was forged in Avalon. It originated from the Lady of the
Lake. The Lady of the Lake is equated with The Empress of the Tarot.
Originally Girflet is the figure who is charged with returning
Excalibur to the Lake. He fails twice and finally returns it the third
time. Later Bedivere is credited with this task. Girflet helped Arthur
fight Mordred. In other texts Girflet is killed when Lancelot rescues
Guenevere.
From examining the word excalibur many mysteries are uncovered. “Excal”
is a transposition of the Latin “calx” which means limestone. The
English word “calyx” means an outer covering. The Great Pyramid of Giza
had a limestone covering which was defaced over time. The root “cal”
refers to measurement and is seen in words such as calibrate, calculus,
calendar and calculator. The word California comes from a Spanish word
for a fabled island. This was a Lemurian island with pyramids. The word
“Caliph” is used to designate the successor to The Prophet in the
Islamic tradition. A Caliph is a Master of the Great Pyramid. The Great
Pyramid was what inspired all measuring sciences. Also, note that King
Llud built a great limestone wall, with towers and a strong gate,
around London.
The suffix “bur” refers to “burn” or “light”. The Gaelic root for
Excalibur is Caliburnus, which means “fire in the pyramid” or “fire in
time”, “Cali” referring to Kali, the Hindu goddess of time. Therefore
it could suggest that Excalibur was a flaming sword. The garden of Eden
was guarded by cherubs and a flaming sword. Flaming swords are also
weapons held by certain angels.
Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone together reveal an important set
of symbolism. A sword, either Excalibur or another sword, was imbedded
in a stone known as the philosopher’s stone. Only Arthur could withdraw
it.
The philosopher’s stone is an important alchemical symbol. It is the
capstone of the Great Pyramid which contained the science of Atlantis.
However, the secret of Excalibur lies in the Lake. Water represents the
feminine. The feminine force is the gift of the goddess. The Lady of
the Lake represents this aspect and Excalibur is an encodement of the
feminine force. If Excalibur was a flaming sword it represents that the
secret to returning to the original time (Eden) was through the
feminine force.
Excalibur is the title of a book written by L. Ron Hubbard in 1938,
long before Dianetics, after a near death experience. It was said to
contain the keys to life and death itself. There have been stories that
the first few people who read it had died or went insane. At that
point, Hubbard withdrew it from circulation. He later claimed the work
had been lost or stolen. The main insight in this book was that what
Hubbard called “the One Command” was Survive. All life, including
human, bacterial, cellular, or even an organization, has survival as
its only goal. Hubbard also wrote that there are two things in the
universe; the material and an X-factor which moves the material and
gives it meaning. He believed in a life force and that the fundamental
secret of life was “survive.” This view has been demonstrated in
experiments which show that organisms pass on information genetically
about life threatening dangers (see work regarding morphogenetic
resonance). Hubbard’s belief resembles that of naïve vitalism.
Naïve vitalism means that life is a thing, or a living thing and
that any thing alive contains a vital force or substance.
There is a legend that Hubbard thought he was Arthur, and he is from
Celtic stock and named his youngest son "Arthur." L. Ron Hubbard also
claimed he was in contact with an entity called The Empress.
The book The Holy Kingdom: The Quest for the Real King Arthur by Adrian
Gilbert the historic history of Arthur and traces Excalibur to being
the sword of Constantine. The story goes like this:
Historians of nineteenth century Britain thought the Roman Empire was
like their own Empire and thus equated pre-Roman Britain with
pre-British Africa. This is why many findings are labeled as Roman when
in fact they are not.
An important piece of evidence regarding the existence of King Arthur
is a book called the Llandaff Charters. Chartularies were Bibles which
contained property rights and other contracts written in the margins in
order to make them legally and spiritually binding. The Llandaff
Charters contain grants listed during the fifth to sixth centuries. The
cathedral was rebuilt during the reign of a king called Meurig
(Mauricius in Latin, or Maurice). Meurig made some land grants which
had to be signed by witnesses, two of which were his wife Onbrawst and
his son Athrwys (Welsh for Arthur). Later we see Arthrwys being called
the King of the region of Gwent in the Charters.
In those days it was common to offer swords to lakes as offerings to
the gods. The “Song of Graves” mentions Bedwyr (Bedevere) and it was
his duty to offer Excalibur to the Lake.
After Arthur’s death, his crown was handed to Constantine, the son of
the Duke of Cornwall.
The Church of St. Peter’s is a site dated to the 1200s. It was built on
an older building dated to the 2nd century. Inside was found a large
slab, with 6th century writing which reads “REX ARTORIVS FILI
MAVRICIVS” which means “The King Arthur the son of Maurice.”
A poem from the Black Book of Carmarthen called ‘Englynion Beddau
Milwyr Ynys Prydain’, which means ‘The Songs of the Graves of the
Soldiers of the Island of Britain’ contains the line:
Bet y March bet y guythur
Bet y Gugawn Cletyfrut
Anoeth bit bet y Arthur.
Which translates as:
The grave of the Knight, the grave of the wrathful one
The grave of the angry red-sword
A bare/exposed place is the grave of Arthur.
This verse tells us that a knight named Arthur and an angry red-sword
are buried in a bare and exposed place. The next verse tells more of
the burial site, describing it as a field of drunken helplessness which
is in a windy and wet place. The phrase “drunken helplessness” was a
post Dark Ages reference to the Treachery of the Long Knives. This
event took place near the Grave Monument on Mynydd y Gaer. Also on
Mynydd y Gaer is the site of St. Peter’s Church.
The Sword of Constantine is mentioned in William of Malmesbury’s
History of the Kings of England. It was one of the gifts given to
Athelstan. It is included with many spectacular relics. Athelstan was a
Saxon but still claimed to be a successor of King Arthur. Many Saxons
came during the period after Arthur’s death when a king called
Cadwallader led a group of Britons to live across the Channel to avoid
plague and pestilence.
Athelstan’s nephew, King Edgar, once gave a curious speech to the
Church elders. Translated he said, “I have the sword of Constantine,
you have the sword of Peter in your hands. Let us join hands, sword to
sword and purge the Sanctuary of the Lord.” He uses the Latin word
“Petri” which means both “of Peter” and “of the Stone.” The name Peter
means stone. This could have a few meanings. One, that the Sword of St.
Peter is the Sword in the Stone. Two, that the Sword of St. Peter’s
Church is the Sword in the Stone. Three, that the sword is the stone.
Peter was the one Apostle recorded in the Bible as carrying a Sword. He
was given the name Peter by Jesus who said he was to be the stone which
he was to build the church. In any case King Edgar is using the Sword’s
authority over the church’s.
Benedict of Peterborough recorded that Richard I made a gift of the
“Sword of King Arthur” to Tancred of Sicily. Tancred later gave this
sword to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem where a statue
of the Virgin Mary holds a jeweled sword.
It could also be that the Sword in the Stone simply comes from swearing
oaths on the London Stone while holding a sword. Both swords could
represent sovereignty over the material and spiritual, or mastery over
the powers of life and death.
