The Legend of Excalibur

The story of King Arthur’s sword has its roots thousands of years ago, during Britain’s Bronze Age

It is one of the most memorable passages in the story of King Arthur, as it has been handed down to us. He was the possessor of an important sword called Excalibur. As he lies wounded and at the point of death, Arthur orders his companion to take Excalibur and hurl it into a nearby lake. When this is done, a woman’s arm rises up from the water and catches the hilt of the sword, before brandishing it three times and then sinking back into the lake with it. It has been caught by the mysterious ‘Lady of the Lake’; either an enchantress or perhaps a primeval deity of the water.

This story of the Lady of the Lake and the sword thrown into the water for her is a well-known one, but strikes us today as bizarre in the extreme. Why ever would anybody throw a perfectly good sword, especially a famous one like this, into a lake? It makes no sense in the real world. The story of Excalibur is an exceedingly ancient one.

Legends about King Arthur were swirling around in Wales before the Norman Conquest of 1066, but it was not until around 1139 that a Welshman called Geoffrey of Monmouth set down information about him in his monumental work, History of the Kings of Britain. Although he claimed to have been consulting an ancient manuscript in writing his history, Geoffrey of Monmouth, who later became a bishop, was almost certainly just collecting old stories locally and then supplementing them from his own vivid imagination. Among those elements of his account of Arthur and his knights are one or two which most likely have roots dating back three or four thousand years before Geoffrey of Monmouth set them down in writing.

One very curious anecdote which found its way into History of the Kings of Britain concerns the construction of Stonehenge. The stones of Stonehenge, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, were originally part of a stone circle in another part of the British Isles and were dug up from there by means of ropes and pulleys, loaded onto ships and brought, part of the way by sea, to their present position on Salisbury Plain. Merlin was the architect of this enterprise and no magic was involved; just a great deal of ingenuity and manpower.

On the fact of it, this sounds a ridiculous and farfetched story, but a recent archaeological discovery has caused historians to re-examine the account and it is now thought that there may well be something in it. Geoffrey of Monmouth said that Merlin told King Aurelius,

If you are desirous to honour the burying-place of these men with an everlasting monument, send for the Giant’s Dance, which is in Killaraus, a mountain in Ireland. For there is a structure of stones there, which none of this age could raise, without a profound knowledge of the mechanical arts. They are stones of a vast magnitude and wonderful quality; and if they can be placed here, as they are there, round this spot of ground, they will stand for ever.

It has been known for over a century that the original stones used to construct the first version of Stonehenge came from a long way away from Salisbury Plain, where Stonehenge now stands. These are the so-called bluestones and they come from Pembrokeshire in South Wales. It has also been suggested that these blocks of stone, which were set up at Stonehenge around 3000 BC might have been transported by sea for part of the way. This could conceivably tie in with the story which Geoffrey of Monmouth tells about the stones being carried by ship, although some kind of raft would be more likely. What about the idea though that the stones which were set up to form Stonehenge were at one time part of another stone circle? This sounded a little unlikely, but archaeological research in the last few years has confirmed that this is precisely what did happen.

The quarry from which the first stones placed at Stonehenge were taken was identified a long time ago as being 140 miles away in the Preseli Hills of Wales. Excavations there in 2008 uncovered evidence of Stone Age work at the site. The only difficulty was that this was carbon dated to 3400BC; about 400 years before construction of Stonehenge began. Surely it could not have taken 400 years to transport the stones to Wiltshire? Even less probably was that after the stones had been hewn from the rocky outcrop, they were simply left to lie about for centuries. What had happened to those large stones, each one weighing between two and four tons, before they were taken to Salisbury Plain?

Three miles from the area where the bluestones had been quarried is a prehistoric site called Waun Mawn, where four megaliths are to be found; only one of which is still standing. Archaeological examination of the surrounding area showed that a stone circle once stood there, with a diameter of 110 meters; exactly the same width as the bank surrounding Stonehenge. Digging led to the finding of holes where stones had once been erected in a ring. Using thermoluminescence, which can show how long since soil has been exposed to sunlight, the researchers were able to fix the date of the removal of the stones of Waun Mawn to around 3000 BC. The question was settled conclusively when the base of one of the excavated holes which had held a bluestone were found to match one of the stones at Stonehenge, ‘like a lock and key’ as an archaeologist put it.

The implications of all this are quite staggering. The story about Stonehenge having been built from stones which had previously formed part of another stone circle many miles away was first written down in the twelfth century AD by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He had picked up the story from Welsh folklore or oral tradition. This means that the story of the bluestones must have been passed down by word of mouth for some 4,000 years before it was recorded in written form.

This diversion has been necessary before explaining the likely origin of the legend of Excalibur, to show readers that it really is possible for a folktale to be passed down orally for thousands of years, preserving a much-embellished historical fact.

Many fine examples of Iron Age and Bronze Age weaponry have been fished out of rivers and lakes across Europe. Since these things were exceedingly valuable, it is very unlikely that they were simply misplaced or carelessly dropped in the water. If such a mishap had occurred, then the most strenuous efforts would have been made to recover them. It is more likely that they were deliberately thrown into the water as sacrifices. On the north side of Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland is the village of La Tene. This location has given its name to an entire Iron Age culture. The reason for this was that during a drought in 1857 the level of the lake fell dramatically and revealed many swords and shield bosses, along with a great quantity of jewellery. A curious circumstance was that the swords showed no sign of wear. They had seemingly been thrown into the water, brand-new; just as they had been made.

At Flag Fen, near the English city of Peterborough, something similar was found. Just as at La Tene, many bronze objects have been recovered. Both La Tene and Flag Fen are part of the same ritual behaviour.

Those wishing to demonstrate their unswerving devotion to the gods or respect for the dead, perhaps sometimes to expiate a sin, would visit one of these locations. Very likely, these would be impressive occasions, with crowds gathering to watch what was to happen. The whole affair would be arranged and supervised by a wizard or priest, ensuring that the correct incantations or spells were said. Then a colossally expensive sword, shield or helmet, perhaps made specially for the occasion, would be hurled out into the deepest part of the river or lake, where it would be impossible to retrieve it. These swords and so on would be shiny and new; not coated, as they are now in museum cases, with a dull patina of oxidisation. It is little wonder that such extraordinary exhibitions should have been talked about and the story of them passed down through the generations. It is a garbled version of such stories which has been preserved in the story of the Lady of the Lake and the wonderful sword being thrown into the water.

But, readers may be thinking at this point, surely this is all just an historical curiosity, with no conceivable relevance to the modern world and only the flimsiest and most tenuous evidence? Not a bit of it! The practice of Bronze Age and Iron Age peoples in Europe of hurling precious swords into bodies of water is still very much alive, albeit in a slightly modified form and an activity in which a fifth of the population in Britain regularly engage provides us with a direct link to the story of Excalibur; the sword of King Arthur at which we are looking.

Thinking now about the Arthurian tale of the Lady in the Lake, ad the possibility that it might have its origins in the sacrificial offerings of swords made so extensively in Bronze Age Europe, two possible explanations are suggested for the custom. One is that the swords, shields, helmets and cauldrons were being offered up to some local deity. It also possible that they were being given to the dead, as a way of gaining favour with ancestors or perhaps dead strangers who might be minded to cause harm. Pools, springs and wells were sometimes believed to be entrances to the underworld; the land of the dead. Excavated Roman wells in London, as well as lakes in Wales like Llyn Fawr, all show how widespread this practice was. Encouraged by religious beliefs of the time, as transmitted to them by their shamans or wizards, Bronze Age men and women often committed valuable metal goods to sources of water in this way. Incredibly, the practice continues to this very day.

In November 2006 a financial marketing agency compiled a report called the ‘Fountain Money Mountain’. They found that one person in five in Britain regularly throws coins into fountains, wells and other watery locations. This will probably come as no surprise to most readers, after all, it’s what people tend to do near small bodies of water, isn’t it? In London, the fountains in Trafalgar Square and at Marble Arch accumulate coins thrown in for luck. Those designing public fountains and pools take it for granted that passers-by will toss in coins. This is all so obvious, that it scarcely needs to be mentioned. The question we pose though is why it should be regarded as such a natural and inevitable state of affairs. Where do people pick up this habit of tossing coins into water?

Between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago, the act of sacrificing a treasured sword to either the gods or to the spirits of the dead was a grand affair, presided over by a wizard. As the years passed though, gifts to the other world became more commonplace. The presence of a religious leader was no longer required and instead of an expensive sword, old or broken weapons would be thrown instead into the water. By the time the Romans occupied Britain, from 43 AD onwards, the sacrifices were purely nominal. Broken knives were more common than swords and many people gave a cash equivalent instead, just a coin or two as a token gesture. In this way what was once a major religious ceremony degenerates into mere superstition.

It is now easy enough to see how the modern custom of throwing coins into pools and fountains arose. Most of us who do this, acquired the habit from our parents. Perhaps they gave us a penny and told us to throw it in and make a wish. We then pass this quaint action on to our own children. Sometimes, instead of making a specific wish, the coin is thrown in just ‘for luck’. That this little bit of everyday life, indulged in regularly by 20 per cent of the British population has a direct connection with Excalibur and the Lady of the Lake is perhaps not as widely known as it might be.

A grander and more spectacular modern example of making such sacrifices to the gods and goddesses of the water takes place when a large, ocean-going vessel is launched. Before a battleship, submarine or cruise liner slides into the water for the first time, a bottle of some expensive, alcoholic beverage is broken open, as a means of propitiating the spirits of the water and asking them to look favourably upon the ship when once it sails the seas.

It is strange to think that such familiar customs could have lingered on in this country in one for or another for four thousand year or so, but this is certainly where the evidence points.