Excalibur:The Fact behind the Legend

I just ran across this and had to post it to get others opinions and views. It seems this sword, embedded in a rock, in Italy, around 1180, might have been the very sword that became the fact behind the Legend of Excalibur.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Interesting to say the least.

regards
seekerof

Well...

The problem with that is that the 'sword in the stone' legend goes back a few centuries before 1180. Archeologist have poiinted out for awhile that ritual displays with swords were common in Celtic cultures (the arthurian legend is originally Welsh) at that time... in fact, there are lakes/ponds in Britain that have hundreds of swords at their bottoms... thrown in as 'votive' offerings.

I thought the actual legend of Excalibur was different... Arthur received it from the Lady in the Lake, with Merlin's help.

The "sword in the stone" has been a popularized recent addition to the actual Arthurian legend.

yeah, you're right William,

the sword in the stone and excalibur were different.. what I meant to say was that both types of sword ceremonies were known to britian before 1180.

The thing about this, is that 'speculation' still surrounds how the sword was placed in the stone/rock. Can this actually be done and how exactly?

regards
seekerof