In surviving accounts of Arthur, there are two originally separate legends about the sword’s origin. The first is the "Sword in the Stone" legend, originally appearing in Robert de Boron’s poem Merlin, in which Excalibur can only be drawn from the stone by Arthur, the rightful king. The second comes from the later Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin, which was taken up by Sir Thomas Malory. Here, Arthur receives Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake after breaking his first sword in a fight with King Pellinore. The Lady of the Lake calls the sword "Excalibur, that is as to say as Cut-steel," and Arthur takes it from a hand rising out of the lake.
As Arthur lies dying, he tells Sir Bedivere (Sir Griflet in some versions) to return his sword to the lake by throwing it into the water. Bedivere is reluctant to throw away such a precious sword, so twice he only pretends to do so. Each time, Arthur asks him to describe what he saw. When Bedivere tells him the sword simply fell into the water, Arthur scolds him harshly. Finally, Bedivere throws Excalibur into the lake. Before the sword strikes the water’s surface, a hand reaches up to grasp it and pulls it under. Arthur leaves on a death barge with the three queens to Avalon, where as his legend says, he will one day return to rule in Britain’s darkest hour.
Malory records both versions of the legend in his Le Morte d’Arthur, and confusingly calls both swords Excalibur. The film Excalibur attempts to rectify this by having only one sword, which Arthur inherits through his father and later breaks; the Lady of the Lake then repairs it.
England (pronounced /ˈɪŋglənd/) (Old English: Englaland, Middle English: Engelond) is the largest and most populous constituent country[1][2] of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Its inhabitants account for more than 79% of the total population of the United Kingdom,[3] whilst the mainland territory of England occupies most of the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. Elsewhere, it is bordered by the North Sea, Irish Sea, Celtic Sea, Bristol Channel and English Channel.
England became a unified state during the 10th century and takes its name from the Angles, one of a number of Germanic tribes who settled in the territory during the 5th and 6th centuries. The capital of England is London, which is the largest urban area in Great Britain, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most, but not all, measures.[4]
England ranks amongst the world’s most influential and far-reaching centers of cultural development.[5] It is the place of origin of both the English language and the Church of England, and English law forms the basis of the legal systems of many countries; in addition, London was the center of the British Empire, and the country was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.[6] England was the first country in the world to become industrialized. England is home to the Royal Society, which laid the foundations of modern experimental science. England was the world’s first parliamentary democracy[ and consequently many constitutional, governmental and legal innovations that had their origin in England have been widely adopted by other nations.
The Kingdom of England was a separate state until 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union resulted in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain,[8] with the Principality of Wales already in the English state.
Today England is about to be transformed into a Islamic state. Political correctness, the insanity of multiculturalism, and liberal ideology has been taken to extremes beyond what we witness even here, in the US.
Liberal lunacy daily moves England towards it’s final fate. The roots of England have long been dead. Little is left of what once was the center of Western civilization and one of the greatest military powers in history.
Societies flourish in connection with their communal piety. Disbelief is the ground of multiculturalism. England is the host which tolerates all because it believes nothing. Christianity is under attack in every way possible, while many in power, and even more of the ordinary English people convert to Islam and are celebrated and made into celebrities. Even children are converting. The recently chosen Miss England is Muslim.
The more England tries to accommodate Islam the greater the threat grow. Even fairy tales are being banned in an effort to appease a religion that has always been birthed in blood.
The list of efforts to appease Islam in England is endless. Even the flag the flag of England, the banner of St. George is headed for the trash heap of history.
In the story of King Arthur, it is said that in a time of England’s greatest need, Arthur and Excalibur will return. Arthur, Excalibur England needs you now. All of Western civilization needs you.
Great post, celtictexan. I’d like to add a couple of observations:
Political correctness, the insanity of multiculturalism, and liberal ideology has been taken to extremes beyond what we witness even here, in the US.
I don’t think anyone has chronicled this downward spiral better than Melanie Phillips in her book, Londonistan. Here’s a link to a great interview of Ms. Phillips:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTAxMWIxMGFmNDExYzBhNjFkMWExNGJiODAwNDhjODU=
One of the best quotes from the interview is this:
“For three decades and more, the British education system has stopped transmitting the story and values of the nation on the grounds that national identity is racist, xenophobic, inhospitable, and so on. So English literature and, even more so, British political history are only minimally taught. If anything is racist, of course, it’s that attitude itself because it means that recent immigrants are excluded from equal participation in British society because they are left in ignorance of it. Britain used to do integration; now it does disintegration. In every sense.” [Emphasis added]
I really enjoyed the Excalibur video, too. At first, I thought I recognized the score as coming from the Wagner opera repertoire (possibly the Ring Cycle), but I noticed in the credits that it was original music by Trevor Jones. I’m not familiar with Mr. Jones, but his composition and orchestration certainly have a Wagnerian flavor to them.
“For three decades and more, the British education system has stopped transmitting the story and values of the nation on the grounds that national identity is racist, xenophobic, inhospitable, and so on.
Outstanding and very to the point. I recall the book, it’s what made me think and use Englandistan in an earlier post. It truely is a sad time for Englaand. I didn’t even bother to get into the insanity of crime in England. It seems there is no crime except defending one’s self or property if your White and a minority is involved. I might make another post of that. The main point was that in England we can see our own, not so distant future.
I’m not sure what the credit you read was, but the music is indeed Wagner. It’s the same as the video I posted with the history of Wagner. I don’t know if you everr saw the movie Excalibur linked at the begining of the post,it is good, but it might have been referring to other music.
I’m not sure what the credit you read was, but the music is indeed Wagner.
I thought so! I thought the credits at the end of the video attributed the music to Trevor Jones. Maybe I misread it.
Speaking of Wagner, I was watching TV the other night and heard Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries during a commercial for GotoMyPc.com. (In case you don’t recognize the title, it’s the helicopter music from Apocolypse Now and the music to which Elmer Fudd sings, “Kill da Wabbit!”)
Maybe I’ve just been paying attention more lately, but it seems to me there’s a lot more opera music in TV commercials. Whether it’s arias from Verdi’s Rigoletto or Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, or in this case orchestral excerpts from Wagner’s Die Walküre, it makes commercials a lot more bearable.