Map reveals where King Arthur’s famous sword Excalibur could be hidden
Some legendary stuff here.
King Arthur’s sword, better known as Excalibur, is the stuff of legend.
Or is it?
King Arthur is a figure of medieval literary tradition, although some people think he was an actual king who ruled Britain between the Fifth and Sixth centuries, or at the very least, a real-life warrior.
The sword is considered to be one of the most famous objects in British folklore – or history, depending on your point of view – and is thought to have possessed magical powers that allowed King Arthur to become a great warrior.
The legend has also inspired modern literature and entertainment, including Monty Python And The Holy Grail, and the BBC series Merlin.
How did King Arthur get Excalibur?
In Arthurian lore, there seems to be a slight hiccup as Excalibur appears to be the name of two separate swords King Arthur owned.
They are the Sword in the Stone, and the Sword in the Lake.
The Sword in the Stone
To mark Arthur as the true King of Britain, he had to pass a test.
Arthur got the British throne by pulling out a sword from an anvil sitting on top of a site that appeared in a churchyard on Christmas Eve.
The legend goes, as told through Merlin – Arthur’s magician – that the act could not be performed except by ‘the true king’, meaning the divinely appointed king or true heir of Uther Pendragon – who also happened to be Arthur’s father.
As many people gathered around to pull the sword out, to get the British throne, a teenage Arthur – who thought he was the son of another man – pulls out the sword unseen and unaware of the challenge and places it back.
He then repeats the action in public.
However, although the sword was unnamed when he pulled it out, we know it was referred to as Excalibur at a later date through 13th-century French romances.
The Sword in the Lake
In a different set of French texts, known as the Post-Vulgate Cycle, the sword Arthur drew from the stone is unnamed and is broken in a duel early on in his reign.
However, on Merlin’s advice, the King gets the real Excalibur from the mysterious Lady of the Lake – a fairy-type enchantress – in exchange for a favour.
What happened to Excalibur?
Despite having two origin stories, the mythical sword still ended up back in a lake – but no one knows which one.
Some texts say that when King Arthur was on the brink of death, he handed the sword to one of his knights to throw into the lake.
At first, the knight tries to deceive the dying King, but on the third request throws Excalibur into the lake, where a hand emerges to catch it.
Other texts suggest King Arthur himself threw it in the lake as he lay dying.
Now, a team of experts is trying to locate the sword in British waters as part of a new TV series, Weird Britain, despite the possibility that neither it nor King Arthur ever existed.
Where is Excalibur? Possible locations for King Arthur’s sword
The team, made up of filmakers, divers, archaeologists, magnet fishers and tech experts, will be searching a number of watery hiding places where they hope to find the sword.
Speaking to MailOnline, Nigel Lamford, head of Northants Magnet Fishing, said: ‘We’ve not been beaten yet and nobody has the amount of equipment we have.
‘If it’s in there and it’s magnetic, it’s coming out.
‘There are several versions of the legend, which muddies the waters so to speak, but the legend persists after many many centuries so there could well be a kernel of truth to it.
‘So right now, we are looking for a sword or anything that could have been part of a sword, and if anything like that is found, then it’s over to the historians and archaeologists and lab scientists to identify what exactly we have found.’
But the question still remains, where could it be hiding?
Dozmary Pool
Located in Cornwall, this pool has a strong association with the Arthurian legend.
The lake is one of the sites that claim to be the home of the Lady of the Lake – where King Arthur may have received the sword Excalibur.
It also claims to be the place where Sir Bedivere, an Arthurian knight, returned Excalibur as King Arthur lay dying after the Battle of Camlann.
Loe Pool in Cornwall
Another scenic spot in Cornwall is the Loe Pool, which also claims to be the resting place of Excalibur in the famous legend.
The pool is even mentioned in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s recounting of King Arthur’s tale the poem Idylls of the King, which covers King Arthur’s death and the end of his kingdom.
Alderley Edge
In north England, Chesire, Excalibur could be resting at the bottom of Alderley Edge.
The area has strong associations with the legend, as Visit England describes a local wizard walk where Merlin and King Arthur reportedly slept after being enchanted.
Llyn Llydaw, Llyn Dinas and Llyn Ogwen
These three lakes in Snowdonia National Park claim to house the sword, as tales spring up across Wales of a sleeping King Arthur who is waiting for the call to return with his men to rescue Wales.
King Arthur has a strong link to Wales, and it is thought the first mention of the King came from a work of literature in Welsh, during the Sixth Century when most of Western Britain spoke Welsh.
Ullswater
Up in the Lake District, there is a spot that also claims to be the resting place of Excalibur.
Cumbria’s Lake District has deep historical importance, as it’s near Hadrian’s Wall, and is an area where many battles were fought.
However, this is also thought to be a place where the Lady of the Lake may have handed Excalibur to the King.