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One version says the Lady of the Lake rose out of the water and gave him Excallibur. The other version says he pulled Excallibur out of a Stone. Monty Python backs the lake version, Disney backs the stone version. Sadly, my litterary knowlege of King Arthur ends with those two movies. So, what's the skinny on Excallibur?
i'll ask my dad when he gets home... he's a Camelot freak...
The sword in the anvil/stone was not Excalibur in all accounts, but the sword from the lake was. It seems the weapon Arthur drew out of its resting place was not the famed Excalibur after all.
In reality, then, you are asking two different questions. Arthur became king when he pulled the sword out, but he received Excalibur at a later date.
Actually the earliest accounts call him a general, not a king:D
[thud]
[King Arthur music]
[thud thud thud]
[King Arthur music stops]
ARTHUR:
Old woman!
DENNIS:
Man!
ARTHUR:
Man. Sorry. What knight lives in that castle over there?
DENNIS:
I'm thirty-seven.
ARTHUR:
I-- what?
DENNIS:
I'm thirty-seven. I'm not old.
ARTHUR:
Well, I can't just call you 'Man'.
DENNIS:
Well, you could say 'Dennis'.
ARTHUR:
Well, I didn't know you were called 'Dennis'.
DENNIS:
Well, you didn't bother to find out, did you?
ARTHUR:
I did say 'sorry' about the 'old woman', but from the behind you looked--
DENNIS:
What I object to is that you automatically treat me like an inferior!
ARTHUR:
Well, I am King!
DENNIS:
Oh, King, eh, very nice. And how d'you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers! By 'anging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society. If there's ever going to be any progress with the--
WOMAN:
Dennis, there's some lovely filth down here. Oh! How d'you do?
ARTHUR:
How do you do, good lady? I am Arthur, King of the Britons. Who's castle is that?
WOMAN:
King of the who?
ARTHUR:
The Britons.
WOMAN:
Who are the Britons?
ARTHUR:
Well, we all are. We are all Britons, and I am your king.
WOMAN:
I didn't know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective.
DENNIS:
You're fooling yourself. We're living in a dictatorship: a self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working classes--
WOMAN:
Oh, there you go bringing class into it again.
DENNIS:
That's what it's all about. If only people would hear of--
ARTHUR:
Please! Please, good people. I am in haste. Who lives in that castle?
WOMAN:
No one lives there.
ARTHUR:
Then who is your lord?
WOMAN:
We don't have a lord.
ARTHUR:
What?
DENNIS:
I told you. We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week,...
ARTHUR:
Yes.
DENNIS:
...but all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting...
ARTHUR:
Yes, I see.
DENNIS:
...by a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs,...
ARTHUR:
Be quiet!
DENNIS:
...but by a two-thirds majority in the case of more major--
ARTHUR:
Be quiet! I order you to be quiet!
WOMAN:
Order, eh? Who does he think he is? Heh.
ARTHUR:
I am your king!
WOMAN:
Well, I didn't vote for you.
ARTHUR:
You don't vote for kings.
WOMAN:
Well, how did you become King, then?
ARTHUR:
The Lady of the Lake,...
[angels sing]
...her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur.
[singing stops]
That is why I am your king!
DENNIS:
Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
ARTHUR:
Be quiet!
DENNIS:
Well, but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!
ARTHUR:
Shut up!
DENNIS:
I mean, if I went 'round saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!
ARTHUR:
Shut up, will you? Shut up!
DENNIS:
Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system.
ARTHUR:
Shut up!
DENNIS:
Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help! Help! I'm being repressed!
ARTHUR:
Bloody peasant!
DENNIS:
Oh, what a give-away. Did you hear that? Did you hear that, eh? That's what I'm on about. Did you see him repressing me? You saw it, didn't you?
Heh! I've actually made a reference to that film not long ago. Monty Python rules.
it was legend that who so ever could pull the sword from the stone would be king of all of england arthur did this in his teen years
it was many years later that he received the sword Caliburn (it had been romancised (forget the exact word im looking for) in books and such to excalibur)
Yes i do know way to much about this but seeing as it was a strong interest of mine growing up i spent much time reading about the real myth of Arthur and not the botched up stories and tv series and movies that came into being
if your looking for a good read that follows the original (first known writing of the myth by Sir Thomas Mallory (spelling again)
then look for the books by Mary Stewart
if you want to find the original Prophesies of the Legend fo Arthur the man who would unite all of england then you need to find some old Celtic books
yes yes they doQuote:
Originally posted by Johnny Undaunted
Heh! I've actually made a reference to that film not long ago. Monty Python rules.
you need to check out the Life of Brian quite hillarious and the Meaning of Life
Did I watched Life of Brian? HA! That film has one of the best fucking ending theme I've seen in a film.Quote:
Originally posted by Johnpv
yes yes they do
you need to check out the Life of Brian quite hillarious and the Meaning of Life
Some things in life are bad,
They can really make you mad,
Other things just make you swear and curse,
When you're chewing your life's gristle
Don't grumble, give a whistle,
And this'll help things turn out for the best,
Always look on the bright side of life.
[whistling]
Always look on the light side of life.
[whistling]
If life seems jolly rotten,
There's something you've forgotten,
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.
When you're feeling in the dumps,
Don't be silly chumps.
Just purse your lips and whistle. That's the thing.
And, always look on the bright side of life.
[whistling]
Always look on the right side of life,
[whistling]
For life is quite absurd
And death's the final word.
You must always face the curtain with a bow.
Forget about your sin.
Give the audience a grin.
Enjoy it. It's your last chance, anyhow.
So, always look on the bright side of death,
[whistling]
Just before you draw your terminal breath.
[whistling]
Life's a piece of shit,
When you look at it.
Life's a laugh and death's a joke. It's true.
You'll see it's all a show.
Keep 'em laughing as you go.
Just remember that the last laugh is on you.
And, always look on the bright side of life.
[whistling]
Always look on the right side of life.
[whistling]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistling]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistling]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistling]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistling]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistling]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistling]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistling...
I mean, what do you have to lose
You come from nothing
You go back to nothing
What have you lost, nothing]
Always look on the bright side of life!
[whistling]
Ah! perfect. So, was he declared king the moment he pulled the sword out of the stone, or did he have to prove himself further and was declared king when he got Excallibur/Caliburn?Quote:
Originally posted by Johnpv
it was legend that who so ever could pull the sword from the stone would be king of all of england arthur did this in his teen years
it was many years later that he received the sword Caliburn (it had been romancised (forget the exact word im looking for) in books and such to excalibur)
Yes i do know way to much about this but seeing as it was a strong interest of mine growing up i spent much time reading about the real myth of Arthur and not the botched up stories and tv series and movies that came into being
if your looking for a good read that follows the original (first known writing of the myth by Sir Thomas Mallory (spelling again)
then look for the books by Mary Stewart
if you want to find the original Prophesies of the Legend fo Arthur the man who would unite all of england then you need to find some old Celtic books
The legend of King Arthur.
"Arthur pulled the sword Excalibur from the murky bottom of a lake, and was then pelted with farm animals from a nearby French castle. He escaped into the forest, where the Nights of Ni! made him chop a tree down with a herring. After the Nights of Ni! died of laughter, Arthur met the sorcerer Tim, who lead him to a cave of peril. There a horrible man eating bunny devoured him. The End"
Johnny Undaunted did you know they have a monty python CD with all their songs and such
(i love eric the half a bee, and the penis song, and I like Chinese, and, and, and....soooooo many good ones)
about the legend
well technically he was king then BUT yes there were many other things that he had to do and merlin helped him with that
if your interested in the legend how it should be check out Mary Stewarts books (i need to read them again its been about 5 - 10 years since i last read them so i may be slightly off on some things) or if you can find it (its hard) look for the Malory's Morte d'Arthur
or theres alot of old celtic books with different prophecies in it where youll find the origin of the legend
there are indifferences depending on what you read even with Mary Stewarts books she adds some to the story to make them more readible i guess
one interesting part of the legend very few books talk about is the theme of Arthur as a tool of god
theres the idea in the legend that Arthur marked the end of the magic and gods of old (some the celtic ones and such) and the coming of as its put in different books telling the legend "the one true god" IE the christian god in england
another interesting aspect
is the idea that neither Arthur nor Merlin are dead but rather during arthur's last battle with his evil incestual Son Mordred when they both deal a killing blow to one another after this blow Arthur is carried off by the Nuns of the island of Avalon (i believe its avalon my memory has been so shitty lately) where he sleeps in a special kind of slumber till the day when England needs him again and the sword Caliburn(excalibur) is returned to the lady of the lake
did you also know he kinda went insane you could say for a bit when he found out that the woman he loved Gwenyvire cheated on him with Lancelot
if you have nay other questions on the legend feel free to ask
ohh also not known by many and kinda questioned
is the fact that Ambrosius Pendragon (uther pendragon's brother, uther is arthurs father) is the father of Merlin which would bassicaly make Merlin and Arthur cousins but this fact is in Mary Stewarts book and since i havent gotten to read all of the different prophecies and other legends im not sure if this is something she made or is really in the legend but i found it interesting none the less
I thought this was added during the french Camelot romance novels. Sort of like "King Arthur: the movies", but before movies. no real attachment to the legend I mean.Quote:
did you also know he kinda went insane you could say for a bit when he found out that the woman he loved Gwenyvire cheated on him with Lancelot
it could be though they say for everything added they have a small bit of something from the legend in themQuote:
Originally posted by rezo
I thought this was added during the french Camelot romance novels. Sort of like "King Arthur: the movies", but before movies. no real attachment to the legend I mean.
see thats the hard thing its hard to tell everything thats been added to it
partially because in ancient times, stories, prophiecies and the like were not written down but passed from person to person through spoken word
i mean you ever play a game of telephone imagine a huge game over a few hundred of years *LOL*