Excalibur is the named sword of King Arthur. Draw Excalibur, the sword Excalibur, return Excalibur.
In most tellings it is given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake and thrown back into the water as he dies — which is a different sword from the one drawn from the stone, though popular retellings have merged the two. Its scabbard was said to be worth more than the blade, since it kept the wearer from bleeding. Note that named swords are a standard feature of medieval epic, alongside Durendal and Joyeuse.
1nounexcaliburThe named sword of King Arthur.
“In the legend, King Arthur is given Excalibur by the Lady of the Lake.”
excalibur is a legendary sword.
owl
Caledbulch
Medieval Latin
Caliburnus
Old French
Escalibor
Middle English
Excalaber
English
Excalibur
English, today
excalibur
Built from
Excalibur comes from Middle English Excalaber, from Old French Escalibor, Escaliborc, prothetic form of Calliborc, alteration of Calibourne, from Medieval Latin Caliburnus (Geoffrey of Monmouth, ca. 1136), influenced by calibs (“steel”) (for chalybs), alteration of owl Caledbulch (compare modern Caledfwlch), compound of caled (“hard”) and bwlch (“cleft, crack”). Related to the Irish - legendary sword Caladbolg, literally ‘hard-belly’, i.e. ‘voracious’.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Myths & Legends, Fairy Tales & Folklore