Excalibur - Are we (Human Beings) the Holy Grail???

Question

Excalibur was originally derived from the Latin phrase Ex calce liberatus, "liberated from the stone".

Do you think the Stone represents the Christian Church (ROCK), and the Sword is the TRUTH removed from the ROCK...

Answer 1

I think you should perhaps be examining why you're ignoring the chalice, or the grail, and focusing on the sword.

They are two distinctly separate objects and concepts, and your answer may lie more in how you came to be asking your question.

The dominant or masculine object or symbol, i.e. the sword is most definitely not the same as the receptive or feminine one, i.e. the Holy Grail, chalice, or even Sangraal. The sword was a means of (or a tool for) obtaining the state of peace that the land enters into that's symbolic of when it's King by birthright enters a state of grace necessary to understand the true nature of the Grail. The sword is for strong and protective rule, the Grail is the ultimate peace attained, but the King must be worthy to attain it, just as his blood must be worthy.

Make any sense?

Stay on the quest.

Answer 2

The original legend came from earlier pagan myths. The sword is a symbol of the power and justice in ruling. The smiths of earlier legends were bestowed with special powers which were forged into the blade. The molten ore was poured into a stone or clay mold, then forged in the fire. So the blade is also evocative of the creative powers of fire.

The grail legend comes from earlier cauldron myths. These vessels held the powers of wisdom and often rebirth. In ancient tradition the king was re birthed every year and sometimes replaced. The king, in effect, was married to the land. Pagan marriages could be annulled after a year and a day if they weren't fulfilling their purpose.

In Arthurian legend the true recipient of the contents of the Grail was the king. The cup is a temporary measure to hold the spiritual knowledge.

The legend may have been Christianised 1,000 years ago, but the essential elements still hold the same symbolic connotations.

The sword is made of and bestowed with the riches and power of the land, the physical and masculine elements.

The grail holds the wisdom and knowledge of spirit, the ethereal and feminine elements.In the union of the 2 a 3rd link to the higher source is formed, the sacred marriage. In pagan tradition it was associated with the anual cycle and was expressed through ritual and custom with the seasonal festivals.

It is a fundamental expression of the process of creation. This is so in many forms of mysticism, including the pagan beliefs, Judaic mysticism and the later Christian.  

Answer 3

Really interesting theory, really just a word play though, but interesting all the same.

Answer 4

You’ve apparently been reading some false propaganda.

Arthur’s sword is called Caliburno, in the dative case, presumably representing a nominative form Caliburnus in Latin in Geoffrey of Monmouth's “Historia Regem Britanniae”. See http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/geoffrey_thomp... and look for “Caliburnus”.

In medieval romances it usually appears as “Caliburn”. In later romances it often assumes the enhanced form “Escalibor”. Sir Thomas Malory renders it “Excalibur” in his “Le Morte d’Arthur”. Your phrase “ex calce liberatus” has nothing originally to do with Arthur’s sword.

The earlier name of the sword may be its Welsh name, usually modernized into modern Welsh as Caledfwlch, and appear when copied directly from a medieval manuscript as something like Kaletvwlch. The name may be identical with that of Caladbolg, the sword of Fergus mac Leide and Fergus mac Roch in Irish tales.

The story of the sword in the stone appears first in Robert de Boron’s “Merlin”. All other versions are obvious copies or adaptations. And Robert doesn’t identify it with Caliburn, though he says nothing against such an identification. One sequel to the “Merlin”, a work called the “Vulgate Merlin”, identifies “Escalibor” with the sword in the stone. But another sequel, sometimes known as the “Post-Vulgate Merlin”, claims that Arthur received “Escalibor” from a hand in a lake, aided by a Fay, Most accounts that mention “Caliburn” or “Escalibor” don’t indicate anything about its origin. It is just Arthur’s sword, or sometimes Gawain’s sword, not in any way obviously symbolic. The “Vulgate Merlin” explains that Arthur gave the sword to Gawain when Gawain was knighted.

So I certainly don't think that Excalibur represents TRUTH removed form the ROCK, except possibly in some allegory you or your source have invented. I think, that in all tales that have come down to us that mention this sword,  Kaletvwlch/Caliburn/Escalibor just represents itself, a powerful sword in legend which is possessed by Arthur and Gawain and was according to Geoffrey of Monmouth forged in the faery island of Avalon.

Sangreal “royal blood', is a name found in Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur'' for le “Saint Graal”, the Holy Grail, presumably a spelling of the actual pronunciation in some speech. It seems quite fitting, as the Holy Grail is supposed to contain Christ’s blood according to Malory’s version.

But what else Malory and his sources say about the grail doesn’t fit your allegory about “we” being the chalice containing Christ. Where does that come from. Did you copy it from somewhere or just invent it?

Attempting to prove religious matters requires more than sloppy allegorizing about material that was not written as an allegory.

Answer 5

I think that is a good metaphor. The holy grail is supposedly the cup that Christ used at the last supper. But using your previous line of thought, the holy grail is only a vessel... so the human body could very well be the the grail that holds the knowledge of God's truth.

Answer 6

. Remember , that the King Arthur legend evolved during a time of very strong Christian faith. There was also far more trust in the church, then there is in contemporary society. The church and truth were seen asinseparablee. It would not have been seen as a heroic act to separate the two.  

Answer 7

One interpretation is that two Celtic warriors fought in single combat and the winner was awarded a sword signifying him as leader of the tribe.  The sword was placed on an alter stone during the fight (not necessarily to the death) and presented by the chief Druid to the winner - so the sword was "on" the stone and not "in" it.  

This would have been prior to the coming of Christianity to England.  Most of the story of Arthur and Excalibur derives from around the 11th century.  

There was certainly a warrior who drove the Saxons out of England and Arthur is as good a name as any.  However Camelot, Excalibur, the Round Table and the Holy Grail were all added by later writers.  The Holy Grail legend itself derives from a 13th century French novel which was added to after the original author died.

Answer 8

Maybe or it might just be a myth, who knows :)

Answer 9

Well it could be that Jesus being the ROCK and the WORD.  So the sword of the spirit is the WORD and Jesus is also the WORD.  The rock is what the Church is built on.  You can't build the church on it's self.

Anyway I would like to think about that more.  I think the Holy Grail is the Spirit of God, in fact God the Holy spirit.  We if we believe are vessels hmmmmmm so praps we are the container THE GRAIL.  

If that is so then WE are not God or gods with the power God has but vessels that contain the power of God in the personhood of the holy spirit.  And he wields his power as he will.

I love running the monkey up the flag pole like this innit.

Answer 10

No

Answer 11

Er no.