The Sword In The Stone <FREE • PACK>

Some historians suggest the story reflects the ancient Bronze-to-Iron Age transition . Pulling "iron from stone" may be a poetic description of smelting ore, a technology that revolutionized warfare and social power structures. Sword in the Stone: Explorations of Excalibur

The "sword in the stone" as a test of lineage was first introduced by the 12th-century French poet Robert de Boron in his work Merlin . The sword in the stone

The legend persists because it speaks to universal human themes: Some historians suggest the story reflects the ancient

The motif of a sword trapped in a stone (or sometimes an anvil) was not present in the earliest versions of the Arthurian legend. The legend persists because it speaks to universal

Surprisingly, there is a real "sword in the stone" that predates many written versions of the Arthurian tale.

In 1180, a violent knight named Galgano Guidotti renounced war to become a hermit. Legend says he thrust his sword into a rock to form a cross for prayer, and the blade sank into the stone as if it were butter.