History Main / ExcaliburInTheStone

Myth/KingArthur's [[CoolSword legendary sword]] Excalibur is sometimes identified in [[CommonKnowledge popular culture]] as the sword which [[OnlyTheChosenMayWield he alone was able to pull out of a stone]]--proving he was the [[RightfulKingReturns rightful king]] of the Britons.

* In the French series ''Series/{{Kaamelott}}'', Excalibur not only was coming from the stone, but Arthur can put it back there anytime he chooses. He did so when a young kid, before claiming the throne of Britain for good once adult. He puts the sword back in the stone in Livre V once he renounces the throne, and many pretenders try to claim it for themselves, but the sword only responds to someone with an exceptional destiny. Only Arthur qualifies so far; the only other one who might have had a chance, Perceval, refuses to even try pulling the sword from the stone [[UndyingLoyalty out of respect for Arthur]].

* In Stephen Lawhead's ''Arthur'', Arthur pulls the sword of Maximus from the stone, but later replaces it with Caliburnus/Caledvwlch, which came from {{Atlantis}}. The surviving Atlanteans are basically treated as TheFairFolk and their leader is the Lady of the Lake (and Merlin's mom).

* ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheBlackKnight''. King Arthur has Excalibur. Sonic receives Caliburn from the Lady of the Lake. However, [[spoiler:Caliburn transforms into Excalibur just before the final battle.]] Which is actually a plot point -- Arthur ''doesn't'' have Excalibur, but he'd very much like to. What he has is Excalibur's scabbard, which has its own magical properties quite independent of the sword. [[spoiler:The reason Arthur doesn't have Excalibur, and Caliburn is able to transform into Excalibur at the end of the game, is because for some reason or another that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, Caliburn is Excalibur, minus the swords carried by Gawain, Percival, and Lancelot.]]
** The reason is as follows: [[spoiler: King Arthur receives Excalibur from Nimue, along with the scabbard. However, the scabbard causes King Arthur to become corrupt and power hungry, which in turn, corrupts Excalibur. This causes Excalibur to split into Caliburn, Arondight (Lancelot's sword), Galatine (Gawain's sword), Laevatein (Percival's sword), and Deathcalibur (Arthur's sword). Deathcalibur is little more than a [[{{BFS}} large sword]], however, due to it's corruption.]]

* This same twist from Castlevania is used in ''VideoGame/{{Magicka}}''. It acts a lot more like [[DropTheHammer a hammer]] than a sword.

However, [[DependingOnTheWriter this is not always the case in medieval Arthurian literature]], where Excalibur is sometimes a different sword Arthur received from Myth/TheLadyOfTheLake when he was already king. This is the case in Sir Thomas Malory's ''Literature/LeMorteDArthur'', which is [[AudienceColoringAdaptation the best-known and most influential]] medieval English rendition.

This origin for Excalibur was used by Malory in ''Literature/LeMorteDArthur''. Malory's version of the Arthurian stories, written when the Middle Ages were almost over, would become the best-known version to English-speaking readers. However, Malory [[ContinuitySnarl once refers]] to Arthur's sword as Excalibur before the episode with the Lady of the Lake happens. (Book 1, chapter IX, where Merlin calls it "the sword that ye had by miracle", which ''could'' mean drawing it from the stone or could mean that Malory forgot the Lady of the Lake scene hadn't happened yet.)

* The titular ''Literature/SwordOfTheRightfulKing'' is initially unnamed, but acquires the name Caliburnus at some point as rumours of the sword spread across the land. Unlike other incarnations, this sword is non-magical and the whole sowrd-in-the-stone scheme was created by Merlinnus specifically as a trick to rally the people behind Arthur. [[spoiler: In the end, Arthur doesn't even pull Caliburnus from the stone, but a prototype.]]

* The titular ''Literature/SwordOfTheRightfulKing''is initially unnamed, but acquires the name Caliburnus at at some point as rumours of the sword spread across the land. Unlike other incarnations, this sword is non-magical and was created by Merlinnus specifically as a trick to rally the people behind Arthur. [[spoiler: In the end, Arthur doesn't even pull Caliburnus from the stone, but a prototype.]]

However, [[DependingOnTheWriter this is not always the case in medieval Arthurian literature]], where Excalibur is sometimes a different sword Arthur received from Myth/TheLadyOfTheLake. This is the case in Sir Thomas Malory's ''Literature/LeMorteDArthur'', which is [[AudienceColoringAdaptation the best-known and most influential]] medieval English rendition.

However, the later series known as the ''Post-Vulgate Cycle'', which retold and expanded upon the former, depicts the Sword in the Stone and Excalibur as separate swords. The Sword in the Stone (and anvil) is unnamed again and the story of Arthur receiving Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake is introduced.

In the ''Alliterative Morte Arthure'', an English poem predating Malory, Arthur has another named sword besides Excalibur, called Clarent, which is stolen by Mordred. This was a ceremonial sword as opposed to the war sword Excalibur. Sometimes modern authors use Clarent (or another name) as the name of the sword in the stone, but this is not in the original.

* In ''Literature/HereLiesArthur'', Myrddin (Merlin) came up with the story of Arthur drawing the sword from the stone years before the events of the book to portray Arthur as the rightful King of the Britons. At the start of the story, he has a peasant girl named Gwyna pose as Myth/TheLadyOfTheLake and give Arthur Caliburn (Excalibur) to show a band of Irish pagans he wants Arthur to ally with that Arthur has the favour of the old gods. Myrddin starts telling the story of Caliburn at the villages he visits, only for someone who had heard the first story to point out the discrepancy. Myrddin smoothly replies that the sword from the stone was broken and Arthur needed a new one, then segues into another story that quickly gets everyone to forget the question.

* In "Once and Future Duck" by Creator/KenoDonRosa, the sword that is pulled from the stone (though not by Arthur, in this story that's a later fabrication) is Arthur's sword Calibur. There's no other Excalibur around, and it's not the only name that appears in a different form than in the stories as we know them now.

* In ''Literature/HereLiesArthur'', Myrddin (Merlin) came up with the story of the sword in the stone years before the events of the book to portray Arthur as the rightful King of the Britons. At the start of the story, he has a peasant girl named Gwyna pose as Myth/TheLadyOfTheLake and give Arthur Caliburn (Excalibur) to show a band of Irish pagans he wants Arthur to ally with that Arthur has the favour of the old gods. Myrddin starts telling the story of Caliburn at the villages he visits, only for someone who had heard the first story to point out the discrepancy. Myrddin smoothly replies that the sword from the stone was broken and Arthur needed a new one, then segues into another story that quickly gets everyone to forget the question.

* In ''VideoGame/TearsToTiara'', which is a retelling of Arthurian legend with a lot of elements from the ''Literature/Mabinogion'', the sword in the stone is neither Excalibur, nor any other proposed name for it. It is instead called Danwyn, and belonged to Arthur's ancestor, Pwyll the King of Elves. Appropriately enough, it is presumably a reference to Owain Danwyn, a Welsh Prince with a strong candidacy for being the "real life" Myth/KingArthur.

** ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'' includes Clarent as a separate sword which Mordred stole from Camelot's armory. It is capable of an attack similar to Excalibur but as a sword representing the rightful ruler it was weakened when stolen.

* ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'': The sword Excalibur happens to be one of the magical artifacts in the collection of Jack Horner. Of course, this version of Excalibur happens to have been trapped in the stone, and remains there due to Jack being a slimy, evil creep. He can still use it as a hammer of sorts, though.

* ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing'' actually takes a fairly ambiguous approach towards the sword(s). The Sword in the Stone is not given any other name when Arthur pulls it out, but after a bit of a TimeSkip, the sword Arthur brings to battle is referred to as Excalibur. The book makes no mention of the Sword in the Stone breaking or Excalibur being from the Lady of the Lake, suggesting that they are the same blade under different names, but not confirming it. For what it's worth, the book's author would later use the name Excalibur to describe the Sword in the Stone attraction at Disneyland, further suggesting that he views them as the same sword.

Myth/KingArthur's [[CoolSword legendary sword]] {{Excalibur}} is sometimes identified in [[CommonKnowledge popular culture]] as the sword which [[OnlyTheChosenMayWield he alone was able to pull out of a stone]]--proving he was the [[RightfulKingReturns rightful king]] of the Britons.

* ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts: From the New World'', there is a sword in a stone, but it a completely different sword named Zondeek. Amusingly, Frank, a guy who fights [[ImprobableWeaponUser by slapping katana hilts into objects and using them]], doesn't even bother trying to pull the sword out of the pedestal, and just slaps a hilt into the sword's hilt and uses it as it is.

->''Behold: EXCALIBUR! I couldn't get this rock off of it, but it's still pretty cool, right?''

* ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow]]'' has a sword called Excalibur which is ''still in the stone''. So you go around swinging a sword with a giant rock at the end of it. The logic for this being: The player character is not actually Arthur, so he is obviously not allowed to draw the sword from the stone. But he's also ''very strong''...