Tuscan 'Excalibur' Mystery To Be Unearthed

Discovery ^ | 3-1-2004 | Rossella Lorenzi

[blam]

Tuscan 'Excalibur' Mystery to be Unearthed

By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News

The Sword in The Stone

March 1, 2004 — Archaeological digging might soon unveil the mystery surrounding a sword buried in a Gothic abbey in Tuscany, Italian researchers announced.

Known as the "sword in the stone," the Tuscan "Excalibur" is said to have been plunged into a rock in 1180 by Galgano Guidotti, a medieval knight who renounced war and worldly goods to become a hermit.

Built in Galgano's memory, the evocative Gothic abbey at Montesiepi, near the city of Siena, still preserves the sword in a little chapel. Only the hilt and a few centimeters of the blade protrude from the rock in the shape of a Cross.

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"The sword has been considered a fake for many years, but our metal dating research in 2001 has indicated it has medieval origins. The composition of the metal doesn't show the use of modern alloys, and the style is compatible with that one of a 12th century sword," Luigi Garlaschelli, a research scientist at University of Pavia, told Discovery News.

By the summer, Garlaschelli hopes to excavate the area around the stone, in search of the knight's body. Indeed, ground penetrating radar analysis revealed the presence of a 6 1/2-foot by 3-foot room beneath the sword.

"It could well be Galgano's tomb, [sought] for about 800 years," Garlaschelli said.

The figure of Galgano Guidotti, who is said to have be born in 1148 in Chiusdino, near Siena, is shrouded in mystery and legend. Evidence of his historical identity has never been found and no records exist in documents from his time.

Galgano Guidotti was said to have been an arrogant and lustful knight who isolated himself in a cave and became a hermit after seeing a vision of the Archangel Michael.

Legend has it that, Galgano was lured out by his mother who convinced him to meet with his former beautiful fiancée; on the way to her house, Galgano was thrown by his horse while passing Montesiepi, a hill near Chiusdino. There, another vision told him to renounce material things. Galgano objected that it would be as difficult as splitting a rock with a sword. To prove his point, he struck a stone with his sword. Instead of breaking, the sword slid like butter into the rock. Galgano once again became a recluse, isolating himself by the sword's side. There he remained until he died in 1181.

Garlaschelli admitted that the excavation would not unveil another mystery over the sword: the one of the Tuscan "Excalibur" predating the legend of King Arthur.

If the sword really dates to 1180, decades before the first literary reference to the "sword in the stone," it would support the theory that the Celtic myth of King Arthur and his sword Excalibur developed in Italy after the death of Galgano.

"Further evidence may lie underneath the rock, but the Arthurian link is almost impossible to prove. It will remain one of the many mysteries that surround St. Galgano. More multidisciplinary studies are needed to understand what the hill of Montesiepi hides. Meanwhile, we are all anxious to see what results this excavation will bring," Maurizio Cali, president of the "Project Galgano" association, told Discovery News.

[NativeSon]

You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you

Be Quiet!!!!

[null and void]

Can't they use that ground penetrating radar on that rock, to see if there is actually an entire sword in that rock.

One would think so. Hello???

[null and void]

And why, pray tell, isn't that your tag line?

[null and void]

Interesting post...I've never heard of the Tuscan Excalibur.

Nor I. I LOVE FR!

[Just mythoughts]

["If the sword really dates to 1180, decades before the first literary reference to the "sword in the stone," it would support the theory that the Celtic myth of King Arthur and his sword Excalibur developed in Italy after the death of Galgano."]

["Hmm..Let's see, "King" Arthur, according to what little is known of him, appears to have lived in the 5th century AD, and been Welsh, and here we have a sword that has been dated to the 12th century, embedding in a rock in Italy."]

??????

[dalebert]

bump

[Pyro7480]

LOL! I just posted an "Army of Darkness" reference on another thread.

"See this? This is my BOOMSTICK!!!

[billbears]

Old woman!

[Bacon Man]

Old woman!

Man!

[Bacon Man]

Hey Bacon, here's a sword you don't have!

Well duh, some fool stuck it in a rock! :)

[ZULU]

"If the sword really dates to 1180, decades before the first literary reference to the "sword in the stone," it would support the theory that the Celtic myth of King Arthur and his sword Excalibur developed in Italy after the death of Galgano. "

The "Sword in the Stone" theme in King Arthur comes from the Sarmatians.

A Sarmatian unit was stationed in western Britain when it was a Roman province. The Sarmatians, an Eastern European tribe, fought on horseback and worshipped an image of a sword in a a stone. This may have been adopted as a theme by the British tribes living in that area, just as they may have adopted a Dragon, one of the images on a legionary standard of a Legion which was stationed there, in their title "Pendragon".

[billbears]

Man, sorry Dennis... ;)

[Dead Dog]

What? No "Watery Tart"?

[RightWhale]

The sword in a stone may refer to drawing iron or copper from ore. It was the iron age by then, and iron weapons ruled. The dragon image was widespread around the world, and may refer to chemical processes. Eastern metallurgists, especially in the eastern Mediterranean, protected knowledge of their craft in a guildlike manner. We're probably looking at signs of the latest hi-tech advances of the times.

[Dead Dog]

I'm Being Oppressed!

[Bacon Man]

What I object to is you automatically treat me like an inferior. ;)

[KillTime]

http://www.mit.edu/people/dpolicar/writing/netsam/holy_grail.html

[Wombat101]

Okay, I think I've confused you, a bit..I apologize.

King Arthur and his knights (as we know them) are litterary inventions. There is no Round Table, no Court of Camelot,and if I have to point this out, some of the characters in those tales (particularly Lancelot) are French and obviously later inventions slipped into the tales.

In ancient history, evidence exists that indicates that sometime in the 4-5th century AD, there was a Welsh warlord named Arthur (Arturus in Latin)and that his main claim to fame is that he kept the invading Saxons at bay for at least a generation or two. This evidence, however, is flimsy, and is mostly based on the fact that there seems to be an explosion of young boys named Arthur in the later stages of this time frame (from village rolls, church records, etc). And from a few scattered bits of poetry and such proclaiming him King of the Britons.

The basis for all of the King Arthur tales is Celtic in origin, and very ancient. The idea of lake spirits handing out weapons, Merlin, and even the Holy Grail, have their roots in Celtic myth (the Grail Quest may have been a retelling in more modern times of the story of Cu'Chullain's (sp?)magic cauldron).

By the 12th century, these tales had been romanticized and told in European couts all over the continent. The Sword in the Stone tale never appears in the ancient myths about Arthur. In the original tales, Arthur receives his sword from the Lady of the Lake.

The name Excalibur is Latin, whereas in the Welsh, the sword if known as Caledfwlch. The names od the Round Table knights, such as Kay (Cei), Gawain, Owain, Derfel, and other caharacters, such as Igraine, Guinevere, etc. are all Welsh. Galahad, depending on which version of the story you hear, is the purest knight, while in others, it is Percival.
Percival, by the way, is a Fanco-German invention.

The sword in the stone tale is an older invention, and the point of it was that Arthur, by pulling the sword from it, was to be the future king of the Britons. It is symbolic, and a powerful symbol at that. It would not surprise me that other European rulers would not try to use similar sybolism to validate their own claims to power.

[Just mythoughts]

Thanks for the clarification.

Could be using different names hunting for that sword little David took from that Giant ISamuel 17:51

[Wombat101]

No problem...For my next tick, I'll debunk Robin Hood for you...lol