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.

[Old Professer]

Portland cement.

[Just mythoughts]

smiling....

[Wombat101]

The most obvious use of Arthurian symbolism that comes to mind is that of the Nazis. There is a famous painting of Hitler as Percival in full armor, and Himmler maintained a Round Table for his SS lieutenants in some castle somewhere (I've forgotten the name!).

British monarchs used to sit on a throne under which was the Stone of Scone, symbolising that Scotland was firmly within the British Empire. The stone was the platform upon which Scots kings were coronated.

It's not unusual for people to reach into the past for the ancient symbols of legitimacy in order to justify their own claims to power.

[NativeSon]

Bloody Peasant!!!

[myheroesareDeadandRegistered]

Interesting.

I've always thought that dragon legends may have been spawned by dinosaur fossils. A T-Rex skull would make a fine catalyst for such stories.

[RightWhale]

debunk Robin Hood

Sherwood Forest has been subdivided, developed, and cut by highways so there are only a few acres left. The same has happened to Walden Pond. Robin Hood would be able to hide out in Sherwood Forest for maybe an hour these days.

[RightWhale]

dragon legends may have been spawned by dinosaur fossils

Very likely some were. The dragon was used as a chemical symbol by alchemists and as a mystical symbol by . . . mystics, but they probably didn't invent the symbol.

[Wombat101]

Perhaps, but when captured his defense would be that he was a deprived youth, his property and inheritance stolen by a capricious King, suffering from PTSD due to the Crusades and paranoid, thinking that Kevin Costner was always right behind him.

[RightWhale]

Of course, he would have to serve 6 months in a halfway house and do 200 hours community service. Then he could write a book and go on lecture tour.

[padfoot_lover]

Have you guys read the Jack Whyte historical "Camulod" fictional novels? They start with Arthur's great grandfathers, and end with Arthur's coronation. Great read.

[farmfriend]

Gods, Graves, Glyphs
List for articles regarding early civilizations , life of all forms, - dinosaurs - etc.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this ping list.

[Carry_Okie]

The chain on the saw is too loose.

[ValerieUSA]

You hadn't heard of the Tuscan Excalibur? I am shocked!

[null and void]

So was I...

[greenwolf]

Are you saying that Italians are a nation of total candyasses and out of 60 million of them there isn't a single guy who can pull that sword out of the stone?

[Junior]

Except that Excalibur was not the sword in the stone, but rather the sword from the Lady in the Lake.

[Johnny_Cipher]

Be Quiet!!!!

Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help! Help! I'm being repressed!

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

bump for reminder to check out Jack Whyte's historical "Camulod"

[norton]

"Robin Hood would be able to hide out in Sherwood Forest for maybe an hour these days."

Motel Six, phony name, park around the corner, good for a week anyway.

[norton]

Got a reading list??

Same for number 40.

Thanks