The True Story Behind The Sword in the Stone

“You can't expect to wield supreme power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!” -Dennis

"It's up to you how far you'll go. If you don't try, you'll never know." -Merlin, The Sword in the Stone

The 2000's King Arthur movie with Clive Owen is severely underrated

Caliburn and Excalibur - the sword in the stone and the sword in the lake - may be meant to be different weapons. One to prove he is kind, one to wield as ruler. Mallory definitely subscribed to this one.

I remember in the Disney version, Merlin came back from the future wearing a pair of red Converse tennis shoes, which were very popular at the time when that animated movie came out.

Very cool. Im sure everyone is glad the regular narrator is back. Yay! Go Arthur!!

Anyone remembers watching a "A Kid in King Arthur's Court"??? Or "Kids of the RoundTable"??

A movie most missed in the video: Excalibur, directed by John Boorman, 1981. "Epic, tragic, and dark." And erotic. Patrick Stewart in a secondary role steals every scene he is in, Liam Neeson is there too just starting to acquire a special set of skills, Helen Mirren is a sexy and deadly Morgan le Fay. Nicol Williamson is the most alien and weird Merlin ever seen on a screen. Fantastic FX and glorious music.

Malory's best seller fictions aside, many archeologists think the concept of a "Sword in a stone" dates back to the bronze age. Unlike steel swords which are forged, bronze swords were cast using molten bronze poured into a mold. Those molds were made of sand or stone, so literally, pre iron age swords emerged from a stone. There are a lot of similar examples of ancient weapons manufacturing technology inspiring mythology. Some scholars believe that the polished stone war hammers that were common during the late paleolithic were the inspiration for the legend of Thor's hammer in Norse mythology.

In Celtic times, all swords were drawn from stones at the beginning and often cast into lakes at the end. Stone was used as a cast or mold for the metal. When the metal hardened, the finished sword was drawn from the stone. The deities of that time were often thought to live in the waters, so metal objects like swords were often sacrificed to them. Archaeologists have found lots of metal objects from this era in Britain's waterways. Legends often preserve cultural particulars long after people have forgotten those ways of life, as with the sword drawn from the stone and the casting the sword into the lake.

"The Sword & Stone" was the name of the restaurant in my home town's Holiday Inn. The restaurant & hotel lobby had an Arthurian theme including a large stone with a sword in it at the exterior front entrance -- trying to remove the sword was a way for kids to pass the time while waiting in line for Mother's Day brunch. I never thought much about it until this video, might be some nice winter reading.

“And that my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana shaped”

This should be mandatory for every Presidential election to test each candidate's worthiness.

Thrilled that you put in some stills from BBC Merlin. In my nerdy little Merthur heart, it's by far the best version. ♥️

The Squirrel was the best part lol

Archeologists have discovered details describing a Roman leader named Arcturos who was stationed in Britain before Christ. About 400 years after Christ another leader in Britain with a similar name came to power. It is thought by some that these two people's lives were spun into fables and were later mixed up and confused there by turning into one person who's deeds were greatly embellished.

2:04 In the G.I. Joe episode "Excalibur," Storm Shadow acquires the sword and G.I. Joe has to return it to the Lady of the Lake.

Absolutely fantastic, I loved every moment of the video. Amusing, entertaining and fascinating

Oddly, the first mention of Arthur was in a Scottish poem in 600 which stated that some guy was a great warrior "though he was not Arthur"

See, the jokes and references by themselves are fine but it’s the delivery by our beloved classic narrator that sells the jokes so well. Who else could say “Pics or it didn’t happen” with such dryness.