Swords

Of all the weapons man has made, it was the sword which contained noble, symbolic and mystical meaning.

Swords frequently appeared in the Grail legends. Often these swords would be the only one wielded by the true Grail knight. Sometimes the sword allowed the knight to comprehend the mystery of the Grail.

• Broken Sword

• Sword with the Strange Belt

• The Sword and the Floating Stone

Broken Sword

In Chretien de Troyes' Le Conte du Graal (or Perceval), the Fisher King received a beautifully crafted sword from one of his nieces with blonde tresses. The Fisher King gave that sword to Perceval as a gift. Perceval had not seen any finer sword than this new gift. We are told that the smith had only made one of such swords.

When Perceval left the Grail Castle, he met a damsel who was his cousin; she recognised the sword that Perceval now possessed. (Was she the same niece who gave the sword to the Fisher King?) She warned Perceval that the sword would break if it were used. She informed her cousin that only a smith named Trabuchet could repair the sword.

In the Fourth Continuation, Perceval had this sword repaired by Trabuchet.

However the first magical broken sword that could only be restored by the Grail hero, first appeared in the First Continuation. The sword would be restored when the hero simply joined the two broken ends of the sword together. By restoring the Broken Sword, the hero would be able to understand the secrets of Grail mystery. However, Gawain twice visited the Grail Castle, and failed twice to restore the Broken Sword. Therefore, Gawain was not ever able to comprehend the Grail secrets, because each time he came to the castle, he fell asleep, finding himself in a meadow field with no Grail Castle in sight.

The second and the third Continuations had Perceval successfully restore the Broken Sword.

In the Prose Lancelot (Vulgate Cycle), Eliezer or Elyezer, the son of King Pelles (the Fisher King), carried the Broken Sword with him, searching for the best knight in the world so the knight could restore the sword. The sword was broken because a Saracen seneschal had wounded Joseph of Arimathea in the thighs, and the sword broke in two. It was foretold that only the greatest knight in the world (Grail Knight, ie Galahad) could restore the sword. Eliezer went searching for this knight when he met Gawain and his companions. Gawain and the other knights tried to mend the sword, but each of them failed. See Gawain at Corbenic on Lancelot's page.

Later, Eliezer reappeared with this sword in Queste del Saint Graal (Vulgate), and in the tale, Galahad successfully restored this Broken Sword. King Pelles awarded the restored Broken Sword to Galahad's companion and uncle, Sir Bors. See Holy Grail in the Quest of the Holy Grail.

Also in the Vulgate text, the Sword with the Strange Belt was also once broken by Nascien, but restored by King Mordrain, before Galahad received this sword a couple of centuries later. (See below for details of the Sword with the Strange Belt.)

Sword with the Strange Belt

Chretien de Troyes was also the first author to mention winning a Sword with the Strange Straps, in his Le Conte du Graal or Perceval.

An ugly woman rode into Arthur's court on a mule and announced a strange quest for the heroes of the Round Table. To be awarded the Sword with the Strange Straps, one of the knights had to rescue a maiden in the besieged castle of Montesclere. The sword would signify that this knight would be the greatest knight in the world. Since Chretien never completed this story, we never knew who won the sword, though we can safely assume it was probably either Perceval or Gawain since they were the two main characters associated with Grail. (See Quest Begins in Le Conte du Graal)

In the Fourth Continuation, it was Perceval who lifted the siege of Montesclere and won the sword, proving that he was the best knight in the world.

In the Vulgate tale called Queste del Saint Graal, the unknown author gave a fuller account of history of this magical sword. This time, we have a new Grail hero named Galahad. However, there was no siege of Montesclere to be lifted. The scene took place on a magical ship.

Galahad and his companions, Bors and Perceval, boarded the ship with Perceval's sister. Upon the ship they found a canopied bed with three wooden posts of three different hues. On the bed was the magnificent sword. (See The Ship and the Tree for the history of the ship.)

We learn that the magical sword originally belonged to King David of Israel, who flourished around 1000 BC.

Solomon, son of David and the king of Israel, learned from God that his last descendant would be the greatest knight in the world (Galahad). Solomon wanted to give something special to this hero.

It was Solomon's wife who thought of the idea of giving the knight the sword that belonged to Solomon's father, the late King David. It was she who thought of building a ship with a beautiful bed. It was her idea of placing David's sword on this bed.

She asked her husband to give the sword to this knight. The hilt and scabbard were replaced. She told her husband that she would provide the belt. However, the belt Solomon's wife made was just plain hemp. She informed Solomon that a maiden would make a new and worthier belt for the sword.

This Sword of the Strange Belt had several inscriptions on the scabbard, hilt and blade. These inscriptions were prophecies of the one destined to wield the sword, as well as a warning to all others.

The inscription on the hilt stated that no one should wield it except the Chosen One (Galahad), because every one else would find that he couldn't properly grip the sword hilt. Their hands, no matter how big they were, would not be able to encircle the hilt. Only Galahad was able to grip the sword properly.

The inscription on the sheath said that the one who favoured the sword above all others would find it would fail him in his time of greatest need. Also on the scabbard, some more inscriptions stated that only a maiden of royal birth and a virgin could replace the swordbelt with a new belt she had made.

The inscription on the blade itself warned anyone who would dare unsheathe the sword, would either be killed or maimed.

Nascien, a contemporary of Joseph of Arimatha and Josephus, found the sword on a ship, lying at the foot of the bed. Nascien prized this sword more than any other he had wielded. When Nascien drew the sword to kill an ogre, it broke in two, thus fulfilling the prophecy of the sword failing the person in his time of need. King Mordrain, companion of Nascien, put the two blade shards together, instantly making the magical sword whole again. Mordrain left the sword on the magical ship. Before Mordrain and Nascien could leave the ship, a flying sword wounded Nascien in the shoulder. This was his punishment for drawing the sword.

Some generations later, King Varlan used the sword against King Lambar, the father of the Maimed King. Not only did King Lambar die, the blow also laid waste to two kingdoms, which were now called the Waste Land. Varlan went back to the ship to fetch the scabbard. The moment he sheathed the sword, he fell over, dead.

King Parlan (Pellam) was the son of King Lambar. Parlan found the sword lying next to the bed in the magical ship, where King Varlan dropped the sword. He drew the sword, and was immediately wounded by a flying lance that came out of nowhere. He was struck on the thigh. The wound never healed, and thereafter Parlan was forever known as the Maimed King.

Before Galahad could belt on the sword, the maiden who replaced the belt of hemp was Perceval's sister. The belt was made from her beautiful golden hair, mixed with threads of gold and silk. The belt was also studded with precious stones. The scabbard also had a name, which was called Memory of Blood.

See Aboard the Ship in the Galahad's Tradition, for the episode of the three knights who found the sword on the ship.

The Sword and the Floating Stone

This sword only appeared in Galahad's tradition (Vulgate text and Malory's version). Before the Quest began, a large slab of marble floated down the river to Camelot on the eve of Pentecost. In the centre of the marble was a sword with a precious stone on the pommel. Gold inlaid inscriptions were found on the pommel, saying that only the best knight in the world could draw the sword out of the stone.

Arthur thought the sword was meant for Lancelot, but the hero refused to touch the sword. Arthur then ordered the reluctant Gawain to draw the sword, because he was the second best knight. Gawain failed to draw the sword from the stone. Lancelot foretold that Gawain would be punished for touching the sword.

The next day, the new knight was leaving for the Quest, without a sword. Arthur remembered the incident the previous day, and brought Galahad before the floating stone. Galahad easily drew the sword. Galahad would later use the sword to wound Gawain, whom he did not recognise, fulfilling Lancelot's prediction. (See Quest of the Grail)

The Suite du Merlin (Merlin Continuation, c. 1240) in the Post-Vulgate cycle, which Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur [Book II] followed, contained the origin of the sword. It was called the Ill-fated Sword. Balin le Savage won the sword from Lady Lile. Balin was responsible for the Dolorous Stroke when he used the Holy Lance and wounded King Pellam (Parlan or Pellehan). Balin was tricked into fighting his brother Balan to death. They gave each other a mortal wound before they died.

It was Merlin who set the Ill-fated Sword to a magical floating stone. No one could draw the sword from the stone, except Galahad. See Knight with Two Swords about the origin of the sword.