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Home , Bedivere, Excalibur, King Arthur, Lady of the Lake, Merlin (poem), Pellinore

The Theme of the Magical Weapon

Below, you will find three stories or portions of stories from different , movies, and legends. All three are tales about a magical or a wand. They all have similarities and differences. Focus on the similarities. Use the chart below to compare these items to one another.

1.

Excalibur is the mythical sword of King , sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone (the proof of Arthur's lineage) are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. The sword was associated with the Arthurian legend very early; in Welsh, the sword was called Caledfwlch.

Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone

In surviving accounts of Arthur, there are two originally separate legends about the sword's origin. The first is the "Sword in the Stone" legend, originally appearing in 's poem , in which Excalibur can only be drawn from the stone by Arthur, the rightful king. The second comes from the later Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin, which was taken up by Sir . Here, Arthur receives Excalibur from the after breaking his first sword, called Caliburn, in a fight with King . The Lady of the Lake calls the sword "Excalibur, that is as to say as Cut-steel," and Arthur takes it from a hand rising out of the lake.

As Arthur lay dying, he tells a reluctant Sir (Sir Griflet in some versions) to return the sword to the lake by throwing it into the water. Bedivere thinks the sword too precious to throw away, so twice only pretends to do so. Each time, Arthur asks him to describe what he saw. When Bedivere tells him the sword simply vanished underwater, Arthur scolds him harshly. Finally, Bedivere throws Excalibur into the lake. Before the sword strikes the water's surface, the hand reaches up to grasp it and pull it under. Arthur leaves on a death barge with the three queens to , where as his legend says, he will one day return to save Britain from a threat. Malory records both versions of the legend in his Le Morte d'Arthur, and confusingly calls both Excalibur. The film Excalibur attempts to rectify this by having the Lady of the Lake only repair the sword after it is broken.

2. Star Wars Lightsaber

"Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it. He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some fool idealistic crusade like your father did." Said Obi-Wan "What is it?" asked Luke "Your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi . Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age." ―Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker

3. Harry Potter’s Wand

Description of the item Family Connections? History Percy’s Pen

Excalibur

Lightsaber

Harry’s Wand

Question:

How is the Lightsaber story similar to the story Chiron tells Percy about the pen?