The Sword in the Stone: Who Pulled Out Excalibur?

The drawing of the sword from the stone is the most famous moment in the Arthurian legend — the moment when the future king of Britain, a young squire in his early teens, performed a feat that all the great lords of the realm had failed to perform, and was recognized as the rightful king. The scene is one of the great iconic moments of medieval romance, the foundation of the entire legend of Arthur, and the central image of countless retellings, paintings, films, and fantasy novels. Yet the story of the sword in the stone is also a complex narrative, with several distinct versions, and the sword is in fact one of two — sometimes three — swords that the young king is said to have wielded.

The Welsh Origins

The earliest form of the sword in the stone is found in the Welsh tradition. In the Welsh Triads and in the Welsh prose tales, Arthur’s sword is called Caledfwlch, and the sword is sometimes associated with a stone. In Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1138), the sword is called Caliburnus, and it is the magical weapon of the king.

In the Welsh tradition, there is a story of a great sword fixed in a stone — a sword that can be drawn only by the rightful king. The story is not fully developed in the surviving Welsh texts, but it is implied by the various references to Arthur’s sword and its magical origin. The drawing of the sword is a test of kingship — a trial by ordeal, a kind of divine judgment.

The story of a sword fixed in a stone is part of a wider family of folkloric motifs. Many cultures have stories of magical weapons that can be wielded only by the chosen hero — the Greek Perseus and the harpe of the gods, the Norse Sigurd and the sword Gram, the Japanese Susanoo and the sword Totsuka-no-Tsurugi. The sword in the stone is the British version of this universal archetype.

Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Sword of Arthur

In Geoffrey of Monmouth, the story of the sword is part of the larger narrative of Arthur’s accession. The young Arthur, raised in secret by the knight Sir Ector, grows up to be a squire in his household. When the high king Uther Pendragon dies, the kingdom is in crisis. There is no clear heir. The great lords of the realm meet to decide the succession.

In Geoffrey’s version, the archbishop of London, Dubricius, summons the lords to a great council in London. A miraculous event occurs: a great stone appears in the churchyard, with a sword fixed in it, and an inscription in letters of gold: “Whoso pulleth out this sword from this stone is rightwise born King of England.” The lords try, one by one, to draw the sword, and all fail. The sword remains fixed in the stone.

The sword in Geoffrey is not called Excalibur. It is simply the sword in the stone — a magical test set by Merlin to mark the rightful king. The sword is the symbol of Arthur’s right to rule, and the test of his kingship.

The Drawing of the Sword in Malory

Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur (1485) is the most famous English version of the story. In Malory, the drawing of the sword is presented as a test of kingship, set by Merlin at the death of Uther Pendragon. The great lords of the realm meet at the churchyard of St. Paul’s, in London, and a great stone appears, with a sword fixed in it. The inscription reads: “Whoso pulleth out this sword from this stone is rightwise born King of England.” The lords try, and all fail.

The young Arthur, a squire in the household of Sir Ector, attends the tournament with his foster-brother Sir Kay. Kay, who is to fight in the tournament, has left his sword at home. Arthur rides back to fetch it, but the house is locked. He remembers the sword in the stone, and he rides to the churchyard, where he sees the sword. He seizes the hilt, and the sword comes out of the stone easily. He brings it to Kay, who fights in the tournament with it.

After the tournament, the sword is recognized as the sword in the stone, and Kay is accused of having pulled it out. Kay admits that Arthur pulled it out. The lords are skeptical, and Arthur, at Kay’s request, puts the sword back into the stone. He draws it out again, in front of the assembled lords. He does it a third time, and the lords, finally convinced, proclaim him king.

The scene in Malory is one of the great scenes of medieval romance. The young squire, raised in secret, performs a feat that all the great lords of the realm have failed to perform. The sword recognizes him as the rightful king. The miracle is the proof of divine favor. The young Arthur is the chosen of God, the king of all Britain.

The Confusion with Excalibur

The story of the sword in the stone is complicated by the existence of a second magical sword, Excalibur proper, given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake. In the older Welsh and Geoffreyian tradition, the two swords are clearly distinct. The sword in the stone is the symbol of Arthur’s right to be king. Excalibur is the magical weapon of the king, given to him by the fairy of the lake.

In the later French and English traditions, the two swords are conflated. The result is the famous image of the modern legend: the young Arthur, drawing the sword from the stone, drawing Excalibur. The two swords have been merged into a single weapon, the symbol of Arthur’s right to be king and the magical weapon of his reign.

The conflation is most fully developed in Malory. In Malory, the sword in the stone is identified with Excalibur, and the famous scene of the sword returned to the lake at Arthur’s death is presented as the return of the same sword that Arthur drew from the stone. Yet even in Malory, the two swords are sometimes distinguished. The scabbard of Excalibur, the source of Arthur’s power, is stolen by Morgan le Fay, and the loss of the scabbard leads to Arthur’s death at the Battle of Camlann.

The conflation is also a feature of the modern legend. The 1963 Disney film The Sword in the Stone, the 1981 John Boorman film Excalibur, the 2017 film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and the host of modern fantasy novels all present the two swords as a single weapon. The result is a simpler, more memorable story — and a more powerful symbol.

The Other Attempts to Pull the Sword

In Malory, the drawing of the sword is contested by several claimants. The most important is Sir Kay, who at first claims to have drawn the sword himself. The accusation is made before the archbishop, and Kay admits the truth: Arthur, not he, pulled the sword from the stone.

In the Vulgate Cycle, the contest over the sword is more elaborate. Several knights try, and all fail. The young Arthur, unaware of his own importance, performs the feat. The recognition of the miracle takes some time, and Arthur is at first mocked as a beardless boy. The archbishop, however, insists that the miracle must be heeded, and Arthur is finally recognized as the rightful king.

The unsuccessful attempts of the other knights emphasize the singularity of Arthur’s claim. The sword is not a weapon that can be drawn by the strongest or the most noble. It is a magical test, set by Merlin, that recognizes the chosen of God. The other knights fail because they are not the chosen. Arthur succeeds because he is.

The Significance of the Stone

The stone itself is rich in symbolism. The stone is the foundation, the bedrock, the source. It is the altar of the churchyard of St. Paul’s, the Christian symbol of the church, the foundation of the Christian kingdom. The drawing of the sword from the stone is a kind of Christian miracle — a sign of divine favor, a recognition by God of his chosen king.

The stone is also a symbol of the older British tradition. Many of the sacred sites of the Britons are marked by standing stones — single great stones, sometimes called “long stones” or “druid stones.” The stone of the sword in the stone legend may be associated with these older sacred places. The drawing of the sword from the stone is a kind of ritual, a re-enactment of the ancient British rite of kingship.

The Christian and the pre-Christian symbolism of the stone are joined in the medieval legend. The stone is both the altar of the Christian church and the sacred stone of the older British religion. The drawing of the sword is both a Christian miracle and a ritual of the older tradition. The two are not in conflict — they are part of the same complex symbol of rightful kingship.

The Recognition by Merlin

The figure of Merlin is central to the story of the sword in the stone. It is Merlin who arranges the test, who puts the sword in the stone, who waits for the right moment. In the Vulgate Cycle, Merlin explains to the archbishop that the sword is a test of the rightful king, and that no one can draw it who is not the chosen.

In some versions, Merlin is the one who reveals Arthur’s identity to the assembled lords. The boy is presented to them as the son of Uther Pendragon, conceived at Tintagel, raised in secret by Sir Ector. The revelation of the identity, combined with the miracle of the sword, is the proof of Arthur’s right to be king.

In T. H. White’s The Once and Future King (1958), Merlin is the tutor of the young Arthur (the “Wart”). White makes the drawing of the sword a part of Arthur’s education — a kind of test that the boy passes without realizing its significance. The result is a more human, more ironic version of the medieval story.

The Modern Versions

The modern era has produced a long series of retellings of the story. The 1963 Disney animated film The Sword in the Stone retold the story for a new generation, with the young Wart, the owl Archimedes, and the wizard Merlin as the central figures. The 1981 John Boorman film Excalibur presented the drawing of the sword as a central scene, with the young Arthur (played by Nigel Terry) drawing the sword from a frozen lake. The 2017 film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, directed by Guy Ritchie, returned to the sword as the central symbol of the legend, though in a much darker and more violent mode.

The BBC television series Merlin (2008–2012) and the Netflix series Cursed (2020) have also returned to the sword. The 1970s ITV children’s series Arthur of the Britons, in the same British tradition of historical Arthurian drama, presented the sword as a central image of the legend.

The story of the sword in the stone is one of the great stories of the medieval romance tradition. It is the moment when the chosen king is recognized, when the future of Britain is set, when the young Arthur becomes the king of all Britain. It is the moment of destiny, the hinge on which the entire legend turns.

Last reviewed: June 2026.