The first mention of the famous ‘Sword in the Stone’ of the Arthurian tradition is found in Robert de Boron’s Merlin, a medieval French poem, part of the 13th-century Lancelot-Grail cycle of French romances also known as the Vulgate Cycle, according to which King Uther Pendragon before his death thrusts a sword, later called Excalibur, into the stone and Merlin the sorcerer proclaims whoever pulls the sword from the stone is the true king. Young Arthur succeeded in pulling the sword from the anvil sitting atop of the stone. The narrative of young Arthur pulling the sword from the stone is a legend, but there exists what is called the ‘Excalibur of Monteseipi’. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"115691","attributes":{"alt":"Galgano Guidotti by Giovanni d'Ambrogio (15th century)(
