Why does arthur return excalibur

Unfortunately, Uther and Gaius had already carried out their own plan to save Arthur's life by drugging him. Consequently, it was Uther, not Arthur, who wielded the sword against the Black Knight. Excalibur at the bottom of the Lake of Avalon. Kilgharrah was furious, claiming that in Uther's hands the sword would bring only evil. Because it could not be destroyed, he ordered Merlin to take it far away from Camelot , to a place where no mortal man would ever find it.

Merlin later retrieved the sword from the armoury and cast it into the Lake of Avalon , where it remained for the next three years Excalibur. Freya returns Excalibur to Merlin. When Camelot was conquered by Morgause and Morgana's immortal army , Merlin , Arthur , and their allies were forced to go into hiding. Merlin took the Avalon Vial with him, which the Fisher King had said would provide help in Albion's hour of need.

Merlin experimented with the vial using his magic , but whatever help it could provide remained a mystery until he accidentally broke it. Its water formed a small puddle in a crevice of rock and allowed him to contact Freya's spirit , who explained that the Cup of Life had made Morgana's army immortal by transforming them into the living dead. She also reminded Merlin that Excalibur was the only weapon that could kill the dead. Freya retrieved Excalibur from the bottom of the Lake of Avalon and returned it to Merlin, who later willed the sword during Arthur's attempt to free his father from the castle dungeons.

While searching for the Cup of Life with Lancelot , Merlin used the sword to kill many immortal soldiers and later used it to knock the Cup from its pedestal, spilling the blood it contained and destroying the immoral army.

When he had taken Merlin to retrieve the sword from the lake, Kilgharrah had repeated his warning that it could cause great evil in the wrong hands. He also made Merlin promise him that he would find a new hiding place for it when its task was complete.

One year later, Morgana launched a second attack on Camelot , forcing Merlin and Arthur to go into hiding. They journeyed to Ealdor with smugglers Tristan and Isolde , but were forced to flee from there as well after Agravaine and his men picked up their trail. Disheartened by yet another betrayal, Arthur lost faith in himself and felt that he didn't deserve to be king.

To restore his confidence, Merlin located the rest of Camelot's survivors and gathered them together at the stone where he'd previously hidden Excalibur. Balin stubbornly refused to give up on the quest to avenge the unnamed knight he had failed to protect. When Balin and his new companion entered the cemetery, the invisible knight struck again, mortally wounded his new friend. Balin encountered a monk and found out that Gawain would avenge his father upon Pellinor.

Balin met the maiden, who was his guide. The custom required that a maiden had to fill a basin full of blood, so to heal the lady of the castle of leprosy. After a few day of travel they reached the castle of King Pellam. Pellam was holding a feast on Sunday. Balin found out that Garlon the Red can become invisible at will, when he was armed.

As Balin thought of his dilemma Garlon noticed Balin was not eating the food, as a guest should. Balin went from room to room to find another weapon. Balin entered one room where the Grail and the Bleeding Lance were kept. A voice warned him not to enter. Balin did not heed the voice since Pellam was pursuing closely behind Balin. A voice was heard throughout the castle that a great enchantment would fall upon Logres. The Dolorous Stroke had not only wounded a king, but set off an earthquake and laying waste to the land.

Pellam was seriously wounded and his wound would not heal until the Grail knight Galahad healed him twenty-two years later, at the end of the Grail quest. Many people were rendered unconscious, including Balin. Some of them died in terror of the voice. Merlin arrived two days later and found that the people outside of the castle were too frighten to enter the castle to see if anyone had survived.

Merlin went into the castle and found Balin lying there unconscious for two days. Merlin brought Balin out of the castle. Merlin showed the devastation of the three kingdoms that Balin had caused with that one stroke of the lance. Balin had been warned several times by Merlin and other people that this would happened. Balin had heedlessly sought glory and fame as a knight, only to bring sorrow to so many. Despite succeeding the quest to avenge the unnamed knight, Balin left the devastated kingdom; he was distressed that he had caused so much havoc and sorrow.

Balin was mortally wounded when the castle collapsed. When Balin witnessed the devastation he had caused he died repenting for what he had done. Balin arrived at a castle that has a custom, where a knight-errant entering their castle, he must joust with another knight-errant from the island tower.

Though Balin did not like custom, he thought they would see him as a coward if he did not joust with the other knight. As he ready himself for the coming joust, the host offered a new and better shield than the worn shield he now carried. However, a girl arrived at the castle, carrying a message for Merlin. Balin had great foreboding of what will happen. His opponent emerged from the other tower, wearing red armour and shield, and mounted on white horse.

Neither of them recognised the other knight. The two knights fought one another, long and hard. They only stopped fighting when both knights were mortally wounded.

They were both horrified and grief-stricken when they revealed their identity to one another. As Merlin and the maiden, who had given the sword to Balin, had foretold, he would regret that he had ever kept the sword that he had won. Balan, his brother, was the red knight. Each has delivered a deathblow to the brother he loved. The only thing that Balin asked from the people of the castle and tower that would bury them together.

They had both died by evening. Merlin arrived and attended the funeral of Balin and Balan. Merlin set the sword into the marble slab. Merlin then made this stone float on water. The stone would float and moved around the world until it arrived in Camelot, 22 years later. Quest of the Holy Grail. Leodegan gave the Round Table to Arthur as a wedding gift.

This table could seat knights. Merlin had design the table using the Grail table as a model. Joseph of Arimathea had designed the Grail Table to only seat 13 people. However, the 13th seat was the Perilous Seat Siege Perilous , which no one may sit on, without dying.

So the Perilous Seat was left vacated. Merlin warned Arthur and the other knights that only the greatest knight in the world could sit in this deadly chair, and that knight would be the true Grail Knight. Now the Round Table was used as dowry. Leodegan also gave Arthur a hundred worthy knights to sit at the table. Merlin and the Archbishop of Canterbury helped Arthur find the rest of the knights 49 , to fill the seats of Round Table. The Knights of the Round Table swore oaths of fellowship.

Merlin told Arthur that he required three knights to fetch the hart and the brachet, and rescued the lady. Merlin assigned the individual quest to three knights. Gawain must seek out the white stag, while Tor, the bastard son of Pellinor, had to fetch the brachet. Gawain angrily fought the knight in single combat, because Ablamor had killed his hounds. Though the other knight admitted defeat, Gawain refused to give mercy to the knight. Gawain killed the lady when his sword struck off her head.

Gawain was upset for killing the lady. Four knights would later capture Gawain and his brother. The four knights would have killed the brothers, had Gawain not revealed his identity to the four damsels that he was the nephew of King Arthur.

They set him free and gave the hart to Gawain. When he returned to Camelot, Gawain won shame instead of glory. Guinevere and all the ladies punished Gawain. They also made him promise to always give mercy to another knight who ask for it, and that he must always give aid to any lady or damsel who ask for it. Though King Pellinor was also successful in his quest to rescue the lady, his adventure was marred by the fact that he failed to aid a damsel weeping over a wounded knight, because he was in a hurry to complete his quest.

The damsel cursed Pellinor that one day his friend will fail him when he needed help the most. Pellinor had rescue the lady by defeating two knights: killing one and wounding the other. As Pellinor return to Camelot with the lady, he found that the damsel, he had abandoned, had killed herself in her grief. While lions had ate part of her body. This had greatly upset Pellinor. Finally we know the identity of the lady that King Pellinor had rescued.

Before the wizard left Arthur, Merlin told the king he would never return. His feeling for Niniane irritated her, but she promised she would returned his love if he would teach his magic to her. Because of his uncontrollable lust for the Lady of the Lake, he foolishly agreed, despite the warning of his vision of his own doom. Later, Niniane wanted to return home.

Merlin wanted to follow her. They took a ship where they landed in Brittany. Merlin foretold that either Lancelot or her grandson Galahad would become the greatest knight in the world.

Later at the death of Ban, Niniane would later take the child away from Helen and raised the child as her own. Merlin and Niniane continued on their journey, until they arrived in the Forest of Broceliande. Merlin told Niniane that Arthur was in danger through the machination of Morgan le Fay.

Merlin wanted to save Arthur, but he knew that he would die if he go to the king. Niniane promised to protect the king if he went. Who was Arthur's sword, Excalibur, returned to? Ask Question. Asked 6 years, 6 months ago.

Active 6 years, 6 months ago. Viewed 1k times. In Sir Thomas Malroy 's Le Morte d'Arthur , the scene is described as: Then Sir Bedivere departed, and went to the sword, and lightly took it up, and went to the water side; and there he bound the girdle about the hilts, and then he threw the sword as far into the water as he might; and there came an arm and an hand above the water and met it, and caught it, and so shook it thrice and brandished, and then vanished away the hand with the sword in the water.

Improve this question. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Malory is the only source that I know of that mentions an arm taking the sword. Improve this answer. Community Bot 1. Chenmunka Chenmunka 1, 2 2 gold badges 11 11 silver badges 30 30 bronze badges. Could you quote from the texts you are discussing? The question whether King Arthur was a real historical person, or a mythological figure has been fought over by historians, academics and writers since medieval times. And the debate is not likely to end anytime soon.

But one thing is certain. If you liked this article, do remember to keep visiting www. Get the learner app. Stay Signed In. Share Blog Post. August 6, 7 min read. The final verdict about King Arthur The question whether King Arthur was a real historical person, or a mythological figure has been fought over by historians, academics and writers since medieval times.