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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Excalibur
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The sword of King *Arthur, first mentioned by *Geoffrey of Monmouth (by whom it is called Caliburn). The legends include two versions of how Arthur came by it. In one he alone, as a boy, is able to draw it from the stone in which it is fixed; in the other he receives it from the Lady of the Lake. Its end fits the second version. When wounded in his final battle, Arthur tells Sir Bedivere to throw Excalibur into the lake. An arm rises from the water to catch it, brandishes it three times, and vanishes.
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