X is for Xcalibur

I love all the King Arthur tales, so I thought this was appropriate for the X post today.

Excalibur - Free Clipart

There is some debate over this sword. Is Excalibur the sword that young Arthur pulled from the stone to become king? Jeffrey of Monmouth wrote a detailed account of King Arthur around 1135. He calls the sword Caliburn instead of Excalibur. He writes that King Arthur, born late in the fifth century, died around 542. The legend goes that the forging of Excalibur took place on the Isle of Avalon.

King Arthur - Clipart

Arthur acquired the sword from the Lady of the Lake, who hands it to him. History says the sword had an unbreakable blade and a scabbard that would protect the king in battle. Eventually, in the end when Arthur dies in battle, the sword, given back to the Lady of the Lake, disappears forever. King Arthur wins many battles with this sword before he meets his end.

The act of depositing swords in sacred lakes and rivers was a Celtic practice from ancient times. Perhaps it was part of a funeral rite. Most accounts from early times were hand written, so it is hard to say what really happened back then. Excavations of the River Thames in England have uncovered many axes, sickles and other weapons.

King Arthur's Round Table - Clipart

I guess I find the whole story of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and Camelot fascinating. What a grand idea to have a round table where everyone is equal. I can picture the knights sitting there at this massive wood table in the grand hall of the castle, each proven his loyalty to King Arthur and his ability in battle, each living by the Knights Code of Honor, to be chivalrous and brave.

King Arthur's Camelot - Clipart

An impressive castle, white and sparkling upon a hill, can capture the imagination. I can picture the ladies in their long gowns, the hems rustling against the stone walkways, knights standing guard while others practice battle drills in the courtyard, the clang of their swords and shouts ringing up to the windows above. Servants slave away over hot fires in the kitchen, while others carry basins and other things as they take care of every need for the ladies of the castle.

Battle - Clipart

Preparing for Battle - Clipart

I am so into the story that I even took a fencing class, at one point, to see what it felt like to fight with a sword. Of course, we didn’t use broadswords. I have a lot of respect for the men who could actually pick the things up and fight with another for hours and still be able to walk away alive. I have a large sword in my collection with my collection of books.

Jousting - Clipart

I also attend all the medieval faires that I can and watch the jousting tournaments. That is thrilling. It gets so loud with cheering that I can picture the actual tournaments from years ago in my mind.

Merlin - Clipart

Then you throw the wizard and bard Merlin into the mix, and I’m hooked. I never tire of this tale, and can read these stories all day long. I probably have at least thirty King Arthur books in my library. I do think he was a real King and the greatest one Britain has ever had. If people lived by the same codes today, the world may be a better place.

What do you think? Was King Arthur real, or just a fairy tale? My husband and I go round and round over this, because he is sure that King Arthur never lived and is a made up story.

A Fascination for the Unusual and the Creative

Free Clipart



Okay folks, this has been me from the very beginning, or as far back as I can remember. I have always been interested in the unconventional or different way of thinking, or looking at things, as well as anything of a creative nature. This is so much a part of my makeup that I can’t help myself and must go down this path.


I guess that is why I let my girlfriend in fifth grade drill mythology into my head with no complaints. I still have mythology books in my library to this day, although I can’t recite it from memory anymore, as I used to when she gave me tests everyday at recess. I went from that to King Arthur books, and other fantasy tales and legends, although I personally think that King Arthur was a real man that lived in medieval Britain, but perhaps didn’t go by that name at the time. Who are we to say since no one really knows, or will ever know? However, you may feel about this, his life and times are fascinating. I have at least thirty books on his life in my library and my husband and I debate the fact of his reality, him taking the opposite stance, of course, the same as he does with ET’s and UFO’s, something else I find very interesting., as well omens we receive by animals and other things in nature. This me dipping into my craziness, he says.

Learning new unusual things seems to be paramount for me. I have to watch myself, or I’ll while away my creative time on Google reading something fascinating I came across while looking for something else I was researching for my latest WIP.

In high school, my love of art won me over, especially the lives of the artists themselves and not just the creative angle of the whole thing, although I’ve always had a creative side and used to say I was born with a pencil and a sketchpad. But who can’t be fascinated with people like Van Gogh where madness led him to cut off his own ear? Being born with a creative spirit can be a blessing and a curse.

I have always thought how remarkable it is, too, to be the kind of person who can pick up any kind of musical instrument they have never seen before, and they can play it as if they’ve practiced all their life. I personally know people like this. Art is like that for me. Hand me the medium and I’ll make something out of it.

For me it is all about involvement in something creative, which has been writing in the most recent years, although I did some of that early on too. The creative spirit is a restless one, having to keep busy all the time, and not feeling fulfilled until achieving something remarkable every day.

This kind of thinking can wreak havoc on family life, as most art can; including writing, which is a solitary job. In all honesty, it is hard to flip the switch on creativity, and very hard to balance out your life if you don’t. After assessing this, my feeling is that it is best that these people live alone, although aloneness breeds madness as we can see with the Van Gogh example. However, it is very hard to keep everyone happy all the time.

I imagine it is either lunacy, or work yourself to death in your craft because the older I get the more I begin to realize there is never enough time to accomplish it all in this lifetime. This thought only makes me work harder and at a frenzied pace, so I can get in as much as I can before time is up. Perhaps, I’ve already reached some form of insanity, and I just don’t know it yet.

Does anyone else wrestle with this?