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50 free Excalibur trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Excalibur trivia for anyone who knows the sword but not the fine print. Most people assume the sword in the stone and the sword from the lake are the same blade; the medieval romances mostly say otherwise, and this quiz walks through how the story grew - from the Welsh Caledfwlch of Culhwch and Olwen, to Geoffrey of Monmouth's Caliburnus forged in Avalon, to Robert de Boron's anvil in a churchyard, to the Post-Vulgate's Lady of the Lake and the scabbard that Merlin said was worth more than the sword. Along the way you will meet the knights who borrowed or returned it (Gawain, Griflet, Bedivere), the enchantress who stole its sheath, the fake Excalibur used in a duel, the sword Richard the Lionheart gave away as a diplomatic gift, and 'Tuscany's Excalibur' still stuck in a rock in a chapel. Then the modern era: John Boorman's 1981 film with Helen Mirren and a young Liam Neeson, Disney's anvil, the Vegas castle-casino, Marvel's Excalibur team, and the GPS-guided artillery shell that borrowed the name. Questions run from easy to expert, and every answer was checked against a reference page and carries its source. For the wider legend, try our King Arthur, Merlin and Holy Grail quizzes.
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Q 01In the romances, the sword in the stone first appears in a churchyard on the eve of which feast?
Christmas
Merlin had foretold that only 'the true king' - the rightful heir of Uther - could draw it.
Q 02The name Excalibur ultimately derives from a sword name in which language?
Welsh
Caledfwlch combines 'caled' (hard) and 'bwlch' (breach or cleft); the Cornish play Beunans Ke calls it Calesvol.
Q 03Geoffrey of Monmouth Latinised the sword's name as what in his Historia Regum Britanniae?
Caliburnus
The spelling may have been nudged by the Latin 'chalybs', meaning steel; French writers turned it into Escalibor and finally Excalibur.
Q 04According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, where was the sword forged?
Avalon
It is the same island where the wounded Arthur is later taken to be healed after Camlann.
Q 05The 'sword in the stone' motif first appears in a poem of about 1200 by which French writer?
Robert de Boron
In his version the sword sits in an anvil atop a stone that appears in a churchyard on the eve of a great feast.
Q 06In the earliest sword-in-the-stone story, the sword was lodged in what, sitting atop the stone?
An anvil
Disney kept the anvil in its 1963 cartoon, and the scene may derive from a miracle credited to Bishop Wulfstan of Worcester.
Q 07In Malory, whoever pulls the sword from the stone is 'rightwise king born' of where?
All England
The teenage Arthur first draws it by accident while fetching a sword for his foster brother Kay, then repeats the feat in public.
Q 08When Arthur first pulls the sword, he believes himself to be the son of which man?
Ector
He had gone to the tournament as squire to Ector's real son, Kay.
Q 09In the Post-Vulgate Cycle, the young Arthur breaks his first sword in a duel with which king?
Pellinore
Only then does Merlin take him to the lake to receive the real Excalibur.
Q 10Who gives Arthur the second Excalibur, rising from the water, in the Post-Vulgate and Malory?
The Lady of the Lake
She grants it in exchange for a later favour, and eventually returns to court to demand the head of Sir Balin.
Q 11What special power did Excalibur's scabbard have in the Post-Vulgate version used by Malory?
Its wearer could not bleed from wounds
Merlin scolded Arthur for prizing the blade over its covering, which he called the greater treasure.
Q 12Which enchantress, Arthur's half-sister, stole the scabbard and threw it into a lake?
Morgan le Fay
She did it in revenge for the death of her lover, whom Arthur had killed with the real Excalibur after a duel fought with a fake one.
Q 13What was the name of the enchantress's lover, given a copy of Excalibur to fight Arthur?
Accolon
Q 21Which Irish legendary sword, borne by Fergus mac Róich, is compared to Excalibur because of its similar name?
Caladbolg
Scholars Rachel Bromwich and Simon Evans doubt a direct borrowing, suggesting both arose as generic names for a great sword.
Q 22In the Alliterative Morte Arthure, which sword does Mordred use to kill Arthur?
Clarent
It was Arthur's sword of peace, reserved for knighting and ceremonies rather than battle.
Q 23A sword claimed to be Excalibur was supposedly found in 1191 at Arthur's grave in which abbey?
Glastonbury
That same year Richard the Lionheart gave a claimed Excalibur away as a diplomatic gift.
In some versions she also had a duplicate of the scabbard made while the sword was in her keeping.
Q 14Malory says the name Excalibur means what, following a fanciful etymology from the Vulgate Merlin?
Cut steel
The French text had claimed it was a Hebrew name meaning 'cuts iron, steel and wood'.
Q 15Malory and his sources say that when Arthur first drew Excalibur in battle, its blade did what?
Blinded enemies with its light
The Welsh Dream of Rhonabwy similarly has fire seeming to pour from the two chimeras on the golden hilt of Arthur's sword.
Q 16In the Vulgate Mort Artu, which knight is ordered by the dying Arthur to throw Excalibur into the lake?
Griflet
He tries to deceive Arthur twice before obeying; English versions later handed the job to Bedivere.
Q 17What happens when the sword is finally thrown into the water after Arthur's last battle?
A hand rises and catches it
The knight's first two reports that 'nothing happened' tell Arthur he is lying, since a magic sword ought to cause a marvel.
Q 18In some French romances, which knight besides Arthur carries Excalibur?
Gawain
The Prose Merlin even has him kill the Roman leader Lucius with it.
Q 19In the Vulgate Merlin, Arthur captures Marmiadoise, a sword once owned by which hero, and prefers it to Excalibur?
Hercules
Its wounds never healed, so Arthur passed Excalibur down to his nephew.
Q 20In Culhwch and Olwen, Arthur's sword Caledfwlch kills which Irish king during the theft of his cauldron?
Diwrnach
The killer is not Arthur but his warrior Llenlleawg the Irishman.
Q 24Richard the Lionheart gave a sword said to be Excalibur to which ally in 1191?
Tancred of Sicily
The gift followed the Treaty of Messina, one of several Arthurian gestures by the Anglo-Norman kings.
Q 25The only real ancient 'sword in the stone' still existing is kept in a chapel at Montesiepi in which Italian region?
Tuscany
It is tied to the 12th-century legend of Saint Galgano and is nicknamed 'Tuscany's Excalibur'.
Q 26In Perceforest, Excalibur is said to have originally belonged to which king of Troy?
Priam
Cassandra took it after Troy fell, and it ended up in the 'Great Stone' centuries before Arthur.
Q 27Who directed the 1981 film Excalibur?
John Boorman
The project began life as his rejected adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, and much of the imagery was designed with Tolkien in mind.
Q 28Who plays Morgana in the 1981 film Excalibur?
Helen Mirren
Boorman cast her opposite Nicol Williamson's Merlin knowing the two disliked each other after a Macbeth years earlier, hoping the tension would show on screen.
Q 29The 1981 film Excalibur was shot entirely on location in which country?
Ireland
It helped launch the careers of Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart, Gabriel Byrne and Ciarán Hinds; Neeson and Mirren became a couple during filming.
Q 30Which piece by Carl Orff plays prominently in the 1981 film Excalibur?
O Fortuna
Wagner's Siegfried's Funeral March and preludes to Parsifal and Tristan also feature; Trevor Jones wrote the original underscore.