Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings. Today’s blog post is going to be about King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, and the sword’s Scabbard of Invulnerability. In particular, I will be analyzing how we can view the sword and scabbard as the connection between the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine!
When Arthur first received Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake, Merlin famously asked Arthur which he preferred, the Sword or the Scabbard. As is a typical response, Arthur stated that he preferred the Sword. However, Merlin explained to Arthur that he was wrong; the Scabbard is the more powerful item, as it would prevent him from being injured in battle! Recently, I have been thinking about this exchange, as I came to discover a new connection I had not really thought of before. I realized that Arthur’s preference for the Sword (which is obviously connected to his value of the Divine Masculine) and Merlin’s teaching him the value of the Scabbard is therefore a reminder from Merlin that Arthur needs to respect and love the Divine Feminine as well!
Even more so, if Arthur had taken this teaching about valuing both the Masculine and the Feminine, especially the Divine Feminine, to heart, then he may have prevented the Downfall of Camelot. After all, if that had been the case, he would never have disrespected and ceased to pay attention to Guinevere! Additionally, he would likely have never entrusted the Sword and Scabbard to anyone but himself (therefore protecting these prized possessions from being tampered with). There is a famous tale from the Arthurian legends, where Morgan le Fay was entrusted with Excalibur and made a copy (which was given to Arthur) while the real Sword and Scabbard were given to Sir Accolon before they dueled. This ended with Accolon being killed, Arthur regaining his weapon, and a confrontation with Morgan le Fay. In fact, in that story, it was the fact that he was being injured in the duel that made him realize he was holding a fake, since the real Scabbard would not have allowed him to be injured!
Arthur’s flippant attitude towards the importance of the Scabbard of Invulnerability (which is just as important as Excalibur itself) shows his lack of tact when it comes to showing respect to the Divine Feminine. This lack of understanding of the nuances of how the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine are of equal importance and need one another to form a balance is shown more profoundly in the way he treats Guinevere. Instead of taking Merlin’s advice and respecting the Scabbard, the Feminine side of things, Arthur continued to place all of the value he had into spending time being regaled with the exploits of his Knights. He would spend time with his Knights and ignore Guinevere, leaving the Faery Queen of Sovereignty alone and feeling abandoned. It is this state of emotional neglect that saw Guinevere fall in love with another, usually Lancelot. After all, the Faery Queen who blessed the Land needs to be shown proper respect and love, or else those blessings are forfeit! Guinevere falling in love with another man is an ideal example of the Faery Queen, choosing another champion when she is not being given the proper respect, and this is seen in Celtic lore quite frequently.
Both Excalibur’s Scabbard of Invulnerability and Guinevere’s nature as the Faery Queen Goddess of Sovereignty, who blessed Arthur’s Kingship, serve as potent reminders that respect and love between the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine are integral to continuing a partnership. Arthur’s Kingdom of Camelot fell, not because of Guinevere and Lancelot’s adultery, but because of the root cause of that adultery happening. Arthur lost the blessings of the land and the Fae Realms when he did not pay proper love, attention, and respect to his wife, and that is what led to her finding love in the arms of another! Similarly, had he respected the power of the Scabbard of Invulnerability, he might not have had mortal wounds at Camlann.
I hope you have enjoyed this short look at how Excalibur and the Scabbard show the importance of balance and respect between the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine. What other parts of the Arthurian legends can you think of that fall into this pattern? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is an illustration of Morgan le Fay ‘losing Excalibur his sheath’ by Howard Pyle. I found the artwork on https://myfairyland.jimdofree.com/fairy/morgan-le-fay/.
LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries
Further Reading
- Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes
- The Vulgate Cycle
- Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
- The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle
- Once and Future Queen by Nicole Evelina