Arthurian & Chivalric
Excalibur
Excalibur
Cuts through enemy armor, and whoever wears its scabbard does not bleed.
WeaponFirst recorded 1136
Loading artifact…
Photograph: A Spanish sword of about 1500 with a straight blade, a simple cross guard and a leather-wrapped grip.
Focus the photograph, then use the arrow keys to pan and the plus and minus keys to zoom. The buttons at the lower left also move it. Press a numbered button on the photograph to zoom to that note.
1,289 × 3,000 PX1289×3000
ArchiveArthurian & Chivalric · Weapon
Colada
Colada
A finely tempered sword worth a thousand marks.
- Owner
- El Cid
- Maker
- Unknown
- First record
- The Poem of the Cid1200
- Gallery
- Arthurian & Chivalric
Notes on the photograph 3
Story
Early in The Poem of the Cid, the exiled El Cid fights and captures Count Ramón of Barcelona. The sword he wins is Colada, and the poem stresses that it is worth a thousand marks.
The name Colada is interpreted as "well-cast" or tempered steel. El Cid carried it himself in battle, then passed it on with Tizona to his sons-in-law.
After their betrayal he recovered both swords, and his knights defeated the sons-in-law in single combat. The two swords are remembered as a pair symbolizing El Cid's honor.
The object in the photo
The photograph shows Sword(Spanish, ca. 1500), a real museum object that evokes the legendary artifact.
More from Arthurian & Chivalric
Arthurian & ChivalricHoly Grail
Holy Grail
Grants those who see it the food they desire, and shows itself only to the pure knight.
VesselFirst recorded 1180
Arthurian & Chivalric
Arthurian & Chivalric