King Arthur and Galgano’s Sword in the Stone

Abstract This paper examines the alleged analogies between the true story of St. Galgano from Chiusdino (d. 1181) – a young Tuscan, probably belonging to the warrior aristocracy, who decided to live as a hermit – and the famous Arthurian episode of the sword in the stone. Galgano’s sword, still embedded in the rock in the Round Church of Montesiepi, along with the similarity between the name ‘Galgano’ and that of King Arthur’s nephew, Gawain, first prompted comparisons between the story of the saint and the Arthurian legend. This analysis seeks to re-examine these and other supposed parallels to reconsider the hypothesis of a contact and a possible influence between the historical episode of Galgano’s conversion and the literary account of Arthur’s election by divine will.