There is a story that we all know, that we have read and seen in the cinema. It is the story of one sword set in a stone that no one is able to extract. Only one person can do it and that is destined to become the king of all England. But it is not a man, but a child.
The Sword in the Stone is the animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the novel of the same name by TH White. We talk about it today because we know that all the events related to King Arthur still exert a certain fascination on adults and children, to the point that many people travel every year in the footsteps of the leader to reach all those suspended places. between myth and legend.
What you may not know yet, however, is that the legendary sword in the stone really exists. But it is not in the realm of Avalon, as everyone imagines, but in Italyinside the Hermitage of Montesiepi.
Tuscany: the mystery of the sword in the stone
If we talk about the legendary sword she the stone, inevitably, our imagination refers us to Childhood Adventures of King Arthur. But the story of the one stuck inHermitage of Montesiepiin reality, it has different yet extremely fascinating and suggestive roots.
To find out the history of this mysterious weapon we must move to the Val di Merse, a place of spirituality that preserves the ruins of the Abbey of San Galgano and the Hermitage of Montesiepi. According to history, it is in this building that the Saint lived in 1170, retiring to a life as a hermit.
Inside the Hermitage there is a blade, set in the rock, which tells ancient stories that inevitably refer to legends, myths and knights, but also to spirituality and popular beliefs. Over the years, many people have tried to extract it or steal it without success. Indeed, the impossibility of doing so has given life to new and suggestive stories.
It is said, in fact, that one of the thieves who tried to take away the sword was torn to pieces by wolves. To avoid other attempts of theft, it was chosen to keep the weapon in a case that still protects it today.
The sword of San Galgano
But what does it have to do with it the myth of King Arthur with Tuscany? And why is the sword in the stone in the Hermitage where San Galgano lived? These are the questions that have kept open the debate among scholars For years. For many, in fact, the myth of the sword was born in our country, a hypothesis that has also made us think that the Saint and the knight of the round table Galvano were the same person.
According to the most accredited thesis, the sword that today is stuck in the rock inside the Montesiepi building belonged to knight Galgano Guidotti. After leading a dissolute life, the man arrived in the territory of Montesiepi where he radically changed his life. Once he retired to the building, he thrust his sword into the rock to create a cross in front of which to pray every day.
This same thesis, however, has been questioned for years by many scholars who have speculated that the weapon was a fake. Most of the research done over time, however, has confirmed that the making of the sword dates back to 1100.
And King Arthur? The sword that the king would draw when he was just a child, actually it was never found fueling even more the mystery of a story that fascinates today, just like yesterday.