San Galgano Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Did King Arthur Come From Italy?

A mysterious "sword in the stone" said to have been thrust into a rock near Siena by a medieval knight proves that the legend of King Arthur, Excalibur and the Holy Grail originated in Tuscany, not Cornwall or Brittany, an Italian scholar claims.

The sword, of which only the hilt and an inch or two of blade is visible, is preserved at the Gothic abbey of San Galgano at Montesiepi, about 19 miles (30 km) southwest of Siena. The Cistercian abbey, now ruined, was built to honor St Galgano, a 12th-century Tuscan nobleman named Galgano Guidotti who renounced a life of "arrogance, lust and violence" to become a hermit after seeing a vision of the Archangel Michael.

To symbolize his rejection of war, he supposedly plunged his sword into the rock, which miraculously "parted like butter", leaving only the hilt exposed to form the shape of the Cross.

It has been assumed that the Tuscan "sword in the stone" is a fake, made to echo the Celtic legend of King Arthur as told by Geoffrey of Monmouth and Chretien de Troyes and by Thomas Malory in his celebrated 15th- century Le Morte Darthur.

But a study by the medieval historian Mario Moiraghi suggests that the story of St Galgano and his sword was the origin of the myth of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, embellished by medieval troubadours as it spread from Tuscany

* www.sangalgano.org *

dareco, meltemi, Clementi, fulvio52, cherryripe, Dpbours, edytungkal, josepmarin has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

meltemi (9746) 2007-11-05 0:06

Ciao Sabrina,
avevo già visto questo posto in altre foto su TE, ma il tuo tocco è inconfondibile. Bellissimi i colori e le lunghe ombre degli alberi che si allungano sul terreno aumentano la sensazione di mistero di cui il luogo è già carico. Brava.
Cari saluti.
Stella

stefanocer (10418) 2007-11-05 1:49

Grande luce ed ombre per questa tua bella e coloratissima foto , complimenti.
Stefano.

Clementi (47668) 2007-11-05 2:52

Ciao Sabrina ,
cosi' anche tu sei stata a San Galgano ,
bellissima foto , mi piacciono le ombre che formano una freccia quasi ad indicare dove posare lo sguardo .
bellissimi i colori e la luce .
ottimo lavoro
Giorgio

dareco (17104) 2007-11-05 3:23

Very beautiful architecture!! Wonderful color and lighting. I really like the shadows. A very pretty picture. TFS

bruce_wayne (1507) 2007-11-05 4:39

Ciao Sabrina
proprio bella questa abbazia...e che colori! Molto brava.
Prima o poi devo visitarla, ora telefono ad Artù...

Alessandro

granchius (3503) 2007-11-05 9:06

Ciao Sabrina!
Bellissima questa inquadratura con le ombre che guidano lo sguardo verso l'abbazia.
Bravissima!
Carlo

fulvio52 (8314) 2007-11-05 10:24

Ciao Sabrina,
prospettiva e colori semplicemente grandiosi.
Bellissime quelle due ombre che puntano verso l'abbazia.
Gran bel lavoro!
Ciao,
Fulvio.

cherryripe (19475) 2007-11-05 12:12

Hi Sabrina
Good view of these interesting church ruins. The light is nice and bright and sky well polarized. I like how you've framed it with the branches and long shadows of the trees.
Nice story too in your note.
Regards
Nikki

Dpbours (220) 2007-11-06 2:38

Hi Sabrina,

Nice low PoV with those branches on top. I like it! I have the feeling you worked on the shadows of the abbey. To my liking it could have been a bit darker. It feels a bit light in combination with the polarized blue of the sky, but I like it!

Greetings,
Dennis

edytungkal (4521) 2007-11-12 0:56

Hello Sabrina,
Perfect composition for this shot, the building, the leaves and bg and even the shadows are work together composed a beautiful picture. Thanks :-)

daniel

josepmarin (35001) 2007-11-13 7:55

Ciao Sabrina,
este es un buen encuadre para una foto de arquitectura, consigues realzar su belleza de líneas aunque esté en ruinas. Me gusta ver las ramas colgando en primer plano, bien destacadas sobre el cielo azul muy bien polarizado, y las sombras de los árboles sobre la hierba.
Creo que es una foto excelente, con una alta calidad de imagen y de colores.
Un abrazo,
Josep