“No matter,” answered Merlin, “near by there is a sword that shall be yours if all go well.”
Presently they came to a lake, and in the middle of it the king saw an arm thrust out of the water, clothed in white samite, that held a fair sword in the hand.
“Yonder,” said Merlin, “is the sword I spoke of.” Just then they saw a damsel walking by the lake.
“What damsel is that?” asked the king.
Merlin said she was the lady of the lake, and that the sword belonged to her; but if he spoke her fair, she would doubtless give it him. Then the king saluted the damsel, and asked what sword that was, held up above the water, and said he would it were his, for he had none.
“Sir King,” answered the lady, “that sword is mine, and if you will give me a gift when I ask you, you shall have it.”
This the king gladly promised; and then she bade him take a boat that was there, and row out to the sword and take it, and she would ask for her gift when she saw fit. The king obeyed her direction, and took the sword; and when he held it in his hand, he liked it exceedingly. Merlin told him that its name was Excalibur, which signifies “cut-steel;” but that the scabbard was still more precious than the sword, for while he wore it he could lose no blood, no matter how sorely he was wounded.
Then the king and Merlin returned to Camelot, where all the court greeted them joyfully; and when King Arthur’s adventures were told, all the knights were happy to be under chief who was as ready to put his person in peril as any one of them.