<P> Geoffrey's Historia is the first non-Welsh source to speak of the sword . Geoffrey says the sword was forged in Avalon and Latinises the name "Caledfwlch" as Caliburnus . When his influential pseudo-history made it to Continental Europe, writers altered the name further until it finally took on the popular form Excalibur (various spellings in the medieval Arthurian romance and chronicle tradition include: Calabrun, Calabrum, Calibourne, Callibourc, Calliborc, Calibourch, Escaliborc, and Escalibor). The legend was expanded upon in the Vulgate Cycle, also known as the Lancelot - Grail Cycle, and in the Post-Vulgate Cycle which emerged in its wake . Both included the work known as the Prose Merlin, but the Post-Vulgate authors left out the Merlin continuation from the earlier cycle, choosing to add an original account of Arthur's early days including a new origin for Excalibur . </P> <P> In several early French works, such as Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail and the Vulgate Lancelot Proper section, Excalibur is used by Gawain, Arthur's nephew and one of his best knights . This is in contrast to later versions, where Excalibur belongs solely to the king . </P> <P> In many versions, Excalibur's blade was engraved with phrases on opposite sides: "Take me up" and "Cast me away" (or similar). In addition, when Excalibur was first drawn, in the first battle testing Arthur's sovereignty, its blade blinded his enemies . Thomas Malory writes: "thenne he drewe his swerd Excalibur, but it was so breyght in his enemyes eyen that it gaf light lyke thirty torchys ." </P> <P> Excalibur's scabbard was said to have powers of its own . Loss of blood from injuries, for example, would not kill the bearer . In some tellings, wounds received by one wearing the scabbard did not bleed at all . In the later romance tradition, including Le Morte d'Arthur, the scabbard is stolen from Arthur by his half - sister Morgan le Fay in revenge for the death of her beloved Accolon and thrown into a lake, never to be found again . This act later enables the death of Arthur at the Battle of Camlann . </P>

Where is the sword in the stone located