There is probably no bigger legend in British history than King Arthur. He has all the ingredients that a good legend needs: he is surrounded by his Knights of the Round Table and lives in his own castle, Camelot. His lovely wife, Guinevere and best mate, Lancelot seem to be getting on just fine (which is a huge relief). He has his own personal sorcerer, Merlin, who advises and aids him in his struggles, and depending on which version of the story you believe, he even has the Holy Grail tucked away at home. But perhaps the biggest trick that Arthur has is his magic sword, Excalibur.
Arthur and Geoffrey
Sadly, there is no evidence that any of this happened, or even existed. There is no place that is or was named Camelot and nor is there anyone named ‘Arthur’ recorded by any contemporary historian at the time. It is entirely likely that the whole story was fabricated by a man named Geoffrey of Monmouth. In the 12th century, he wrote a book entitled The History of the Kings of Britain, in which he claimed to detail the full history of the country since the Roman invasion onwards. Nowadays, we know that there’s almost nothing in his work that isn’t fictional (all the dragons and magic is a bit of a giveaway) but at the time, there was no way to immediately disprove them and the book spread across Europe.
Not long after Geoffrey’s book was written, a second author decided to add his thoughts to the story. Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet in the court of the Countess of Champagne who was very taken with the story of King Arthur. It was Chrétien who introduced both Lancelot and the Holy Grail into the story, adding aspects of Christianity that were previously not found in the originally pagan story. He also pretty much single-handedly introduced the concept of chivalry to the world. Researchers in Bristol believe that they may have found a new section of notes from this story. It will be a while before they have deciphered them all but when they do, perhaps we will have a new King Arthur story to enjoy.
Spin of the Britons
There is no need to wait for scholars to translate Excalibur, the great game from NetEnt, it’s all up and running. Just about all aspects of the story are included, from the Lady of the Lake to Lancelot and Guinevere. Also included are Morgan le Fey (which means ‘the fairy’), a sorceress with power to rival Merlin and Mordred, the traitor who mortally wounds King Arthur at the end of the story.
Of course, Excalibur is the most important symbol in the game. The sword is the Wild card, and these double any wins that they help create. There is also the Golden Wild, which pays 4x the normal win line and the Holy Grail plays the part of the Scatter symbol. Three of these will launch a Free Spins round. You’ll find some kingly riches as the game conjures up win after win on this 20-payline slot game, with the potential to win 158,000 coins!
