Hurlame
King in British Arthurian tradition who wielded a devastating sword against King Labor.
Hurlame is a king attested in the British Arthurian tradition through Le Morte d'Arthur. When King Hurlame saw King Labor, "he dressed this sword, and smote him upon the helm so hard that he clave him and his horse to the earth with the first stroke of his sword" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XVII, Chapter III). Having witnessed the destructive power of the weapon, Hurlame then sought to secure the scabbard, entering a ship and sheathing the sword once more (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XVII, Chapter III).
The two attestations in Le Morte d'Arthur paint Hurlame as a figure defined by a single dramatic episode involving a devastating sword. The first citation establishes his martial prowess and the extraordinary nature of the weapon he wields, capable of cleaving both king and horse in a single blow. The second citation shifts Hurlame from aggressor to custodian, as he retrieves the scabbard and sheathes the sword aboard a ship. This sequence frames the sword itself as the true subject of the narrative, with Hurlame serving as the agent through whom its terrible power is demonstrated and then contained.
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Le Morte d'Arthur, British Tradition