In the lime light:

The legend of King Arthur

In the fifth and sixth centuries, it took the Anglo-Saxons about one hundred and fifty years to conquer Britain.

If you ask “Why did it take so long?”, you would find a few answers and one of them would be how King Arthur successfully rallied the Celts against the invaders and marked many victories over the Saxons; how he killed many of the enemy forces with his sword named Excalibur; and how he held a magnificent court and organised tournaments for his knights at Camelot.

According to the legend, King Arthur was a son of a Celtic prince and a student of a wizard named Merlin. He was the owner of the famous sword, Excalibur, and the leader of the brave and faithful Knights of the Round Table.

These legends about King Arthur, which we can read today, go back to the middle ages. In the ‘History of the Kings of Britain’, Geoffrey of Monmouth gave a detailed account of King Arthur’s reign. He based his story, which was written in the Twelfth Century, on legends and folktales from Ireland, Wales, France and other places. When Geoffrey couldn’t find any source, he used his own imagination too.

In the Fifteenth Century, ‘Morte D’Arthur’ was written by Sir Thomas Mallory. This famous author was the one who invented many of the most famous stories of King Arthur, Wizard Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table.

In the Ninth Century, a monk called Nennius wrote the following account of a victory over the Saxons.

Arthur’s twelfth battle was on Mount Badon. He slew 940 men with his own sword. And, in all his battles, he was victor. But more Saxons came from Germany and continued the war.

Nennius described this battle as it had taken place in 518 AD, which is four hundred years before him.

Many attempts have been made to find the site of Mount Badon by archaeologists, and Badbury Rings in Dorset is deemed as one possible place. Archaeologists have found human skeletons and weapons which prove that there had been a battle here long ago, but there is no evidence to prove that King Arthur fought this battle. There are only legends.

Archaeologists have also searched for the site of Camelot and a number of other places that were associated with King Arthur. There is an Arthur’s Stone in Glamorgan, an Arthur’s Seat at Edinburgh and an Arthur’s Table in Winchester.

However, this King Arthur’s Table, a large round table in the Castle at Winchester, has recently been examined carefully and, the analysis of the wood and the way in which the table has been made indicate that it is no older than the Twelfth Century. However, as all holy relics, tombs of famous people and the places and objects that are linked with legendary people, these have also become modern tourist attractions.

In about 550 AD, a monk called Gildas wrote an account on the topic ‘The Destruction and Invasion of Britain’ where he clearly indicates a victory over the Saxons in about 500 AD. We can find reference to such a battle from the ‘Anglo-Saxon Chronicles’ too. Archaeologists also say that if not for this victory, the Saxons would have conquered England much earlier.

John Jones says in his book ‘The Medieval World’, that the Celts leader who led this battle to victory may have been known as Arthur and the stories of King Arthur, which were borne later, were based on this victory. It surely became a legend in England at that time.Whether King Arthur actually existed is also a bit doubtful and there’s not much historical evidence for his reign. However, he’s quite a big figure when it comes to legend and folklore.

Sent by Hela Isuru Wijayadarsana, Haggala, Ellakkala.