King Arthur is an
important figure in the mythology of Great Britain, where he appears as the
ideal of kingship in both war and peace.
The Legend
In one version King Arthur
obtains the throne by pulling a sword, Excalibur,
from a stone and anvil.
In this account, this act could not be performed except
by "the true king", meaning the divinely appointed king or true heir of Uther Pendragon.
Another legend tells how
Excalibur was taken from a hand of the Lady of
the Lake rising from a lake and given to King Arthur sometime after he
began to reign by a sorceress damsel.
Camelot
is the name of the stronghold where King Arthur's court was
located; and from
which he fought many of the battles that made up his life. Its specific
location is currently unknown and may be in the Romano-British province
of Dumnonia. It is described as many
days' journey from Avalon.
Various stories present Camelot's court in
varying ways, anything from welcoming followers of both the Celtic and
the Christian gods, to exclusively one or the other. Since the location
of Camelot is still a mystery, the truth about it is still unknown.
The Round Table was a mystical table in Camelot
around which King Arthur and his knights sat to discuss matters crucial to the
security of the realm. In some versions, the wizard
Merlin also has a seat.
There is no "head of the
table" at a Round Table, and so no one person is at a privileged position. Thus
the several knights were all peers and there was no "leader" as there were at so
many other medieval tables and Arthurian romances. There are indications of other circular seating
arrangements to avoid conflicts among early Celtic groups.
Morgan le Fay,
alternatively known as Morgaine, Morgain or Morgana and a slew of related name
variants, is an important female figure and sometime antagonist of King Arthur
and enemy of his wife and consort, Guinevere.
In the 12th century Latin Life of Merlin or Vita Merlini "Morgen"
is said to be the first of nine sisters who rule Avalon. Morgan is presented by Geoffrey of Monmouth as a healer and
even a shapeshifter. Later writers like
Chretien de Troyes enlarge on the theme that in time Morgana will heal
and cure King Arthur on the island of Avalon,
reverting to her benevolent role.
Morgan was the daughter of King Arthur's
mother, the Lady Igraine and her first husband,
Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall; thus King Arthur, the child of Uther Pendragon and Lady Igraine, was her
half-brother.
As a Celtic woman, Morgana has inherited through her mother a
share of the earth magic that King Arthur lacks. Morgana had two older sisters,
Elaine and Morgause; thus she is a member of a triplet, a familiar formula in Celtic myth.
In the Arthurian Romances, which gained popularity
beginning in the 12th century, King
Arthur's knights engaged in fabulous quests, the one for the Holy Grail
being perhaps the best known.
King Arthur was a casualty
in his last battle, the Battle of Camlann,
which he fought against the forces of Mordred. Mordred was also a Knight of the Round Table and
the child of an incestuous union between King Arthur and his sister Morgause.
The mortally wounded King
Arthur is said to have been taken by boat to Avalon
(sometimes identified with Glastonbury, in Somerset), by Morgan le Fay and the other water fairies. According to some versions of the legend King Arthur is
merely sleeping and will awaken and return in the future.
One school of thought
believes King Arthur to have lived some time in the late 5th century to early
6th century, to have been of Romano-British origin, and to have fought against
the pagan Saxons. His power base was probably in either
Wales, Cornwall, Somerset or the west of what
was called
Dumnonia;
and which would become England, but controversy over the centre of his power and the
extent and kind of power he wielded continues to rage. Other places have been
suggested, such as: Shropshire in England; and Caerleon-on-Usk, Gwent,
Dinas Emrysand
Dinas Bran in Wales. In Scotland the village of Drumchapel is another candidate.
Some members of this
school, most notably Geoffrey Ashe and Leon Fleuriot, have argued for
identifying King Arthur with a certain Riothamus, "King of the Brettones", of Brittany, who was active during the reign of the
Roman Emperor Anthemius. Riothamus is a shadowy figure of whom we
know little, and scholars are not certain whether the "Brettones" he led were
Britons or Bretons.
Other writers suggest that
King Arthur should be identified as one
Lucius Artorius Castus, a historical Roman of the 2nd century, whose military
exploits in Britain may have been remembered for years afterward.
Another school of thought
believes that King Arthur is at best a half-forgotten Celtic deity devolved into a personage
(citing sometimes a supposed change of the sea-god Lir into King Lear) or a
possibly fictive person like Beowulf.
Historical persons may
have influenced the later legends, like king Aedan mac Gabran, of Scotland, who had a son called Artuir and whose
life was somewhat similar to King Arthur's.
King
Arthur Myths 
