YOU ARE NOT LOGGED IN!King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table: The truth behind the legend!
What’s the truth behind the legend ?
We all know the image of King Arthur that takes the legendary Excalibur sword from the rock. What is the truth and when does the legend start ?
It seams that the Knight ideal dates even since the end of the 5th century and the beginning of the 6th century, thus, King Arthur, a semi legendary hero was the ruler of Great Britain in the fight against the Saxons invaders. Destined to be Great by the Avalon fortune tells, he is the legitimate King of England.
The age and the knight spirit, under his beneficial ruling, England enjoys 12 years of peace and prosperity. At his Castle in Camelot, Arthur calls the brave and faithful knights of his kingdom, like Lancelot, Gawain, Percivale, around the round table. Merlin teaches him how to refrain from crimes, cruelty and violence, to avoid treason, liar and dishonesty, to be graceful and most of all to protect and respect women. The knights leave from Camelot to civilize the world they know, to fight dragons, giants and other forces of evil in houses haunted by hosts, dark woods and charmed gardens.
The details regarding King Arthur’s story are composed, mostly, by Folk and literary and historical inventions, it’s existence is debated and contested by modern historians. The existence of the historical Arthur is mentioned in many sources, including “Cambriae annales”, “Brittonum HIstoria” or the writings of Gildas and Nennius. Arthur’s name also appear in early poems like The Gododdin.
He is also popularized by the cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth in his book ” Historia Regum Britanniae”.
Also, he is often presented as a big warrior or supernatural figure, associated even to magic and the after world.
Although the themes, events and characters of the Arthur legend considerably varied from one text to another, and there is no canonical version, the History of Geoffrey often served as a stepping stone for later stories. Geoffrey Arthur is descried as a King of England that defeated the Saxons and established an empire over England, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and Wales. Many elements and incidents that are now part of the whole Arthur story appear in the History of Geoffrey, including Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon, Merlin the Magician, Guinevere, the Excalibur Sword, Arthur’s birth at Tintagel, the final fight aganist Mordred at Camlann and “leaving” Avalon.
French writer Chretien de Troyes added Lancelot and The Holy Grail to the story at begun a romanticism of some kind in which King Arthur became an important aspect of medieval literature. in the 19th century, the legend is alive, not only in literature but also in theater, movies, tv, comic books and other media productions.
Revealing Arthur’s Court and the Castle of Camelot
Considering the spread and continuity of Arthur’s story it was inevitable that scientists, eventually, to begin to put a side the literary beauty and to establish the truth behind the legend.
In 1965, the Castle of Camelot Search Committee was formed, and it’s founders proposing to find the Round Table and the Holy Grail. After 5 years of digging at Somerset, archeologist identified the ruins of the Cadbury castle, closet o Glastonbury, as Camelot. Fortified during the pre roman time and used during the roman occupation, the castle seamed to be the right one.
But the most sensational discovery was the finding of some ceramic objects that suggested that the site was using, during year 500, by a British Royalty – so after the Romans left and before the Saxon occupation.
Regarding the much praised chivalry of Arthur, we have to say that he ruled during a period of cruel battles to defend the territorial and political independence.
The return of the King
Considered a long ago forgotten God, or a Norther semi God, brave ruler, Arthur becomes a legend.
The Arthurian cycle has known during centuries increase of interest, decline and rebirth. Sometimes even associations with the story of Tristan and Isolde. Hundreds of books, literary fictions or historical criticism, comic books and movies have appeared over the years. Also, famous paintings.
In the last few years, the role of Arthur as a real hero of the 5th century was well received by the public in movies, movies like King Arthur ( 2004 ) and Last Legion ( 2007 ).
Arthur was also used as a role model for the modern days behavior. In 1930, the Fellowship Order of the Knights of the Round Table was formed in Great Britain to promote the Christian ideals and Arthur’s notions about chivalry. In the United States, thousands of boys and girls joined the Arthurian groups, like Knights of King Arthur, in which Arthur and his legends were promoted as healthy examples.
Profoundly integrated in contemporary culture, the Arthurian imaging and symbolism remains to be acted and reacted during in the future.
His glorious and unforgettable reign, was a “short illuminated period, a star of Heaven in the fog of the Middle Age”.
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