Explorations in Arthurian History
The figure of Arthur begins as a war hero, the praises of whom are sung in
war poems by the Celts and the Welsh. Y Gododdin celebrates one particularly
brave warrior, then says he "was no Arthur." The Triads are full of
wonderful, courageous things Arthur did. e8q3qj
The most important early source for Arthur's deeds is Historia Brittonum, written
by the monk Nennius in the 9th century. Nennius calls Arthur dux bellorum and
tells us of 12 great battles Arthur fought. Although Nennius tells us the location
of each battle, those locations are hard to come by these days. Scholars are
still arguing over the locations. Even the agreed-on locations suggest that
Arthur got around--literally--from Scotland to the lowlands of Wessex to Wales.
He fought everywhere. He won great victories. A strong tradition has him a Roman
heldover who uses his knowledge of cavalry to rout the Saxons time and again,
counting on their inexperience in fighting mounted men.
And even though the authors likely have exagerrated his deeds (killing 960 men
single-handedly, for example), Arthur is likely to have been a bona fide war
hero, a man who led his countrymen to victory time and again. It is certain
that the Battle of Badon Hill, wherever and whenever it was, set the Saxon occupation
back for a good many years. Whether Arthur fought at the battle is still not
proved, but is generally believed.
Arthur was conceived amidst a war and was mortally wounded in a particularly
bloody battle. His life was full of battle; it was the word of the times.
But was he a king in the traditional sense? The legends name him High King of
Britain, a title held by his father, Uther Pendragon, and his uncle, Ambrosius
Aurelianus. Noted historian Geoffrey Ashe identifies Arthur with Riothamus,
who was called the King of the Britons even though he operated mostly in Gaul
(Breton territory). A recent book by Graham Phillips and Martin Keatman identifies
Arthur as the King of Powys and Gwynedd, two powerful kingdoms in Wales. The
northern tradition has Arthur king of some or all of Scotland.
But these identifications would seem to point toward a man who held regional
sway but not national advantage.
Beginning with Geoffrey of Monmouth, we see authors embellishing the tales to
fit their own purposes. In Geoffrey, Arthur has a magical sword, Caliburn, and
a powerful fortune-teller on his side, Merlin. Geoffrey tells us that Arthur
conquers half the known world, including defeating a Roman emperor along the
way. Much of Geoffrey has been proven to have been made up; is the rest fiction
as well?
A conclusion can probably not be made on this subject because the evidence is
just too sketchy. Arthur's being a battle commander is somewhat easier to prove,
but again we suffer from too little reliable information.
Explorations in Arthurian Legends
The legends tell us that Arthur was a wise and powerful king, who ruled from
a giant and glorious castle and who commanded the loyalty of hundreds of men.
First and foremost of these followers were the Knights of the Round Table. That
the greatest knight in skill of arms, Lancelot, pledged his loyalty to Arthur
is testament to the fact that the king was worthy of such admiration, both as
a king and as a warrior.
For war was a way of life in Arthur's day. Just after he pulled the Sword from
the Stone, he hurried to Bedegraine and defeated a rogue band of 11 powerful
men who had rebelled against his leadership.
He faced constant pressure from the Saxons and the Picts and the Irish and (according
to Malory, who got it from Geoffrey) the Romans; in the end, he faced a mortal
threat from his own men.
He was also the backdrop against which many other advenures took place. Beginning
with Chretien de Troyes, writers wrote adventures of Arthur's knights, telling
us of their wonderful adventures and of courtly love. The court, of course,
was Arthur's. In a sense, Arthur was moved above the day-to-day adventures his
knights was having and put on a pedestal as the symbol of what a knight could
hope to achieve.
He was also the one whom everyone looked up to and whom everyone trusted to
pass judgment if they had a dispute. Important men bowed to his authority and
his wisdom He held court and was the arbiter of justice. He made his own laws
and enforced them himself, with the respect of his subjects. He fought in battles
and sent his knights out to do battle. As such, he was both king and battle
commander.
As the legend writers searched for deeper meanings, they found the Holy Grail;
with it, they found it sin. Arthur was said to have conceived a son out of wedlock;
Guinevere was said to have consummated her affair with Lancelot. Both of these
acts were sins. With the Holy Grail the symbol of true knightly goodness, the
picture of Arthur as all that is good and right was weakened; so, too, with
Arthur's failure to eradicate the adultery in his midst. The idea, which had
been building for a while, that his rule was intertwined with the fate of the
country was shaken to its core.
As the legend writers tied a knight's goodness to piety, they tied Arthur's
fate inextricably to a bad end. The king who was the symbol of the prosperity
of the nation and the land was sick in his heart and his soul and had sinned
against his God; the nation and the land would surely suffer as well.
And so Arthur died or was mortally wounded (take your pick) in a battle as a
battle commander who was king of all the land.
Round Table:
First mentioned in Wace's Roman de Brut. The idea was that the table, being
round, would have no head, or place of prominence. Arthur's strategy was to
reinforce the idea that none of the barons or dukes or other nobles who sat
there would be seen to occupy places of importance greater than any other. Robert
de Boron's poem "Joseph dArimathie" talks of a table that Joseph was
commanded to make in commemoration of the Last Supper; further, Joseph was to
leave a place vacant, symbolizing the seat of Judas. This was the Siege Perilous,
which could not be occupied except by the Grail hero. Anyone else who sat there,
legend had it, would die. (Galahad, being the Grail hero of later legends, sat
there and was unharmed.) Since the Vulgate cycle and certainly in the Malory
tradition, the Round Table has been said to have been a dowry from King Leodegrance
for his daughter Guinevere's wedding to Arthur. The city of Winchester still
sports a Round Table, although it has been dated to the 13th century. Click
here and here for more. Siege Perilous: seat at the Round Table where only the
Grail hero could sit without dying. Merlin named it. Galahad sat in it and survived;
Brumart, a nephew of King Claudas, sat in it and died. Robert de Boron says
Perceval sat in it.