King Arthur

I am studying the Anglo Saxons for a presentation on Christianity in East Anglia. I recently attended a talk on King Arthur. I would be interesting to have other people's input on the historical aspect of the Authurian legends and possibly any suggestions as where the supposed 12 battles actually took place.

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TheOneyouwerewarnedabout · 46-50, MVIP

Loves me some Arthurian mythology..

Excalibur is still one of the better movies

Jacko1971 · 51-55, M

@TheOneyouwerewarnedabout a bit naughty from what I remember.

emmasfriend · 46-50, F

@Jacko1971

Why Welsh dragons ?
I thought he was supposed to be English ?

Jacko1971 · 51-55, M

@emmasfriend England didn't exist at that time as such. Whoever it was that has been transformed into the legendary King Arthur would have been a Romano Briton. The dragon symbol was used by the Romans. In the early 500s, Angle and Saxon migration westards was halted by something or someone. That's where King Arthur comes in. Like all history, a lot of it is either hearsay or made up completely. But something did happen, and that's what im interested in.

hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M

There was a young knight
named Sir Lancelot
Who folks all said was askance a lot
for every time he would pass
A presentable lass
The front of his pants would advance a lot.

ChipmunkErnie · 70-79, M

From everything I've read and seen in documentary videos, chances are there was no Arthur and most of the stories originate from France. And reading Malory's LE MORTE D'ARTHUR gives one a whole different concept of knightly chivalry -- I seem to remember quite a few women being killed by knights in that? Or maybe I'm wrong, it's been well over a decade since I read it.

MoveAlong · 70-79, M

Did someone call for King Arthur?

Convivial · 26-30, F

My understanding is that all the Arthurian legends were based on one book written in the 16th century...

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@Convivial They are not even legends, or at least, not English legends let alone Cornish tourist-trade ideas.

Fiction yes, a 15th Century novel with later additions; inspired by French sources..

(A legend is a folk belief of, usually, unknown origin and age.)

Convivial · 26-30, F

@ArishMell I saw your more free detailed answer after I posted... Couldn't remember Mallory's name so thanks for the mental jog

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

Disregard everything from the fables accept the round table which has even earlier references around 1115 CE.

Please bear in mind the best fiction is usually based on a little bit of truth. And I do suspect that table is a little bit of the truth....

https://www.thecollector.com/true-history-round-table-king-arthur/

There's nothing magical about a round table for any band of knights.

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DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

@ArishMell I do say disregard most of the fables. Just the existence of "This is the Historia Brittonum, written in c. 830." Says something is missing.

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@DeWayfarer Oh, there is plenty missing from that era! It must be frustrating trying to establsih just who really did what, where and when due to so few reliable records.

ArtieKat · M

@ArishMell Just to quibble:

830BCE is about 400 years after the end of the Roman occupation

I think you need to delete the "B". I find it's far more straightforward to avoid political correctness and stick with the terms "BC" and "AD" - and I'm a non-believer

ArishMell · 70-79, M

For a start, ignore any Hollywood-esque nonsense.

In fact ignore stories about Arthur, Lancelot, Holy Grials and the like.

King Arthur is a work of fiction.

There has never been a King Arthur since Norman times (late-11th Century); and no known, English, King Arthur from the Saxon era the Normans replaced.

Even if there had been a Saxon king, when England was coalescing from several kingdoms, who might have inspired the story, he and his militia would not have looked anything like the characters in your illustration. That shows Mediaeval practice, contemporary with the Arthur story's original publication.

The Arthurian legends were invented in the 15th Century by the English writer. Sir Thomas Malory, in one of the first known novels. Even the writer Malory's identity is vague because there are several Thoman Malorys identified in the official records of the time!

Malory drew on older French sources for inspiration, and subsequently the French writer Chrétien de Troyes added Lancelot and the Holy Grail to the stories.

So if you want to study the Saxon era seriously and credibly, don't use a Mediaeval Norman novel as a source!

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