King Arthur Age of Reign. Hero of Britain. Who was the real King Arthur? Magic sword Excalibur
King Arthur- the legendary leader of the Britons of the 5th-6th centuries, who defeated the Saxon conquerors; the central hero of the British epic and numerous romances of chivalry. Until now, historians have not found evidence of the historical existence of Arthur, although many admit the existence of his historical prototype.
Arthur is the son of the King of Britain. Uther was inflamed with love for the beautiful wife of the old duke from the castle. To spend the night with her, the king asked the wizard to give him the appearance of the Duke of Tintagel. As a payment, Merlin demanded that the baby be given to him for upbringing when he was born. Merlin put a spell on the boy, giving strength and courage. Then the sorcerer gave Arthur to be raised by the old knight Sir Ector. A few years later, Uther was poisoned by those close to him, and the country plunged into anarchy and civil strife.
Twenty years later, Merlin and the Bishop of Canterbury in London presented the assembled knights with a sword stuck in a stone, on which was the inscription: "Whoever pulls this sword out from under the anvil, that is by right of birth the king over all the land of England." It was accidentally taken out by young Arthur, who was looking for a sword for his named older brother, sir. Merlin revealed to the young man the secret of his origin and proclaimed Arthur king. However, the rulers of the appanage kingdoms, who were aiming for the throne of Uther, refused to recognize him and went to war against the young Arthur. Having called on the help of the overseas kings-commanders of Ban and Bors, Arthur defended his throne and began to rule.
Arthur made the city his capital and gathered the best knights of the Earth around one table. So that there would be no contention between them because of high and low places, Merlin presented the King with the Round Table. Arthur married the beautiful daughter of the King of Lodegrance, but their marriage was childless.
After the Sword of Stone broke in Arthur's duel with Sir Pelinor, Merlin promised the young king a new miracle sword. It was forged by the elves of Vathelin Lake, and she handed the sword to Arthur with the condition: to expose it only in the name of a just cause and return it to her when the time comes. The sword, called Excalibur, cut without a miss, and its scabbard protected better than any armor.
One day, Guinevere was kidnapped by Melegant during a walk. , without waiting for help, broke into Melegant's castle, freed the queen and killed the villain. An affair broke out between him and the rescued lady, and Guinevere cheated on her husband.
Arthur's nephew found out about this. He reported the treason to the king. Arthur sent Mordred with a detachment to arrest Lancelot and Guinevere. The queen was threatened with execution at the stake for her transgression, but Lancelot released the queen from custody, at the same time mistakenly killing the unarmed nephews of the king and Gaheris. Lancelot and Guinevere fled across the sea, Arthur went after them in pursuit, leaving Mordred in charge. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the treacherous bastard usurped power and proclaimed himself king. Sir, who tried to restore order, was killed.
Upon learning of the unrest in Britain, Arthur returned from across the sea. The troops of the king and the impostor met on the Cammlan field for negotiations. But during the meeting, the snake bit one of the knights, and he drew his sword, which was the signal to attack both sides. The entire army of Britain perished in the battle. The traitor Mordred fell, pierced by Arthur's spear, but he himself mortally wounded his father.
The dying king asked Sir Bedivere to return the sword Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. Then the sad ladies took him on a boat to the island. According to legend, Arthur slumbers on Avalon, waiting for the day of great need, when he will rise from his sleep to save Britain.
The most ancient legendary sources about Arthur, his family, and the heroes of Arturiana are the so-called "Triads of the Isle of Britain"- poetic verses that tell about the features of a particular character.
Another important source for the legends of Arthur was a collection of Welsh legends -. One way or another, almost all the characters in the collection are connected with Arthur. The oldest part of the collection is considered "Kilukh and Olwen". romantic heroes stories are relegated to the background, yielding to leading role in history Arthur is a tribal leader and a formidable military leader. Another part of the cycle in which Arthur is actively involved is "Sleep of Robanawi", where he already appears as a feudal lord; this part is full of fantastic elements.
Sir Thomas Malory (XV century) finally fixed the image of Arthur in literature and mass consciousness in his large-scale epic "Death of Arthur", in which he combined and literary designed all the most common legends about Arthur and the knights round table. It is Malory's book that is the main source for the entire subsequent "Arthuriana".
Introduction
Biography of King Arthur
King Arthur's reign
legends
1 Holy Grail
2 Knights of the Round Table
3 Sword honed in stone
Conclusion
Bibliography
Appendix to abstract No. 1
Appendix to abstract No. 2
king arthur grail knight
Introduction
The legends about Arthur have been known for over a thousand years. Many chronicles, poems, novels have been published, even in our time there are many books about how, fighting side by side with their friends - the knights of the round table and his retinue, many wars were won. Is it really so? And what is the holy grail? Did the sword Excalibur exist? Was King Arthur really such a great warrior and ruler? What has changed since the king came to the throne? What contribution did he make to British history? Why is he awarded such eternal glory? And why is he still famous?
The name of King Arthur was immortalized by the Welsh high minister Geoffrey of Monmouth, who wrote about him in 1135, 500 years after the death of the king. After becoming king, Arthur gathered many valiant knights to fight the enemies of Britain. He tried with all his might to establish peace and justice in his land. He ruled for a long time and people were happy with him. But, unfortunately, his reign ended in an unfortunate incident: the king's wife Guinevere began a love affair with Sir Lancelot, who was a close friend of King Arthur, which led to the fall of the king's reign and the collapse of the Round Table. Is it true? Or is there another version of the end of the reign?
1. Biography of King Arthur
Arthur existed in the 5th-6th centuries. He was the son of King Uther, who ruled one of the kingdoms, and the girl Igraine. At that time, this was the second marriage for Arthur's mother, and in her first marriage she gave birth to 3 daughters from the Duke of Gorlois (see Appendix No. 1). The story indicates that Arthur was called differently, but since he won many battles, he was given such a "nickname" - Arthur. The name Arthur means "bear", and this is exactly what is said about the leader in the battle of Badon (This battle was one of the main ones in the history of his reign). King Arthur could well have been Vortigern - the High King or Riotamus - the head of the army, the army of that time. But initially, in reality, he became a military leader of the Britons, a Roman general. The story states: "The Britons are the population of Britain, who were formerly called the Celtic tribes." After many wars won, he is crowned ruler (war chief) of the Scottish kingdom of Dal Riada. In the 6th century, in the territory of southern Scotland, the Brythonic kings were replaced on the throne. But Arthur remained a military commander in Britain.
He was raised by the wizard Merlin. This is a real person. After the death of the patron of Merlin, he went crazy and hid for a long time in the forest, after which he was taken to the kingdom of Uther, where he was a bard, druid (doctor) at the castle of Arthur's father, then Uther gave his son to the care of Merlin, later the druid sent the boy to study military skills in the house of Sir Ector. There, the future king learned knightly science. Later, after becoming king, Arthur summoned his closest friends and valiant knights to fight against his enemies.
Unfortunately, at the end of Arthur's life, many sad events happened: His wife, Queen Guinevere, cheated on her husband with his best friend, Sir Lancelot. At that time, it was not acceptable for wives to cheat on their husbands so openly and she was sentenced to be burned, but at the last moment Sir Lancelot saved her, but she could not stand the mental anguish and remorse and retired to the Scottish monastery. And King Arthur died due to a mortal wound. His illegitimate son and his half-sister, Morgause, Prince Mordred set out to seize his father's castle and staged the most terrible and bloody massacre of all that Arthur had ever been in. And at the same moment, the son and father were mortally wounded, although the son died immediately, and the king was taken to the island of Avalon and many druids tried to heal him there, but could not, the wounds were deep.
1 Little Arthur's becoming king
After training in the art of war in Sir Ector's kingdom, Arthur was appointed to the post of general in his father's kingdom. Later, after his minor battles, he was trained in the Roman cavalry and was sent to Scotland, where, for military merit, he was appointed temporarily in office by the king. Then his father falls ill and the princes of the Anglo-Saxons call on the Germanic tribes to be their allies and declare war on King Pendragon, but he, having called for help from his son with his army, defeated the army. Confirmed: "Princes Octa and Azav didn't stop there and decided to poison the king."
2. Reign of King Arthur
The reign of King Arthur began with the strengthening of the martial law of his land. To do this, he called all the knights (of which there were less than 366): the most brave, noble, loyal people who were willing to serve their king "faithfully". There was a charter of knights, which said: "it is easier to die than to lose a good name." 12 of the knights were close friends of Arthur, but in battle they were all equal for him. And this is one of the reasons for the respect of their people. He conquered the inhabitants of his land by fighting for the independence of the Britons. The prosperity of their land also caused concern. The ruler was remembered as a wise, honest leader.
1 Famous battles and campaigns of the king
The king won many battles defending his lands from foreign invaders. And one of them was: The siege of the Saxons in the Caledonian Forest. The siege lasted 3 days, the king built a vicious circle of pieces of wood around the invader's camp, which forced the Saxons to return to Germany with nothing. The next famous battle was against Gilomori. The battle took place in Ireland, as a result, Gilomori admitted defeat and Arthur began to collect tribute from them.
Komarinets reports: "The Ring of the Giants is one of the oldest and most mysterious ritual monuments in Northern Ireland"
And also some states, recognizing the mighty military power of King Arthur, also agreed to pay some tribute.
The next battle was in Pridina. Arthur decided to intervene in the Norwegian affairs of succession to the throne, since after the death of King Assikhlim, power was seized by a completely different person who was originally bequeathed to the throne. At the end of the intervention, the truth triumphed and Arthur's son-in-law, Lleu, sat on the throne. But 12 years of peace have passed from the last battle to the intervention. The final battles were: wars with the Anglo-Saxons in different parts of Britain (for example, against Gaul on the Seine, etc.) Naturally, there were many more different battles between the events listed, but these were the main ones.
3. Legends
Arthurian stories began to appear in writing in 1135, when a church official decided to write a History of the Kings of Britain. This is the first time in 500 years since his death that the image of the king has been mentioned. Further, legends of the unknown about the adventures of King Arthur, the great ruler with his brave, valiant knights, began to take shape. Legends spread like news throughout Europe. Historical chronicles, stories and poems began to be collected in collections. The tales of the mounted knights of the Round Table dressed in shining armor shocked everyone and the story began to wrap itself in new details. As time passed, everyone became interested only in the fictional: the battle of the knights, led by Arthur, with dragons and three-headed monsters. But in the Middle Ages, the image took on more of a military idea of a king. His wisdom, courage and honesty began to be again legendary. In the era of romanticism, of course, they came up with romantic stories that were not supported by history at all. Now new artifacts, archaeological finds, the most famous - "Arthur's Tomb" are emerging. In which they found a man and a woman, the man was in armor, on which a coat of arms with a bear and the signature "Arthur" was carved. The grave was restored and a marble pedestal was made. Later it turned out that it was not the tomb of King Arthur at all, but someone else. But they left the grave. (see Appendix No. 2 (2)).
There is another "monument" in evidence of the birth of little Arthur - Tintagel Castle. (see Appendix No. 2 (3))
1 Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a large golden plate inlaid with precious stones and pearls. The Grail could turn out to be not only a plate, but anything, it is like a talisman that gives food and drink. Each of the authors who wrote about the Grail described this object in different ways, some represented it in the form of a stone that fell from the sky, as a gift, others as a fertile cloth or dish, someone claimed that the grail is a bowl, from which you need to drink, so that the lands will always be fertile and the family will not need anything. And the stones on all these wonderful objects meant a rich harvest.
Thus, since the ruler was very worried about the fertility of his lands, the holy grail in the life of Arthur carried more of the character of a talisman than a magic goblet and the origin of the bowl is not captured in any of historical facts, annals. Even archaeological excavations did not show the estate of the Holy Grail king in the kingdom.
2 Knights of the Round Table
Elected from all the knights always gathered at the table to discuss state affairs or military plans (see Appendix No. 2 (4)). This table was considered not only a negotiating table, but all sorts of things were located on it in case of victory or celebration.
This table was the last of the 3 holy tables of the Grail. The first two tables served for the Last Supper of Jesus (according to legend), the second one was the Grail itself and the only table that has survived is the one at which the knights, led by King Arthur, sat. The circle, the figure of which was the table, was a symbolic image of the unification and unity of all the knights, as a whole. Therefore, it served more as a symbolic image and a place of negotiations than something sacred.
The table has been preserved and is in the Great Hall of Winchester Castle. About 1600 knights could sit at such a table, it was so roomy. History notes that King Arthur had many halls with such tables. For example, there were tables for traveling guests, guard knights and knights of lesser rank than knights ordained knights of the Round Table. More famous knights: Lancelot, Ector, Bors, Mordred, Gawain, Galahad, Perceval and many others. In knightly society there was even a code of laws, a code of conduct for a knight, which said: never rob, never raid the unprotected, avoid treason and grant mercy to whoever asks. Stand up for the people and not give offense to their lands. AT holidays the knights had a tradition of gathering in Camelot for the celebration. Holidays mean those in which wars, battles, heroic days of knights were won. Traditionally, there were knightly tournaments, to which ordinary people were very fond of coming.
Thus, the table unites not only to discuss upcoming campaigns, but also unites spiritually close brothers in arms.
3 Sword honed in stone
An early version of the sword says that Merlin suggested that after Uther's death, a new king be elected. And on Christmas Day, the one who pulls the sword out of the stone is the true king. And the legend says that Arthur and the son of Sir Ector (in whose castle little Arthur studied military skills) Kay competed among themselves, pulled out Arthur's sword and proclaimed him the ruler of Britain. There is a version that a sword was stuck into the anvil, so deep that it pierced the stone. From here the technique of making weapons can also come. Historians have found a third version of the sword. It was assumed that the story of the sword was just a mistake and the ancient chroniclers confused the word saxum, meaning "stone", with Saxon, a Saxon tribe. Allegedly having killed one Saxon, Arthur took his weapon and it turned to stone.
Historians, of course, are inclined to the version of the manufacture of blades and swords. But such a sword actually existed. Now they made an exact copy of the sword to amuse tourists (see Appendix 6).
Conclusion
Thus, the great King Arthur existed and this is not a fiction of writers and chroniclers in the past. He was an incredible general who won more than 12 wars. He conducted his policy of governing the state to match the king, loved and respected his people and valued his lands, especially what they brought him. It was not for nothing that he gathered esteemed knights at his Round Table and fought side by side with them to protect his state - this gave an advantage in many wars, since they were not only like-minded, but equally loved their home, their native land.
Of course, as in many stories of that time, fiction is still present and I think that this is not bad. People were looking for the personification of the character of Arthur, they wanted to show through the sword - his boundless power, that he would not give his land to any stranger. And the Grail, in turn, acted as an indicator of concern for their people and state. Therefore, numerous fictional stories took place. King Arthur was ready to give his life only so that Britain would be independent of other states, but, unfortunately, after the death of the king, part of the land was still conquered by the Saxons.
King Arthur was one of those who sacrificed everything for his people, lands and freedom. He was a very educated and sensitive "battle leader".
Bibliography
1.From the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" // Trouble Venerable. Church history of the people of the Angles / Per. V.V. Erlikhman. - St. Petersburg: Aleteyya, 2001. - S. 220-138.
.Cox S. King Arthur and the Holy Grail from A to Z / Simon Cox, Mark Oxbrow; per. from English. I.V. Lobanova. - M.: AST: AST MOSCOW, 2008. - 286 p.
.Komarinets A.A. Encyclopedia of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. - M.: "AST", 2001. - S. 54-106.
.Malory T. The Death of Arthur. - M.: Nauka, 1993 - 168 p.
.Fomenko A.T. New experimental static methods for dating ancient events and applications to the global chronology of the ancient and medieval world. - M.: State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting, 1981. - 100 p.
.Shaitanov I.O. Foreign Literature: Middle Ages: I.O. Shaitanov, O.V. Afanasiev. - M.: Enlightenment, 1996. - S. 258-373.
.Erlikhman V.V. King Arthur. - M .: "Young Guard", 2009. - (series "Life of wonderful people"). - S. 124-250.
Appendix to abstract No. 1
Marriages/marriages marked -
Children from marriage
Appendix to abstract No. 2
Giant Rings
Arthur's grave
Tintagel Castle
Knights of the Round Table
Sword Excalibur
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First mention of Arthur
In the mythology of old England, there is no more beautiful era than the reign of King Arthur and his valiant knights, when in the midst of the gloomy Middle Ages, nobility and selfless devotion to the crown and their state flourished.
"History of the Britons" - the first Latin chronicle, completed in 800 AD. a Welshman named Nennius, first mentions the name Arthur as a central character in the folk tales of Wales. The first extended account of Arthur's life appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain, which combines History of the Britons with elements of Welsh folklore.
Three historical figures are considered the main prototypes of Arthur - this is the Roman commander Lucius Artorius Castus, whose exact dates of life are unknown, the Roman Ambrose Aurelian, who successfully defeated the Saxons at the Battle of Badon, and Charlemagne with his 12 Paladins. Based on the fact that the main enemies of Camelot, the Saxons, lived in the 450s, and the first indirect mention of Arthur appears in the writings of the Welsh cleric Gildas in the 560s, we can conclude that Arthur lived presumably in the 500s. AD The image of the British King Arthur is assembled from several biographies and exploits and, supplemented by a chain of interconnected storylines, has become a solid framework for the cultural myth about Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
So, the core of the immortal story of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are several heroes who influenced the rise and fall of the wonderful British kingdom. King Arthur was the only son of the High King of Britain, Uther Pendragon, who developed a passion for his mother, Igraine, wife of the Duke of Gorlois of Cornwall. According to one version of the legend, Gorlois had to kill Uther in order to seize his power, but the opposite happened. Thanks to the wizard Merlin, who foresaw the development of events 200 years ahead, a duel arose in which Uther mortally wounded his opponent, subjugated his army and married Igraine. A year later, the queen from her second marriage gave birth to Arthur, who was destined to become the great ruler of England.
The wise Merlin was aware of court intrigues and was well aware of the people who dreamed of usurping power and depriving the heir of the rightful throne. To prevent this from happening in childhood, he took the boy to his upbringing, later passing him on to his faithful friend, the glorious knight Ector. At the same time, one of Arthur's older sisters, the fairy Morgana, was brought up by the Lady of the Lake, trained in magic and sorcery that only the High Priestess of Avalon could possess. After 20 years, Morgana played a fatal role not only in the fate of her own brother, but also in the history of the entire kingdom, however, more on that later.
After the death of Uther, Merlin revealed to the 16-year-old heir the secret of his origin and taught the secrets of the military art, which were supposed to help Arthur conquer the country. Merlin, together with the Bishop of Canterbury, at a regular meeting in London, presented a magic sword intended for the new king of England. The one worthy of the crown had to draw the sword from the stone, and none of the knights managed to do this, except Arthur. After the popular proclamation of Arthur as King of Britain, the passions at court subsided for a short time.
In one of the duels with Sir Pelinor, Arthur broke a stone sword, and Merlin promised the king a new sword, Excalibur, which the elves of Avalon forged especially for him. Excalibur's sword had the magic to fight without a miss, but one condition was imposed on it: to expose the blade only in the name of a good deed and, when the time came, Arthur must return the sword to Avalon.
Having become the full-fledged king of Britain, Arthur began to think about an heir to his throne. Once he was introduced to Ginevra, the daughter of the king of Lodegrance, whom he once saved. Ginevra was and remains in the modern processing of literature " beautiful lady”, a model of immaculate femininity and chastity, so that Arthur fell in love with her at first sight. The young people got married and lived happily in Camelot. True, the couple never had children, because, according to legend, one evil sorceress, wanting to pass the throne to her son, placed a curse of infertility on Ginevra.
At his court in Camelot, Arthur gathered the most brave and devoted knights of the kingdom - Lancelot, Gawain, Galahad, Percival and many others. Various sources indicate that the total number of knights reached 100 people. Separately, it is noted that it was Ginevra who gave Arthur the idea to make a Round Table for the meetings of the knights, so that no one felt themselves either the first or the last, and everyone was equal among themselves and before the king.
The wizard Merlin often visited Camelot in order to visit Arthur and at the same time set the knights up for good deeds so that they would not commit evil, avoid betrayal, lies and dishonor. The Knights of the Round Table became famous for bestowing mercy on the lower classes and always patronizing the ladies. They defeated dragons, sorcerers and other fiends, rescuing kings and princesses, freeing their lands from evil and enslavement. The main purpose of their pilgrimage was to search for the Grail, from which Jesus himself drank during the Last Supper and where his blood was then poured. For many years the knights could not find the holy Chalice. In the end, she was found by the illegitimate son of Lancelot and Lady Elaine - the knight Galahad.
The Treason of Ginevra and the Beginning of Troubles in Britain
It is historically noted that it was Ginevra's adultery that set off the unrest in Britain. The queen could not get pregnant for a long time and give Arthur an heir, which is why the couple constantly quarreled, and none of them even suspected the curse. At the same time, even before her marriage, Ginevra managed to fall in love with one of the knights and Arthur's best friend - Lancelot, having met him in Camelot a few days before meeting the king.
Lancelot was raised by the Lady of the Lake, from which he received the nickname "Lake". Almost the whole meaning of the character of Lancelot in the legends of the Arthurian cycle is his immense love for Ginevra and, at the same time, the sin of adultery, which did not give him a chance to find the Holy Grail.
Different legends speak differently about Lancelot's beloved: for example, the knights of the Round Table, knowing about Lancelot's sinful connection with the queen, did not like Ginevra and once even wanted to execute her. Ginevra, feeling guilty before her husband, but being unable to give up her love for Lancelot, kept getting angry at her faithful knight and drove him out of the court. Once she arranged a feast for the knights, during which one of them killed the other with a poisoned apple, and all suspicions fell on the queen. The knights were about to completely expose the traitor to the crown, but Lancelot rode up and saved her, chopping half of his friends with a light hand.
Many court ladies, who had a clear interest in Lancelot, were perplexed by the fact that he was unmarried and decided to devote his whole life to unhappy love. Once, in search of the Grail, Lancelot had the honor to visit King Peles of Corbenic, a relative of Joseph of Arimathea and the guardian of the Grail. The king offered Lancelot to marry his beautiful daughter Elaine, but he found tactful words to refuse such an honor. The court lady of Bruzen, knowing who occupied the knight's heart, cast a spell on Elaina, thanks to which she became like Ginevra. Lancelot spent the night with the princess, and the next morning, when he found out about the deception, it was too late. 
So Lancelot had an illegitimate and only son Galahad - the future knight of Camelot.
According to one version of the legend, Ginevra found out about her rival and rejected Lancelot. For 14 years he lived with Elaine in Bliant Castle on the island, and when Galahad grew up, he returned to Camelot, and their relationship with the queen was renewed.
However, Arthur himself also had an illegitimate son, Mordred, conceived by his half-sister fairy Morgana during a mysterious rite, when the wizards Merlin and the Lady of the Lake had a hand in ensuring that brother and sister did not recognize each other and entered into a relationship. Mordred, unlike Galahad, was raised by evil sorceresses and grew up as an insidious person, dreaming of his father's bloodshed and the seizure of power.
Fall of Camelot and death of Arthur
The king was very fond of his friend Lancelot, as well as his wife Ginevra, and, suspecting their love, did not take any measures to expose the deceivers. Arthur preferred not to see what he did not want, considering peace in the state more important than personal relationships. This was in the hands of his enemies - and, in particular, his son Morder (according to some sources, Mordred was Arthur's nephew, and since the king had no other relatives, one way or another the crown had to pass to him).
Wanting to hurt the king with the pain of Ginevra's betrayal, Mordred, along with 12 knights of the Round Table, burst into the queen's chambers, where Lancelot apologized to his lady of the heart for accidentally exposing her, and asked for advice on how to behave further. Angry at being interrupted in such a dastardly manner, Lancelot killed almost all of his comrades, saddled his horses, and rode away from Camelot with Ginevra. Arthur, compelled by public opinion, rushed after the fugitives across the English Channel, leaving Mordred as his viceroy.
Arthur did not see Ginevra again - on the road, the queen realized all her sins and asked Lancelot to take her to the monastery, where she took a monastic vow and devoted the rest of her life to purifying her soul and serving God.
Meanwhile, in Arthur's absence, Mordred attempted to seize power and subdue the people. Realizing that the key figures who had been counted on for so many years could not provide England with peace at a decisive moment, Merlin and the Lady of the Lake, as well as other wizards, including the adoptive mother of Mordred himself (according to many options, she was the sister of Lady of the Lake, who stepped on the path of black magic). The wizards entered the fight and were mortally wounded, so that no one could protect Camelot, except for Arthur himself.
Rather quickly realizing the futility of searching for Lancelot with Genevra, Arthur rode back to Camelot, where enemies were already waiting for him. On the coast, he was ambushed by the Saxon army of Mordred (by that time he had managed to acquire like-minded people among the Saxons hostile to Arthur). The king fell at the hands of his own son, having also managed to mortally wound Mordred. It is said that in the final battle, Lancelot rushed to the aid of Arthur with his small army, but he was also defeated in this battle.
Fairy Morgan, along with other sorceresses, took the dying Arthur in a boat to Avalon, where Arthur threw the Excalibur sword into the lake, thereby fulfilling his duty to the elves. According to some legends, the beautiful story of the most noble king of medieval England did not end there at all, and at present Arthur is only dozing in Avalon, ready to rise and save Britain in case of a real threat.
Merlin and Infante Arthur
Artist John Geller
Artist Howard Johnson
Arthur (from the Celtic "bear"), the great sovereign of the kingdom of Logres, the most famous of the Celtic heroes, gained particular popularity in the Middle Ages, when the fame of his exploits and the exploits of his associates, the Knights of the Round Table, spread throughout Western Europe. Arthur was the son of the British king Uther Pendragon and Igraine. The illegitimate child was secretly taken out of the castle by the wizard Merlin and given the boy, named Arthur, to the glorious knight Author, who had just lost his youngest son. Arthur grew up unaware of his origins.
Arthur fighting the Anglo-Saxons
King Arthur fighting Mordred
According to one version, after the death of the powerful Uther Pendragon, Merlin told the nobility that the heir to the king would be the one who pulled out a wonderful sword from a stone that mysteriously appeared on the main square of the capital. Many knights tried to draw their weapons, but the sword didn't even budge. At this time, sixteen-year-old Arthur accidentally saw a handle sticking out of a stone. He took hold of her and drew his sword. Thus appeared the heir to the kingdom of Logres, the owner of the wonderful Excalibur, the sword that "smashes iron and stone."
With the help of Merlin, who became his adviser, the young ruler defeated the rebellious barons who did not want to recognize him. According to another version, having once lost his sword in a duel, the king wandered along the shore of the lake and suddenly, to his amazement, a hand with a magic sword rose from the water. It was the Lady of the Lake who handed him Excalibur, a reliable pillar of power.
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Edward Burne-Jones, 1898
Arthur defeated the Anglo-Saxons and helped the Scottish king Leodegrons in the war against the Irish, and in gratitude for his help he received his daughter Guinevra as his wife. Merlin blessed the couple and, according to one version, gave Arthur the famous Round Table for the wedding, around which there were one hundred and fifty chairs with the names of knights on the backs.
The miraculous table prevented quarrels over space, symbolized unity, and resembled the Last Supper table with the Holy Grail in the middle. The fame and power of King Arthur increased over the years. He was still strong in body, but now he has gained wisdom. Queen Guinevere remained just as beautiful, and the Knights of the Round Table performed their feats - they searched for the Grail, fought, saved the beauties. Years passed. And once, in the absence of King Arthur, his nephew Mordred encroached on Queen Guinevere.
Death of King Arthur
John Garrick, 1862
Arthur returned to Britain and called on the knights to fight the treacherous relative, having previously agreed with him to discuss the possibility of reconciliation. Not trusting each other, both ordered their warriors to attack, as soon as one of them draws a weapon.
After one of the knights saw the snake and swung his sword at it, a terrible battle broke out, ruining the flower of British chivalry. The victory remained with the seriously wounded king. Anticipating death, Arthur threw Excalibur into the lake, where an unknown hand picked him up, and told his faithful knight and friend, the one-armed Bedvir, that he was going to the island of Avalon, but one day he would return. The inscription on Arthur's tomb at Glastonbury reads: "Here lies Arthur, the king who was, the king who will be." However, this did not save the declining kingdom from the onslaught of the Anglo-Saxons, especially since Queen Guinevere, who had gone to the monastery and became a nun, died.
King Arthur is a true warrior king, a British national hero, a figure who can easily be recognized as a real historical figure and a mythical hero. For many, he is a ray of light in troubled times history of Britain.
Only at the mention of the name of King Arthur in the imagination appear pictures of knightly duels, images of lovely ladies, mysterious wizards and treachery in the castles of traitors. But what is hidden behind these, at first glance, romantic stories of the Middle Ages?
Of course, King Arthur is a literary character. There is a cycle of legends that relate to chivalric romances about Arthur, for example in Celtic literature. But what is the real hero? Is there any reason to believe that the stories of the great king of Britain, who led his compatriots in fierce battles against the Saxons, are real? historical events?
The Legend of King Arthur (briefly)
In short, the legend of King Arthur is as follows. Arthur, the firstborn of King Uther Pendragon, was born in Britain during hard and troubled times. The wise wizard Merlin advised to hide the newborn so that no one would know about his true origin. After the death of Uther Pendragon, Britain was left without a king, and then Merlin created a sword with the help of magic and stuck it into a stone. On the weapon was inscribed in gold: "Whoever can pull the sword out of the stone will be the successor of the King of Britain."
Many attempted to do so, but only Arthur was able to draw the sword, and Merlin crowned him. When Arthur broke his sword in the battle with King Pellinore, Merlin took him to the lake, from the waters of which a magic hand appeared with the famous Excalibur. With this sword (given to him by the Lady of the Lake), Arthur was invincible in battle.
Having married Guinevere, whose father (in some versions of the legend) gave him a round table, Arthur gathered the greatest knights of those times and settled in the castle of Camelot. The Knights of the Round Table, as they began to be called, protected the inhabitants of Britain from dragons, giants and black knights, and also searched for treasures, in particular the cup from which Christ drank during the Last Supper, legendary. Arthur participated in many bloody battles against the Saxons. Under his leadership, the British won greatest victory on Mount Badon, after which the Saxon advance was finally stopped.
But the house of King Arthur was waiting for unpleasant news. The valiant knight Lancelot fell in love with his wife Guinevere. Soon they learned about this affair, and Guinevere was sentenced to death, and Lancelot was expelled. But Lancelot returned to save the queen, and took her to his castle in France. Arthur with his loyal warriors rushed to find Lancelot. Meanwhile, Mordred (Arthur's son by his half-sister Morgana, a witch with whom he had an affair in his youth, when he did not know who she really was) wanted to seize power in Britain.
When Arthur returned, father and son met at the Battle of Camlan. Arthur killed Mordred, but he himself was mortally wounded. They put him in a boat and let him down the river. The boat landed on the island of Avalon, where three amazing queens in black robes healed his wounds. Shortly after the news of King Arthur's death had spread. Lancelot and Guinevere died of grief. But Arthur's body was never found. It is said that he slumbers somewhere under the hill, waiting for his hour when he will again need to gather his knights to save Britain.
King Arthur - History (Mentioned)
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are reported in a number of sources, and their time spectrum is quite wide. The first known mention is in the History of the Britons, written around 825 by the Welsh monk Nennius. In this work, King Arthur is presented as a great commander: Nennius named twelve battles in which the king defeated the Saxons. The most important of these was the victory at Mount Badon. Unfortunately, the geographical names of the places where the battles described by Nennius took place do not exist for a long time, therefore, to date, it has not been possible to accurately determine their location.
The Annals of Cumbria (Welsh Annals) says that Arthur and his son Mordred were killed at the Battle of Camlan in 537. The location of this battle is not known to this day, but there are two versions. It has been suggested that the battle took place in the village of Queen Camel in Somerset (near South Cadbury, which some researchers consider the famous Camelot), or a little further north, near the Roman fort Birdoswald (in Castlesteads on Hadrian's Wall).
Researchers mainly draw information about Arthur from the History of the Kings of Britain, written by the Welsh priest Geoffrey of Monmouth around 1136. Here, for the first time, noble warriors are mentioned, who later will be associated with King Arthur and his knights, the rivalry with Mordred is described, there is the sword Excalibur, and the wizard, adviser to the king, Merlin, and also tells about Arthur's last journey to the island of Avalon.
But Sir Lancelot, the holy grail, and the round table were not mentioned in the History. Contemporaries of Geoffrey of Monmouth criticized his work (he also published two books on Merlin's prophecies), considering them nothing more than the fruit of a violent fantasy. It should be noted that most modern scientists share this opinion.
As happened with regard to the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, archaeological finds gradually appeared, consistent with some of the statements of Galfrid. As an example, it is possible to name the King of Britain Tenwantius. Until recently, the only source of information about him was Galfrid's History. But as a result of archaeological excavations, coins with the inscription "Tasciovanthus" were found among the artifacts of the Iron Age. Apparently, this is Tenvantius mentioned by Galfrid. And this means that the works of Galfrid require rethinking. Perhaps other episodes of the biography of King Arthur, which are mentioned in the History of the Kings of Britain, will someday find documentary evidence.
With the advent of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, published in 1485, the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table took on the form in which it has come down to our time. In his work, Malory, who was originally from Warwickshire, relies on earlier books by French authors - the poet Mestre Vasa and Chrétien de Troy, who in turn used fragments of Celtic mythology, as well as the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth. The shortcomings of these literary sources include the fact that they were written no less than 300 years after the death of Arthur, approximately in the year 500. How to restore this gap in time and reveal the real basis of this story?
The cursory references to Arthur dating back to the sixth century in early Celtic literature, especially in the Welsh poems, are curious. The oldest of these, apparently, is Gododdin, the authorship of which is given to the Welsh poet Aneirin: "He fed the black ravens on the bastion, although he was not Arthur." In the Black Book of Carmarthen there are "Grave Stanzas", which contain the following lines: "There is a grave for March, there is a grave for Gwytir, a grave for Gugaun the Scarlet Sword, it is a sin to think about the grave of Arthur." These words mean that the burial places of the heroes from the legend are known, but the grave of the king himself cannot be found because King Arthur is still alive.
In the Treasures of Annuin from the Book of Taliesin, Arthur traveled with an army to the Welsh underworld of Annun in search of a magical cauldron "heated by the breath of the nine maidens." It was not just a magical object - it is said about a relic, a symbol of the religious beliefs of the Celts. He is also mentioned in the myth of the supreme god of Ireland, Dagde, who kept a cauldron that can bring the dead back to life. The search for Arthur in the other world turned into a tragedy: only seven warriors returned from the journey. There is an obvious parallel between the search for Arthur in Celtic mythological literature and the search for the Holy Grail, but the mythical Arthur is clearly different from the image of the warrior who stopped the Saxons in 517.
Perhaps the archaeological data will direct the researchers on the right path and make it possible to bit by bit restore the image of the real King Arthur. In literature, the western part of England is more often associated with the name of Arthur: Tintagel - the estate in which he was born; Camelot, where the Knights of the Round Table met, and supposed burial site at Glastonbury. The graves of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, which were allegedly found in 1190 by the monks of Glastonbury Abbey, are today considered a successful hoax. This deception was invented by the monks in order to increase the income of the abbey, which was recently damaged by fire.
But some of the researchers believe that Glastonbury actually had something to do with King Arthur. The area around Glastonbury Tor (today the mound is outside the city) may well be the Isle of Avalon, where Arthur was sent after being mortally wounded at the Battle of Camlan.
Just twelve miles from Glastonbury is the dated iron age Cadbury Castle, which in the Dark Ages regained great strategic importance, and it is with it that Camelot is increasingly associated today. In the VI century, the fortress was turned into a vast citadel with huge defensive bastions. A number of objects were found here, including wine jugs, which were imported from the Mediterranean countries, which indicates that for a century this place was the residence of an important and influential nobleman. Could the castle be the seat of King Arthur's power?
According to another version, Camelot is called Tintagel Castle, which is considered to be the birthplace of Arthur. It is located in Cornwall, where quite a lot is associated with the name of King Arthur. geographical names. The structure was built in the Middle Ages, but archaeological excavations carried out in Tintagel show that the castle was an important stronghold and trading center before: many jugs for wine and oil from Asia Minor were found here, North Africa and coasts of the Aegean.
1998 - a small piece of a slab was found, on which there was an inscription in Latin: "Artognon, the father of a descendant of Call, built this." Artognon is the Latin version of the Celtic name Artnu, or Arthur. However, is this the Arthur of whom the legend speaks? Unfortunately, no one knows this. As in the version with Cadbury Castle, we are again dealing with an important fortress and trading center, which, no doubt, was the residence of a powerful British ruler who lived in the 6th century, when the Arthurian legend was born. So, we managed to find out some facts that served as the basis for the legend, but this is all the information that is available today.
In modern times, there are active discussions regarding who Arthur could be if he was real. historical character. According to one version, he was the ruler of a Roman colony in Britain named Ambrosius Aurelius. He fought against the Saxons, but not in the 6th century, but at the end of the 5th century, a couple of decades after the Roman legions left Britain. Other researchers, relying on the materials of the researcher Geoffrey Ash, consider Arthur to be the military leader Riotamus (around the 5th century), who in one of the sources is designated as the "King of the Britons". He fought on the side of the Romans, took part in a military campaign in Gaul (France), directed against the Visigoth king Eric.
But in about 470 on the territory of Burgundy, his traces are lost. The name Riothamus is probably a Latinized name for "supreme ruler" or "high king", and thus is a title, not a proper name, and is not related to Arthur. A striking detail that testifies in favor of the theory of Riothamus-Arthur is the fact that this king of Britain was betrayed by a certain Arvandus, who wrote a letter to the Gotts. Soon he was executed for treason.
In one medieval chronicle, the name Arvandus sounds like Morvandus and resembles the Latinized version of the name of the treacherous son of Arthur Mordred. Unfortunately, apart from scanty information about his activities in Gaul, nothing is known about Riotamus, therefore it is impossible to establish with accuracy whether the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table comes from here.
Judging by archaeological and textual evidence, the most likely version is that the image of Arthur is a collective one. The legend is based on one or more real characters - the rulers who defended Britain from the predatory raids of the Saxons. The legend contains elements of Celtic mythology and plots of medieval novels, which made up the image of King Arthur, whom we know today. Thus, the legend of King Arthur is based on real historical events. And the legend of Arthur lasted so long only because this image touched the depths of people's consciousness and met their inner needs not only for a hero, but also for a king who would embody the spirit of the British lands.
Haughton Brian
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