Unfortunately, Guinevere betrays Arthur with his knight Sir Lancelot. Arthur's son, Mordred, discovers Guinevere and Lancelot and brings the news to his father. Arthur must condemn Guinevere to death, but at the last minute Sir Lancelot saves her. Arthur chases them to France, and in the interim Mordred claims Arthur's throne.
Arthur and Mordred eventually meet in the Battle of Camlann that takes place circa When the battle ends only Mordred, Arthur and Sir Bedivere remain. They fought until Mordred died and Arthur was fatally wounded. Arther asks Sir Bedivere to throw his sword, Excalibur, into a lake. Arthur is taken to Avalon, an island in a lake inhabited by sorceresses, where he dies.
But is the legend true? It is hard to unravel the legend because Arthur is credited with more heroic acts and battles than is humanly possible. The legend of Arthur probably is a composite of several people who lived in the first half of the 5th century AD. This is the period following the Roman occupation when Britons were left to hold off the Saxon invasions on there own.
This is the period called the Dark Ages because there is little known about this time. If Arthur is a real individual, then he was not a titled king but a nobleman of mixed Roman-Briton heritage who rose to prominence as a skilled war leader.
He is never referred to as a king or a chieftan in early histories. Constans gave Vortigern so much power that he was king all but in name. Vortigern duped some Pictish mercenaries to murder his king. Vortigern killed the Picts, and seized the throne. Vortigern welcomed the Saxons, led by Hengist Hengest and Horsa. The king used them as mercenaries against the Pictish revolts up in Scotland.
Rowena duped her stepson Vortimer to drinking poison. The war between Britons and Saxons, until Hengist advised Vortigern that he would accept a truce.
Before treaty could be signed, the Saxons pull out knives and massacring the Briton nobles. Hengist treacherously deposed his son-in-law as king of Logres, where Vortigern fled to Wales. The Britons were helpless against the Saxons, who loot, rape and kill the Britons. Churches and town were destroyed. In Wales, Vortigern decided to protect himself by building a castle on Mount Erith, but every night the walls would crumble the next day. Merlin , a son of princess now a nun and the incubus male demon , told him why the foundation keep causing the walls to collapse.
See Son of the Devil in the Merlin page, for this version of his birth. Merlin also prophesied that a king Arthur would be born out of dragon Uther , and he would ruled the world, bringing a period of renaissance to the Britons. However, Merlin foresaw that the Saxons would return and conquered the Britons. Layamon wrote Brut , c. Historia Brittonum was written by Nennius 8th century. First they turned their attention to Vortigern, whom had fled to his palace. Aurelius became king, and fought series of battles against the pagan Saxons.
Horsa was killed in battle, while Hengist was captured and then excuted. Octa was defeated and allowed to settling in Scotland. Aurelius Ambrosius set about rebuilding his kingdom. Uther and Merlin saw a strange phenomenon in the night sky. They a comet streaking past two dragons flying in the night sky.
Thereafter, the new king was named Uther Pendragon. Uther won a decisive battle at Menevia. Gorlois , the middle-aged duke of Cornwall, was the man devised a strategy to defeat Paschent, and brought a great victory to Uther. Paschent and Gillomanius were killed in battle. During the victory celerbration in London, Gorlois brought his young and beautiful wife named Igraine. Uther threatened war with Gorlois. Since Tintagel was his strongest castle, he left his wife there, while he went to fortified the under castle.
Uther had pinned Gorlois to this besieged castle. Uther secretly went to Tintagel with Merlin and Ulfin under these guises, and entered the castle. Everyone in Tintagel thought Uther was Gorlois, even Igraine. That very night, news of the real Gorlois was killed in the siege of the other castle. Uther falsely convinced the people of Tintagel that he Gorlois was alive. He pretended to return to his other castle, but actually he returned to his own army, in his own form.
Uther ordered all of Cornwall, including Tintagel, to surrender. Igraine realising that her husband was dead, surrender the duchy to Uther. Uther was still in love with Igraine; the king immediately married her the next day. Igraine was already pregnant with Arthur. A year after Arthur was born; Igraine gave birth to a daughter named Anna. According to Layamon, Arthur received many magical gifts from the fairies.
They gave him the gift of courage, strength, wisdom, kingship, and long life. Octa was aided by Colgrim Colgrin , king of the Saxons in Germany. Uther was ill at the time. Uther left the command of his army to Lot , whom his daughter, Anna, had married.
Lot and Anna were parents of two sons — Gawain and Mordred. However, Lot was losing more battles than he was winning. So the ill and weary king went into the battle. Later, spies of Colgrim poisoned the water in the well that Uther normally drink. Later writers called the sword, Excalibur. Caliburn was a gift from Avalon. With his army, Arthur went to relieve the siege at Bath. In the battle, Arthur single-handed killed Colgrim and Baldulf. Cheldric fled with very few survivors to the hill called Teignwick or the Isle of Thanet.
Note that Geoffrey had identified the battle of Bath with that of the historical? Arthur then went about a series of campaigns, to punish all those who supported the Saxons. Arthur brought his army to Scotland. The Scots offered no resistances; they told Arthur that the Saxons had forced them to side with them. The Scots declared Arthur as their ruler and pay homage to him.
Arthur restored these kingdoms to the brothers. When Arthur was wintering in Cornwall, the king met Guinevere called Guanhumara by Geoffrey , ward of Cador , a young and beautiful woman, who was descended from a noble Roman family. From Scotland, Arthur next campaign took him to Ireland, to punish their king Gillomanius for siding with the Saxons during the war. Arthur defeated the Irish army and captured the king. Gillomanius was restored of his throne in return of becoming a vassal to Arthur.
Iceland, Orkney, Wendland Germany? Their kings welcomed Arthur, and willingly became his vassals. It therefore seems probable that this hill fort was the castle or palace of a Dark Ages ruler or king. Cadbury Castle is also situated not far from Glastonbury Tor, a location shrouded in mystery and legend. The hill fort is supposedly hollow, and there he and his knights lie, ready until such time as England should need their services again.
Indeed, every Midsummer Eve, King Arthur is supposed to lead a troop of mounted knights down the slopes of the hill. Indeed a 1, year old piece of slate with two Latin inscriptions was found at Tintagel in the late s, which would seem to link Arthur with Tintagel.
Recent excavations have revealed pottery from the 5th and 6th centuries, suggesting that this place was inhabited during the Romano-British period. We cannot be sure. However the castle there today was actually built in the early s and so cannot be Camelot. Here it is said Winchester Castle was Camelot. For hundreds of years, a round wooden tabletop has been displayed in the Great Hall at Winchester Castle in Hampshire. It is painted with the names of King Arthur and 24 knights, and shows their places around the table.
It has hung in the Great Hall, Winchester since at least , and possibly since as far back as It was almost certainly painted during the reign of Henry VIII in the early s, as it has the Tudor rose at its centre and is thought to portray King Henry as Arthur on his throne, surrounded by the Knights of the Round Table.
Whilst Winchester Castle was built in the late 11th century, it is interesting to note that in the 9th century, the town of Winchester was the ancient court and capital of King Alfred the Great , a great warrior famous for defeating the Danish invaders and a great statesman, law maker and wise leader.
Coincidentally, these are all traits that the legendary Arthur was supposed to possess: a successful warrior leading his people against invaders and at the same time, a wise and gracious leader.
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