There have been three basic charter descriptions of Arthur, which detail the characteristics of the “real” king Arthur. In the earliest descriptions he’s portrayed as a fierce, feared warrior, capable of tremendous prowess in hand to hand combat. Described by the Welsh priest, Nessius in his Latin Historia Brillonum, Arthur was “chosen twelve times to lead the Celts, Arthur carried the image of the Virgin and won twelve battles, the last being at Mt. Badon in which he killed 960 of the enemy singly handedly” (Americana).
The second image of Arthur is that of a “peripheral figure whose presence is felt mainly as a social force of arbiter of chivalric excellence”(Americana). A Welshman named Goeffrey of Monmouth was the first to describe the characters and stories we are familiar with today. In the Historia Rogum Britanniae, Geoffrey tells of Arthur’s siring through and adulterous relationship between Uther Pendragon and Igraine. He also introduces the magician Merlin and describes Arthur’s eventual resting-place on the isle of Avalon. In later treatment of Arthurian legends such s Thomas Mallory’s Le Morte Darthur, Arthur is depicted as a more two dimensional character. There is a naive side portrayed be the king, like when he refuses to see the romance between Guinevere, his wife, and Lancelot, a knight, although there are many warnings. For instance, when the affair is revealed, Arthur’s impetuous actions begin the downfall of his court. He condemns Gueniverer to death, forcing Lancelot to save her. In rescuing Guenivere, Lancelot inadvertently kills Gwain, brother and creator of the feud between Gwain and Lancelot. Throughout it all, Arthur is blind and naive and is swept up by events outside his control. There is evidence that Arthur is lost without the advice of the magician Merlin. Arthur does not always understand the implications of the events and is unable to draw his own conclusions without Merlin’s help. Arthur is without full understanding of his actions and causes the end of Camelot and of his reign. Arthur was killed by his illegitimate son Mordred, whom Arthur fathered in an ancesturous relationship with his half –sister Morgan Le Fay. As is presented in many of the later Arthurian stories, Arthur is duped by Mordred’s magical powers, and showing his susceptibility to trickery. The cause of it was when the Roman ambassadors arrived in Camelot demading tribute. Rejecting their offer, he set sail to confront the Roman forces, leaving his son Mordred as vice regent. After conquering the Romans, Arthur heard of news that Mordred had an uprising and his goal was to over through King Arthur. Arthur returned to Camelot where a bitter battle was fought between the rebels and the loyal subjects. The king killed Mordred, but was severely wounded himself. He was carried away secretly to the secret aisle of Avalon, the Celtic Mythology island of the blessed souls, to be healed of his wounds. Arthur returned to Camelot, but legend says he will someday come back to rule over England again.
Merlin first appears in the Middle ages as a mere prophet, but his role gradually evolved into that of a magician and advisor, active in all phases of the administration of Arthur’s kingdom. He was apparently given the name Ambrosias at his birth in Caer-Fy Riddin (Carmorthen). He later became known as Merlin a Latinized version of the Welsh word Myrddin, taken from the place of his birth. Geoffrey of Monmouth was thought to have invented the name Merlin, most likely because he invented everything else in his stories. Merlin’s was the illegitimate son of the royal princess of Dyfed. His father was Kind Meurig, who was not found in the traditional pedigrees of the kingdom and was more than likely a sub-king of the region of Coredigion. Merlin’s father was known to be an angel who had visited the royal nun and left her with a child. Merlin’s enemies claim that his father was an evil spirit that had sex with women while they were sleeping. The evil child was to provide a counter weight to the good influence of Jesus on earth. Merlin was baptized when he was young, which is said to have negated his evil nature. The original story was presumably invented to save his mother from the scandal which would have occurred had her liaison with one Morfyn Frych, a minor price of the house of Coel, been made public knowledge. Legend has it that when Merlin grew up that he inherited his grandfather’s kingdom, but instead abandoned his land in favor of the mysterious life he has become so well known for. He was known for his aiding of Unther Pendrogon in his deception of changing him into Gorloris the Duke of Cornwall who then seduces Queen Ygerna and she conceives Arthur.
After Arthur’s birth, Merlin became the young boys tutor. In his defining moment of Arthur’s career, Merlin arranged for the Sword in the Stone contest by which Arthur becomes king. Later Merlin meets the mystic Lady of the Lake at the Fountain of Barenton and persuaded her to present the king with the magical sword Excalibur. In the Romances, Merlin’s the creator of the round table and is closely involved in aiding and directing the events of the king and the kingdom of Camelot. In the book by Geoffrey of Monmouth he is pictured at the end of Arthur’s life accompanying the wounded Arthur to the Isle of Avalon for the healing of Arthur’s wounds. According to Geoffrey’s “Vita Merlini”(c.1151) Merlin was a sixth century prophet living in the north of Britain where his career extended beyond Arthur’s. These same scholars believe that there were two Melin’s, Myrddin Emrys and Myrddin Wylt. The fact the Merlin apparently lived from “the reign of Vortigern (c420) to the reign of Riderech Huel (c580)” would certainly support this view.
Cadbury Castle is the best known and most interesting of the reported sights of Camelot. Cadbury is an absolute hill of limestone and sandstone. The summit is about 500 feet above the sea level with a wide view of central Somerset, including the Four at Glastonbury, which is12 miles away, and in clear weather Brent knoll and beyond. It had four lines of bank and ditch defense. The first known to refer to Cadbury as Camelot is John Leland in 1542. He says “At the very south, end of the church of South-Cadbri standith Camallate sometimes a famous town or castle....The people can tell nothing there but that they have heard Arthur much resorted to Camelot”. Skeptics have agrees that there was no real local tradition, or perhaps a vague tradition of Arthur only and that the evocative name is a guess of Leland prompted by the Queen Camel. Yet he speaks of Camelot without any discussions as a recognized fact, and his spelling with an A instead of an O in the last syllable may echo a local pronunciation. Whatever the people of the neighborhood were saying in 1542 they have certainly cherished Arthurian lore since then. Cadbury hills has it’s legends, one midsummer eve or midsummer night ( opinions differ and some say it only every seven years) Arthur and his knights ride over the hilltop and down through the ancient gateway, and their horses drink at a spring besided Sutton Montis Church. Whether or not they can be seen, their hoof beats can be heard. Below the hill are traces of an old track, running toward Glatonburg, called Arthur’s lane or Hunting Causeway where a noise of spectral riders and hounds goes past on a winter’s night. Cadbury never had a castle; the fortified hill itself was the castle.
The Rev. James Bennett of south Cadbury carried out the first small excavation of Cadbury Hill. In a paper published in 1890, he told how he had cut a trench through the top rampart and judged that it was built up in layers over a long time. This was found true. In 1913, H. St. George Gray excavated again, chiefly near the southwest entrance, finding objects that showed that people were on the hill in the late Iron Age just before the Roman Conquest. The crucial step from the Arthurian point of view did not come until the middle 1950’s. Part of the enclosure was ploughed; and a local archeologist named Mrs. Mary Hartfield picked up flints and potsherds, which appeared on the surface in the upturned soil. Among these Dr. Raleigh Radford recognizes pottery of the type he had found at Tingel, which proved that somebody had lived here at about the time of Arthur, and most likely a person of wealth, who could import luxury goods. The interest thus aroused led to the formation of the Camelot Research Committee. It became clear that British Celts of the Iron Age had not only built the earth works defense, but reconstructed the top bank several times as Bennett suspected a village flourished on the plateau for hundred of years. In a central and commanding position on the high part of the hill called Arthur’s Palace, the foundation of a timber hall came to light. It was 63ft. by 34ft. Their walls were marked by postholes cut in the bedrock. In outline, it resembled the hall of Castle Dore, but there were grounds for inferring more skillful workmanship quality rather than size. In this building the chief warriors would have assembled, feasted, listened to minstrels, planned campaigns, most important of all was the discovery which was made in the bank. The three quarter mile perimeter of the hill, cuts through it in several places, now refilled like the entrance, revealed across section like layer cake, with strata one above another showing how the ram art had been rebuilt at various times over the centuries. The defensive system surrounding the hill made an impression in keeping with the period. The wall itself, with its timber bracing and super structure, was very like what the British Celts were building before the Roman Conquest. It incorporated fragments of Roman masonary, salvaged from derelict buildings but it was strictly a national piece of work.
The truth about the real King Arthur, is an issue that will be around until the truth is revealed about him. Historian and archeologist have debated this issue for over a millennium with no were getting to the truth about him. They have found that he did exist, but will they ever come to the agreement about him. For know we will have to live with folklore to the existence of the true King Arthur.
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