Analyse various representations of Arthur, from the earliest times to recent scholarship.

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Analyse various representations of Arthur, from the earliest times to recent scholarship.

The figure of King Arthur has been romanticised in countless books, films and poems. His story of heroism, bravery and integrity has inspired great minds throughout history. Before research is undertaken, the Arthurian story is often believed to be a historically accurate explanation of Britain’s first King; however after thorough research the historical existence of the figure becomes a lot less clear. Academics have argued over Arthur’s historical reality for over one thousand years, and since modern technology is yet to provide a conclusive answer, the ancient debate goes on. Some of the historians with conflicting arguments over this ultimate question include; The Welsh Monk Nennius; Geoffrey of Monmouth; The modern Oxford Scholar John Morris; and the Modern American Scholar Christopher Snyder. The following will not attempt to answer this ultimate question, but rather analyse and determine why and how the respective authors contextual forces have effected their portrayal of Arthur. In the end, no one can positively define whether Arthur was fact or fiction; the debate will go on through the ages and for many ages to come.

Nennius’ ‘Historia Brittonum’ written in 796-801 AD is the first known historical portrayal of Arthur. In the text, just two pages are dedicated to the Arthurian story, in which a biblical writing style is adopted to portray Arthur as a Christian Warrior. Arthur is recounted as the ‘dux Bellorum’ who led the Britons to 12 heroic victories when ‘The Saxons were waxing strong in numbers’. Nennius goes into particular detail in the battle of ‘Castellum Guinnion’;  adopting statements such as ‘Arthur carried the image of saint Mary, ever virgin on his shoulders and the pagans were put to flight… great slaughter of them… through our lord Jesus Christ’to  portray Arthur as an ambassador for Christianity. Nennius focuses entirely on military conquest and does not portray any other aspect of the figure’s life.

In order to understand why Nennius portrays Arthur as this Christian warrior, one must look into his 8th Century context. Firstly, Nennius’ objective purpose may have influenced his portrayal. Nennius informs us in his opening lines that his purpose was ‘to put to silence a Saxon Scholar who told him that the Britons had no alphabet of their own’; Reactive to this statement AW Wade Evans commented that Nennius’ purpose was ‘merely to put together excerpts or scraps of information, bearing on Britain….which he felt impelled to do’. This is to say that Nennius’ purpose in his entire work was to boast the excellence of the Brittans, and therefore his purpose in portraying Arthur was to symbolise the apparent British superiority by creating an all British warrior. This objective purpose no doubt had implications on the accuracy of Nennius portrayal; as such, heroic descriptions of the figure such as ‘the great slaughter of them [Pagans]’ may well have been exaggerated in order to portray this desired figure, and hence may be historically inaccurate descriptions of Arthur.

Nennius was also influenced by Christianity, this caused him to incorporate Christian teachings in his Arthurian story. Apart from the obvious Christian influence Nennius obtained from his relationship with Eludguys, the simple fact that Nennius wrote during the 8th Century is evidence of his Christian bias. This is because when Nennius was around, all literature was written by Christian Monks. Accordingly, Nennius was obligated to incorporate Christian teachings in his portrayal of Arthur; evidence of this Christian influence can be seen from the biblical writing style Nennius adopts. Therefore, Christian representations of Arthur such as ‘…carried the image of saint Mary on his shoulders’ and ‘great slaughter of them… through our lord Jesus Christ’ may be historically inaccurate. Howlett recently commented on this Christian influence with ‘[the portrayal of Arthur is]…planned by the author in accordance with his Christian aims and methodology’.

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However, as Historia Brittonum is the first known historical portrayal of Arthur, Nennius’ context cannot be proved to have altered his portrayal. Despite this, it is widely accepted that Nennius’ portrayal of Arthur as a Christian warrior was dramatically influenced by his purpose, and his association with Christianity.

Geoffrey of Monmouth’s famous ‘Historia Regum Britanniae’ portrays an Arthur that has been heavily influenced by Geoffrey’s 13th century context. In comparison to Nennius a very different approach to the figure is taken, Geoffrey adopting a more heroic and historically prominent Arthur. Arthur is portrayed not only as a great Christian warrior, ...

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