Exploring Arthurian Britain
What was Britain like in the fifth and sixth centuries? Documentary sources are fragmentary and hard to authenticate. Fertile ground for myth and legend. Most potent are the stories that have grown around King Arthur.
‘Geoffrey of Monmouth’ Exploring Arthurian Britain, 11
Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, written around 1136, is arguably responsible more than any other work for establishing the popular image of King Arthur. Much of the detail familiar from later romantic retellings of the legendary stories make an appearance in Geoffrey’s work, beginning with Arthur’s conception at Tintagel Castle, after Uther Pendragon makes love to Igraine with the help of Merlin’s magic. Geoffrey established an influential character template that later writers developed and expanded to create the idealised Arthur of popular imagination. Some key elements that later became embedded in Arthurian legend do not appear in Geoffrey’s work. There is no Lady of the Lake and Arthur’s sword is called ‘Caliburnus’ not Excalibur. It was the Jersey-born cleric and poet Wace who changed the name of the sword to Excalibur and introduced other elements, including the Round Table, in his ‘Deeds of the Britons’. Examination of the 18-feet diameter round table that hangs in the Great Hall at Winchester in the mid-1970s produced a dendrochronology date for felling of the timbers of between 1250 and 1280, suggesting it was constructed for Edward I.
A translation of The History of the Kings of Britain by Aaron Thomson with revisions by J.A. Giles [1999] has been used for reference
‘File:Geoffrey of Monmouth at Tintern Station (geograph 6023609).jpg’ by Colin Cheesman is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
‘Tintagel Castle - geograph.org.uk - 3334431.jpg’ by David P Howard is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons [[File:Tintagel Castle - geograph.org.uk - 3334431.jpg|Tintagel_Castle_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3334431]]
‘Merlin by Louis Rhead.jpg’ by Louis Rhead is public domain via Wikimedia Commons [[File:Merlin by Louis Rhead.jpg|Merlin_by_Louis_Rhead]]
‘File:Battle Between King Arthur and Sir Mordred - William Hatherell.jpg’ is public domain via Wikimedia Commons
‘Le morte d-arthur-201.gif’ is public domain via Wikimedia Commons [[File:Le morte d-arthur-201.gif|Le_morte_d-arthur-201]]
‘File: The_Lady_of_the_Lake_by_Speed_Lancelot’ is public domain via Wikimedia Commons
‘Arthur-Pyle Excalibur the Sword.JPG’ by Howard Pyle is public domain via Wikimedia Commons
‘Frank William Warwick Topham Voyage of King Arthur and Morgan Le Fay to the Isle of Avalon 1888.jpg’ is public domain via Wikimedia Commons [[File:Frank William Warwick Topham Voyage of King Arthur and Morgan Le Fay to the Isle of Avalon 1888.jpg|Frank_William_Warwick_Topham_Voyage_of_King_Arthur_and_Morgan_Le_Fay_to_the_Isle_of_Avalon_1888]]
‘Winchester - Table ronde du roi Arthur.JPG’ by Christopher Finot is Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons [[File:Winchester - Table ronde du roi Arthur.JPG|Winchester_-_Table_ronde_du_roi_Arthur]]
‘Harley1808-f030-Brutus(detail)-vs-giants.jpg’ is public domain via Wikimedia Commons [[File:Harley1808-f030-Brutus(detail)-vs-giants.jpg|Harley1808-f030-Brutus(detail)-vs-giants]]
‘Defeat of the Saxons by Arthur.jpg’ is public domain via Wikimedia Commons [[File:Defeat of the Saxons by Arthur.jpg|Defeat_of_the_Saxons_by_Arthur]]
‘File:Arthur Leading the Charge at Mount Badon.png’ is public domain via Wikimedia Commons
‘Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond from the air - geograph.org.uk - 4663954.jpg’ by Thomas Nugent is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons [[File:Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond from the air - geograph.org.uk - 4663954.jpg|Loch_Lomond_and_Ben_Lomond_from_the_air_-_geograph.org.uk_-_4663954]]
‘Caerleon, amphitheatre - geograph.org.uk - 5040191.jpg’ by Mike Faherty is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons [[File:Caerleon, amphitheatre - geograph.org.uk - 5040191.jpg|Caerleon,_amphitheatre_-_geograph.org.uk_-_5040191]]