King Arthur in Literature and History

King Arthur in Literature and History

King Arthur is the greatest of British literary heroes, although little is known about the real person. Little real historical information is left, only texts, chronicles, verses, myths, fragments of epic poems, inscriptions, symbols, graven images and graffiti. Although these writings can be interesting literature, they lack factual evidence and are obscure in details. It is not even possible to say that a real Arthur even existed, for the records of his existence go back to the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries AD, when the Welsh and English kingdoms which were to replace Roman government were only beginning (Hero and Legend, 1).

Chroniclers tell us that the fifth century in Britain was a morbid time of slaughter and death. The Britons then were the Celtic people, the modern ancestors of the Welsh. They were on the island for a thousand years, and had formed a major part of the Roman Empire and their educated classes of clergy and aristocracy spoke Latin as well as an early form of Welsh called Brythonic. Although a racially Celtic, the Britons saw themselves as politically and culturally part of the Roman Empire, which was quickly collapsing (Day, 10).

The Battle of Adrianople, which happened decades earlier in 375, was the beginning of the invasion of the barbaric horsemen from the East. At Adrianople, the Visigoth cavalry destroyed the Roman Emperor Valen's infantry. After Adrianople, horseman would domionated warfare in Europe for a thousand years. The age of the more-mounted warriors, beginning the age of "chivalry." It was also the end of the Empire. The Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Lombards, Franks, Slavs, Burgundians and Vandals demolished the Roman legions. By 407, R...

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...e really is, is a major part of history and literature. For Arthur to be forgotten in literature would be impossible, as it is one of the greatest but most baffling stories in history.

Bibliography:

Works Cited

"Arthurian Legend." Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia. CD-ROM

Barber, Richard. King Arthur: in Legend and History. Ipswich, Suffolk: The Boydell Press Ltd. 1973

Barber, Richard. King Arthur: Hero and Legend. Woodbridge, Suffolk. The Boydell Press Ltd. 1986

Berthold, Paul. "Arthur-Man or Myth." In Britain November 1997

Day, David. The Search for King Arthur. New York: Facts on File, 1995

Goodrich, Norma Lorne. King Arthur. New York: Franklin Watts. 1986

Lacy, Noris J. The Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York: Peter Bedrick Books. 1986.

Morris, John. The Age of Arthur. New York: Charles Scribners Song, 1973