O King Arthur is a literary character in medieval British culture.
Although there is no historical proof that it ever existed, the figure of Arthur inspired novels, films, musicals, video games and is still alive in the 21st century.
Origin of Legend
King Arthur's stories are set at a time when the Britons ruled Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries. The Britons were the Celts who had adopted the customs of the Romans when they inhabited the island.
In addition to having to face an external enemy, the Saxons, the British people fought among themselves to form alliances.
The reports of King Arthur, also called Arthurian Cycle, has as a backdrop the High Middle Ages, when Brittany is being Christianized. Therefore, pagan beliefs and magic coexist with the celebrations proper to Christians.
Thus, there are references to magicians like Merlin, priestesses like Viviane and Morgana, as well as Catholic churches, monasteries and priests.
Birth of King Arthur
Arthur was the eldest son of Uther Pendragon and Duchess Ingraine, married to Garlois. In turn, Ingraine and Garlois had a daughter, Morgana.
Unlike Arthur, Pendragon's existence is proven. However, it is not known if the facts that were narrated about him could be without truth.
Uther Pendragon fell hopelessly in love with Ingraine and to win her over, he took advantage of the absence of Garlois, who was on the battlefield.
He asks Merlin to help him change his appearance and get the same features as Garlois. In return, the boy who is born from this union will be educated by the magician. So when he arrives at the castle, Ingraine thinks it's her husband who has returned.
Then they bring in Garlois' body and Ingraine realizes she has been tricked. However, it is late, and the next day she marries Pendragon. Nine months later Arthur is born.
Arthur is born and brought up to be raised in Sir Ector's court where no one would know his identity. Always under Merlin's eye, Arthur grows up as Ector's son Kay's squire.
Arthur, King of the Britons
In a British forest there was a stone with the following inscription:
anyone to extract
this sword of this stone
will be king of england
by birthright
On the day Kay is knighted, his sword breaks and young Arthur runs off to fetch another weapon. He sees a sword embedded in a stone and doesn't hesitate to pick it up.
As he hands the sword to Kay, his adoptive father recognizes the weapon and asks Arthur to take them where he found it. Upon arrival, he thrusts the sword back into the stone and once again manages to draw the sword with ease and is recognized by his peers as sovereign.
He would participate in twelve battles in which he leads his army to victory.
Marriage and Children
Arthur was introduced to ancient pagan rituals and swears to protect these peoples. At one of these parties, he ends up having sex with his half-sister Morgana and begets a son, Mordred. Other sources place Mordred as Arthur's nephew.
However, in order to strengthen his alliances with Catholic feudal lords, he marries Princess Guinevere. Known for her beauty and piety, the queen, however, falls in love with Arthur's best friend, the knight Lancelot.
Although he collects victories in his battles, Arthur and Guinevere cannot have an heir. Guinevere believes this is her punishment for wanting another man, while Arthur thinks the problem lies with him.
Death of King Arthur
King Arthur participated in the Battle of Camelot when he is mortally wounded by Mordred. However, this one is also killed by Arthur.
The king asks his squire, Sir Bevedere, to take him to the edge of a lake and there throw the sword Excalibur. He does and the Lady of the Lake's hand appears to pick it up.
Then the priestesses of Avalon appear on a vessel to take Arthur to the island where he would be treated.
round table
The Knights of the Round Table were 12, they should be men of pure heart and live in accordance with Christian precepts. The meeting place was Camelot.
The word tavolo it means table in Italian and this name was established in Brazilian Portuguese. The shape was round to show that none of them were more important than the others.
Here is the list of members of the Round Table:
- Kay
- Lancelot
- gaheris
- bedivere
- Lamorak of Galis
- Gawain
- Galahad
- Tristan
- Gareth,
- Percival
- boors
- Geraint
In one of the meetings, the knights had a vision of the holy grail, the chalice where Jesus Christ would have used it at the Last Supper. This triggers a race among the knights to see who would find the sacred object.
However, only three knights manage to reach the goal: Boors, Perceval and Galahad.
Adventures to seek the Grail are told in Lancelot Proses, whose accounts are written in the middle of the Crusades. So it was a way to encourage the knights to fight in the Holy Land.
Did King Arthur Exist?
It is very likely that Arthur did not exist, or if he did, it is almost certain that there was not a confraternity like the Round Table.
The sources dealing with the life of this king were written over five hundred years after the events narrated and it is difficult to distinguish the veracity due to the lack of other documents to contrast their information.
Anyway, here are the medieval writings about King Arthur:
- History of the Kingdom of Brittany, by Geoffrey of Monmouth, written in 1135-38.
- Lancelot, the chariot rider, by Chretien de Troyes, dating from the 12th century.
- Lancelot Proses or Vulgate Cycle, by Robert de Baron, written around 1225.
Later, works such as Arthur's Death, by Thomas Maoly, from 1485 and the poem king's idylls, by Alfred Tennyson, released in 1859, would add new data about the characters of the Arthurian Cycle.
The legends of King Arthur interested several American writers who made illustrated versions and popularized the myth. Titles like King Arthur and his Knights, by Howard Pyle, from 1903, presented the novel to the American public.
Curiosities
- The story of King Arthur gained new interpretations in the nineteenth century, in full Victorian age.
- In the 20th century, King Arthur was more alive than ever through cinema and comic books.
- American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley retold the legend of Arthur from a female perspective in the work The Mists of Avalon.
read more:
- barbarian peoples
- Paganism
- High Middle Ages
- UK
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