The true story of King Arthur. King Arthur - biography, facts from life, photos, background information
King Arthur- a cyclical character of the British epic and chivalric novels, the legendary leader of the 6th century, who unified Britain under his rule.
Arthur's biography is known from the historical work of Galfried of Monmouth "The History of the Kings of Britain" (XII century). Although Arthur is mentioned there as the real historical king, the very veracity of this chronicle is questioned by historians. Subsequently, such authors as Chretien de Troyes (XII century) and Thomas Malory (XV century) wrote about Arthur, in whose works there is a significant proportion of fiction. It was these three authors who formed modern performance about King Arthur and his knights.
Arthur, according to tradition, was the son of Uther Pendragon and the pupil of the wizard and sage Merlin. Arthur got his right to the crown thanks to the fact that he drew a magic sword from a stone. Arthur gathered at his court all the greatest and noblest knights of the Round Table, about whose deeds many legends have survived.
Arthur's court was located in Camelot, where knights gathered at a round table: Lancelot, Persifal, Gawain, Galahad, Vigamur, Ector, Kay and many others. Such characters as Tristan and Isolde also adjoin the cycle of Arthurian legends. The core dramatic plot of the story of King Arthur is adultery of his wife Guinevere and the most outstanding of all knights - Lancelot, which ultimately led to the death of all the characters. The main ideological plot is the search by the knights of the Round Table for a bowl called the Holy Grail.
According to legend, Arthur died in a battle with the troops of his nephew Mordred, who was the son of his sister Morgause from her alleged incest with Arthur himself. It is believed that the mortally wounded Arthur was transferred to the island of Avalon - an analogue of the Celtic paradise, and in difficult times for Britain, he may return. Arthur's other sister is the famous Morgan fairy (often these two female characters are combined).
In Russia, King Arthur is known largely thanks to the humorous novel by Mark Twain "The Connecticut Yankees at the Court of King Arthur."
A possible prototype for the character was Lucius Artorius Castus, Prefect of the VI "Victorious" Legion in Britain.
The plot of the legend
Arthur's birth
Arthur is the son of the King of Logria (Britain) Uther Pendragon. According to legend, Uther was inflamed with love for Duchess Igraine Tintagel and killed her old husband in a duel. All this intrigue was organized by the magician Merlin, who demanded to give him the baby for upbringing as payment. A few years later, Uther was poisoned by his entourage and the country was left without a king. Merlin kidnapped the baby and put a spell on him, giving him strength, courage, etc. positive traits... Then the sorcerer gave Arthur to be raised by the old knight Sir Ector.
Arthur becomes king
Twenty years later, Merlin and the Bishop of Canterbury in London presented to the assembled knights a sword stuck in a stone, which bore the inscription: "Whoever pulls this sword out of the stone is rightfully the king of Britain." None of the kings and barons were able to draw the sword. It was accidentally taken out by young Arthur, who was looking for a sword for his named older brother Sir Kay. Merlin revealed to the young man the secret of his origin and proclaimed Arthur king, but the rulers of the neighboring kingdoms, aiming at the throne of Uther, refused to recognize him and went to war against the young Pendragon. Only with the help of the overseas commanders Ban and Bors, Arthur defended his throne and began to rule, making the city of Camelot his capital.
After the Sword of Stone broke in the king's duel with Sir Pelinor, Merlin promised the young monarch a new miracle sword. It was forged by the elves of Lake Vatelin and handed over to Arthur with the condition: to bare it only in the name of a just cause and return it to them when the time comes. The sword, called Excalibur, struck without a miss, and its scabbard defended better than any armor.
Arthur managed to gather the best knights of the Earth in Camelot, and so that there would be no strife between them because of the high and low places, he ordered the Round Table to be made. Soon, Arthur married young Guinevere, the daughter of the King of Laudegrance, who had been saved by him. However, the marriage was childless.
Queen's betrayal and the outbreak of war
Once Guinevere was kidnapped by the robber baron Sir Meligrance while walking. Lancelot, one of the best knights of the Round Table, without waiting for help broke into the castle of Meligrance, freed the queen and finished off the villain. An affair broke out between him and the saved lady, and Guinevere cheated on her husband.
This was learned by the insidious Mordred, the nephew (and, according to rumors, the illegitimate son) of Arthur. He reported treason to the king. Arthur sent Mordred with a squad to arrest Lancelot and Guinevere. The queen was threatened with execution at the stake for her transgression, but Lancelot freed the queen from custody, at the same time mistakenly killing the unarmed nephews of King Gareth Beloruchka and Gaheris. Arthur went in pursuit of the fugitives across the sea, leaving Mordred as governor. Taking the opportunity, the insidious bastard usurped power and proclaimed himself king. Sir Gawain, who tried to restore order, was killed.
Death of Arthur
Upon learning of the turmoil in Britain, Arthur returned from across the sea. The troops of the king and the impostor met at Kammlan Field for negotiations. But during the meeting, the snake bit one of the knights and he drew his sword, which became a signal for an attack on both sides. In the great battle that broke out in Cammlan, the entire army of Britain was killed. The traitor Mordred fell, impaled by Arthur's spear, but he himself mortally wounded his father.
The dying king asked Sir Bedivere to return the Excalibur sword to the Lady of the Lake. Then he himself was taken on a barge by sad ladies to the island of Avalon. According to legend (similar to the prophecy of the Second Coming), Arthur dozes on Avalon, waiting for the day of great need, when he wakes up from his sleep to save Britain.
Merlin's prophecy
After the death of Arthur, the Saxons still captured Britain. Merlin prophesied, predicting the fall of the White Dragon (the symbol of the Saxons). Merlin's prophecy came true during the Battle of Hastings, when William the Conqueror killed the last Saxon king Harold and the White Dragon of the Saxons fell.
Probable historical prototypes
Historical Arthur, apparently, was "Dux bellorum"- the leader or military leader of the post-Roman times, although he is not mentioned by any historian of that period.
According to one version, he is identified with the Celtic king Ryotamus. But it seems that the legendary Arthur is most likely a "composite" character, combining elements of biography and achievements of various historical figures.
The first Latin chronicle to mention the name "Arthur" is the Historia Britonum. It is believed to have been completed in 800 AD. NS. by a Welsh named Nennius. This work was written in Latin, but many scholars believe that Nennius relied on the folk traditions of Wales for the creation of "The Twelve Battles of Arthur". Artorius is a name of Roman origin, although it may also be Celtic, derived from artos, which means bear, or arto, horde.
However, the first consistent account of King Arthur's life appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's bizarre Historia Regum Britanniae. This work brings together the work of Nennius and elements of Welsh folklore; with additional inclusions from later works, it served as the skeleton of the cultural myth about Arthur, known today, its main characters and events.
The image of Arthur is presumably collective, and different prototypes correspond to different episodes of the legend:
- The Roman commander Lucius Artorius Castus (the exact dates of his life are not known, he was listed in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, and then Commodus), who headed the auxiliary cavalry unit of the Legion VI Victrix (Legio VI Victrix);
- Roman Ambrose Aurelian - mentioned in the essay "On the Ruin of Britain" by the British author of the 6th century. Gilda, as having successfully defeated the Saxons at the Battle of Mount Badon;
- Charlemagne with his 12 Paladins.
Andrzej Sapkowski in King Arthur's World writes:
The expansion of the Saxons in 443-505 suddenly stalled, trampled on the spot. Something happened. Something happened that "pacified" the Saxons so much that they transformed from robbers and aggressors into settlers who cultivate the land in the eastern part of the Island.
The first mentions that may indirectly relate to Arthur appear in the writings of the Welsh cleric Gilda (516? - 570th).
From this we can conclude that King Arthur lived around 500 AD. NS.
King Arthur
“... In the drawing we give an image of a cross from the tomb, which is considered today as the tomb of King Arthur. The inscription on it is of great interest. You can consider it written in Latin: "Here rests ..." and so on. At the same time, it can be considered that the inscription begins with the Greek word NICIA, that is, NIKEA, or NIKA, which means WINNER in Greek. Further, it is extremely curious to see how the name of King Arthur is represented in the inscription. We see that it is written like this: REX ARTU RIUS... That is, KING OF THE HORDE RUS or KING OF THE RUSSIAN HORDE... Note that ART and RIUS are separated from each other, recorded as two separate words ... Later, apparently, starting from the 18th century, the king's name began to be written in a new way, like ARTURIUS, combining two words together, ORDA and RUS ... And, thus, slightly obscuring the rather clear Russian-Horde origin of this title-name ... "
Slavic-Aryans in ancient times lived in the territory of foggy Albion and had a decisive influence on the culture and customs of the local people. V last years historians of the United Kingdom were forced to admit it ...
In 2004, Hollywood released a new version of the story about the world famous King Arthur, the main character of the ancient British epic, the legendary leader of the Britons, who defeated the Saxon conquerors in the 5th century AD. King Arthur's director Antoine Fuqua's version shocked audiences with an unexpected interpretation of the canonical plot.
In the film, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are in the service of Rome and are a kind of special forces guarding the westernmost borders of the Roman Empire in the province of Britain from the Saxon raids. The most shocking detail in the film's plot is the origins of the famous knights. They turned out to be "barbarians" - Sarmatians from the steppes Northern Black Sea region.
Probably, it is not worth saying that such a seditious interpretation of the usual native British events was received in the West, and in Russia, with indignation. Critics have placed the film in the category of "cranberry", on a par with the pseudo-historical "Gladiator". Their reaction is understandable. Since childhood, everyone was brought up on the fact that King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table, the wizard Merlin and the Lady of the Lake are the aborigines of foggy Albion and the exclusive property of British history. It seems that there is nothing more English, and for a more enlightened public - Celtic, than the legends about the mysterious city of Camelot and the magic sword Excalibur.
What do we see in the film? A complete mockery of the "sacred" symbols of Britain. Noble English knights wear "barbaric" Sarmatian military vestments, profess their "barbaric" faith and shout their battle cry before an attack in an equally "barbaric" way "RU-U-U-S!"
There is something to come to bewildered irritation.
However, having abandoned emotions, indignant critics were nevertheless forced to admit that there is no real, documentary evidence of the existence of King Arthur... Information about him was not preserved either in state decrees, or in his lifetime chronicles or private letters. However, about many events of those "dark" centuries, only scattered rumors have come down to us, recorded from hearsay many centuries later. So the Arthurian story in the form in which we know it was finally formalized in 1139 (more than 500 years after the alleged events), when Bishop Galfried of Monmouth completed "History of the Kings of Britain" in twelve volumes, two of which were dedicated to Arthur. It was there that he was first named king.
Despite the fact that for the overwhelming majority of Britons the idea that the legends of King Arthur are based on the myths of the Sarmatian tribes from the Northern Black Sea region is almost sacrilegious, it was the English historians who refuted the traditional version.
In 2000, the book was published in New York and London Scott Littleton and Linda Melko (L. Malcor and S. Littleton)"From Scythia to Camelot: A Thorough Revision of the Legends of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table and the Holy Grail" (From Scythia to Camelot: Radical Reassessment of the Legends of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table and the Holy Grail)... The book caused a real sensation. The authors investigated the parallels between the legendary epics of the ancient British and the Narts, which researchers trace back to the ancient inhabitants of the Black Sea steppes: the Scythians, Sarmatians and Alans, and convincingly proved the Scythian-Sarmatian basis most of the basic elements of the Arthurian cycle.
For example, one of the key elements of Arturiana is the cult of the sword: Arthur removes it from the stone, and therefore is recognized as the full-fledged king of Britain; the sword is given to him by the Lady of the lake and then again receives it back, etc. It is known that the Alans worshiped the god of war in the form of a sword set in the ground, and the sword of Batraz, the protagonist of the Nart epic, after death is thrown into the sea, and it is picked up by a hand emerging from the waves. The image of King Arthur is associated with the symbol of the dragon. It was dragons that were used on the standards of the warlike Sarmatians and Alans as a tribal symbol.
But when could Slavic myths penetrate British territory?
The answer to this question is given by a doctor of anthropology from the University of Cambridge and an ethnographer Howard Reid (Howard Reid)... In 2001, his book King Arthur - The Dragon King: How the Barbarian Nomad Became Britain's Greatest Hero was published (Arthur the Dragon King: How a Barbarian Nomad Became Britains Greatest Hero)... He studied 75 primary sources and came to the conclusion that the legends of King Arthur, Queen Guinerva, the wizard Merlin, the Knights of the Round Table go back to the history of the Rus who lived in the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region. Reed drew attention to the objects with images of dragons stored in the St. Petersburg Hermitage; these items were found in the graves of nomadic warriors in Siberia and date back to 500 BC. Dragons similar to the Sarmatians are noted in an illustrated Irish manuscript written around 800. By the way, the British cavalry is still called dragoons today. (dragoons).
Reed states that the first squads tall, fair-haired riders, protected by metal armor, under banners depicting dragons appeared in the Roman army in Britain in 175. Then about 5500 Sarmatian mercenaries arrived on the island. It was they and their descendants who gave the basis for the legend of Arthur.
It is known that neither the Celts nor the Britons had professional cavalry, but the Russians did. Back in the 1st century AD Plutarch colorfully described the heavily armed cavalry, the so-called cataphracts, which formed the core of the Sarmatian horsemen: "... themselves in helmets and armor made of Marcanian, dazzlingly sparkling steel, their horses in copper and iron armor."
The Byzantine Encyclopedic Dictionary of the X century described in great detail the combat power of the Cataphracts. Neither the Romans nor the autochthonous tribes of foggy Albion had anything like this in the 5th, 6th or even 7th centuries of our era. Cataphracts were not known in Europe until the arrival of the eastern "barbarians" there, which means another shock for fans of chivalric romances - the origins of medieval European knighthood should be sought in the east, in the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region.
Reed suggests that the prototype of King Arthur could have been the leader (king) of the Alans (rex alanorum) Eohar (Eothar) or Goar, who lived in the 5th century and was an ally of the Romans in Gaul for 40 years. By the way, the author notes that the word "Alan" may be derived from the word "Aryan", which meant "noble" and which today is given a certain racial stereotype, surprisingly coinciding with the description of the ancient Alans, as tall, stately blondes with fierce blue or green eyes.
By the time the Romans gradually abandoned their possessions, the Sarmatians (Alans) had already become influential landowners, while fully retaining their martial law and influence, maintaining their fame as the best cavalry in the world. The Sarmato-Alans held a high position in Europe in power until the XII century. Among them were many bishops and even one saint named Alan. Many noble European surnames bore the same name. At least until the beginning of the 10th century AD, the counts of Brittany were called Alanus... By the way, Wilgelm the conqueror, the one who conquered Britain in the 11th century, claimed that his Breton mother was descended from King Arthur, and invited the Breton Count Alan the Red (Alan the Red) lead his cavalry at the Battle of Hastings, where many high-ranking nobles fought, who also bore the name Alan.
French historian Bernard Bachrach wrote the book "The History of Alan in the West", in which he argued that the emergence of medieval chivalry, the West is obliged, first of all, Scythian-Sarmatians, whose role in the conquest of Europe in the "dark" ages is ignored by modern scientists, despite the fact that they lived for a long time in the territory of modern France, invaded Italy, entered Spain together with the vandals and conquered Africa. In the book, he notes that “... the highest circles of medieval society considered horse hunting with the pursuit of an animal as the main sport. Hunting of this kind was a part of the life of the Alans during their nomadic days, and, perhaps, having become landowners in the early Middle Ages in Europe, they continued to hunt deer and wolves for pleasure rather than for food, as it was before ".
It is worth remembering that to this day the traditional fun of the English aristocrats is hunting foxes.
On the basis of the above arguments of serious European scientists, one can make an unambiguous conclusion, which these scientists themselves were ashamed to draw, due to the political engagement of historical science. This conclusion sounds very simple: the famous English king Arthur was a Slav- a Sarmatian warrior, and all of Europe in ancient times spoke Russian and was inhabited by Slavs, who came there from Southern Siberia after the onset of a cold snap.
Modern researchers consider it quite probable that King Arthur had a historical prototype from legends and novels, possibly one of the leaders of the Britons who led the uprising against the Saxon invaders at the beginning of the 6th century, but it has not yet been possible to confirm its existence.
The legendary king, the hero of Celtic folk legends and later medieval knightly novels, the ideal leader of the Knights of the Round Table and the living embodiment of chivalric ideals - honor, valor, courage, moral nobility and, in the case of the medieval epic, courtesy. Modern researchers consider it quite probable that King Arthur had a historical prototype from legends and novels, possibly one of the leaders of the Britons who led the uprising against the Saxon invaders at the beginning of the 6th century, but it has not yet been possible to confirm its existence. Different literary sources name different times of King Arthur's life and associate him with different eras and cultures, from the ancient Britons to the ancient Romans. In the 19th century, there was a significant surge of interest in Arthurian subjects, and in the 20th century, thanks to cinema and television, the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table found a second life, and the number of films, TV series, plays, novels, computer games and even musicals are incalculable.
The name Arthur is still a subject of controversy. It has etymological connections with the Celtic word "artos", meaning both "bear" and "warrior". Among the Celtic goddesses is a bear named Artio. Perhaps the form "Arthur" was derived from "Arto-rix", i.e. "king of warriors", having changed a lot over time. Historians note that there was a sharp rise in popularity in the 6th century different forms named Arthur (Arzur, Arzul ", Arthus, Artus or Arthur), which suggests that there was a certain person who left an indelible impression on his contemporaries.
Today, the origins of the Arthurian legends have multiple origins. The first hypothesis is Welsh, based on the fact that King Arthur first appears in Welsh legends. According to her, Arthur was born around 470-475 somewhere in Wales, but the exact location of his capital, Camelot, remains a mystery. He did take part in the fight against the Saxons, but was never crowned. Perhaps he was a major military leader and fought under the banner of the kings of the ancient Britons.
The second version considers the prototype of King Arthur to the Roman general Lucius Artorius Castus, who lived in the 2nd century AD, who, apparently, served in Britain (Britain) and participated in the defense of Hadrian's Wall (Hadrian's Wall) But this version is very shaky.
And, finally, the following hypothesis logically suggests that in the image of King Arthur, over time, the features of several ancient British kings and princes, who bore this name, which were quite common among the Celtic aristocracy, were combined.
The earliest mentions of King Arthur, in the Welsh poem Y Gododdin, date back to the late 6th or early 7th century. Later, both historians and bards wrote about him, but the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table took their modern form already in the Middle Ages, when the courtly novels of Chrétien de Troyes, Wolfram von Eschenbach and other authors. The final completeness of King Arthur's universe came in the 15th century by Sir Thomas Malory with his eight-novel epic Le Morte D "arthur.
So, Arthur's father was King Uther Pendragon, who laid eyes on someone else's wife, Duchess Igraine. He lay down with Igreina in the guise of her husband, the Duke of Gorlois, aided by the wizard Merlin, who demanded the baby as payment for his services. After the death of the Duke, Uther married Ygraine, but they had no more sons. Merlin gave Arthur to be raised by the noble and kind Sir Ector, who raised the adoptive as his own son. After Uther's death, the royal throne was left with no heir, and the sovereign lords gathered in the capital to elect a new king. Sir Ector with his son Kay and Arthur also headed to the capital.
The cunning Merlin placed the sword in the stone, and on the stone inscribed: "Whoever draws this sword is the king of Britain." At the tournament, Sir Kay, who was several years older than Arthur, broke his sword, and he sent Arthur, his squire, for a spare. Arthur could not find a spare, and then he pulled the sword out of the stone, thus becoming the king of Britain. Merlin revealed the secret of his origin and after checking - none of the lords could pull out the sword, again placed in the stone, and only Arthur did it easily - young Arthur was crowned in the presence of the most influential and famous lords of Britain.
He ruled for a long time, fighting against injustice in any of its manifestations, and saved the country from disastrous civil strife. His sword, which struck without a miss, had its own name - Excálibur. The beautiful Guinevere became his wife. Arthur gathered around him the most famous, brave and noble knights of his time, called the Knights of the Round Table - the table was really round, so that everyone sitting at it was equal. Alas, the best of people are not immune from betrayal, as it happened with King Arthur. Guinevere's betrayal with Lancelot led to a mutiny that destroyed the entire army of Britain. King Arthur fell in the last battle. True, the legend says that Arthur did not die - he was seriously wounded, he was taken to the magical island of Avalon. In an hour of great need, Arthur will wake up and come to the aid of Britain at the head of the greatest army.
Name: King Arthur
Country: United Kingdom
Creator: mythology
Activity: king of the kingdom, the legendary leader of the Britons
Family status: was married
King Arthur: character story
The epic of gloomy medieval England was illuminated by the wonderful era of the reign of King Arthur. A noble knight, a wise ruler and a valiant commander gave the country years of peace and stability. The character became the embodiment of chivalric ideals, uniting the best warriors at the Round Table under the auspices of honor, courage and loyalty to the kingdom. Dozens of books, films, theatrical performances and even musicals are dedicated to the legend of Celtic traditions.
History
The mythology of England is as rich as the treasury of legends about the glorious heroes of ancient Scandinavia, Germany, Russia and Finland. King Arthur, first appearing in the 600s, has taken a firm place in folk and literary creativity.
The researchers still fail to agree on who was the prototype of Arthur, they put forward three main versions. Some see the origin of the character in Welsh legends, in which a warrior born in Wales, although he was seen in fights with the Saxons, never took the throne. Others argue that the prototype was Lucius Artorius Castus, a Roman general. Still others refer to the identity of the conqueror of the Saxons in the fight at Badon Ambrose Aurelian, also a Roman.
A shaky, but still, proof is that the peak of the popularity of the name Arthur fell in the 6th century, that is, then, most likely, there lived a legendary personality who aroused sympathy among his contemporaries. Despite hypotheses about the roots of the hero, it is generally accepted that the British king is a collective image, combining the biographies of different military men and rulers.
The details of the autocrat's life also differ among the authors, but in general, the main milestones are common. Arthur is the fruit of the adultery of the King of Britain Uther Pendragon with the Duchess Igraine (another variation of the name is Aigir). The wizard helped the king to share the bed with another man's wife, turning Uther into the wife of a lady in exchange for taking the child for upbringing.
The wizard handed the baby over to the kind-hearted and wise knight Ector, who raised the boy as his own son, teaching him military skills.
Uther married his beloved Igraine, but the crowned couple did not manage to give birth to another son. After the poisoning of the autocrat of England, the question arose who would take his place. The cunning wizard Merlin invented a "test" - he sharpened his sword in stone. Whoever pulls it out will be the king. Arthur, who served as a squire for his older brother, easily took out his weapon and unexpectedly ascended the throne. However, the truth about his royal origin the young man found out right there, from Merlin.
King Arthur settled in the legendary Camelot Castle. The building is still looking for fans of "Arturiana", but this is fiction pure water- the castle was invented in the 13th century by the poet and writer Chrétien de Troyes. Camelot has united about a hundred famous knights from all over the world. Warriors Gawain, Percival, Galahad and, of course, Lancelot joined the list of the ruler's friends.
Glorious men went down in history as defenders of the weak and disadvantaged, patrons of ladies, liberators of the lands of the subordinate state from barbarians and invaders, victors mythical creatures and evil magicians. They are also famous for the fact that they were obsessed with the idea of finding the Holy Grail, which bestows immortality on the owner. As a result, the son of Lancelot managed to find the holy thing from which he drank.
The knights gathered at the Round Table. According to one version, the idea of creating a piece of furniture of this form belongs to the wife of King Arthur, according to the other - the table, which equalizes the rights and estates of all who sat at it, was presented to the ruler by Merlin. The wizard often came to Camelot, not only to raise the fighting spirit of the knights, but also for educational purposes - he set them up for good deeds, urged them to avoid lies and betrayal.
The reign of the noble king Arthur, who managed to save the state from internecine wars, dragged on for many years. But the hero's life was cut short by the betrayal of his own family.
Image
In literature, King Arthur appears as the main positive hero, an ideal ruler and a just knight. The character is endowed with noble qualities: courage, valor and kindness are harmoniously combined in his character. He is calm and reasonable, even slow, will never allow a person to be executed without trial and investigation. Arthur pursues the goal of uniting the state, bringing it to a new level of development.
Appearance is interpreted in different ways, even medieval artists did not manage to come to a common view on this issue - the autocrat is depicted as moon-faced, with curly gray hair, or as a thin, dark-haired old man. I would like to believe the authors of novels and films, where Arthur is tall and strong, with a wise look.
The magic sword Excalibur, which replaced the "sword of stone", helped the crowned knight to demonstrate his heroic strength. Once, in a duel with Perinor (an enemy who later became an ally), Arthur broke his weapon, thanks to which he ascended the throne. The wizard Merlin promised a wonderful gift and fulfilled his word - the young king received from the hands of the Lake Fairy a sword forged by the elves of Lake Vatelin.
The magic weapon struck the enemy without missing, but the new owner pledged to use the sword only in the name of good deeds, and when the time came, to return it to the lake, which was done after Arthur's death.
Arthur's conquests
According to legend, Arthur took part in many bloody battles. The author of the first chronicles about the king, the Welsh monk Nennius, describes 12 of the most striking battles with the conquerors. The main triumph of the autocrat was the battle on Mount Badon, where the Britons, under the leadership of the king, defeated the Saxons. In this battle, Arthur, with the help of Excalibur, defeated 960 knights of the opposing side.
The ruler of the Britons managed to defeat the army of Glymory in Ireland, and England then received tribute. For three days, Arthur besieged the Saxons in the Caledonian Forest and eventually escorted the enemies back to Germany. The battle in Pridin also brought victory - Arthur's son-in-law sat on the Norwegian throne.
A family
Putting on the crown, Arthur decided to get married. The choice fell on a beauty, immaculate and feminine " lovely lady Guinevere, daughter of King Laudegrance, once rescued by the autocrat of Britain. The youth's heart melted from the girl's spell at first sight. Married life was overshadowed only by the absence of children - Guinevere bore the curse of infertility received from an evil sorceress, which the couple did not suspect.
However, King Arthur had an illegitimate son, Mordred, and from his half-sister. The magician Merlin, together with the Lady of Lakes, imposed a charm on a young man and a girl so that they did not recognize each other and entered into a love affair. The bastard was raised by evil sorcerers, who put cunning, anger and dreams of power into the boy.
Arthur survived the betrayal of his beloved wife with his friend Lancelot. Betrayal marked the beginning of the fall of the beautiful era of the rule of a just king. While the ruler of Britain was deciding personal matters, chasing the fugitives Lancelot and Guinevere, Mordred seized power into his own hands. The whole army of England fell in the battle on Cammlan field. Arthur fought with the bastard, but a draw came out - the son struck with a spear inflicted a mortal wound on his father.
Books
The reign of the glorious King Arthur is glorified in poetry and novels. The noble autocrat first appeared in Welsh poems in AD 600. how main character folk tales of Wales. The Latin chronicle "History of the Britons" found its continuation in the collection "Histories of the Kings of Britain" authored by Galfrid of Monmouth. So the full story about the life of Arthur saw the light.
Beginning in the Middle Ages, the legends of King Arthur and the valiant knights of the Round Table began to take on a modern form, emerging from the pen of Chrétien de Trois, Wolfram von Eschenbach, and then Thomas Mallory. The character has inspired Alfred Tennyson, Mary Stewart and even co. It is believed that the creators of the fantasy genre were based on British mythology.
Let's note the most iconic books based on the Arthurian epic:
- 1590 - The Fairy Queen by Edmund Spencer
- 1856-1885 - Royal Idylls, Alfred Tennyson
- 1889 - "The Adventures of a Yankee at the Court of King Arthur", Mark Twain
- 1938-1958 - cycle of stories "The King of the Past and the Future", Terence White
- 1982 - "The Mists of Avalon", Marion Zimmer Bradley
- 1975 - "The Mirror of Merlin", Andre Norton
- 2000 - Beyond the Distance of Waves, Robert Asprin
Films and actors
Following the writers, the image of Arthur was taken up by the cinema. The first film with the Lord of the Britons was directed by Richard Thorpe in 1954. Knights of the Round Table, where Mel Ferrer wears Arthur's costume, has won critical acclaim and was nominated for an Oscar and Grand Prix at the Festival de Cannes.
Viewers of the late 70s watched with interest the life of the leader of the knights and the play of actor Andrew Burt in the adventure series The Legend of King Arthur.
Before the beginning of the new millennium, the film industry presented Arturiana fans with seven more films, where various actors starred:
- 1981 - Excalibur (Nigel Terry)
- 1985 - King Arthur (Malcolm McDowell)
- 1995 - "A Yankee Adventure at the Court of King Arthur" (Nick Mancuso)
- 1995 - The First Knight (Sean Connery)
- 2004 - "King Arthur" (Clive Owen played Arthur, Keira Knightley tried on Guinevere's makeup and dress, and Ioan Griffith appeared as Lancelot)
Then the directors decided to take a break, and by 2017, with renewed vigor, they took up the incarnation of the king of the Britons in cinema. The thriller "King Arthur: The Return of Excalibur" was presented in early spring by Anthony Smith. For the main roles, the head of the filming process invited Adam Bayard, Nicola Stewart-Hill, Simon Armstrong.
This premiere was followed by the final trailer for the new film from the director "The Sword of King Arthur", which was presented to the viewer in May 2017. In the guise of Arthur, this time he was. The painting has almost nothing to do with the original concept of the legends of the knights. The main character puts on the mask of the leader of a band of robbers, who seeks to overthrow the autocrat Vortigern. The soundtracks for the film were written by Daniel Pemberton, winner of the 2016 Golden Globe for Best Film Music.
The character has also taken its rightful place in the animation legacy. The Sword in the Stone cartoon based on the book of the same name by Terence White about Arthur's childhood was filmed at the Disney studio. And 30 years later, the hero was portrayed by the artists of Warner Bros in the animated movie The Magic Sword: In Search of Camelot.
- In the 12th century, during the restoration of Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset (England), they stumbled upon a grave, on the cross of which the name of King Arthur was allegedly engraved. In the 16th century, the monastery was abolished, and the burial was hidden under the ruins. Today, tourists are reminded of the possible grave of the great ruler by a tablet.
- In the early 80s, a crater on Mimas, a satellite of the planet Saturn, was named in honor of King Arthur.
- The statistics of the latest movie about the valiant knight are impressive. In the "Sword of King Arthur" involved 40 Excaliburs, and only 10 are forged from metal, the rest are made of plastic. 130 horses took part in the main battle, and a 60-meter long bridge was built in Camelot, so strong that it could withstand a dozen horsemen galloping on it at the same time.
NS Legends about Arthur have been known for over a thousand years. They were told long before the campaigns of the crusaders to the Holy Land, the discovery of America by Columbus and the appearance of the tragedies of William Shakespeare.
The earliest mention of Arthur's name is preserved in the Welsh poem And Gododdin, created after the Battle of Katraete around 600. The bard Aneirin reported that a warrior named Gwaurddir cut down many enemies and left them to be devoured by the crows, "although he was not Arthur." Without a doubt, by the seventh century, Arthur was known as a knight unparalleled on the battlefield. At least the listeners of Aneirin's poem knew about him.
But who was Arthur? As a historical person, he raises a lot of questions and doubts. Judging by the early chronicles, he was not a king at all. Arthur fought side by side with the kings of the Britons, but the chroniclers portray him as dux bellorum, "The leader of the Britons", that is, the military leader. When the Romans withdrew from Britain in the fifth century, the Britons had to fend off the invasions of the Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Picts and Scots. The real Arthur is most likely remembered as the great military strategist who led the British struggle against the invaders. According to legend, he won many victories in the battles for the independence of his land. On the basis of fragmentary historical evidence, from time to time, various versions of the description of Arthur's personality appeared. He was portrayed as a warrior of the Bronze Age, and a Welsh military leader, and a northern Briton trained in the Roman cavalry, and a descendant of a Roman-Sarmatian warrior, and a Roman general who became emperor, and the ruler (or military leader) of the ancient Scottish kingdom of Dal Riada.
However, the Welsh clergyman Galfrid of Monmouth actually immortalized the name of Arthur, who wrote about him in 1135, five hundred years after the alleged life of our hero, the epoch-making work "Historia Regum Britanniae", "History of the Kings of Britain". Galfrid collected all the known legends and tales about Arthur, reworked them and for the first time created the full-blooded image of King Arthur, as we know him today. In the era of Galfried of Monmouth, his work drew harsh criticism as pure fiction and fantasy. Nevertheless, The History of the Kings of Britain gained great popularity and spawned a whole genre of literature in the Middle Ages.
Uther Pendragon had a passion for Igraine, wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, the most beautiful lady in all of Britain. Uther loved her madly, but he could not crush the castle defenses. Merlin helped him sneak into the citadel disguised as a duke and spend the night with Igreina. She succumbed to the deception, deciding that her husband was next to her, and that night Arthur was conceived. When Arthur was born, Merlin took the child and gave it to Sir Ector, who raised him with his son Kay, passing them on to the art of chivalry.
In the fifteenth century, the epic poem The Death of Arthur was written in captivity by Sir Thomas Malory. He reworked and rearranged the Arthurian legends in his own way, creating a completely original version. His interpretation of the history of King Arthur and his knights, in turn, influenced subsequent poets, writers and artists such as Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Mark Twain, Terence White, T.S. Eliot, William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
The details vary from work to work, but the general outline of the story of Arthur's life is preserved. The birth of Arthur is directly related to the sorcery of the wizard Merlin.
The king of the Britons, Uther Pendragon, gathered all the knights and barons for the celebration of Easter. Among the guests was Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. He brought his beautiful wife Igraine with him to the court, and King Uther, barely seeing her, was inflamed with an irresistible desire for intimacy with her. His passion turned out to be so overt that Gorlois was forced to leave the banquet, return to Cornwall, hide his wife in Tintagel Castle and prepare for war. King Uther pursued Gorlois and laid siege to Tintagel Castle.
The fortress was located on a rocky promontory protruding far into the sea. The impregnable citadel of Gorlois could be defended by three people against an entire army. Uther, exhausted with passion, begged Merlin to help him. The wizard, with the help of magic, gave the king the guise of a duke, and Uther easily infiltrated the castle and took possession of Igreina. She conceived a child that night.
Gorlois died, and Uther convinced Igraine to marry him, since he was the father of the unborn baby. But Uther died before his son was born. Arthur was born when a storm broke out and the waves rushed furiously on the rocks that held Tintagel Castle. As soon as the baby was weaned, Merlin took the boy away. Igraine stayed with her daughter Feya Morgana, Arthur's half-sister, to mourn their departed husbands.
Tintagel, Tintagel, Tint "agel. With the light hand of translators who know nothing about the Cornish language, in Russian it is called Tintagel or Tintagel. In fact, the name of the castle is read as Tint" agel - with an emphasis on the second syllable. This castle is famous primarily for the fact that it was there that the legendary King Arthur, the son of Igraine and Uther Pendragon, was conceived and born.
Tintagel Castle is located near the town of Tintagel in Cornwall in the southwest of England. The ruins of the castle are located on a high cliff, which is constantly washed away by the sea. If in the past it just stood on the edge of a cliff, now the castle is, in fact, located on two separate rocks. The photos above show the two halves of Tintagel Castle (or rather, what's left of it). From the side of the sea the wind is constantly blowing, and with such force that it seems you can lie down on the wind! To get to any of the parts of the castle, one has to climb long, steep stairs. But of course, the ruins themselves are very picturesque.
Tintagel Castle ruins.
Miraculously preserved doorway with a coat of arms. The castle was built next to a settlement that has existed here since Roman times. The remains of this settlement are also decorated in the form of neat ruins, and all sorts of dangerous places are surrounded by a fence. For example, there is a tunnel in the rock. They are not allowed there, but it is easy to imagine how Merlin and Uther make their way along it to do their dirty deed :)
The wizard gave Arthur to be raised in the house of the noble Sir Ector. Arthur grew up with Kay, the son of Hector, and learned knightly science. Then Britain was going through hard times and did not have a sovereign. Petty princes and barons fought with each other, and the people were waiting for the appearance of a real king who could draw a sword from a stone. The sword in the stone was in the churchyard in London. The weapon was thrust into a heavy blacksmith's anvil and pierced the stone that lay under it. Many knights and barons tried to pull out the blade, but they could not. Only young Arthur managed to do this. When he drew the sword from the stone, he was proclaimed king.
After becoming sovereign, Arthur gathered the most valiant knights to fight the enemies of the Britons. When his sword broke, the Lake Maiden presented him with the magic blade Excalibur. Arthur was sworn allegiance by many rulers and lords of Britain, and he erected the powerful castle of Camelot. The wizard Merlin created the Round Table, at which Arthur's knights met as equals. The Kingdom of the Britons began to live in peace and joy, Arthur ruled it in justice and law. His lands prospered, and the people were content. Arthur wanted love, and he married the virgin Guinevere. Noble Sir Lancelot, best friend Arthur, became the knights of Guinevere, and a secret love affair began between him and the queen. This secretive romance subsequently led to the collapse of the Round Table and the fall of King Arthur.
Arthur removes the sword from the stone. Excalibur.
On Troicine Day, when King Arthur and his knights gathered at the Round Table, a miraculous vision of the Holy Grail appeared before them. Arthur ordered the knights to find the sacred object, and the legendary wanderings began, the search for the Holy Grail. The names of Sir Percival, Sir Gawaine, Sir Lancelot and Sir Galahad are primarily associated with them. Sir Percival met the Fisher King and watched in his castle a mysterious procession with the Holy Grail. Sir Gawaine passed the Sword Bridge and passed the test at Doombed. Sir Lancelot succumbed to the spell of the sorcerer and made love to Elaine of Corbenic, mistaking her for Guinevere. Elaine is the daughter of the Grail King Pelles, a descendant of Joseph of Arimathea. Lancelot and Elaine had a son, Galahad, who was destined to become a perfect knight, king of the city of Sarras and reach the Grail.
The story of King Arthur ended tragically. Another half-sister of Arthur, Morgause, appeared at the court of Camelot and seduced the king. She had a son, Mordred. Fairy Morgana began to plot against Arthur so that the throne would pass to Mordred. Thanks to Morgana's intrigues, Arthur learned about his wife's amorous relationship with Lancelot, and the queen was accused of treason. She was sentenced to be burned at the stake. At the last moment, Lancelot appeared at the place of execution and saved Guinevere from the fire. Lancelot, making his way to her, was forced to fight with his fellow knights and killed the brothers of Sir Gawain. Guinevere was saved, but tormented by remorse and remorse, she left Lancelot and Arthur and retired to a monastery. King Arthur pursued Lancelot, a war broke out between them; seizing the moment, the treacherous Mordred tried to usurp his father's throne.
The last and bloodiest battle took place. The knights of the Round Table, loyal to Arthur, fought with the army of Mordred. Under Camlan, the field was strewn with dead bodies and dying knights; son and father did not yield to each other and fought to the end. Mordred mortally wounded Arthur, but the king managed to finish off the usurper son. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, described the battle as follows:
So the whole day the thunder of battle rumbled
By the winter sea, among the hills,
And to the paladins of the Round Table
The land of Lioness became the grave.
Mortally wounded king
He took the brave Bedivere in his arms -
Sir Bedivere, the last among the living, -
And carried it to the chapel at the edge of the fields.
Ruined altar and ancient cross
Blackened in the wasteland; Ocean
Stretched out to the right, the lake lay down
Levei; the full moon was shining.
In the twelfth century, the monks of Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset allegedly found the grave of Arthur and his queen. They dug up the ground between two stone pyramids and discovered an ancient lead cross with the inscription "Rex Arturius"("King Arthur"). Under the cross was a hollowed-out oak trunk, which contained the remains of a tall man and woman.
The Welsh, descendants of Arthur's Britons, believe that Arthur was not dead or buried. Something unreal or meaningless in Wales is said to be "Unwise, like Arthur's grave." This reflects the long-standing stereotype that Arthur is alive and will one day appear and lead the Britons against the enemy if danger looms over them again.
Some believe that Arthur rests on the enchanted island of Avalon. According to legends throughout Britain, King Arthur and his knights sleep in a hollow hill, awaiting the call to battle. The legendary Arthur is a tragic character, "the king in the past and the king in the future."
King Arthur is one of the most famous mythological heroes in human history. He is known all over the world. Thousands of books have been written about the adventures of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Legends about them are displayed in paintings, stained-glass windows, frescoes, films, musical works, dramatizations and shows, television series, performances, cartoons, comics, computer games and on websites. King Arthur's name is given to theme parks, attractions, tourist attractions, pizzerias, children's toys and board games, thousands of other mass-market products. He became an idol of the mystical movement "New Age" ("New Age"). Places associated with Arthur and his knights, such as Glastonbury and Stonehenge, have become centers of modern pilgrimage, where people go in search of their Grail. The legendary Arthur has gained such magical popularity that a knight of the Dark Ages could not even imagine.
Glastonbury: Church of the Holy Virgin Mary.
Side arches of the cathedral - business card Glastonbury Abbey.
Among the patchwork multicolored fields and green hills of Somerset, the small English town of Glastonbury is lost, according to legend, this is where the legendary "Avalon Island" is located. The city is very old, people have lived in this place for more than two thousand years. Every year, thousands of pilgrims, believers and non-believers, travel to Glastonbury in search of the mystical island of Avalon, the Grail and Arthurian legends. Glastonbury is home to two parallel worlds: a modern twenty-first century town with a typical rural lifestyle, and a New Age abode with tourists strolling through vegetarian cafes and alternative bookstores.
The city itself is a village around a hill called Glastonbury Tor. In the middle of the city, like broken gravestones, stand the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey. According to legend, in the place where the Chapel of Our Lady is now located, Joseph of Arimathea built the first in all of Britain christian church... Joseph, leaving the Holy Land, went to France along with Mary Magdalene, Lazarus, Martha, Mary of Bethany and their servant Marcella. Then Joseph sailed to Britain. Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy and distinguished member of the Sanhedrin, from the city of Arimathea and one of the first ascetics of Christ. After the crucifixion, it was Joseph who asked Pilate for the body of the executed Jesus, and received permission to take it down from the cross. He gave his tomb for the burial of Jesus, collected his blood in the cup from the Last Supper, and it is believed that he brought the Holy Grail to England - that very cup, and hid it - in a source called Chalice Well in Glastonbury.
In those distant times, Glastonbury did not look like an ordinary hill, as it does now, but was an island surrounded by lakes and swamps. The ship of Joseph and his companions docked at the nearby Vearioll Hill. Here the holy father lay down to rest, sticking his staff into the ground. And when he woke up, he saw a miracle: the staff put down roots in the ground, branches, leaves, flowers appeared, and a thorn tree grew out of the staff. This is how the tradition of the Glastonbury Sacred Thorn was born. A new tree is planted from the cuttings of an old tree. By Christmas, a branch of Glastonbury thorns is being sent to the incumbent British monarch.
Glastonbury: The first photo shows the place where the monks found the burial place of the legendary King Arthur and his wife Guinevere. The find was reburied already on the territory of the cathedral itself (second photo), and now there is a memorial sign at this place (a distant tablet in the ground). This is the place behind the altar, where, as a rule, the most honorable grave in the cathedral was located. In 1184, a fire caused enormous damage to the abbey, destroyed the Old Church and many valuable relics that attracted pilgrims from nearby and distant places, which provided a considerable income for the monks. Fortunately, they soon received good news: King Henry II announced the mortal remains of King Arthur and Guinevere in the abbey. Henry learned about this from a Welsh bard: the royal couple were supposedly buried in the churchyard between two stone pyramids. The monks found the pyramids, set up a pavilion and began to dig. They did manage to open the grave, where, as the brothers said, the bones of Arthur, Guinevere and a golden, elegantly braided hair were lying. The remains were in a hollowed-out oak trunk, and there the holy fathers found a lead cross, which served as a memorial identification mark. On it was inscribed: “Hic Iacet Sepultus Inclitus Rex Arturius In Insula Avalonia” (“Here on the island of Avalon, the illustrious king Arthur is buried”). The monks made their amazing discovery at the beginning of the winter of 1191. The find contributed not only to the survival, but also to the early revival of Glastonbury Abbey. Almost at the same time, the necessary sacred relics... Glastonbury instantly became a medieval pilgrimage center. On Easter 1278, King Edward I and Queen Eleanor visited Glastonbury. Arthur's bones were wrapped in precious linen, and Edward, with all the honors due to the relics of the saints, placed them in a chest with the royal seal. Eleanor did the same with the remains of Guinevere. They left the skulls and knee joints for popular worship. Arthur and Guinevere were then placed in a spacious black marble tomb, decorated with images of a lion and King Arthur, and set it up in front of the high altar at Glastonbury Abbey. It must be admitted that the Glastonbury monks proved themselves to be outstanding falsifiers. The discovery of Arthur's grave was beneficial to the abbey, as it suffered significant losses due to the fire. The opening of the brothers played into the hands of the monarchs. Both Henry II and Edward I were plagued by the Welsh rebels. In Wales, they firmly believed that Arthur was alive and was about to come to their aid. Henry II obtained evidence that Arthur was dead and buried. Edward I enhanced this impression with a royal reburial ceremony and a massive black marble tomb. The cross as an identification mark was needed as proof of the belonging of the discovered bones to Arthur and Guinevere. The real Arthur cannot be called Rex Arturius, King Arthur, for he was not. The lead cross is an elementary medieval forgery, and the find of the grave of Arthur and Guinevere is a skillful and highly successful falsification. The story of the grave of Arthur and Guinevere began under one Henry and ended under another. When Henry VIII announced the dissolution of the monasteries, vandals ransacked the abbey and destroyed the tomb. The bones of Arthur and Guinevere are missing; the lead cross miraculously survived, but it was last seen in the eighteenth century. |
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Glastonbury Tor ("torus" in Celtic, "hill").
Now visitors can take advantage of a quite comfortable stone path, laid along a more gentle slope to the top. Tower of St. Michael.
The location of Glastonbury Tor is amazing: it sits on the so-called "St. Michael's Leel" - a straight line connecting St. Michael's Church in Cornwall, Thor and the circle of stones at Avebury. Thor itself is a stone hill of natural origin, on which layers of hard and soft stone alternate, and in order to preserve the hill, many, many years ago it was given a stepped shape. Once upon a time, its slopes were one of the few places in the surrounding area that did not flood in winter. Since then, gardens have been laid out on it, and the top has traditionally been used by various cults for rituals. The ruins that have survived to this day are the Tower of St. Michael, the remains of a 14th century church, built on the site of the previous one, destroyed by an earthquake in 1275. It stood for about 100 years when the Dispersal of the Monasteries happened in 1539, and it suffered the same fate as Glastonbury Abbey.
However, it is believed that more early times here druids gathered, and another name for the hill - Inis Vitrin - is also familiar to those who are interested in stories about Arthur and Merlin. The glass island is the one on which Arthur received his famous sword Excalibur, the one on which King Melvas hid Arthur's wife Guinevere, who was later rescued by Lancelot.
