Arthurian History

[Astarho]

Anyone else more interested in the Historical Arthur (if he existed) than the later Arthur of the various romances?

[Robeson]

1. Here's two interesting articles you may be interested in...

...These are two articles, Parts 1 and 2 by Linda Malcor which shows another theory of the origins or Arthur. Pretty interesting, and even dates him back to the 2nd century of Rome, as opposed to the current conventional belief of a late empire Romano/British period Arthur. Makes interesting reading, especially its historical examination of the military life of a Roman career soldier. Its at:

Part 1

http://www.mun.ca/mst/heroicage/issues/1/halac.htm

Part 2

http://www.mun.ca/mst/heroicage/issues/2/ha2lac.htm

[Astarho]

2. Thanks

I've heard about Lucius Artorius Castus before but these articles give a lot more detail.

[JNelson6563]

3. During the time of Henry II of England

there was a bit of a revival for the Arthurian legends. It was a very superstitious time BTW. Henry's son Geoffrey married Constance of Brittany, the supposed home of Arthur. Constance named her son Arthur to the dismay of the Plantegenets.

Once, while out in the countryside, there were a group of peasants Henry encountered. There was a large rock over a stream that legend had claimed Merlin foretold that the next king to cross the stream by it would die. Henry was a very practical man and scoffed at much of this sort of thing. He was urged by his men to avoid it but he went across anyway. Nothing happened. The chronicles have him smiling at the terrified folks watching and saying "Who will believe that liar Merlin now?"

It's interesting to read how Arthurian legend proved to be a bit of a thorn in the side to rulers later on. Even more interesting is the contrast of those who tried to capitalize on it during later times.

Julie

[Lisa]

9. also the Victorian era

English artists and writers (like William Morris) started another wave of medieval nostalgia, as a backlash to industrialization. King Arthur got mixed up in all that, so both the post-Roman legend and the medieval revival were recycled. And arguably, this happened again in the late 20th century (popularity of Tolkien's books, the Society for Creative Anachronism, etc.).

Another figure who gets revived repeatedly is Robin Hood. It's kind of fun, to see the many incarnations he's been through, reflecting different time periods (most recently as a subversive anarchist-type, with a band that includes women and minorities).

[HawkerHurricane]

4. Aurther as Legend...

interests me more.

From the addition of Lancelot to appease the Norman/French (he's the greatest warrior of all time!) to making him a villian (can't trust those frogs)...

[Zuni]

5. Just read an article about the real Artur (not arthur)

He was a general

[Spider Jerusalem]

6. Yeah...a Christian dux (war leader) in Romanised Britain, supposedly...

fighting against the invasion of the Germanic tribes in the 4th century...although as noted above, the identification has been disputed.

[Desertrose]

7. check out "Bloodline of the Holy Grail"

very intersting premise.....ties in the Grail message with historical Arthur.

[ms liberty]

8. Hi - I know this is 2 years behind your OP...

But I just found this group! Amazing what you find when you go poking thru the forums here, isn't it?

If you're still looking for books on Arthur as a historical figure, I recommend a series of books by Norma Lorre Goodrich. The first book in the series was "Arthur", she also wrote "Merlin", which posits that the Merlin of legend was actually the Welsh saint Dubricius, IIRC. The other books are "Guinivere", and "The Holy Grail". I'm not sure if there are others. I read them as they came out, which has been 15 or 20 years now. They approach the Arthurian cycles as if they were clues in historical detective mysteries, and used the stories to 'tease' out possible truths. I enjoyed their fresh perspective, and thought she might have come as close to the possible historical Arthur as anyone else.

[lildreamer316]

10. Have them sitting on my shelf right beside me.

That's so weird.
I love both the historical fat-finding books and the legends, but of course my fave is still Mists Of Avalon for the way the story was told.

[LWolf]

11. yes.

As a matter of fact, 20 years ago, I wrote a term paper analyzing theories about the historical Arthur.

I don't remember much about what I wrote. I'll have to dig it out, now that you've reminded me. ;)

[shimmergal]

12. Sounds cool!

If you dig it out, is there any way you can post it for those of us interested in the topic?

I'm fascinated by both the historical and the literary aspect, though I haven't read much of the earlier lit. stuff. Mostly the 20th century adaptations.