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King Arthur (Welsh: Brenin Arthur, Cornish: Arthur Gernow, Breton: Roue Arzhur, French: Roi Arthur), according to legends, was a king of Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
Nov 9, 2024 · King Arthur, legendary British king who appears in a cycle of medieval romances (known as the Matter of Britain) as the sovereign of a knightly fellowship of the Round Table. It is not certain how these legends originated or whether the figure of Arthur was based on a historical person.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- King Arthur is a legendary British king who appears in a series of stories and medieval romances as the leader of a knightly fellowship called the...
- Historians cannot confirm King Arthur’s existence, though some speculate that he was a real warrior who led British armies against Saxon invaders i...
- Stories about King Arthur became popular before the 11th century. Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia regum Britanniae, written between 1135 and 1139,...
- Legends disagree on how Arthur became king, though most involve his famous sword, Excalibur. Some involve Arthur fulfilling a prophecy by pulling E...
- King Arthur was married to Guinevere in most legends. Early traditions of abduction and infidelity follow Guinevere, who in some stories was carrie...
- Sarah Mcgrath
- Early writings portray Arthur as a warrior, not a king. The writings of ninth-century Welsh monk Nennius first refer to a 5th-century warrior named Arthur leading an army to fight against invading Saxons.
- The King Arthur legend first appeared in a 12th-century text. The figure of King Arthur became popular after 1136, around the time Geoffrey Monmouth wrote the Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), which claimed to chart the history of the British monarchy.
- Famous stories from the King Arthur myth include “The Sword in the Stone.” One of the most famous associations with King Arthur is his sword, Excalibur.
- We still don’t know where Camelot was located. Historians have tried to identify where King Arthur’s mythical kingdom of Camelot was supposed to be set.
May 12, 2017 · Once the sword has been returned, Arthur dies and is carried away on a ship to the isle of Avalon. The Legend as Allegory The story of King Arthur and his knights instantly resonated among the literate in the Middle Ages shortly after Geoffrey published his work in 1136 CE.
- Joshua J. Mark
Historiography. Until the late 20th century, there was academic debate about the historicity of Arthur among historians and archaeologists. In the 21st century, the academic consensus rejects it. In 1936, R. G. Collingwood and J. N. L. Myres treated Arthur as a Roman comes Britanniarum.
May 25, 2024 · The first hurdle in unraveling the mystery is that the King Arthur we know today—the noble ruler of the round table, husband of Guinevere, master of the sword Excalibur—is largely a literary creation that evolved over hundreds of years, long after the time when a historical Arthur would have lived.
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The timeless popularity of the Arthur legend has overshadowed a central, unresolved question: Was there really a King Arthur, or at least a historical prototype upon whom Geoffrey’s hero is...
