King Arthur

jason

Seanchaí
Staff member
Do you believe the tales of King Arthur are based off of a real person or not?
 
G

Gary

Guest
From what I've seen on documentaries and read, Arthurian legend has more or less evolved.

The earliest form of Arthur that I can recall was a Rogue Roman Officer named Arturius. He was successful in battling the Picts in England. Interestingly He was in fact real.

There also lots of references to Merlin, but he was not introduced into the legend until much later. We'll save that discussion for another thread.
 

jason

Seanchaí
Staff member
From what I've seen on documentaries and read, Arthurian legend has more or less evolved.

The earliest form of Arthur that I can recall was a Rogue Roman Officer named Arturius. He was successful in battling the Picts in England. Interestingly He was in fact real.

There also lots of references to Merlin, but he was not introduced into the legend until much later. We'll save that discussion for another thread.
Yup, I've heard the reference to Arturius before.

On a side note, and since you mentioned him. Merlin may have actually been a title, and may have been a title held by several different people. He (them) is also to have said to have written prophecies, sort of like Nostradamus.
 

Jacobson

New Member
I don't think it matters. The old kings that we have historical evidence of, from back then, seem like the stuff of legends anyway and the Arthurian tales are certainly full of adventure, magic and mystery. I love them!
 

Br_Eric_Hill

New Member
It is fun to look back at the history of Kings and Queens and in general life as it were back in the day. But it is also fun that I live in a country that threw off the tyranny of a King, and am now free to be that person I want to be as long as I live with in the guide lines laid down by the government.......wait was the King better???? ha ha
 

Yooperrider

New Member
I had a grad course in King Arthurian lit and we delved into the theories about the historical character. He is believed to be the son of a retired Centurian and learned Roman warcraft from him. He was probably alive during the late 400's and the earliest reference to him is from a Welsh poem written about 600. The epic poem describes 15 battles with the final victory on Mt. Baden. My favorite was one fight that included Artur, Merthyn, and Conan as survivors. All that Lancelot and Gwenivere love stuff was added by the French after 1000 a.d. After the Roman legions left, he was supposed to have kept the barbarians out during a 40 year reign, but after he died Vortigern invited the Saxons over to help against the Picts, but that didn't work out too well. Sorry, as a former history teacher, I love this stuff.
 
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