King Arthur

Related Texts and Sources

Early References to a Real Arthur. There are only three early sources that mention Arthur. The earliest, by date of composition, is a British poem, "Gododdin", which was probably composed around the year 600. The next reference comes from the Historia Brittonum, usually attributed to Nennius, a Welsh ecclesiastic who was probably active in the early ninth century. The third sources is the Annales Cambriae a series of annals that give the date of Mons Badonicus as 516, and Arthur's death as occurring in 537.

King Arthur: parentage. His father was Uther the pendragon, and his mother Ygernê, widow of Gorloïs duke of Cornwall. But Ygernê had been a widow only three hours, and knew not that the duke was dead, and her marriage with the pendragon was not consummated till thirteen days afterwards. When the boy was born Merlin took him, and he was brought up as the foster-son of Sir Ector (Tennyson says "Sir Anton"), till Merlin thought proper to announce him as the lawful successor of Uther, and had him crowned. Uther lived two years after his marriage with Ygernê. Le Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory. The Prophecy Of Merlin By Anne Bannerman

Wherefore Merlin took the child
And gave him to sir Anton, an old knight
And ancient friend of Uther; and his wife
Nursed the young prince, and reared him with her own.
Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Coming of Arthur.

Coming of Arthur. Leodogran, king of Cameliard, appealed to Arthur to assist him in clearing his kingdom of robbers and wild beasts. This being done, Arthur sent three of his knights to Leodogran, to beg the hand of his daughter Guenever in marriage. To this Leodogran, after some little hesitation, agreed, and sir Lancelot was sent to escort the lady to Arthur's court.

Arthur not dead. According to tradition Arthur is not dead, but rests in Glastonbury, "till he shall come again full twice as fair, to rule over his people."

According to tradition, Arthur never died, but was converted into a raven by enchantment, and will, in the fulness of time, appear again in his original shape, to recover his throne and sceptre. For this reason there is never a raven killed in England.

Arthur's Twelve Battles (or victories over the Saxons).
I. The battle of the river Glem (i.e. the glen of Northumberland).
2 to 5. The four battles of the Duglas (which falls into the estuary of the Ribble).
6. The battle of Bassa, said to be Bashall Brook, which joins the Ribble near Clithero.
7. The battle of Celidon, said to be Tweeddale.
8. The battle of Castle Gwenion (i.e. Caer Wen, in Wedale, Stow). 9. The battle of Caerleon, i.e. Carlisle; which Tennyson makes to be Caerleon-upon-Usk.
10. The battle of Trath Treroit, in Anglesey, some say the Solway Frith.
11. The battle of Agned Cathregonion (i.e. Edinburgh).
12. The battle of Badon Hill (i.e. the Hill of Bath, now Bannerdown).

Then bravely chanted they The several twelve pitched fields he [Arthur] with the Saxons fought. M. Drayton, Polyolbion, iv. (1612).

Arthur, one of the Nine Worthies. Three were Gentiles: Hector, Alexander, and Julius Cæsar; three were Jews: Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabæus; three were Christians: Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon.

Arthur's Foster-Father and Mother, Sir Ector and his lady. Their son, Sir Key (his foster-brother), was his seneschal or steward. Le Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory.

Arthur's Butler, sir Lucas or Lucan, son of duke Corneus; but sir Griflet, son of Cardol, assisted sir Key and sir Lucas "in the rule of the service." Le Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory..

Arthur's Sisters [half-sisters], Morgause or Margawse (wife of king Lot); Elain (wife of king Nentres of Carlot); and Morgan le Fay, the "great clark of Nigromancy," who wedded king Vrience, of the land of Corê, father of Ewayns le Blanchemayne. Only the last had the same mother (Ygraine or Ygernê) as the king. Le Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory.

Arthur's Sons, Urien, Llew, and Arawn. Borre was his son by Lyonors, daughter of the earl Sanam. Mordred was his son by Elain, wife of king Nentres of Carlot. In some of the romances collated by sir T. Malory he is called the son of Morgause and Arthur; Morgause being called the wife of king Lot, and sister of Arthur. This incest is said to have been the cause of Mordred's hatred of Arthur. Le Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory.

Arthur's Drinking-Horn. No one could drink from this horn who was either unchaste or unfaithful.—Lai du Corn and Morte d'Arthur.

Arthur's Shield, Pridwin. Geoffrey calls it Priwen, and says it was adorned with the picture of the Virgin Mary. Historia Regum Brittaniae.

Arthur's Sword, Escalibur or Excalibur. Geoffrey calls it Caliburn, and says it was made in the isle of Avallon. History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth.

The temper of his sword, the tried Escalabour,
The bigness and the length of Rone, his noble spear,
With Pridwin, his great shield.

Arthurian Romances

Titurel, or The Guardian of the Holy Graal, by Wolfram von Eschenbach. Titurel founded the temple of Graalburg as a shrine for the holy graal.

The Romance of Parzival, prince of the race of the kings of Graalburg. By Wolfram of Eschenbach (in verse). This romance (written about 1205) was partly founded upon a French poem by Chrétien de Troyes, Parceval le Gallois (1170).

Wigalois, or The Knight of the Wheel, by Wirnd of Graffenberg. This adventurer leaves his mother in Syria, and goes in search of his father, a knight of the Round Table.

I'wain, or The Knight of the Lion, and Ereck, by Hartmann von der Aue (thirteenth century).

Tristan and Yseult (in verse), by Master Grottfried of Strasburg (thirteenth century). This is also the subject of Luc du Grast's prose romance, which was revised by Elie de Borron, and turned into verse by Thomas the Rhymer, of Erceldoune, under the title of the Romance of Tristram.

The Idylls of the King, by Tennyson, in blank verse, containing "The Coming of Arthur," "Gareth and Lynette," "Geraint and Enid," "Merlin and Vivien," "Lancelot and Elaine," "The Holy Graal," "Peleas and Ettarre", "The Last Tournament," "Guinevere" and "The Passing of Arthur," which is the "Morte d'Arthur" with an introduction added to it.

The old Arthurian Romances have been collated and rendered into English by sir Thomas Malory, in three parts. Part i. contains the early history of Arthur and the beautiful allegory of Gareth and Linet; part ii. contains the adventures of sir Tristram; and part iii. the adventures of sir Launcelot, with the death of Arthur and his knights. Sir Frederick Madden and J.T.K. have also contributed to the same series of legends.

Sources of the Arthurian Romances. The prose series of romances called Arthurian, owe their origin to: 1. The legendary chronicles composed in Wales or Brittany, such as De Excidio Britanniae of Gildas. 2. The chronicles of Nennius (ninth century). 3. The Armoric collections of Walter [Cale'nius] or Gauliter, archdeacon of Oxford. 4. The Chronicon sive Historia Britonum of Geoffrey of Monmouth. 5. Floating traditions and metrical ballads and romances.