King Arthur

King Arthur is a pivotal figure in British mythology and the folklore of Merlin, Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table make up the famous Arthurian Legends.

There is much debate about the facts and behind Arthur and his origins. King Arthur is mentioned in many early Welsh texts such as the Gododdin and the Mabinogion of the 5th Century and is a key figure in the Celtic mythologies of Wales, Cornwall and Brittany in France. Arthur also appears in later medieval texts, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Britonum, which first popularised the legends of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table in the 11th Century.

The mostly widely held view is that Arthur was a Romano British leader, based in the West of Briton, either Cornwall or Wales, who fought the invading Saxons sometime between the 5th and 6th centuries. Though the legends are far more colourful.

According to Arthurian Legend, Arthur was born at Tintagel Castle on the Coast of Cornwall, son of regional king Uther Pendragon. But when Uther died, the wizard Merlin took the boy under his wing and kept Arthur away from the royal court. Arthur was to prove himself worthy of the throne by pulling the mystical sword Excalibur from a great stone that it had been lodged in. Though still a young man Arthur was proclaimed king, he established his court at Camelot and married Lady Guinevere. The King brought together his best warriors, to make the Knights of the Round Table, which famously included Sir Gawain, Sir Perceval, Sir Galahad and Arthur’s champion, Sir Lancelot.

As King, Arthur unified his Kingdom and vanquished its enemies, afterwards enjoying a long and glorious period of peace.  But this golden age came to a dramatic end - Arthur’s right hand man Sir Lancelot had an affair with Arthur’s wife Guinevere. The Round Table was disbanded and Arthur’s enemies, led by his evil nephew Mordred saw their chance. Mordred set about marauding the land and laid siege to Camelot. The only thing that could save the aging King Arthur’s kingdom was the Holy Grail and he sent his knights to scour the land for this Christian relic.

After long and dark years in quest of the Grail, Sir Perceval eventually found it and returned with it to Camelot, where upon the King’s vitality was restored and Arthur and his Knights faced Mordred in the Battle of Camlann beside the River Camal on the borders of Cornwall. In the battle King Arthur kills Mordred, but not before he is fatally wounded. Arthur was taken by Merlin to the legendary Island of Avalon, said to be Glastonbury, where he was laid to rest, not dead, but sleeping, destined to awaken when Britain needs him most.