The Literature of King Arthur of Avalon

The Literature of King Arthur of Avalon

The familiar Arthurian literature begins with Geoffrey of Monmouth's semi-historical Historia Regum Britanniae The History of the Kings of Britain written in the 1130s The earliest literary texts about Arthur come from Welsh and Breton sources The magician leader of a group of superhuman heroes living in the wilderness who defends Britain from all threats both internal and external attacks an alternate reality fortress in search of treasure and frees its prisoners The apparent alternate reality of Arthur's treasure is the otherworldly origin The earliest sources include the ancient pagan gods Arthur's tomb is lost Ancient tales still claim that Arthur will return The legendary Arthur sleeps in remote caves across Britain and elsewhere and sometimes comes out at night as a ghost. His wife and treasure are clearly alternate reality The poem is a conversation between King Arthur and the gatekeeper of the fortress The fact that Arthur never dies but rather waits for his return in a distant place often in his sleep is a central theme that links the Arthurian legend For almost 200 years the story of King Arthur and the legend of King Arthur have not been entirely abandoned

At the age of fifteen Arthur succeeded him as King of Britain and fought in a series of battles similar to those in the Historia Brittonum culminating in the Battle of Bath He then defeated the Picts and Scots before establishing his empire by conquering Ireland Iceland and the Orkney Islands After a twelve-year truce Arthur set out to expand his empire again conquering Norway Denmark and Gaul although Gaul was still under Roman rule when it was conquered and Arthur's victory led to another confrontation with Rome According to Geoffrey's account in the Historia King Arthur was taken to Avalon in the hope of surviving and recovering from his wounds at the Battle of Camlann Geoffrey first mentions Avalon as the place where Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged. King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later taken to recuperate from his mortal wounds at the Battle of Camlann.

Arthur and his warriors including Caius Beduerus Bedivere and Valguanas defeated the Roman emperor Lucius Tiberius in Gaul but as they prepared to march on Rome the expedition returned to Britain and defeated Modredus and killed him at the River Cambal in Cornwall He was badly wounded so he gave his crown to his kinsman Constantine and was taken to the island of Avalon to be treated for his wounds never to be seen again Arthur's sister Morgan was left to nurse his serious wounds in Avalon while the British waited for Arthur for 40 years before a new king was elected The author adds that some still hope that Arthur will not die and will return as he promised telling the legend that he was hunted in the woods

The story of Arthur drawing the sword from a stone appeared in Robert de Boron's 13th-century Merlin. By Howard Pyle (1903)

Arthur's final sleep in Avalon Arthur's fate in Avalon is not told or known. Morgan plays the role of the immortal ruler of Avalon in the fairy tales sometimes alongside the surviving Arthur in subsequent knightly romances that are not Arthurian The sea fortress of Escavalon ruled by an unnamed king Escavalon may be merely a distortion of the word Avalon which can be literally translated as Avalon of the Waters Escavalon in the time of Chrétien was transformed or split off into the Holy Grail kingdom of Escalot The kingdoms of Escalot and Escavalon appear together in the Vulgate cycle There Escavalon is ruled by King Alain whose daughter Flory is rescued by Gawain and later gives birth to a son Genglan.

The one who never truly died Avalon has been associated with mystical rituals and magical figures since the earliest times The younger brother of King Arthur Morgan was chosen by many later writers as ruler of the island in some British traditions assuming that Arthur was king forever but would return as king of the past and future His being in charge of Morgan at Avalon was particularly popular and this is found in many French and medieval versions of King Arthur Some versions according to Geoffrey also associate Avalon with the legend of the Holy Grail The island has since become a symbol of King Arthur legend similar to Arthur's Camelot

Arthur's last sleep in Avalon

The island that appears in King Arthur's legend first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 Historia Regum Britanniae as a place of magic Avalon is often identified as Glastonbury Tor an ancient belief associated with the discovery of Arthur's body and subsequent mass reburial which is consistent with the medieval English tradition that Arthur did not survive the mortal wounds he received in the final battle In addition to Glastonbury several other locations of Avalon have been claimed or proposed Several medieval sources also identify the site in Sicily and European folklore links it to the Fatamorgana phenomenon