When we look at the mythologies of the righteous societies, we come across multi-layered and heroic stories. The West, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have great legends on this subject except for the Greeks, with the exception of King Arthur. Even today, King Arthur, one of the most important figures of western culture, especially England, is a character with countless stories in British mythology.
We do not have conclusive evidence that characters and objects that we all know today, such as King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, the wizard Merlin, Excalibur, the Knights of the Round Table, actually existed in the historical process. Still, some historians have very definite objections to the reality of this issue. Let’s sit back and take a closer look at this legend over questions such as who is King Arthur, did he really live.
Who is King Arthur, one of the most mysterious heroes in history?
King Arthur is the king of Camelot, which is thought to be an imaginary place. His stories in British mythology take place in the first years of the 6th century. As the protector of the Britons against the Saxon invaders, King Arthur is known for his bravery and heroism in battle, as well as for the interesting details of his private life.
Early works on King Arthur:
The earliest sources we have about Arthur date back to the 6th century. It is possible to encounter this character, whose name was mentioned in Celtic poems of that period, in the romances in which war and heroism stories are told in the Middle Ages.
One of the most notable Arthurian narratives is the Historia Brittonum, which originated in the 9th century and has different versions, written by a Welsh priest. However, Arthur appears here not as a king, but as a heroic commander who killed 960 people with one hand.
Historia Regum Britanniae, dated 1136, written by Geoffrey of Monmouth, is one of the most important sources of Arthurian legend. But in this work, Arthur is again not a king, but a brave commander. We encounter the legend of King Arthur as we know it in Le Morte D’Arthur, written by Sir Thomas Malory in 1485. Of course, countless additions have been made to origin stories by other western cultures over the years.
The legend of King Arthur begins with the removal of the sword from the stone:
Under the pressure of the Celtic Britons and Saxon invaders, there lived a young man named Arthur at a time in England. Although this young British king was the son of Uther Pendragon and Igraine, Duchess of Cornwal, he was not considered a noble. Arthur’s foster father was Sir Ector.
It is said that the legendary sword Ekskalibur has been stuck in a stone since ancient times. The one who stoned him would become the king of Britain. Then Arthur, a 15-year-old boy, pulled this sword out of the stone. Sir Ector adopted him with the approval of the sorcerer Merlin, so his nobility became known to all and he became king. For King Arthur, who already has royal blood, these were actually a plan of fate from the very beginning.
King Arthur’s time was plentiful:
After Arthur became king, he founded the Knights of the Round Table. These knights were not only strong warriors, but also possessed the magical powers bestowed on King Arthur by Excalibur. According to the most commonly told story in the legends, the main purpose of the Knights of the Round Table was to find the holy grail, one of the sacred objects of Christianity.
From the moment he ascended the throne, King Arthur not only protected his people from Saxon invaders, but also expanded his territory and ensured peace, and was therefore loved by his people. So much so that Britain ceased to be a small kingdom and even came to stand up to the Great Roman Empire.
Merlin commanded: Your own child will bring you death.
After King Arthur ascended the throne, he married a woman named Margawse. Because of this marriage, they were cursed by the gods because they didn’t know that they were actually brothers. That’s why the wizard Merlin said, ‘The child born of this union will bring you death with his hands.’ he said.
Arthur then gathered all the noble children on a ship and sent them to die, but as fate would have it, only Arthur’s son survived. The boy washed up on a shore, where he was adopted and named Mordred. Mordred would indeed bring about the death of his father, King Arthur.
History’s greatest betrayal of history’s greatest hero:
Thinking he had escaped by sending his son to the ship, King Arthur married Sir Leodegrance’s daughter Guinevere to make a new heir. During all these adventures, Arthur’s most trusted companion was a Knight of the Round Table named Sir Lancelot. His new wife and comrade were getting along very well. They got along so well that it spawned a forbidden love. After this incident, King Arthur had no confidence in anyone.
At this very moment, Arthur’s son grew stronger and began to march against his father with his army. Thereupon, Sir Lancelot and the king reconciled and they began to fight together against the enemy. But the plan of fate does not change and King Arthur is mortally wounded by Mordred.
Let his sword and his kingdom sink to the ground!
Ever since King Arthur pulled the legendary sword from the stone, he has been married to his own brother, betrayed by his best friend and his wife, and eventually sentenced to death by his own son. With his dying breath, he asks his assistant Bedivere to throw the sword into a lake.
Bedivere tries once and twice, but he can’t throw the sword into the lake. He finally succeeds on his third attempt, and at that moment King Arthur breathes his last, and the Knights of the Round Table disperse. Thereupon, Lancelot built a church around the stone on which Excalibur was stuck in his time, and completed his life as a priest there.
We got pretty curious, didn’t we: Did King Arthur really live?
Details such as the sword stuck in the rock, brought out a 15-year-old child, later became a king, and the magician Merlin knew about them are, of course, fictional elements added over the years to enrich the story. But if you ask if King Arthur really lived, why not?
There was an Arthur in history, but whether he was King Arthur, there are no definitive sources on this subject. But this Arthur who lived may indeed be a commander, a soldier, renowned for his bravery in British soil at the time. Because, as we all know, the western world loved to shed each other’s blood until almost the 21st century. As such, it is easy to find a few heroes among them.
Some of the popular King Arthur movies and TV shows:
- 1981 film Excalibur
- 1998 cartoon The Magic Sword.Quest for Camelot
- 2004 King Arthur movie
- The 2008 TV series Merlin
- 2011 TV series Camelot
- 2017’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword movie
- Cursed series from 2020
We answered questions such as who is King Arthur, one of the legendary figures of British mythology, and whether he really lived. It is a pity that we are forgetting our real heroes while the western of the hand heroizes even their fictional characters.
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