There's something about Arthurian Legend that I find endlessly fascinating, from knights and fair queens to the grim reality of Dark Age Britain. For my own amusement - and hopefully for someone's else's enjoyment - I'm going to stick up a few things about my enduring obsession. Enjoy, or run away now.

The Legends

The Arthurian Legends have many variations, particularly regarding the Knights of the Round Table. If you don't know anythign about the King, here's a good place to start! Alternative names are given in brackets.

Uther Pendragon, the High King of Britain, met and fell in love with Igraine (Igerna, Ygraine). Unfortunately, she was already married to Gorlois, duke of Cornwall. Gorlois became aware of Uther's feelings and so fled in the night with his wife back to their castle at Tintagel. Uther was furious, declared war, and summoned Merlin to him.

Merlin (Merrillin, Merdyn, Myrddin) was born of an affair between a girl (perhaps a nun) and a demon. He had become a very powerful enchanter and had predicted Uther's rise to power. Uther asked him to win Igraine for him. Merlin promised on the condition that the first child of their union should be given to him to raise. Uther, thinking only of his lust, agreed. So Merlin created an enchantement that meant Uther looked like Gorlois, and was received into Tintagel and the arms of Igraine. However, Gorlois was killed that night, and so of course Igraine was very confused -how could she have slept with her husband if he was dead on a battlefield? Uther then revealed himself and she was supposedly overjoyed (though I can't say I'd be that happy if someone tricked me into bed by pretending to be my husband!). The reason for her joy was that she learned she was with child, and now Uther would marry her. However, many people said either the child was Gorlois, and so could not be Uther's heir, or he had been conceived out of wedlock and so was illegitimate. Such murmurs put the child's life in danger, so it was lucky that Merlin arrived when the boy was born, named him Arthur, and whisked him off.

Arthur was placed with Ector, in the later legends a knight, originally probably some chieftain. Arthur was raised with his son Kay (Cei). Meanwhile Uther died, having had a daughter, Morgan le Fay (Morgana) and had adopted Igraine's daughter by Gorlois, Morgause (Margawse). (NB - these two women are often confused or considered as only one character, Morgan le Fay.) But Uther had no male heir, and the throne was empty. To prevent war, Merlin placed a sword, Excalibur, in a stone, and said anyone who could pul it out would be king. Many men tried, but failed. Ector took Kay and Arthur to a tournament, and Arthur pulled the sword out. He did this three times to prove it, and he became King, although unsurprisingly not everyone was pleased about this, least of all Morgan, who had hoped to wield power and was not pleased to find out about the existence of a brother.

At this tournament, however, before Arthur had found out he was King, he had met a woman who had seduced him. It was Morgause. The legends generally say she knew Arthur to be her brother, but because she was a witch, she knew she would conceive and saw her child as a way of controlling Arthur. When the baby was born and christened Mordred (Medraut), Arthur discovered what had happened and ordered the baby killed. Mordred was set adrift, but survived.

Meanwhile, Arthur got married. Some legends say he married two Guineveres, the first dying early on, and then he married the second, famous Guinevere (Gwenhwyfar, Guenever). He set up the Round Table and there were lots of adventures to do with that. Guinevere, meanwhile, fell in love with Arthur?est friend, Lancelot. For a long time they remained loyal to Arthur, but eventually consummated their relationship. During this time, Morgause managed to persuade Arthur to welcome Mordred to court, since Arthur had not had a son. Mordred decided to bring down Guinevere by barging in on her in bed with Lancelot. Lancelot was to be arrested, but he fled, killing several of his friends in the bargain, such as Gaheris, Morgause's son by Lot. This set his brothers against Lancelot. Arthur declared war on Lancelot, and many knights died.

Left at home to guard the Queen, Mordred took advantage of the situation and kidnapped Guinevere, saying he would marry her and become Queen. Had Merlin been there, he could surely have prevented the situation, but he had, in his twilight years, fallen in love with a beautiful young enchantress, Vivian (Viviane, Nimue, Niniane). He had taught her all he knew, and then she betrayed him by sealing him either in a high tower or a cave, where he was to remain for all time. So Arthur then had to act without his dear advisor. He made peace with Lancelot and attacked Mordred, eventually killing him. Arthur was mortally wounded and taken away to Avalon, where it is said he still sleeps. Lancelot and Guinevere decided to take Holy Orders to compensate for their sins, and died of old age. Thus ended the glory of Arthur's kingdom.

Blood, Battle and Daily Life in Dark Age Britain

How the legends have developed and the history behind the stories

We know very little about the time Arthur supposedly lived, between the time of the Roman withdrawal and the sixth century. The traditional date for Arthur's death is 537. In the 6th century there were a large number of men called Arthur, suggesting that they had been named after a powerful leader, but this of course does not necessarily mean a king. The first literary mention of Arthur in Y Gododdin (c. AD 600), but it is only a glancing reference. The next source followed over 200 years later, where Nennius calls Arthur a Dux Bellorum, leader of battles. In the 12th century Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his Historia Regum Britanniae, a supposedly historical work that seems to have emerged more from Geoffrey's fertile imagination than anything based on fact. He does, however, write of Arthur. At this time Arthurian legends were very popular in France, and Chretien de Troyes was responsible for introducing Lancelot and Camelot. In the 15th century, Thomas Malory wrote Le Morte D'Arthur, which has become the archetypal Arthur source, filled with dragons, maidens and heroic knights.

And that's about it, apart from a few stones engraved with the name Arthur, Artos or Arthurius. If Arthur did live, it is probable he was more likely to be a warlord than a king, though he could have been both, and rather than battling dragons, his greatest enemy would have been the hated Saxons. These Germanic invaders invaded Britain and took over more and more of it, starting with the east, known as Lloegyr, the Lost Lands. Eventually they overran most of Britain, and the country known as England emerged. The Britons were forced into Wales or even Scotland, although the people of the North were as different from the Britons as the Saxons. There is evidence that the Saxons were forced back at the battle of Camlann, possibly at Mount Badon. The locations of all these places, like most of the places in the Arthurian legends, have been much debated. I think personally that if Arthur lived, he was Welsh, rather than Cornish or any of the other suggestions, as the Arthurian influence is so notable in Wales.

Life in Dark Age Britain

Hard and harsh are probably the main characteristics of this period of history. The Britons had been abandoned by Rome and were under constant attack. One can imagine that those living on the coast may have been particularly paranoid! There was quite a large Irish presence in North Wales, and Irish raiders were not unknown. And, of course, there were the Saxons.

However, it is a mistake to think of Britain at this point as merely some dark, gloomy place. Although the visual arts did not flourish, this was a rich age for poetry, and bards were revered. It is likely that these bards were also responsible for remembering the many laws and set punishments. In regions like Gwynedd, there was still a strong Roman influence, and monastries had many manuscripts. Intriguingly, trade was still important, even for luxury goods like wine that came from as far as Alexandria. Glass beads from Eygpt and red pottery from the Eastern Mediterranean were also popular amongst the aristocracy. The Britons were not all poor peasants, then.

Rich men, usually chieftains, may have had Roman tastes, possibly an imperial title and a bit of classical education. Often they sponsored craftsmanship, lived in a hall up to 40x15 feet, owned some farmland and animals, and had tenants. To buy luxuries, animals, meat and hides were exported. They farmed cattle, pigs and sheep for food, leather and wool. There was some limited arable farming, and Giraldus notes that the welsh ate thin cakes of bread.

Clothing varied from region to region. Men wore knee-length tunics with long or short sleeves over breeches or trousers that would be fastened with rawhide at waist and ankles, and may have been cross-gartred to hold them close to the leg. Several tunics may have been worn in cold weather. Cloaks were 4-5 feet wide, rectangular or circular and fastened at the chest or right shoulder with a brooch. Rich men may have worn linen loin cloths. Women wore an ankle-length dress with a shorter tunic over the top. They sometimes wore belts, and the rich wore elaborate belts and brooches. Both sexes wore moccasins made of rawhide and tied with a thong, or Roman sandals. But the very poor did not even have these modest luxuries: a rough woven tunic with a pelt if they were lucky.

I haven't had much luck in learning about colour or dyeing techniques, but I know that red was a favourite, made with madder root. Yellow, blue and green were also used. Often material was patterned. The rich would have worn jewellery such as torcs, brooches and armlets. Most people wore their hair long and the men would have had beards. Arthur would not have been nicely clean shaven! As for soldiers, their clothes would have been similar to the average man's,but with a chainmail shirt, a Roman sword, wooden-shafted, iron-headed spear, and an oval or round shield. Apparently they weren't fond of helmets, but some men wore a leather cap covered with metal pieces.

Read More. Please, become a sad convert like me!! :)

The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwall: an absolutely fantastic trilogy that gives a sense of the harshness of sub-Roman Britain without losing the magic of traditional Arthurian legend.
Mary Stewart has written a number of books: a trilogy about Merlin, the first of which is The Hollow Hills and the last is The Last Enchantment (I've forgotten no. 2, sorry!), and also The Wicked Day. This is interesting as it comes from Mordred's point of view.
Le Morte D'Arthur by Thomas Malory: maybe a bit heavy-going if you've never read Arthuriana, but a gem. Trust me.
The Once and Future King by T.H. White: the title is derived from Malory's claim that the inscription on Arthur's tomb is Rex Quondam, Rexque Futurus.