The real king Arthur

    The legendary king Arthur is known to almost everybody. People see him in many different ways; some regard him as a medieval chivalric knight, and others consider him a Middle Ages dark figure. Who is Arthur, anyway? Our perceptions about King Arthur come mainly from historical records. In the18^th century, Victorian poet Lord Alfred Tennyson writes about Arthur in his poem “The Idylls of the King.” It describes the conceptions about Arthur, his castle, and the peculiar place he was born—a beach. Tennyson tells the story in the way pretty much the way we know it today. The poem Tennyson writes has everything, every magical and knightly element in the story of Arthur. Some photographic images are peculiarly conspicuous in the poem. The spectacular castle Tennyson illustrates in the poem is actually a thirteenth century castle, obviously not Arthur’s. The real historical Arthur is not a medieval king; Tennyson is paddling a myth by his poem. However the poem is somehow deceptively historical because its descriptions of chivalry code are genuine. The Arthurian theme is loved everywhere because it is perfect for artistically and literally enthusiasm. Thomas Malory, an Arthur obsessive, writes another story of Arthur, “Le Morte d’Arthur.” Everything in the Arthurian story is present, such as the magician Merlin and his queen, Guinevere. Malory, just like Tennyson after him, lifts Arthur out of the Dark Age, repacking him into the ideal king we know today. The work was bestseller at that time. Malory, more than any other British writers, is responsible for the image of Arthur that inspires people centuries later.

     France seems to be the real home of Arthur. Also, Merlin’s grave can be found there, and people from around the world come to make wishes. There is also the place that Guinevere and Lancelot commit harlotry. Plenty of stories containing the idea of chivalry which is, in a sense, beneficial to the society appears at that time in France. Malory’s work probably can be traced back to this root. Nonetheless, the European version Arthur is still a fictional character.

    There is a special British version in Oxford by a historian called Jeffery, and his Arthur seems to be real. He writes a story of Welsh history and Arthur is used in the story. Arthur is depicted as a warrior and almost conquers the Roman Empire. It is no longer a romantic figure but a character with real political power. The essence of Jeffery is not what he says but how he says it. The story is full of the smell of history. Arthur, in other words, becomes propaganda. Some monks in the twelfth century, claim to find the remaining of Arthur and Guinevere. It is the time when Henry the second reigned the kingdom. He needs this discovery to assert his place and to legitimize his origin dating back to ancient England. Kings years later try to seek connection with Arthur because he symbolizes an ideal. Henry the eighth even pronounces that Tudors equaled Arthur. Jeffery’s Arthur serves as propaganda for three hundred years.

     A team of archeologists are permitted to dig in the place that is thought to be where Arthurian stronghold is. They hope to find a hole, and one or two buildings. Some archeologists are keen on the search for Arthurian relics. The heavily fortified Cadbury castle is marked as Camelot and suits perfectly to Arthur’s story; however evidence of the man himself is not found anywhere.

     People start to question whether or not Arthur exists. Yet, they find something astonishing—a stone with carving. Though the stone does not suggest anything since it has a name “Artosnov” on it, very different from “Arthur.” Meanwhile, the excavation discovers nothing about Arthur.

     You can write a long fictional book about Arthur, but you cannot write a historical paper more than six pages about Arthur. Arthur appears in three or four different Welsh legendary poems, all written around the time after the eighth century. They portray a powerful king within a mythical world. Is the king written based on someone real, someone lives in the Dark Age when the Roman army leaves Britain in the fifth century? The Saxons invade afterwards and meet resistance, one of whom may have been called Arthur. If you put several heroic characters together, perhaps including a king, then there might be a story. A warrior who carries a little group of compatriots might just be the real Arthur, quite different from the shining knight we imagine, though more close to the truth.

    What is the real Excalibur? Some early Iron Age swords are excavated from a remote lake in Welsh. One of which might be the prototype of Excalibur. The story about throwing Excalibur into the lake may be a ritual of remembering the past. The story somehow has a great description of making the sword. The making of the sword does have the sound of mystery. It has to be in Bronze Age that the sword is made. In the history of metal work, naming a sword at the symbolic moment represents a kind of birth.

     It does not matter whether Arthur is real or not. Every generation continues to create a new version of Arthur, and what we are left with is the ultimate romantic hero.