The man, the myth, the legend, King Arthur! As cliché as that is, King Arthur is truly a legend. There are so many renditions of who this man is, it is not surprising that there have been details added and taken away from al the retellings. King Arthur is man from England full of honor, he fights for the people, and he is loved by all his people. He has a story that is relatable to everyone because everyone has gone through a struggle. He is the inspiration for little kids because he fights the evil and always win the honorable way. King Arthur and his men don’t cheat or lie, and they fight for what is right.
However, how much of what King Arthur is true remains to be a mystery. The most common tale of King Arthur is of him and his knights of the round table and love triangle involving his wife. It is a story of courage, betrayal, love, and reconciliation. Yet, Dorsey Armstrong, a professor at Purdue who has study medieval literature, destroys the story of King Arthur and explains that the original story is false. She has studied all there is about Auherian literature and proves that the original story is that Arthurs wife is not actually a wife, Merlin isn’t actually apart of the story, and there is only three knights in Arthurs court, not twelve (SITE). She does confirm that someone, who is thought to be Arthur, saved the people after Rome fell and left the Celtic lands and the Germanic people came to attack. This man is unknown. He takes on the form of King Arthur because it was the people needed at the time. King Arthur has the get ability to become the hero of any story ad become who ever he needs to be because of where he came from, which is out of thin air it seems.
King Arthur was to fought for the Welch which starts the speculation that he was from Wales, not Britain. However, how much of what is said about Arthur is true or of pure imagination is a mystery, according Mary Williams who wrote, “King Arthur in History and Legend.” The tales of what King Arthur was able to accomplish is unaccompanied by any other fictional character. King Arthur is figure with characteristics parents wanted to instill in their children and was man children idealized for all of his accomplishments (Williams ). He was a man if chivalrous honor who could accomplish any task put in from of him (Williams). King Arthur was able to begin his accomplishments at the age of fifteen according to Marianne Kalinke who wrote “Arthur, King of Iceland.” For a young boy wanting to aspire to something great, achieving greatness at such a young age is admirable. Being able to win battles and still live a long prosperous life is the type of glory every man dreamed of. Being a knight on top of all of that, just made King Arthur seem like a myth that everyone believed in.
King Arthur is mentioned and revered in several different countries. Arthur is mentioned in texts from France, Norway, and Iceland, all countries formed from the Celts, which helps to narrow down King Arthurs origin (Kalinke, 12). It is safe to assume when Arthur came about, which is roughly the first century. However, what is interesting is that Icelandic and Norwegian texts begin to depict the original tale King Arthur involving his knights and the tangled web of romance (Kalinke, 12). Breta sogu, an Icelandic narrative, and Moettuls saga, A Norwegian narrative, depict a man full of honor, strength, and a renowned ruler who is valiant and compassion and to those around him (Kalinke, 12-13). Although these stories are not the first recounting of King Arthur, it is a story well known and comfortable to read about. These first romantic stories of King Arthur come so close to when King Arthur was first introduced to story telling it is not hard to make these stories the first of King Arthur. Having a traditional story to rely helps the sooth the soul. The best part of a traditional story, is that is can be retold repeatedly, in many ways to make the story new in a different way. This trailer is the newest of the retelling of King Arthurs story.
Bibliography
Breeze, Andrew. “The Historical Arthur And Sixth-Century Scotland.” Northern History, vol. 52, no. 2, 2 Sept. 2015, pp. 158–181., doi:10.1179/0078172x15z.00000000085.
Kalinke, Marianne. “Arthur, King of Iceland.” Scandinavian Studies, vol. 87, no. 1, 1 Mar. 2015, pp. 8–32., doi:10.1353/scd.2015.0000.
Williams, Mary. “King Arthur in History and Legend.” Folklore, Vol. 73, No. 2 (Summer, 1962), pp. 73-88
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