“He was a warrior, a knight and a king who killed giants, witches and monsters and led a band of hers on many daring adventures” (Wood). Wood is alluding to the legendary King Arthur, who has inspired books, oral traditions, movies, and television shows to this day. With the appeal of both magic, romance, and adventure, Arthurian legends continue to pique the interest of both children and adults. Many know the famous tales about Guinevere and Lancelot or the story of the Sword Excalibur, but the legends of Arthur include many other tales about the epic adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. However, some of the most important stories to know of the Arthurian legends are where the legends originated, the Sword Excalibur, the Quest for the Holy Grail, and the Kingdom of Camelot.
In order to fully understand the feats of Arthur and his knights, it is important to know the origins of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and what they stood for. Based on the gallant King Arthur, Arthurian legends are medieval romances written and passed down orally throughout many centuries and generations (“Arthurian Legends”). It has been debated throughout history whether King Arthur was an actual person or just an oral tradition that spread to all parts of the world; however, the heroism of Arthur is consistent in each version of the legends. Some historians believe that King Arthur is based off a warrior that led a defense to prevent a Saxon invasion, but there is also evidence of a Welsh hero named Arthur in the works of Aneirin the bard (“King Arthur”). One of the first appearances of the legends of Arthur is in History of the Britons, written by Nennius of Wales in the 9th century. The work included many battles that Arthur supposedly fought in, and despite the fact that it is impossible for Arthur to have been in all the battles, it built up the heroic character of King Arthur. Over the course of many years, King Arthur was transformed into a wider variety of stories that centered around the Knights of the Round Table and the Kingdom of Camelot (“King Arthur”). Despite the differing beliefs about the origin of King Arthur, the honor system that he and his knights stood for is something that scholars can agree upon. In general, the honor system that the knights followed was a morally-centered strict set of codes. These codes included, as stated by David Nash Ford: “To never do outrage nor murder, always to flee treason, to by no means be cruel but to give mercy unto him who asks for mercy…”Alongside these rules are many more moral guidelines that the knights abided by. Throughout the legends, King Arthur and his knights are all exposed to some kind of temptation that goes against their moral obligations to their knighthood, but the stories emphasize the success of the knights that overcome the temptations, and assert the failures of those that could not conquer the bait. The 25 knights that made up the Round Table were required to follow the honor codes or be released from their knighthood; however, the benefit of these codes is that they are partially responsible for giving the knights the reputation they have today.
The start of King Arthur, Camelot, and the Knights of the Round Table is at the tale of the Sword Excalibur. Even without a comprehensive knowledge about King Arthur, most people know that Arthur became a king when he was the only one to be able to pull the Sword Excalibur from the stone. The beginning of Arthur’s life of magic and adventure starts when he is raised by Merlin, a wizard that ultimately becomes one of Arthur’s advisors and someone he trusts greatly. After the death of the previous king, Uther Pendragon, Merlin put the Sword Excalibur into a stone and proclaimed that whoever could remove the sword, which could only be done by the true of heart, would become the next king. True to the legends many know and adore, Arthur drew the sword from the stone and became the new king (Wood). Contrary to popular belief, Arthur’s sword Excalibur was not the sword he pulled from the stone to become king. Arthur received the new sword after the first sword was broken (Ford “Excalibur”). This new sword was unbreakable, made by an elf from Avalon, and given to him by the Lady of the Lake. Along with this new sword, Arthur received a scabbard that rendered him untouchable when wearing it. Throughout his reign, Arthur kept Excalibur along side him, but towards the latter end of his life, he was betrayed. Arthur had given his half-sister Morgan le Fay the sword and scabbard to keep safe, but Morgan instead gave the sword to her lover so he could defeat Arthur. Although the sword was ultimately returned, Morgan returned the scabbard to the lake in which Arthur received it so that he would be able to be defeated (Lupack). Later, Arthur’s nephew took his power and thus the battle of Camlann ensued, where Arthur was gravely injured because of the absence of his scabbard. It then became the job of Bedwyr, one of Arthur’s knights, to return the sword to the Lady of the Lake. Unfortunately, Bedwyr betrayed King Arthur and kept the sword to use himself; however, due to an interrogation about what Bedwyr encountered at the lake, King Arthur knew that he had kept the sword and was then able to have the sword properly returned (Ford “Excalibur”). King Arthur is often referred to as the “once and future king” because after the sword was returned to the Lady of the Lake, he took a boat to Avalon to heal so that he could once again be king (Wood).
Despite the story of the Sword and the Stone being incredibly popular, the Quest for the Holy Grail was arguably one of the greatest adventures that the Knights and King Arthur faced.The importance of the Holy Grail was unquestionable, as it was believed to be the cup that captured the blood of Christ as he was crucified and the cup in which Christ drank from at the Last Supper. During the Arthurian Legends, the quest for the Holy Grail was of the utmost importance to spirituality (Lupack). The Grail was kept in the Castle of Corbenic and guarded at all times, and was only to be found by a relative of St. Joseph, who caught the blood of Christ in the cup. Over the course of many years, the location of Corbenic was lost to time. It wasn’t until a prophecy arrived in Arthur’s Court that the Quest for the Holy Grail began. At the head of this quest was Galahad, the son of Lancelot. After a great number of years searching, Sir Perceval found the Castle Corbenic, but ultimately failed to retrieve the Grail for varied reasons, depending on the author. Reasons that often found are that Perceval was vulnerable to temptation or that due to being overwhelmed by the guard king at Corbenic, he forgot to ask for the Grail (“The Holy”). In Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur, Malory actually replaced the married Perceval with the celibate Galahad because Perceval was not perceived as pure enough to complete the quest (Barber). After Perceval, Lancelot arrived at the castle only to be turned away due to his affair with Arthur’s wife, Guinevere. Finally, Galahad found the castle and looked upon the Grail, which then lifted itself and Galahad to Heaven (“The Holy”). The first written versions of the quest began to appear around the year 1180, when the Grail started to develop a mysterious enigma. Although the legends of the Holy Grail fell out of popularity after the end of the Middle Ages, the enticing tales reemerged during the 19th century and has continued to represent and symbolize spirituality and mystery in even modern day literature (“Arthurian Manuscripts”).
While many are fascinated by the quests of King Arthur, just as many overlook the significance of his castle. Just as Arthur is representative of an epic hero, his castle is representative of a golden age in history (Wood). In fact, because of similarities between him and his wife and Arthur and Guinevere, John F. Kennedy’s presidency is often referred to as the “Camelot” of our modern times (“Politics from”). Camelot was the center and pinpoint of Arthur’s adventures and focus, but the castle is also strange, as it did not exist before Arthur came to power and it is implied that it will seize to exist when he exits his reign. Even stranger, the first authors of Arthurian legends never included a name for the king’s headquarters. The detail is there that Arthur had a stronghold, but no name or detail was given until latter portion of the 12th century. However, the description of Camelot quickly unfurled following its first mention. Just as it is usually depicted in modern movies and television shows, Camelot was known to be an extravagant and grand palace that famously housed the Round Table. At Camelot, the most important decisions and aspects of the stories took place (Ashe). The table held 150 courageous knights and grew to be the center of almost every Arthurian legend and came to represent an equality of power that is still prevalent today. The idea of the shape of the table came from the desire to have not any one person at the table hold more power and say than the others, or be the “head” (Jarus). Throughout Arthur’s reign, Camelot was glorified and magnificent, but that prestige died with Arthur. A place that once held balls filled with the most prestigious royals and nobles was left abandoned after the death of its king. While the symbolic meaning of Camelot lives on today, it is not likely that there was actually a tangible castle known as Camelot. It is more likely that the castle was there to symbolize the hope and heroism represented by the inhabitants of Camelot rather than an actual place, which supports the earlier mentioned theory that Arthur was not a real person at all and was most likely an oral legend that spread throughout the world. None of the stories give any location of the mythical city, but instead provide a detailed description that some have used to try to pin a possible location of the castle. One theory is that Camelot was located in what is now known as Cadbury Castle, a hill fort in Somerset. Despite Cadbury being older than two millennium and having evidence of being inhabited by a strong leader, there is no concrete evidence to support that Cadbury was Camelot (Ashe). While it is important to note that Camelot and King Arthur were mythical, the search for the basis of the legends are still underway.
Having survived thousands of years, the origins of King Arthur and the stories of Excalibur, the Holy Grail, and Camelot are still very common in today’s literature and media. King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are almost always viewed as legendary heroes and epic adventurers that still inspire children and people today. Even though King Arthur was likely not a real person at all, the courage that he and his kingdom came to represent are almost more absolute than if the stories were histories. The lessons that Arthurian legends teach about betrayal, power, bravery, and love are still relevant today, and it is likely that countless generations to come will also become the students of Arthur and learn from these legends.