King Arthur by Tony Sullivan;

Author:Tony Sullivan; [Sullivan;, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / World War II
ISBN: 9781526763679
Publisher: Casemate
Published: 2020-05-24T00:00:00+00:00

The barbarian revolt.

It is significant that Geoffrey, a Welshman or Breton, is writing for a Norman Lord – both would see Saxons as a common enemy. The portrayal of the Saxons as poisoners and betrayers is in line with this. Ambrosius and Uther then land and catch Vortigern in the castle of Genoreu in South Wales, where the castle and it’s occupants are burned to the ground. Ambrosius is crowned king and defeats the Saxons in two battles, Maisbeli and Kaerconan, before executing Hengist. Octa and Eossa surrender and are given Bernicia in Northumberland, while Ambrosius rules from York. We then have an aside where Merlin is called from the land of Geweissi to magically transport the giants ring from Ireland to build Stonehenge as a suitable burial place for the 300 nobles slaughtered by the Saxons. Uther leads an army to Ireland to achieve this. On Uther’s return Vortigern’s son and the Irish king invade. While Uther is defeating them, Ambrosius is poisoned by the Saxons. Still we have no dates.

There is a mention of Uther’s battle where he sees a two-headed dragon in the sky with a fiery tail. Geoffrey uses this to explain Uther’s title of ‘Pendragon’. Some have equated this with Haley’s Comet which would have been around 451. But the mention of St Samson (circa 485–565) being given the Bishopric of York and St Dubricius (465–555) the City of the Legions doesn’t tie in with this. Nor does an Arthur being born soon after, and fighting a battle in 542. There are two records of comets in the fifth century; the first recorded for 497 in a fourteenth-century text, Flores Historiarum. The second is seen from Brittany in 457 and is recorded by a Conrad Wolffart in the sixteenth century. They both have a similar description and may well be influenced by Geoffrey. If not though we once again have more than one possible date, which makes a timeline difficult.

Uther, now king, has to contend with Octa and Eossa who rebel, are defeated and taken prisoner. We then get the famous story of Merlin helping Uther magically change his appearance to seduce Ygraine at Tintagel, and it is this union that produces Arthur. Uther is able to marry Ygraine after her husband dies in battle. Arthur has a sister, Anna, who is married to King Loth of Lothian who assists Uther in fighting the Saxons, Octa having escaped. Uther defeats them before being poisoned at St Albans. We now come to Arthur who occupies a good third of the book. Arthur is crowned by St Dubricius at the age of 15, the same age, incidentally, that Clovis I of the Franks was crowned. The author is more than willing to borrow from other people’s history and make things up, and this could be another example. Arthur defeats the Saxons, now led by Colgrin and Baldulf, at a battle at the river Douglas before besieging York, which is possibly a reference to the City of the Legions in Nennius.

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