The Encyclopedia of Epic Myths and Legends by Kaplan Arie;

Author:Kaplan, Arie;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA
Published: 2024-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

IS THIS GUY FOR REAL?

Pop quiz: Was the mythical King Arthur based on an actual king, military leader, or chieftain who lived in the fifth or sixth century AD? Was there, in a manner of speaking, a real-life King Arthur? Well, if you were paying attention to the first chapter of this book, you’ll remember that the answer is: nobody knows for sure.

Historians and scholars can only guess. In the twelfth century, Geoffrey of Monmouth started writing stories about King Arthur’s exploits. Are those stories based on actual historical evidence? That is highly unlikely, since Geoffrey was definitely a Herodotus-style “historian” who wasn’t constrained by inconvenient things like facts. But Geoffrey did give us some of the most important components of the Arthurian legend, like the sword Caliburnus (later changed to “Excalibur”) and the wizard Merlin. Other writers like Robert Wace, Chrétien de Troyes, and Sir Thomas Malory expanded on Geoffrey’s work. Wace added the Round Table. Since de Troyes was French, he added the French character Lancelot du Lac. Malory turned the story into a sweeping, cradle-to-grave epic about Arthur’s entire life, giving the story a massive scope and a real sense of gravitas. The history of the King Arthur myth largely consists of people adding fiction onto already-existing fiction. We don’t know the real story the myth is based on, if there even is a real story.

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