King Arthur is a legend which dates back to the 5th or 6th centuries. The first mention of King Arthur was in a poem called "Goddodin". Since then people have written about King Arthur and his adventures numerous times.
Little is actually known as fact about King Arthur. It is known that Arthur was born to King Uther Pendragon. Arthur was given to a magician named Merlin to raise. Merlin took Arthur to Sir Hector, who raised Arthur as his own son. Merlin stayed with Arthur as his teacher.
| After King Pendragon died Arthur pulled a special sword from a stone and proved that he should be king. None of the other townspeople had been able to pull the sword from the stone. |
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From the moment Arthur pulled the sword from the stone he was king. This sword was called Excalibur. Authur later had another sword which was also called Excalibur. This sword was given to him by the Lady of the Lake. When Arthur went to the lake the lady’s arm appeared with Excalibur in it. When Arthur grabbed the sword the lady’s arm disappeared.
King Arthur married Guinevere. They lived in Camelot on the River Usk in England. King Arthur found many knights to help him. They all sat at a round table during meetings. The round table was a new idea. Before the king sat head of a square table. At the round table everyone was equal. People called Arthur and his knights the Order of the Round Table.
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King Arthur and his knights fought a battle with Mordred, Arthur’s nephew. Mordred lost the battle and was killed. King Arthur was badly wounded. His body was mysteriously carried to the Island of Avalon to be healed. People thought he would return in the future to continue his reign. After the battle Arthur’s people fled to the mountains of Wales and to Brittany in France. They began telling everyone tales of Arthur adventures. |
As time went by people added to this legend other tales of what Arthur was suppose to have done. One tale was that Arthur and his knights had searched for the Holy Grail, which was the cup used at the Last Supper by Jesus and his disciples. This could not have happened because the Crusades didn’t start until 1096. At least five hundred years after King Arthur died.
Another misconception is that Arthur lived in a large stone castle. Stone castles were not built until much later. In the year 1066 William the Conqueror became King of England when he when he defeated Harold, Earl of Essex. At this time there were only six castles in all of England. These castles were the motte-palisade-bailey style which were made of wood.
In other stories Sir Lancelot, one of Arthur’s knights and son of Sir Galahad, had an affair with Guinevere.
King Arthur is a legend that has become very popular over the years.
