Mass Viking Execution in Dorset

Fifty-one headless bodies found recently in a mass grave confirmed as Vikings

Mystery has surrounded the identity of the group since they were discovered at Ridgeway Hill, near Weymouth, in June 2009. It is one of the largest examples of executed foreigners buried in one spot. Any mass grave is a relatively rare find, but to find one on this scale, from this period of history, is extremely unusual. Archaeologists from Oxford believe the men were probably executed by local Anglo Saxons sometime between 910 AD and 1030 AD.

The execution trail started in April 2007 Dorset County Council's planning committee gave the go ahead for the construction of a controversial new £80M relief road, a 3.75km (2.3m) stretch of carriageway designed to reduce traffic congestion between the A354 and the A353 routes from Weymouth to Dorchester, due be completed by 2011, prior to sailing events coming to Portland in the 2012 the Olympic Games.

Protesters claimed the new road from Weymouth to Portland will have a major adverse impact on the environment as it is routed across Ridgeway Hill, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Campaigners, including Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and Transport 2000, claimed the route will cut through the legally protected countryside and affect the ancient woodland and a nature reserve. But clearly “protected” status means nothing when it comes to road building.

It was announced that there would be no public inquiry into the road building scheme with the Government confirming it would not interfere in the local planning process. Environmental groups went on to lose a High Court legal challenge to stop the route and in September 2008 Archaeology work started ahead of the building of the relief road through the so-called “protected” countryside of the Dorset Ridgeway and an area of 50,000 sq/m was fenced off in preparation for the start of excavations.

Oxford Archaeology, under the guidance of Senior Project Manager David Score, carried out the advance investigations. Shortly after excavations had begun more than a dozen skeletons thought to be thousands of years old, from the Bronze and Neolithic eras, had been found by the Oxford archaeologists working at the ancient site in Dorset. In various states of preservation, the better condition skeletons were thought to be Roman, archaeologists suspected they had uncovered a burial site on Ridgeway Hill near Weymouth, initially thought to date from the Iron Age, 800BC to early Roman times in the 1st Century AD, after examining pottery found in the pit.

In the summer of 2009 archaeologist started to unearth dismembered skeletons, fifty-one in total found in one burial pit on the site. The pit is thought to be a disused quarry, used out of convenience rather than having been dug specifically for burials. Initial radio-carbon dating returned a date between AD 890 and AD 1030, the classic Viking period in Britain. The remains are all male with the overwhelming majority aged from their late teens to about 25-years-old, with just a small number of older men.

Most of the skulls show evidence of multiple blows to the vertebrae, jawbones and skulls with a large, very sharp weapon such as a sword. The lack of any other finds with the skeletons indicates that the men were probably stripped naked either before being killed or before being buried because there was no evidence of clothing, such as pins or toggles.
David Score, Oxford Archaeology Project Manager said:

"The time period we are now looking at is one of considerable conflict between the resident Saxon population and invading Danes. The burial location is typical of places used for executions during this time; in a prominent location and next to a main road and a parish boundary. However, the large number of individuals and method used make it unlikely that normal criminal justice is being practised in this instance."

The rare discovery of this mass grave at Ridgeway Hill, gives the impression of being the aftermath of a massacre; decapitated, naked bodies of at least 51 young men found thrown into an old quarry and their heads piled on top. The men had all been executed, their heads hacked off with swords.

The speculation of who the 51 men were has led to suggestions that they may have been a Viking party raiding along the South coast. It has also been suggested that they could have been feuding rival Saxon groups or even Saxons killed by Vikings.

The fact that all 51 were male, generally robust, healthy and strong, most of them were in their late teens to early 20s, with a handful of elders in their 30s, a typical warrior band, would seem to support the theory that they were a group of Vikings landing on the coast, coming inland to raid, and perhaps being caught by the local population.

There appear to be more bodies than skulls, with possibly one or two skulls missing, which could have been the skulls of the bands leaders kept as trophies or perhaps put on stakes as was the Saxon way as evidenced by Bede who tells that at the battle of Maserfeld (Oswestry?) in 642, Oswald of Northumbria was slain by Penda, who 'ordered that his head and hands with the forearms be hacked off and fixed on stakes'.
The bodies showed no obvious battle wounds indicating that the men were captives who were executed at about the same time, all decapitated with a very sharp weapon, most probably a sword but it was not a straight one strike and head off. The bodies seem to have all been hacked at around the head and jaw, on one the collarbone has been sliced through. It would appear to have been a rather messy mass execution. One man has had his hands sliced through, he may have been trying to grab hold or fend off the sword as he was being executed. The site is a typical place for a Saxon execution site, on a main road and parish boundary and close to prehistoric barrows.

Context
The next step was to carry out isotope analysis to ascertain the victims origins, which would indicate if they were a Viking raiding party from across the seas from Scandinavia, or from the north of England where Vikings had settled in the Danelaw or even originated from Dorset. Once the origin of the men has been established, it may be possible to establish the historical context of the mass execution. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records Viking raids on this area:

980 - ...and in the same year was Southampton plundered by a pirate-army, and most of the population slain or imprisoned.

981 - In this year was St. Petroc's-stow plundered; and in the same year was much harm done everywhere by the sea-coast, both upon Devonshire and Wales.

982 - In this year came up in Dorsetshire three ships of the pirates, and plundered in Portland.

In the Chronicle the term 'pirate' is commonly used for seaborne raiders. In Old English the term 'viking' first appears in the 9th Century as 'wicing' probably derived from wic = 'village, camp' in reference to the raider's temporary camps, while the later Norse raiding armies who settled in England were generally referred to as 'Danes'. In old Norse a 'víkingr' was known as 'one who came from the fjords' the word being found on several Scandinavian rune stones and in the Norse prose histories known as Icelanders' Sagas the word refers to a seaborne warrior taking part in an oversea expedition, such as their famed longship journeys as far afield as the Russian Volga and across the northern Atlantic to Newfoundland in the New World.

Conclusions
Results of the analysis of teeth from 10 of the men, released in March 2010, revealed they had grown up in countries with a colder climate than Britain's. The samples were identified as Scandinavian by Dr Jane Evans and Carolyn Chenery, of NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, part of the British Geological Survey, Nottingham. The men had scattered Scandinavian origins, with one even thought to be from north of the Arctic Circle. Isotopes in the men's teeth also show they had eaten a high protein diet, comparable with known sites in Sweden. However, we must show a little caution with dental analysis as tooth enamel is fixed once the crown has formed therefore the results will only indicate the individual's likely childhood, and not necessarily their adulthood, but it does provide a useful indicator to the homeland of their early years.

Although these results are not conclusive as only 10 of the 51 have been sampled, it does appear to indicate that they were indeed a Viking group raiding along the south coast of Britain, that had ventured a short distance in land, captured by the locals and executed, their bodies stripped and thrown into an old quarry. It is hoped further insight into the lifestyles and activities of the warriors will come to light as the analysis continues.

It is tempting to speculate that they may have been part of the Viking raid on Portland in 982 AD recorded in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, as more accurate radio-carbon dating has returned a period of between 910 – 1030AD.


See: Viking Apocalypse National Geographic Channel

* * *

Avallon in Burgundy

King Arthur's French Odyssey
by Marilyn Floyde

The Retreat from Bourges
"Arthur Riothamus, and what was left of his battle-weary troops, made their escape from Bourges (Avaricum), after their defeat by the invading Visigoths. They went east towards the Burgundians who were known to be allied to the Romans. There were still Roman strongholds in Avallon and Autun. The Romans had promised him reinforcements, but they had never materialised in Bourges, and Arthur Riothamus had been left to fight the Visigoths with his army alone, with disastrous consequences. The Burgundians would have offered him a safe haven. Along the Roman road to Avallon he would have passed through some of the most beautiful landscape in France. He would have reached the ‘Avallonnais’ region, surrounding Avallon itself, and the famous and sacred phenomenon for which Avallon was known throughout Gaul at that time, Les Fontaines Salées – literally, ‘the salt springs’. " [1]

The theory of King Arthur as Riothamus who met his demise in France is not a new one and has been championed in recent years by Geoffrey Ashe in The Discovery of King Arthur, (1985). Widely regarded as one of the leading Arthurian specialists, Ashe provides the foreword to Marilyn Floyde's new book, King Arthur's French Odyssey (published December 2009) endorsing the theory that the nearest we get to identifying an historical Arthur is Riothamus who was last seen heading towards the Burgundians in the direction of Avallon. Floyde, having lived in a small village near Avallon, Burgundy, France, for a number of years, has taken the theory a few steps further by investigating the Arthurian themes in the countryside around her French home.

Inspired by a question on the 'burgundytoday.com' message board asking ‘Avalon or Avallon', writer Marilyn Floyde set out to research the local area around her home in Burgundy. A strong case began to emerge that Arthur spent considerable time in Burgundy and was wounded in battle there. Despite the calls from Glastonbury in England, claiming Arthur as their own, Avallon in Burgundy now steps out of the shadows.

Floyde uses the two Geoffrey's, Ashe and Monmouth, as her main sources and provides a refreshing look at the Arthurian legend in a French context. It is Geoffrey of Monmouth's story that the author searches out the first clues and develops her Arthurian French Odyssey, combined with the use of ‘La Chanson de Girart de Roussillon' from a body of medieval French literature known as the Chanson de Geste (Old French for "songs of heroic deeds”), part of ‘The Matter of France’. The anonymous Chanson de Geste, is thought to be based on an ancient epic poem and recorded by a medieval monk either in Vézelay or Asquins some time between 1136 and 1180, around the same time Geoffrey of Monmouth penned his History of the Kings of Britain.

In exploring Arthur’s French connections, Floyde discusses the length of time he spent there, places he visited, wartime alliances, peacetime friendships, love affairs and his ultimate resting place. Floyde promotes a persuasive account containing all the typical components of a Dark Age tale full of fear, bloodshed and incest; a time for Arthur’s kinship with France to be acknowledged in the context of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s original story.

Not a heavy, scholarly work, but instead a very readable account which considers the real location of 'Avalon' as Glastonbury or the Burgundian town of 'Avallon', known as Aballo in the 12th Century. The story of Arthur's sword Excalibur (known as Caliburn in the earliest sources) and its connection with the forges of Avallon provides an adequate explanation for Geoffrey of Monmouth's account of the weapon's provenance. Floyde suggests that it is possible that from the earliest times in Gaul when the Roman Empire was in a state of terminal decay, Arthur's sword Caliburn was hidden, along with the body of Arthur, until King Richard the Lionheart set off on the Third Crusade. The last historical reference to Caliburn being when King Richard gave the magical sword to the King of Sicily while on his journey to the Holy Land.

Floyde considers the possibility of the King's bones being removed from the French town and taken to Glastonbury to be excavated later by the monks in the Abbey grounds c.1190. The transportation of Royal remains and martyr's relics was not an uncommon practice in medieval times. But perhaps the key factor in Floyde's argument for a French Avallon is the sacred waters of Les Fontaines Salées, in the ‘Avallonnais’ region of Burgundy, with its natural salt springs and mineral waters known as a healing sanctuary since prehistoric times, where she proposes the wounded King would have made for after being trounced in battle by the Visigoths.


Notes:
1. AVALLON – THE HEALING SANCTUARY – Marilyn Floyde.

*

UPDATE 2016

After the first edition of King Arthur's French Odyssey - Avallon in Burgundy by Marilyn Floyde sold out, and no longer available, the book has been republished in 2016 with fresh findings.

Expanding Geoffrey Ashe's theory of Arthur as Riothamus, which he outlines in the Foreword, this new edition presents an extraordinary revelation and challenges Glastonbury's claim to be 'The Island of Avallon',

The author's website [www.islandofavallon.co.uk]

The book was commissioned by www.burgundytoday.com where the initial research was first published.

* * *

Revealing King Arthur

'Many tales are told and many legends have been invented about King Arthur and his mysterious ending. In their stupidity the British people maintain that he is still alive. Now that the truth is known......The fairy tales have been snuffed out, and the true and indubitable facts are made known, so that what really happened must be made crystal clear to all and separated from the myths that have accumulated on the subject.' [1]

Did King Arthur really exist? Does the Arthur that we read of in the ninth-century sources have any link to a real leader of the fifth or sixth century? Was Arthur a powerful king or a Dark Age general co-cordinating the British resistance to Saxon invaders?

In an attempt to answer these perpetual questions The Reign of Arthur: From History to Legend by Christopher Gidlow (The History Press 2004) takes a fresh look at the early sources describing Arthur's career and compares them to the reality of Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries. Gidlow presents, for the first time, both the most up to date scholarship with a convincing case for the existence of a real sixth-century British general called Arthur.

Gidlow carefully examines the source-material for Arthur as far as Geoffrey of Monmouth's "History of the Kings of Britain", and presents a lucid and compelling case for Arthur's historical existence, whilst acknowledging the progressive accretion of folkloric and legendary material around that name.

Detailed analysis of the key Arthurian sources, contemporary testimony and archaeology reveals the reality of fragmented British kingdoms uniting under a single military command to defeat the Saxons. There is plausible and convincing evidence for the existence of their war-leader, and, in this challenging and provocative work, Gidlow concludes that the Dark Age hypothesis of Arthur, War-leader of the Kings of the Britons, not only fits the facts, but it is the only way of making sense of them.

Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Who was King Arthur?

Part One: From History
1. In the Reign of King Arthur...
2. Arthur Fought against Them in those Days
3. The Strife of Camlann
4. The Destruction of Britain
5. Tyrants and Kings
6. The King of the Britons

Part Two: Into Legend
7. Arthur's Brave Men
8. Lives of the Saints
9. Geoffrey of Monmouth
10. Arthur, King of Britian

Epilogue: Digging Up Arthur - Glastonbury 1990
Conclusion: The Reign of Arthur?
Bibliography
Index

The first part of The Reign of Arthur, “From History”, examines the source material in chronological order, Gildas, Nennius, the Welsh Annals and such, in the light of the latest historical research the author comes up with several surprising and persuasive insights.

The second part of the book, "To Legend," discusses later, rather dubious, source material, from the Mabinogion to the Saints' Lives through to Geoffrey of Monmouth, including the magical deeds of the legendary Arthur, turning him into a figure first of folklore, then eventually of chivalric romance, adding to our understanding of how Arthur came to be viewed primarily as a figure out of legend.

Christopher Gidlow, an Oxford history graduate and honorary life member of the Oxford Arthurian Society, has his second Arthurian book Revealing King Arthur: Swords, Stones and Digging for Camelot due Publication on 1st May 2010 by The History Press.

Notes:
1. Gerald of Wales, Speculum Ecclesiae, 1216 - (translated by Richard White in King Arthur in Legend and History) From the Back cover: The Reign of Arthur: From History to Legend by Christopher Gidlow , The History Press 2004.

* * *

Contenders for the Real King Arthur

'Here lies the renown King Arthur in the Isle of Avalon'

Just about anyone who was anyone in Dark Age Britain has at sometime or other been proposed as the historical Arthur. We must be prepared to consider these contenders for the crown and not just casually dismiss them out of hand. But any proposal put forward in the argument for a historical Arthur must of course stand up to scrutiny. The following is a selection of some the contenders for consideration. This list is not exhaustive by any means and later articles will discuss the merits of each as a realistic contender for the crown of Arthur, King of the Britons.

Lucius Castus Artorius
This controversial theory argues for a 2nd Century Roman cavalry officer stationed in North Britain with an auxiliary troop of Sarmatian cavalry who left Britain to fight in Gaul as the origin of the Arthurian Legend. Character upon which the figure of Arthur is based upon in the historically inaccurate movie King Arthur, (2004).
Theory favoured by Kemp Malone, P. F. J. Turner, C. Scott Littleton & Linda Malcor and more recently John Matthews has jumped on the bandwagon. 

Arthun, son of Magnus Maximus
Magnus Maximus is well known as a historical character of the late Roman period in Britain, he restored Roman control over the Northern Wall and was elected Emperor by the British Roman Garrison. Maximus left Britain to fight a campaign in Gaul in 383 AD.
According to Alan Wilson & Baram Blackett in The Holy Kingdom (1998) with Adrian Gilbert, there were TWO King Arthurs, six generations apart but came to form one composite figure known as "King Arthur". Wilson and Blackett's “first” Arthur, who they refer to as “Arthur I”, or Arthun, was son of Magnus Maximus c.346-400 AD and his general who the Romans called Andragathius.

Dux Bellorum: A mercenary?
In his recent book Warlords (2009) Stuart Laycock suggest that Arthur may have been a foriegn mercenary employed by the Kings of Britain quoting Nennius saying he was not a king but fought for them.

Vortimer
Vortimer was one of the sons of Vortigern and won several battles against the Saxons in the South East of Britain according to the Kentish Chronicle.

Ambrosius
The Last of the Romans; the title Dux Bellorum, which translates literally as Duke of Battles, sounds similar to the Roman title Dux Brittania, the commander of the field armies of Northern Britain. Gildas and Bede, along with Nennius and even Geoffrey of Monmouth all credit Ambrosius as the British Dark Age resistance leader. As the Harlian Manuscript 3859 twice mentions Arthur as the victor at Badon in accordance with Gildas, our only contemporary historical source, Ambrosius equates as THE Historical Arthur.

Riothamus
Left Britain “by way of ocean” to fight a campaign in Gaul against the Visigoths in 468AD. Betrayed by the Prefect of Gaul, last seen heading towards Avallon in Burgundy, he disappeared from history. Geoffrey Ashe argues that King Arthur was an historical King in Brittany known to history as Riothamus, a title meaning "Greatest-King".

Cerdic
Cerdic is an enigmatic character; a Germanic warrior with a British name. He is credited as the founder of Wessex, landing c.495AD. He is then relatively inactive for nearly 20 years before expanding Wessex; a timespan curiously corresponding with the dates of the Battles of Badon and Camlann. This correlation of dates seems to suggest that he was Arthur's adversary but John C. Rudmin & Joseph W. Rudmin, propose that the 6th century Welsh king, Caradoc Vreichvras, is identified as Cerdic of Wessex, and the origin of the Arthurian legend.

Owain Ddantgwyn
In King Arthur - The True Story, (1992) Graham Phillips and Martin Keatman propose there is compelling evidence that Owain Ddantgwyn (whitetooth), the king of Powys c.500 AD, was known by the battle name “The Bear.” Tracing his genealogy Phillips and Keatman derive at Ddantgwyn as the father of Cynglas (Cunegulasus) and uncle to Maelgwyn (Maglocunus). Significantly Maelgwyn was termed by Gildas as the “dragon of the Island”, who killed the King, his uncle, fitting in with the treachery of Mordered, according to later Arthurian Romance Arthur's son by his sister. Phillips and Keatman identify his burial place as The Berth in Shropshire.

Cunegulasus
Powys warlord and according to Gildas, writing less than half a century after the battle of Badon, known as the “Bear” and “Driver of the Bear's chariot,” commonly taken to mean Din Arth in North Wales. Together with other compelling biographical convergences this is seen as evidence for identifying Cunegulasus (Cynglas) with Arthur.

Athwrys
Blackett & Wilson's second of the two characters forming one composite Arthur, who they refer to as Arthur II, King Athrwys of Glywyssing & Gwent, the Son of King Meurig. In Artorius Rex Discovered (1986) Blackett and Wilson argue that several ancient British Manuscripts, Llandaff Cathedral Charters and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, state very plainly and unmistakable that Arthur II successfully fought against the Saxons. Born in 503 AD and his death in 579 AD, funeral, and burial are copiously recorded. He was a grandson of King Tewdrig (Theoderic), and Tewdrig was buried at Mathern Church after being mortally wounded in a battle at the Tintern Ford on the River Wye in 508 AD.

St Arthmael
Chris Barber & David Pykitt in Journey to Avalon (1993), like Blackett & Wilson, identify the historical Arthur with King Athrwys of Glywyssing & Gwent. However, the major divergence in their theory is that after Camlann, Athrwys abdicated and retired to Brittany where he became known as St. Armel (Arthmael = Iron Bear) with his shrine at St.Armel-des-Boschaux.

A Strathclyde General
Many claim the Arthurian battles occur up and down the country, others assert there is a concentration in southern Scotland and the Borders with Arthur contesting all his battles on the borders of the Dark Age kingdom of Strathclyde defending the territory from other Northern Britons. Hence, Arthur has been identified, not as a king, but as a general from 5th and early 6th century Strathclyde who fought all his battles in southern Scotland and Northumberland.

Arthur of the Pennines
Many of the exploits of Arthwys ap Mar, Arthur of the Pennines, who ruled from York seem to fit well with the deeds of the historic King Arthur. Indeed, the Arthurian Battle List can comfortably be made to fit a Northern bias and Geoffrey of Monmouth has Arthur fight the battle of the River Douglas outside of York. But in vernacular sources Arthur was always recorded as 'Arthur', not Arthwys.

The Arthur of Saints Lives
The Arthur of the Saints Lives is often portrayed as someone at odds with the church and very much a warrior figure like the Arthur of early Welsh tradition. Caradoc of Llancarfan, associates Arthur with the monk Gildas and writes of this in the Vita Gildae (The life of St Gildas). The tale from Caradoc states that a dispute between king Melwas of Somerset and Arthur over the abduction of Guinevere was resolved by the Abbot of Glastonbury. This is the first connection of Glastonbury with Arthur, although no connection is made with Avalon.
The same story told on the Modena Archivolt constructed prior to Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain. Oddly Geoffrey refers to Caradoc at the end of some versions of his History as being the only person capable of continuing the writing of British history.

Breton Arthur
William of Leon, Chaplain to Bishop Eudo, claiming to have used the now lost "Ystoria Britannica” as his source, in the preface to the "Legend of St. Goeznovius" c. 1019 AD states that the Saxon advance was checked by the great Arthur, king of the Britons. He says the Saxons were cleared from the island and reduced to subjection. After many victories in Britain and in Gaul, Arthur was was finally summoned from human activity, and the destruction of Britain continued once more. Debate continues as to whether William's work was the source of Geoffrey's Historia, (he claimed to have been given “certain ancient book”), as the two works have many clear similarities.

William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury seems to have used Nennius' Historia Brittonum as the primary source for his Gesta Regum Anglorum (Acts of the Kings of the English), 1125AD. William mentions the spread of oral tradition about Arthur but disregards this as pure myth. Williams's work identified Arthur assisting Ambrosius Aurelianus in fighting the Saxons and refers to his victory at the siege of Mount Badon, but fails to mention Camlann as Arthur's final battle.

Henry of Huntingdon
Writing c.1130, Henry's History of the English (Historia Anglorum) states that Arthur was commander of the soldiers and kings of Britain and fought against them (the Saxons) invincibly. Probably following Nennius, Henry mentions twelve times Arthur led them in battle and twelve times he was victorious in battle, but the twelfth and hardest battle that Arthur fought was Mount Badon.

Geoffrey of Monmouth's Arthur
Writing his History of the Kings of Britain c.1136 Geoffrey created an “Arthur” very different to what we has seen prior to the emergence of his work. His source he claimed to be a “certain ancient book” given to him by Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford, which he translated from the British tongue. Geoffrey changed Arthur for ever and in the process added much confusion to the tales. Following Geoffrey there appears to have been an explosion of Arthurian literature, notably on the Continent; whether Geoffrey was the direct inspiration for this seems debatable as there was evidently a groundswell developing prior to Geoffrey, but certainly he was responsible for creating the Arthur of Romance.

Arthur's Bones
A grave was excavated by the monks in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey in 1191 AD, claimed to be Arthur, King of the Britons. A cross was found during excavation which subsequently disappeared many years ago, but a surviving depiction is from a drawing by William Camden in 1607, cited by many as evidence of the event as a genuine occurrence. Without the cross it is of course difficult to ascertain whether it is a fake or not, but several, different transcriptions were recorded by various contemporary historians. It is well known that the monks of the Abbey were in desperate need of funds at the time following the fire in 1184. The finding of Arthur's grave also had political significance and was no doubt meant to put an end to the Britons insistence that the Great Arthur would one day return. But today we have no bones and no cross.

Arthur of Continental Romance
Wace is generally the first European writer considered influenced by Monmouth's work and he composed a long poem in the Chronicle tradition entitled Roman de Brut (The Romance of Brutus) in 1155. Wace was the first to introduce the 'Round Table' around which Arthur sat with his fifty greatest knights. Geoffrey of Monmouth's work was probably read throughout the courts of Britain and Europe inspiring a flourish of continental writers …....and the Arthurian Romances were born.
The most famous being the five Arthurian tales by Chretien de Troyes who also introduced a pagan “Graal”, later Christianised by Robert de Boron's Joseph d'Arimathie in the late 12th century as the cup used by Christ at the last supper. De Troyes had left his Story of the Graal unfinished, which led to four continuations of Chrétien’s poem to bring the story to a close and an Elucidation (introduction) which just seemed to confuse matters further. The German Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach, which attempted to adapt the holiness of De Boron's Grail into the framework of Chrétien’s pagan story. The French introduced us to Lancelot in the Vulgate Cycle. The first treatment of the Lancelot tradition in German, Lanzelet, a medieval romance written by Ulrich von Zatzikhoven around 1194, contains the earliest known account of the hero's childhood with the Lady of the Lake in any language. The Three Welsh Romances, normally included in the Mabinogion, are versions of Arthurian tales whose themes appear in the work of Chrétien de Troyes, but including very striking differences from it. Debate continues as to whether the Welsh Romances are derived from Chrétien's work or a common shared original. In all probability it seems likely that the surviving Romances derive, directly or indirectly, from Chrétien, who in turn based his tales on older, Celtic sources. For example the Welsh romance Peredur, preserves elements of pre-Christian traditions such as the Celtic cult of the head. But by now Arthur had ceased to be the central figure of these tales; Gawain and Lancelot had taken central stage.

Malory's Arthur
Sir Thomas Malory wrote Le Morte d'Arthur (The Death of Arthur) completed from his prison cell by 1470. First printed by Caxton in 1485, it is the best known work of Arthurian literature in the English language. This was Malory's compilation of the French and English Arthurian romances, but also containing some of Malory's own original material, including Arthur's birth, and the sword in the stone stone to prove his heir apparent and retelling the older stories with Malory's own interpretations, portraying Arthur as a knight in shinning armour, ruling from a grand court, creating the Arthur we know today.

And the rest, as they say, is history..........or is it?

*Updated May 2016


Copyright © 2010 Edward Watson

http://clasmerdin.blogspot.co.uk/

* * *

Arthur: The Eternal Enigma (2)

Part Two

"and more and better besides...." [1]

And to what came first: were the legends appended to a historical figure who flourished in Post-Roman Britain, or was it a mythical figure who became historisiced? The available evidence tends to suggest the later is the case.

In a major article clearly aimed at addressing this question, Oliver J. Padel, opens his account by stating: “Did Arthur exist? The only honest answer is, ‘We do not know, but he may well have existed.’” [8] Padel cites two studies from Celticists Thomas Jones (The Early Evolution of the Legends of Arthur [9] ) and Kenneth Jackson (The Arthur of History [10] ) writing around the same time but independantly came to the same conclusion. Jones and Jackson both examined all the evidence which is likely to be before Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain with its glorification of Arthur as King and an international warlord, completed before 1139AD.

Padel's article has been described as an attack on the "historical Arthur". Padel cites the dualistic nature of the Arthurian material in the Historia Brittonum; the Arthur of the battle list and the folkloristic Arthur of the Mirabilia, as discussed above, as evidence of the historisation of a mythical figure:

“This contrast, found in our earliest Arthurian text [Historia Brittonum], needs to be emphasized. It has usually been explained on the basis that here we also see the historical Arthur already becoming a figure of local legend. This begs the question of what can be known of Arthur before the date of this, our earliest text; but for the time being what is important is the dual nature of the legend at its first appearance – the mixture of magical folklore and apparent history." [11]

Padel concludes “that Arthur occupied a role in folklore across the Brittonic lands before being historicized at least as early as the Historia Brittonum in 829-830, and perhaps before that, this figure was then developed by Geoffrey of Monmouth and provided the beginnings of the fully grown Arthurian cycle of the 12th Century.” [12]

In an article entitled “Concepts of Arthur,” Rachel Bromwich briefly touches on the “magical meaning” of Arthur, in quoting Welsh Arthurian scholar Thomas Jones, she states:

“How exactly did it come about that a figure about whom we know nothing with certainty, and whose historical existence we cannot prove, should have grown into the centre of so many tales throughout the whole of Europe”.[13]

Bromwich continues, stating that by the seventh century, Arthur had become the great national hero of the entire British people “...a defender of his people against witches, monsters, giants, and external invaders”. [14]

Qualified opinions such as these as expressed by eminent scholars such as Padel, Bromwich and Dumville are obviously unpopular with supporters of the paperback Historical Arthur factory, but when the early medieval sources are examined, the absence of this enigmatic figure is very noticeable. In the long list of books attempting to identify this enigmatic figure, Arthurian scholar Thomas Green continues in the vein of Padel in producing the latest study on the Arthur of Celtic legend and reveals that in origin he was a mythical, folkloric figure, the defender of Britain, with Otherworld connections.

Green's Concepts of Arthur: The Nature of the Early Arthurian Legend (Tempus 2008) is a detailed study of the ultimate origins of Arthur and the nature and development of the early Arthurian legend, presenting a comprehensive overview of recent scholarship, including the author's own academic research into the sources of the early Arthurian tradition.

From the back cover:
“Ever since Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his History of the Kings of Britain in the twelfth century, there have been numerous attempts to prove that the Arthur of Celtic legend was in fact based on an actual historical figure. This trend continues to the present day, although as yet no definitive literary or archaeological proof has emerged for Arthur's existence.

In this new and vigorous re-examination of the Arthurian legend Thomas green considers the earliest surviving literary and folkloric sources for Arthur and contests the belief that he was an actual person. Far from being an historical figure, Arthur emerges as a mythical and folkloric figure, who over the course of history has been transformed into an historical king by a series of authors with their own political agenda. The evidence reveals that from an early period Arthur was clearly defined as a supernatural defender of Britain, who defended its borders from all threats. Moreover, he had an intimate connection with the Otherworld and a long history of folkloric tradition attached to his name. This thought-provoking and engaging study challenges the long-standing fascination with proving that King Arthur was real and is essential reading for anyone with an interest in Arthur.”

Green, a post-graduate researcher at the University of Oxford and a part-time teacher of history, has been producing Arthurian articles on his website [15] since 1998, the first major article being ‘The Historicity and Historicisation of Arthur’. An up-to-date expansion, development and revision of the views presented in this article can be found in Chapter Six of 'Concepts of Arthur'. This important article has been cited in various recent Arthurian publications, such as N. J. Higham’s King Arthur, Myth-Making and History (2002), N. J. Lacy (ed.) The History of Arthurian Scholarship (2006) and G. Anderson's King Arthur in Antiquity (2004).

Continuing to explore the mythical element of the Arthurian legend, Green concentrates on the Arthur of early litertaure, denouncing Geoffrey of Monmouth’s (Galfridus Monemutensis) Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain) which glorified Arthur and made him an international warlord, as being of no use in the search for a historical Arthur. Geoffrey's work rapidly became a major influence throughout western Europe and affected the Arthurian legend in all areas with the result that scholars must look to sources written before Geoffrey’s Historia, termed ‘pre-Galfridian’, for the ‘original’ Arthur. As Green says in the introductory pages:

“In what follows, the major early sources for a concept of Arthur as a figure of history will be examined in some detail, in order to establish whether they can provide the necessary proof for us to be able to believe that the Arthur they tell of did, in fact, exist. The focus here is solely on those sources that modern historians accept as potentially reliable and useful, that is those texts which pre-date the publication of the Historia Regum Britanniae”.

In the early, pre-Galfridian, Arthurian sources, in the tales of 'Culhwch and Olwen' and 'Preideu Annwfyn' for example, we find Arthur's companions are a retinue of deities: Bran; Mabon; Gwynn ap Nudd; Lugus/Lleu/Lug; Manawydan; Gwalchmei; involved in a raid on the otherworld fighting giants and witches. Although Arthur does not appear as a god himself.

Of the Nennius battle list, discussed above, Green suggests it was fought against supernatural figures. Green admits that most of the battle sites are largely unidentifiable, though the tenth, the ‘battle on the bank of a river which is called Tribruit’, is recorded elsewhere (Pa Gur) in very early sources as a traditional battle against werewolves, thus casting further doubt on the Historia’s value. The battle at Cat Coit Celidon Green suggests is the mythical 'battle of trees' recorded in the archaic poem from the Book of Taliesin, Kat Godeu. Green continues in that other elements of Nennius Section 56 look similarly suspect.

A collection of early Welsh heroic death-songs, known as Y Gododdin, is often cited as the first early reference to Arthur with the line that states although Gwawrddur ‘fed black ravens on the rampart of the fort, he was no Arthur’. The allusion in the poem to Arthur, who is clearly not present at the battle, is often claimed as a later addition to the manuscript by the opponents of the historical Arthur. However, there are several texts of Y Gododdin, known as the A and B texts, the earliest composition of which has been suggested recently by John Koch as the mid-7th Century, although this controversial view has not gone unchallenged by other scholars. [16] This Arthurian reference in Y Gododdin may well be from the 7th or equally the 10th Century, but this does not detract from the fact that Gwawrddur’s valour is being compared to the tradition of a Brittonic superhero known in Northern Britain as Arthur. As Green states, “...he is not envisaged as being present at the battle ...he is a military ‘superhero’, someone to whose heights of valour not even a man who killed 300 could compare. Arthur is therefore in a different league to the rest of the figures who appear in Y Gododdin”.

After the continual onslaught of books claiming “the true identity of Arthur revealed” this book comes across very refreshing. Green has produced a fine scholarly work that blows away the myths of later Arthurian Romance, presenting a folkloric or mythical figure of Arthur who became historicised at least by the 9th century, and possibly much earlier, and delivers the most common sense approach yet to the eternal enigma of Arthur.

"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend".

Copyright © 2010 Edward Watson
http://clasmerdin.blogspot.co.uk/


Notes & References:
8. Oliver J. Padel, "The Nature of Arthur", Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies No 27, (1994).
9. Thomas Jones, The Early Evolution of the Legend of Arthur, Nottingham Medieval Studies #8 (1964) – translated from an original article from the Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies (1956-58).
10. Kenneth H Jackson, The Arthur of History, in Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, edited by R S Loomis (1959).
11. Padel, op.cit.
12. Ibid.
13. Rachel Bromwich, “Concepts of Arthur.” Studia Celtica, No 10/11, pp. 163-181. (1975/1976.).
14. Ibid.
15. Thomas Green's Arthurian Resources 
16. John Koch, The Gododdin of Aneirin: Text and Context from Dark-Age North Britain (1997).

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Arthur: The Eternal Enigma

Part One

"its all true, or ought to be" [1]

The historical mystery of the search for the identity of King Arthur would appear to be never ending until someone unearths a document or archaeological evidence to reveal who the Dux Bellorum of Post-Roman Britain really was. Arthur is claimed by all the Celtic lands of North West Europe: Scotland; Wales; Cornwall; Brittany and so on, with many authors putting forward theories to reveal the identity of this defender of Britain in new books each year. When will it end, when will the true identity of Arthur finally be revealed?

The debate continues as to the origins of the name from the Roman 'Artorius' or from the Welsh 'arth' for bear, or from the circum-polar constellation of Ursa Major with the zodiac representing the Round Table and the constellations as Arthur’s Knights. Certainly we see a very different Arthur after Geoffrey of Monmouth and the French Romancers had spun their tales. In between these two ends of the debate we see continuous speculation as to the identity of an historical Arthur as a Dark Age warlord who rallied the beleaguered Britons against the incursions of the Anglo-Saxons.

For a short example: Graham Phillips & Martin Keatman identify Arthur as Owain Ddantgwyn, a North Wales warlord [2]; Originally suggested by Kemp Malone and taken up by PFJ Turner and expanded by Littleton & Malcor, Arthur has been identified as Lucius Artorius Castus, a Roman Officer of the 2nd Century [3]; Chris Barber & David Pykitt claim he was Athrwys, a South Wales ruler, who retired to Brittany as St. Armel (Arthmael) [4]; Frank D. Reno sees him one man known by the epithets Ambrosius/Riothamus/Arthur [5]; Geoffrey Ashe identifies Arthur as Riothamus, last seen heading towards Avallon in Burgundy. [6] All entertaining and well presented theories, claimimg the true identity of Arthur revealed and you are left thinking “yes, perhaps, maybe” - but all these works lack one essential element: hard evidence.

Even Dark Age 'histories' have been constructed around a historical Arthur: Leslie Alcock, Arthur's Britain and John Morris, The Age of Arthur: A History of the British Isles from 350 to 650. In 1977 David Dumville, concerned with this growing trend, stated: "The fact is that there is no historical evidence about Arthur; we must reject him from our histories and, above all, from the titles of our books." [7]

Although many authors adopt a “no smoke without fire” philosophy towards the existence of an historical Arthur, the fact is Dumville is quite correct; the historical evidence for Arthur is virtually non-existent, and what we do have is very much based on the 9th Century account of 'British History' [Historia Brittonum] compiled by the so-called Nennius. Many forests have been felled in providing the media for endless discussions of the battle list, described as a lost war poem, cited in Section 56 of 'Nennius' :

"Then Arthur along with the kings of Britain fought against them in those days, but Arthur himself was the military commander ['dux bellorum']. His first battle was at the mouth of the river which is called Glein. His second, third, fourth, and fifth battles were above another river which is called Dubglas and is in the region of Linnuis. The sixth battle was above the river which is called Bassas. The seventh battle was in the forest of Celidon, that is Cat Coit Celidon. The eighth battle was at the fortress of Guinnion, in which Arthur carried the image of holy Mary ever virgin on his shoulders; and the pagans were put to flight on that day. And through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and through the power of the blessed Virgin Mary his mother there was great slaughter among them. The ninth battle was waged in the City of the Legion. The tenth battle was waged on the banks of a river which is called Tribruit. The eleventh battle was fought on the mountain which is called Agnet. The twelfth battle was on Mount Badon in which there fell in one day 960 men from one charge by Arthur; and no one struck them down except Arthur himself, and in all the wars he emerged as victor."

As Henry of Huntington stated in his Historia Anglorum "One historian [Nennius] tells of these battles, and the places where they were fought, though none of the places can be identified now. I think that this has happened by the providence of God, so that popular favour, adulatory praise, and transitory fame might be set at nought."

There are various manuscript versions of the Historia Brittonum but the version contained in the Harly collection, known as the Harlian 3859 manuscript is the only complete form, but omits the prologue. It is only one of two versions of the Historia Brittonum which contains Sections 67 through to 76, which includes the 'Wonders of Britain' (The Mirabila). This manuscript also contains an early version of 'Culhwch and Olwen' (or The Hunt for Twrch Trwyth). The Harlian 3859 manuscript is usually dated to the 11th Century - prior to Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th Century pseudo-history. Significantly, out of twenty Marvels of the Island of Britain, The Mirabila twice refers to Arthur:

“There is another wonderful thing in the region which is called Buelt. There is in that place a heap of stones, and one stone superposed on the pile with the footprint of a dog on it. When he hunted the boar Troynt, Cabal, who was the dog of Arthur the soldier, impressed his footprint on the stone and Arthur afterwards collected a pile of stones under the stone, whereon was the footprint of his dog, and it is called Carn Cabal. And men come and carry the stone in their hands for the space of a day and a night, and on the morrow it is found upon its pile”.

“There is another marvel in the region which is called Ercing. There is to be found in that place a sepulchre by the well which is named Licat Amr, and the name of the man who is buried in the tumulus was called so, Amr. He was the son of Arthur the soldier, and he killed him in the same place and buried him. And men come to measure the tumulus, sometimes six feet in length, sometimes nine, sometimes twelve, sometimes fifteen. In what measure you should measure it in its turn, the second time you will not find it in the same measure, and I have tested it myself.”

His hound 'cafall' must have been gigantic as it is named after the Latin caballus = horse. This pile of stones is now called Corn Gafallt, in the north of Breconshire. Ercing as been identified as west of the Wye, 'Archenfield', Herefordshire and Gamber Head, 'the eye-spring of the Amir', in Llanwarne. We see here that Arthur is referred to as a warrior, not a king, and by the 9th Century had already become associated with folklore.

Appended to the Harlian 3859 manuscript version of the Historia Brittonum is the Annales Cambriae (The Annals of Wales), the earliest copy which has survived. The Annals, a simple list of events entered by year date, in chronicle form, makes two mentions of Arthur, considered by some scholars as authentic:

516 - The Battle of Badon, in which Arthur carried the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ for three days and three nights on his shoulders and the Britons were the victors.

537 - The battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut fell: and there was plague in Britain and Ireland.

The entry for 516 sounds suspicously like it was taken from Section 56 of Nennius, compare with the “The eighth battle was at the fortress of Guinnion, in which Arthur carried the image of holy Mary ever virgin on his shoulders”. Dated to the 10th Century, The Annals of Wales make the first reference to the battle of Camlann, from which a mass of legendary material has developed in Cornwall and Wales, although Arthurian authors have offered sites across the country, from Hadrian’s Wall in the North to Hampshire in the South. It is also the first mention of Medraut who in later tradition became known as Mordred (or Modred) best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his half-sister Morgause. The first detailed account of Mordred is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain) in which he further developed the traitor role who brought about the downfall of Arthur.

Significantly, no reference to Arthur, King or warrior, appears in two key texts; Gildas, a 6th-Century British cleric writing around 540AD delivered a sermon called De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain) from the period of Arthur's flourit, nor Bede's 8th Century Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation. After Nennius, oustide of early Welsh poetry, "Arthur" does not appear again in an “historical” work until Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his History of the Kings of Britain in the 12th Century. Notably, Gildas and Bede, along with Nennius and even Geoffrey of Monmouth all credit Ambrosius as the British dark age resistance leader. As the Harlian Manuscript 3859 twice mentions Arthur as the victor at Badon in accordance with Gildas, our only contemporary historical source, we should equate Ambrosius as the Dux Bellorum – the Historical Arthur.

>> Continued in Part Two


Copyright © 2009 Edward Watson
http://clasmerdin.blogspot.co.uk/


Notes:
1. Winston Churchill - “A History of the English-Speaking Peoples” - “It is all true, or it ought to be; and more and better besides. And wherever men are fighting against barbarism, tyranny, and massacre for freedom, law and honour, let them remember that the fame of their deeds, even though they themselves be exterminated, may perhaps be celebrated as long as the world rolls round. Let us then declare that King Arthur... slaughtered innumerable hosts of foul barbarians and set decent folk an example for all time”.
2. Graham Phillips & Martin Keatman - "King Arthur: the True Story" (1992).
3. Kemp Malone, "Artorius," Modern Philology 23 (1924), P. F. J. Turner - "The Real King Arthur: A History of Post-Roman British History AD 410 - AD 593, Volume 1" (1993) & C. Scott Littleton and Linda Malcor "From Scythia to Camelot" (2000)
4. Chris Barber & David Pykitt - "Journey to Avalon" (1993).
5. Frank D. Reno - "Historic Figures of the Arthurian Era" (2000).
6. Geoffrey Ashe - "The Discovery of King Arthur" (2003).
7. Leslie Lcock, Arthur's Britain: History and Archaeology A.D. 367-634, Penguin, 1971
John Morris, The Age Of Arthur: A History of the British Isles, 350-650, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1973.

David Dumville, Sub-Roman Britain: History and Legend in "Histories and Pseudo-histories" Variorum, 1990,  (originally published in History 62, (1977), pp.173-92, 1977).

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Arthuriana: Early Arthurian Tradition and the Origins of the Legend

Thomas Green

ISBN 978-1-4452-2110-6
Published by The Lindes Press
29 October 2009
290 pages - Perfect Bound

Following the publication of 'Concepts of Arthur' by Tempus in January 2008, Thomas Green has now issued a hard copy collection of the academic and popular articles which have appeared on his ‘Arthurian Resources’ website since 1998.

Arthuriana: Early Arthurian Tradition and the Origins of the Legend was published by The Lindes Press on 31 October 2009. This book has been created in response to requests from readers for a print version of the material on the website, for both ease of reading and referencing of the material archived online; as such, the articles from the website are reproduced with the minimum of alteration but have been professionally typeset and formatted.

However, be warned, if you are looking for yet another identification for the historical King Arthur you won't find him in Green's work, who concentrates on the Arthur before Geoffrey of Monmouth, pre-Galfridian, the Arthur of early welsh poetry who was accompanied on his adventures by an early mythological pantheon of Gods. This Arthur is far removed from the knight in shining armour of Mallory's tales.

This work on Green's Arthurian Resources website was the precursor to the book 'Concepts of Arthur', published last year, presenting a detailed study of the ultimate origins of Arthur and the nature and development of the early Arthurian legend, providing a comprehensive overview of recent scholarship, including the author's own academic research into the sources of the early Arthurian tradition.

Fundamentally, 'Concepts of Arthur' provides an analysis of the entire non-Galfridian Arthurian legend. Unlike many previous studies of Arthur, it avoids a priori assumptions about the origin and development of the Arthurian legend, preferring to argue from first principles. Most importantly, it considers the 'historical Arthur' as a genuine part of the tradition itself, to be treated alongside – and not artificially separated from – all the rest of the early source material.

Green knocks down the myths of later Arthurian Romance, without ever 'poo-pooing' them, and presents a stripped down, originally folkloric or mythical figure who became historicised in the 9th century, but in doing so never comes across as negative or anti-Arthur, and produces the most common sense approach yet to the eternal enigma of Arthur.

Arthuriana: Early Arthurian Tradition and the Origins of the LegendThomas Green
Contents:

Preface
1. The Historicity and Historicisation of Arthur
2. A Bibliographic Guide to Welsh Arthurian Literature
3. A Gazetteer of Arthurian Onomastic and Topographic Folklore
4. Lincolnshire and the Arthurian Legend
5. Arthur and Jack and the Giant-killer
* Jack & Arthur: An introduction to Jack the Giant Killer
* The History of Jack and the Giants (1787)
* The 1711 text of The History of Jack and the Giants
* Jack the Giant Killer: a c.1820 Penny Book
* Some Arthurian Giant Killings
6. Miscellaneous Arthuriana
* An Arthurian FAQ - Some frequently asked questions.
* The Monstrous Regiment of Arthurs - A critical guide.
* An Arthurian Reference in Marwnad Gwên? - the manuscriopt evidence examined.
* The Other Early Arthurian Cycle: the Tale of Tristan and Isolt.
* Myrddin & Merlin - a guide to the early evolution of the Merlin Legend.
* 'But Arthur's Grave is Nowhere Seen' - Twelfth-century and later solutions to Arthur's current whereabouts.
* Bibliographic guide to the characters of the Pre-Galfridian Arthurian legend.
* A Guide to Arthurian Archaeology


>> Thomas Green's Arthurian Resources website


Arthuriana: Early Arthurian Tradition and the Origins of the Legend is available online as a 'Print on Demand' book and can be either purchased directly from the print company Lulu (from October 2009 onwards) or from Amazon (from January 2010).

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