Sites and places associated with Arthurian legend
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The following is a list and assessment of sites and places associated with King Arthur and the Arthurian legend in general. Given the lack of concrete historical knowledge about one of the most potent figures in British mythology, it is unlikely that any definitive conclusions about the claims for these places will ever be established, nevertheless it is both interesting and important to try to evaluate the body of evidence which does exist and examine it critically. The earliest reference to Arthur is in Aneirin's poem Y Gododdin (c. 594). Another is in Taliesin's poem Journey to Deganwy, believed to have been composed in 547; while his fame may have increased in the intervening years, the facts about his life have become less discernible.
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[edit] Arthur's Courts
The following are real places which are clearly identifible in a text and which are mentioned in Arthurian legend and romance as being used by Arthur as a place to hold a court. In the romances Arthur like all medieval monarchs moves round his kingdom.
- Caerleon on-Usk in Newport in South Wales from Geoffrey of Monmouth.
- London in Geoffrey of Monmouth
- Carlisle, Cumberland on the western edge of Hadrian's Wall.
- Cardigan in Chrétien de Troyes
- Winchester is specifically described as being Camelot in Thomas Malory.
- St David's One of Arthur's three courts in the Welsh Triads.
- Stirling Beroul's 12th century "Romance of Tristan".
[edit] Unidentified Sites
- Celliwig in Cornwall. Perhaps the earliest known description of a location of an Arthurian Court. Also in the Triads.
- Pen Rhionydd in the Welsh Triads is Arthur's Northern court, possibly near Stranraer in Rheged.
[edit] Camelot
Various places which have been identified as the location of Camelot, including many of those listed above. Others include:
- Cadbury Castle hill fort, referred to as a location for Camelot by John Leland in 1542. "At the very south end of the church of South-Cadbyri standeth Camallate, sometime a famous town or castle. . .The people can tell nothing there but that they have heard Arthur much resorted to Camalat...". A well on the ascent is known locally as Arthur's Well; the highest part of the hill is known as Arthur's Palace, these names being recorded as early as the late 16th century.
- Colchester, a town in Essex, England (or its Roman antecedent Camulodunum) has been cited as one of the potential sites of Camelot. Though the name "Camelot" may be derived from Camulodunum (modern Colchester), the Iron Age capital of the Trinovantes, and later the provincial capital of Roman Britannia, its Essex location close to the east coast - and so very close to the earliest Anglo-Saxon settlement - places it in the wrong Anglo-Saxon kingdom.
- The ex-Roman fort of Camboglanna on Hadrian's Wall
- Campus Elleti in Glamorgan
- Caerwent
- Camelford in Cornwall
- Camelon Fort at Falkirk
- Dinerth Castle near the River Arth, West Wales
- Saltwell Park, in Gateshead
- Viroconium
- Chard, Somerset
- Graig-Llwyn near Lisvane
- Llanmelin hill-fort near Caerwent
- Camlet Moat near Trent Park, by Enfield Chase, London
- Slack, near Huddersfield, Like Colchester, the Romans had a fort named Camulodunum there.
- Cadbury Camp
Norma Lorre Goodirch suggests in her book, King Arthur, that Camelot simply means Castle of the Hammer, which she suggests Arthur was called, thus could be any castle which he temporarily made his base.
[edit] Avalon
In Liber Rubeus Bathoniae of 1428 a link is drawn between Arthur and Glastonbury as the site of Avalon:
- At Glastonbury on the queer,
- They made Artourez toumbe there,
- And wrote with latyn vers thus,
- Hic jacet Arturus, rex quondam, rexque futurus
- (Here lies Arthur, the once and future king).
Glastonbury is conceived of as the legendary island of Avalon. An early Welsh story links Arthur to the Tor in an account of a conflict between Arthur and the Celtic king, Melwas, who was said to have kidnapped Arthur's wife Queen Guinevere. In 1191, monks at the Abbey claimed to have found the graves of Arthur and Guinevere to the south of the Lady Chapel of the Abbey church, which was visited by a number of contemporary historians including Giraldus Cambrensis. The remains were later moved, and lost during the Reformation. Many scholars suspect that this discovery was a pious forgery to substantiate the antiquity of Glastonbury's foundation, and increase its renown. Others have suggested that the monastery was desperately short of funds at the time, and staged the "discovery" as a means of increasing pilgrimage (and thus, offerings and alms from those coming to see the remains of the famous king). If the latter supposition is true, then the deception worked - after the discovery, the abbey became wealthy for some time to come.
An alternative explanation has been suggested, that Arthur was originally buried on Abbey property at Nyland Hill and the remains translated to the Abbey itself during the abbacy of Dunstan in the 900s.
A cross was extant in Wells, not far from Glastonbury, on which were inscribed the Latin words HIC IACET SEPVLTVS INCLITVS REX ARTVRVS IN INSVLA AVALONIA (trans. "Here lies interred the renowned King Arthur in the Isle of Avalon"). However, many modern scholars suggest that the cross was a forgery - the Latin used being of a dialect common to the period of discovery (and not to the period when Arthur would have been buried). The fate of the cross after the 18th century is unknown.
A possible location of Avalon consistent with the theory of a northern Arthur, is the Roman fort of Aballava. Aballava, also called Avallana, was at the western end of Hadrian's Wall near the modern settlement of Burgh-by-Sands, Cumbria.
Bardsey Island has also been indentified as a possible Avalon.
[edit] Reputed Arthurian battle sites
Twelve of Arthur's battles were recorded by Nennius in Historia Brittonum.
- Battle at the mouth of the river Glein (1st battle), possibly River Glen, Northumberland or River Glen, Lincolnshire.
- Battles of the river Dubglas (2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th battles) in the region of Linnuis. The best guess for the river is the River Trent or the Ancholme. An alternative northern site is the Devil's Water at Linnels on Hadrian's Wall or the River Douglas, near Wigan.
- Battle of the river of the Bassas (6th battle). Probably on the middle River Witham at Bassingham, the homestead of Bassa's people. An alternative northern location is at Bassington on the River Aln in Northumbria, not far from the River Glen.
- Battle of Cat Coit Celidon (7th battle), possibly Caledonian Woods in the Scottish Lowlands.
- Battle of Fort Guinnon (8th battle). The Binchester Roman fort.
- Battle of the City of the Legion (9th battle) Hypothesized sites for this battle include:
- Battle of Tibruit (the 10th battle), possibly the mouth of the river Avon near Bo'ness, Scotland
- Battle of Agned (the 11th battle), possibly at the Roman fort Bremenium, near Rochester, Northumberland
- Battle of Mons Badonicus c. AD 496 (12th battle) The date, location, and contestants of this battle are a matter of considerable debate. Hypothesized sites for Mons Badonicus include:
- Badbury Rings, an Iron Age hill fort
- Bath or Solsbury Hill near Bath, suggested by Geoffrey of Monmouth
- Buxton, a hilltop Spa town and the site of a Roman Bath
- Liddington Castle
- Battle of Camlann (Arthur's last and fatal battle) possibly fought in South Somerset or at Camboglanna near the western section of Hadrian's Wall. Alternatively, it has been speculated that could have been fought at Camelon, in Falkirkshire.
[edit] Places with other associations to Arthurian legend
- Alnwick Castle is a contender for Lancelot's castle Joyous Garde according to Malory.
- Bamburgh Castle is an alternative contender to Alnwick Castle for Lancelot's castle Joyous Gard according to Malory.
- The convent at Amesbury in Wiltshire is a contender for the place of banishment of Guinevere.
- Broceliande Forest is in Brittany
- Carlisle: In Malory, Guinevere's affair with Lancelot was exposed at Carlisle and there she was sentenced to death.
- Carmarthen was the birthplace of Merlin according to Geoffrey of Monmouth. The name Carmathen itself is said to derive from the Welsh name for the town, 'Caerfyrddin', which means Merlin's fortress ("Caer"-Fortress, "Myrddin"-Merlin). There are many places surrounding Carmarthen with names associating it with Merlin such as Brynn Myrrdin, "Merlin's Wood".
- Castle Dore is the Cornish castle where the story of Tristan is set
- Dinas Emrys (Iron Age hill fort in Gwynedd said to have been a place of refuge of Vortigern and the site of Merlin's vision of Red and White dragons).
- Stonehenge is said to be the burial place of Ambrosius Aurelianus and Uther Pendragon.
- The Berth, near Baschurch in Shropshire, is reputed to be a possible burial place.
- Tintagel Castle in Cornwall (also said to be Arthur's birthplace by Geoffrey of Monmouth, and later by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in Idylls of the King) Tintagel is also said to be the stronghold of the Dukes and Duchesses of Cornwall, namely Duchess, then Queen, Igraine (Ygraine, Ygerna) and Duke Gorlois.
[edit] References
- Hunt, A. (2005). The magic of the cauldron. Vortigern Studies.
- Hunt, A. (2005). From Glein to Camlann: The life and death of King Arthur. Vortigern Studies.
- Robert Rouse and Cory Rushton, The Medieval Quest for Arthur, Tempus, Stroud, 2005 ISBN 0-7524-3343-1
