N THE figure of Arthur we see epitomized many of the characteristics which define Celtic kingship, yet, paradoxically, there is no convincing evidence that the historical Arthur was a king at all, which explains the inverted commas in this chapter’s title. The mythological Arthur is a composite of many heroic and kingly attributes. There are three great sagas, or groups of heroic tales, in Celtic literature. The first two are Irish: the Ulster Cycle, featuring King Conchobar and the hero Cu Chulainn; and the Fenian or Ossianic Cycle, featuring the hero Fionn mac Cumhail (Finn mac Cool) and his poet-warrior son, Oisin or Ossian. The third cycle is the Arthurian Cycle, which is Brythonic in origin. The historical Arthur may have been Cornish by birth - Tintagel is reputed to have been his birthplace - but the early legends were mostly Welsh and carried to Brittany by British refugees, so all three Brythonic Celtic nations can lay claims to at least some part of the Arthurian saga. The Breton legends were carried in time to the Norman court, and from there to the world.
There have been literally hundreds of authors and poets who have taken Arthurian material for their theme, but four writers in particular played a major role in establishing the story of Arthur on the world stage. We met two of them in Chapter Four: these were Nynniaw or Nennius, the ninth-century Welsh historian, and Geoffrey of Monmouth, the twelfth-century historian and fabulist whose History of the Kings of Britain attained enormous popularity in the early mediaeval period. The third is the mediaeval French poet Chretien de Troyes, a native of Champagne, who wrote Le Conte du Graal (‘The Story of the Grail’) in 1180. Several other writers took up the stories which Chretien left unfinished, notably Thomas (no other name is recorded) and his translator Gottfried von Strassburg, who developed the story of Tristan and Isolde. Chretien’s poems were translated into German, Old Norse and even back into Welsh. The fourth great promulgator of the Arthurian theme was Sir Thomas Malory, whose Le Morte d'Arthur (The Death of Arthur’) was written in Newgate prison between 1468 and 1471 and published by William Caxton (without acknowledging Malory’s authorship) in 1485.
By the time we reach Sir Thomas Malory’s version, the legend has already become huge in proportion to the original material, with a long list of main characters and dozens of extremely complex, interwoven stories and themes. These stories, which have become well known by frequent retelling, are sometimes collectively called The Matter of Britain, and they have become a commonly recognized feature of British culture. Although most people have not read any of the original legends, many are familiar with the names Lancelot and Guinevere, or with the legends of the Lady of the Lake or the Sword in the Stone.
We need to look at two Arthurs: the Arthur of history, and the King Arthur of legend. Unfortunately, the legendary saga is so long and complex that there is not space here to examine in detail more than a few selected themes, so before we begin a closer examination I need to set out as background reference the main elements and characters of the story. (This is essentially the Malory version, apart from the Fisher King episode, which comes from Chretien de Troyes. There are many other variants, and many different spellings for the names of principal characters. In the outline below, name spellings in parentheses are usually the older Welsh or Cornish spellings.)
World History
