Arthurian Traditions (01/12)

[godinakilt.livejournal.com]

Camulus begins the lecture right away because the mun is going to go bake cookies

"Today we will be talking about Arthur before he was Arthur. Much of what is now the modern view of Arthur stems from 'A History of the Kings of Britain', written by Geoffrey of Monmouth in 1167 CE. As his sources, Geoffery of Monmouth named several Celtic documents, including a rather sketchy work that has never been described or proven to exist. These are the main works which have survived:

• Gildas, 'On the Downfall and Conquest of Britain' (540 CE): Told the story of a Romanised/Christianised Welsh warrior by the name of Ambrosius Aurelianus, who was in later documents identified as the uncle of Arthur and the father of Merlin.
  
• Bede, 'An Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation' (731 CE): Informs us that Ambrosius Aurelianus was killed at the Battle of Badon Hill (also known as Mount Badon).
  
• Nennius, 'History of the Britons' (800 CE): Ambrosius Aurelianus was killed on Mount Badon while defending his Celtic homeland; this is also the first Latin text to mention Arthur by name.
  
• Unknown author, 'Annals of Wales' (950 CE): Arthur was killed at the Battle of Badon Hill by Medraut (who evolves into Modred or Mordred).

The Battle of Badon Hill is a very important event in the history of Arthur. It occured in approximately 500 CE and was the last stand of the Celts agains the Anglo-Saxons invaders from Germany. While all of these sources clearly say that Ambrosius, who was possibly the model for Arthur, or Arthur himself died at Mount Badon. However, Geoffrey of Monmouth's work very clearly states that Arthur died in 542 CE. In some Celtic myths Arthur also appears, often as a periphery to the story. One rather famous example is the story of Culhwch and Olwen in the epic saga 'The Mabinogian'.

Homework for tonight is to read the story of Culhwch and Olwen.

[[EDIT because mun was busy baking cookies and receiving marriage proposals for said cookies and totally forgot, so just drop another comment if you could:]]

At the end of his lecture, Camulus looks up. "Oh, and Phoebe? If you could collect the assignments from Tuesday."

[[*Jedi mindtricks you all* This doesn't look familiar at all. Not at all.]]

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[cerulean--eyes.livejournal.com]

Boone hands in his assignment.

I am Arthur, King of the Britons. Many people, to this day, debate my existence. And most of the subjects are under the belief that the land was an autonomous collective. Others are convinced that they live in a self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working class… well, I suppose it is not time to bring class into it again… More scholastically, my existence is dismissed by such accredited sources as one Master David Dumville, the author of Histories and Pseudo-Histories, who writes, “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.” Peter Beresford Ellis grudgingly admits that “little is known about the historical Arthur.” However, the honorable John Morris would beg to differ. In The Age of Arthur, he notes, “The personality of Arthur is unknown and unknowable. But he was as real as Alfred the Great or William the Conqueror; his impact upon future ages mattered as much, or more so. Enough evidence survives from the hundred years after his death to show that reality was remembered for three generations, before legend engulfed his memory.”