King Arthur: The Truth Behind the Legend

by Castleden; Rodney

• ISBN13: 9780415195751
• ISBN10: 0415195756
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-11-19
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

King Arthur lives! Who was he? How much of his life is based on historical fact? Where was his Kingdom? In his quest for the real King Arthur, Rodney Castelden reconstructs the kingdoms, frontiers and political centers of sixth century Britain, and recreates the royal dynasties and chronologies of the Dark Age kings. King Arthur is often written off as medieval fantasy, the dream of those yearning for an age of strong, just rulers and a contented kingdom. Those who accept his existence at all generally discard the stories that surround him. This exciting new investigation argues not only that Arthur did exist, as a Dark Age Chieftain, but that many of the romantic tales - of Merlin, Camelot, and Excalibur - are rooted in truth. In this investigation Rodney Castelden uses up-to-date archaeological and documentary evidence to recreate the history and society of Dark Age Britain and its kings. He revives the possibility that Tintagel was an Arthurian residence, and proposes a radical newtheory - that Arthur escaped alive from his final battle. A location is even suggested for perhaps the greatest mystery, the location of Arthur's grave.

Author Biography

Rodney Castleden has been researching landscape processes and prehistory for the last 30 years.

Table of Contents

List of figures	ix
List of plates	xi
Preface and acknowledgements	xiii
`Who this Arthur was'	1	(7)
The once and future king	3	(2)
Doubts about Arthur's existence	5	(3)
The Documents	8	(29)
Constantius' Life of Germanus	8	(2)
Writings on stones	10	(3)
Genealogies	13	(4)
Nennius' Historical Miscellany	17	(4)
Poetry	21	(3)
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle	24	(1)
Gildas's Book of Complaint	25	(6)
Geoffrey of Monmouth	31	(6)
The Archaeology	37	(37)
Background problems	37	(4)
Strongholds of the North	41	(2)
Strongholds of Wales and the Welsh Borders	43	(6)
Dark Age Dumnonia	49	(20)
Castle Dore and other sites	69	(5)
Arthur's Britain	74	(33)
St Germanus and Vortigern	78	(3)
Ambrosius Aurelianus	81	(3)
Christian missionaries	84	(3)
The Saxons	87	(20)
Arthur: the Man, the King and the Kingdom	107	(41)
The man	107	(10)
`The most powerful leader of the Britons'	117	(5)
Arthur's power base	122	(19)
Arthur as a Christian king	141	(7)
Camelot	148	(30)
Colchester, Cadbury and Caerlaverock	149	(2)
Tintagel	151	(16)
Viroconium	167	(1)
Killibury	167	(7)
The Hammerer	174	(4)
The Death of Arthur	178	(44)
The last battle	179	(10)
Arthur's disappearance	189	(2)
Avalon	191	(12)
`The wonder of the world'	203	(19)
Appendix A The Kings of Powys	222	(1)
Appendix B The Kings of Demetia	223	(2)
Appendix C The Arthnou Stone from Tintagel	225	(2)
Notes	227	(17)
Bibliography	244	(10)
Index	254