King Arthur

The Legend In one version King Arthur obtains the throne by pulling a sword, Excalibur, from astone and anvil. In this account, this act could not be performed except by "the true king", meaning the divinely appointed king or true heir of Uther Pendragon.
Another legend tells how Excalibur was taken from a hand of the Lady of the Lake rising from a lake and given to King Arthur sometime after he began to reign by a sorceress damsel. Camelot is the name of the stronghold where King Arthur's court was located; and from which he fought many of the battles that made up his life. Its specific location is currently unknown and may be in the Romano-British province of Dumnonia. It is described as many days' journey from Avalon.

Various stories present Camelot's court in varying ways, anything from welcoming followers of both the Celtic and the Christian gods, to exclusively one or the other. Since the location of Camelot is still a mystery, the truth about it is still unknown. Possible locations of Camelot include Cadbury Castle (situated in South Cadbury, Somerset) Tintagel Castle(Cornwall), Viroconium (now known as Wroxeter,Shropshire), and Caerleon-on-Usk (South Wales). The Round Table was a mystical table in Camelot around which King Arthur and his knights sat to discuss matters crucial to the security of the realm.

In some versions, the wizard Merlin also has a seat. There is no "head of the table" at a Round Table, and so no one person is at a privileged position. Thus the several knights were all peers and there was no "leader" as there were at so many other medieval tables and Arthurian romances. There are indications of other circular seating arrangements to avoid conflicts among early Celtic groups. Morgan le Fay, alternatively known as Morgaine, Morgainor Morgana and a slew of related name variants, is an important female figure and sometime antagonist of King Arthur and enemy of his wife and consort, Guinevere. In the 12th century Latin Life of Merlin or Vita Merlini "Morgen" is said to be the first of nine sisters who rule Avalon. Morgan is presented by Geoffrey of Monmouthas a healer and even a shape shifter. Later writers like Chretien de Troyesenlarge on the theme that in time Morgana will heal and cure King Arthur on the island of Avalon, reverting to her benevolent role. Morgan was the daughter of King Arthur's mother, the Lady Igraine and her first husband, Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall; thus King Arthur, the child of Uther Pendragon and Lady Igraine, was her half-brother. As a Celtic woman, Morgana has inherited through her mother a share of the earth magic that King Arthur lacks. Morgana had two older sisters, Elaine and Morgause; thus she is a member of a triplet, a familiar formula in Celtic myth. In the Arthurian Romances, which gained popularity beginning in the 12th century, King Arthur's knights engaged in fabulous quests, the one for the Holy Grail being perhaps the best known. King Arthur was a casualty in his last battle, the Battle of Camlann, which he fought against the forces of Mordred. Mordred was also a Knight of the Round Table and the child of an incestuous union between King Arthur and his sister Morgause. The mortally wounded King Arthur is said to have been taken by boat to Avalon (sometimes identified with Glastonbury, in Somerset), by Morgan le Fay and the other water fairies. According to some versions of the legend King Arthur is merely sleeping and will awaken and return in the future. The King Arthur of history One school of thought believes King Arthur to have lived some time in the late 5th century to early 6th century, to have been of Romano-British origin, and to have fought against the pagan Saxons.
His power base was probably in either Wales, Cornwall,Somerset or the west of what was called Dumnonia; and which would become England, but controversy over the centre of his power and the extent and kind of power he wielded continues to rage. Other places have been suggested, such as:Shropshire in England; and Caerleon-on-Usk,Gwent, Dinas Emrys andDinas Bran in Wales. In Scotland the village of Drumchapel is another candidate. Some members of this school, most notably Geoffrey Ashe and Leon Fleuriot, have argued for identifying King Arthur with a certain Riothamus, "King of the Brettones", of Brittany, who was active during the reign of the Roman Emperor Anthemius. Riothamus is a shadowy figure of whom we know little, and scholars are not certain whether the "Brettones" he led were Britons or Bretons. Other writers suggest that King Arthur should be identified as one Lucius Artorius Castus, a historical Roman of the 2nd century, whose military exploits in Britain may have been remembered for years afterward. Another school of thought believes that King Arthur is at best a half-forgottenCeltic deity devolved into a personage (citing sometimes a supposed change of the sea-god Lirinto King Lear) or a possibly fictive person like Beowulf. Historical persons may have influenced the later legends, like king Aedan mac Gabran, of Scotland, who had a son called Artuir and whose life was somewhat similar to King Arthur's.