Alright, alright,
technically King Arthur was a king and not a knight. I will concede that point.
However, Arthur, accordingly to legends, fought like a knight, led knights into
battle, sent them on quests and created a force so great it is still being talked
about, and even copied today. Just look at Marvel Comics Avengers and D.C.
Comics League of Justice. Don’t think they borrowed the idea of heroes
gathering to save humanity from lurking evil from the Knights of the Round
Table? I would beg to differ.
By most accounts, the
story, legend, myth of Arthur is the first and perhaps greatest mainstream story
of medieval times. However, much is still in the air about Arthur. No one knows
for sure when he lived, or if he even lived at all. They didn’t call it the
dark ages for nothing!
The Arthurian legends
begin in the 5th Century CE. Whatever exploits he had at the time
were kept alive by bards, singing poems about him around hearths and bonfires.
It wasn’t until the 12th century that the once and future king
became immortalized in print. Geoffrey of Monmouth, a Welsh monk penned ‘The
History of the Kings of Britain’, and in that tome, Arthur became perhaps the
first non-conquering king to become forever renowned in world history.
Before that there was
Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and the Caesars of Rome. Arthur was
different. He fought for his people and to save his homeland. That was all he
ever wanted. That is why he is still beloved today.
In the darkness of the
4th century, Britain gained its freedom from Rome, the great city-state
of the day, whose fingerprint is still felt in the world. Because of the power
vacuum left by Rome’s abandonment of Britain, Saxon’s from the North Country
and Picts from Scotland decided to move in, push the Brits out and stake their
claim. Uther Pendragon was the King of Britain at this point. He was a worthy
king, strong but maybe too headstrong.
Merlin enters the picture
and uses his magick to trick a rival king’s wife into thinking Uther was her
husband. They slept together and Arthur was conceived. In return for this
favor, Uther promised Merlin the child. Merlin, the great druid seer, knew that
Uther would not be able to totally defeat the Saxons because he was too
arrogant. So he took Arthur to live with some country folk, not only to keep him
from harm’s way of the ever-invading Saxon’s, but also so the boy could learn
humility.
Everyone knows how the rest of the story goes.
Uther dies, Arthur is not yet a man, and is still unknown. Merlin sets a
magickal sword inside a stone and proclaims that whoever pulls it out shall be
King of Britain. When Arthur loses his older brother’s sword just before a
great festival and knight games, he sees the Sword in the Stone and pulls it
out. Without even knowing it, he becomes King of Britain and changes the world
forever.
The boy king is
challenged by all the other kings of Britain and defeats them all to become the
One King. After garnering his power and emboldening his people, he decisively defeats
the Saxons and sets the stage for his homeland to experience a golden age. All
is right with the world, peace has come at last, the harvests are plentiful, and
churches begin to pop up.
This great time reaches
its apex when Arthur marries the Welsh noblewoman Guinevere and creates the
Knights of the Round Table. What follows is one of the greatest dramas ever
written, even though it has been re-written hundreds of times. Betrayal, lust,
greed, evil magick, incestuous relationships; it’s all there. In the end,
Arthur and his evil bastard, incestuously born son, Mordred slay each other in
battle over who should be King of Britain. Arthur’s sister (who happens to also
be Mordred’s mother) takes the fatally wounded King Arthur to her veiled utopian
society called Avalon, where she serves as the high priestess of her pagan gods
and goddesses. (Note: In some versions Mordred is Arthur’s nephew who has an
affair with Guinevere, in other’s it is Arthur’s trusted knight Lancelot who
betrays him with a tryst with the king’s wife.)
That is where most
stories would end. But how you can ‘end’ a story about a once and future king? Arthur’s
destiny is to come back to defend Britain when she needs him most. Seeing how
he didn’t come back during World War I or II, it makes you wonder how bleak
things will get before he actually returns to protect his homeland once more.
For those of us who do
look forward to the return of King Arthur of Britain, that wait might soon be
over. The second in line for the British throne is none other than Prince
William Arthur. Coincidence? Perhaps Princess Diana and Prince Charles tempted
fate by naming their son Arthur, or perhaps destiny says this is the right
time. Now where is Merlin?
