KNIGHTS OF LORE SERIES: KING ARTHUR, the once and future king

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 5^th 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 12^th 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 4^th 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?

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