English - Students' Corner - Contributions

The legend of King Arthur has been created from the year 450 AD up to the present.

The origins of the myth are believed to be in the Celtic oral tradition by the year 450, as I mentioned before. However, the first written account can be found in Historia Brittonum (9th century). It was written in Latin, as it was the formal language for writings in England at that time. In this book Arthur is not a king, he is just a Welsh soldier who leads his people to victory in Mount Badon against the Germanic invaders.

In the second book that I wrote down on the blackboard, Historia Regum Britanniae (1138) by Geoffrey of Monmouth, also in Latin, the author gives an imaginative account of the British kings and here Arthur is a king, he conquers Scotland, Ireland and Iceland, his sword is Excalibur, his wife is Guinevere, he has a son and he is betrayed by his half sister Mordred (Morgana). Merlin appears for the first time as a prophet or a soothsayer who predicts an apocalyptic future for England.

After that, we find Le Roman de Brut (1155) a free translation of Monmouth's Historia into French. He adds some new details, such as the Round Table.

Layamon adapts the Brut into Middle English in 1190. This is the first written account of the Arthurian Legend in English.

Next, we find the book Story of England (1338) where his author defends the authenticity of King Arthur but it is not valuable as history.

Chrétien de Troyes (12th century) wrote some Arthurian romances in French and he is the creator of the Arthurian legend as we know it now. He was the first to mention Camelot, Guinevere's affair with Launcelot and the Grail.

With the Christianization of the myth (late 12th – early 13thc) the Grail becomes the Holy Grail – the chalice that Christ used in The Last Supper, which had healing and magical properties. It was developed by Robert de Moron and later in the book The Vulgate Cycle .

The last book I would like to mention is Robert Malory's Morte d'Arthur (published in 1485) because it is the best and most complete written account on the legend and he is responsible for the survival of the myth so far.

Finally I will mention some films which have been shot on the topic:

• Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974): a comedy as you can guess from the title, Monty Python….
• Excalibur (1981): one of the most famous.
• First Knight (1995): romantic story starred by Richard Gere and Sean Connery. I saw it in the cinema.
• King Arthur (2004): the latest version, I think.

As a conclusion, I would like to remark how amazing it is that a myth can be made up throughout so many centuries (from the 5th century up to present), in different languages (Latin, French and English) and from different traditions or cultures (Celtic, English and French). The legend is still alive…