King Arthur: Myth-Making and History
King Arthur's story encapsulates the medieval romance and the tragedy of the Dark Ages. Yet legends shroud his life, and to this day scholars cannot agree on his dates, his location or even whether he really existed.\ King Arthur penetrates both the historical literature and the fantastic legends of this hero, king, demigod. Probing the ever-popular cultural icon, historian N.J. Higham traces the changing face of Camelot from its birth in the ninth century to contemporary films such as...
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King Arthur's story encapsulates the medieval romance and the tragedy of the Dark Ages. Yet legends shroud his life, and to this day scholars cannot agree on his dates, his location or even whether he really existed.King Arthur penetrates both the historical literature and the fantastic legends of this hero, king, demigod. Probing the ever-popular cultural icon, historian N.J. Higham traces the changing face of Camelot from its birth in the ninth century to contemporary films such as Excalibur, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and First Knight. How did the idea of King Arthur evolve? What role was Arthur intended to perform in the political and cultural worlds that constructed him?Higham sheds new light on the genesis of this beloved figure, scrutinizing the first two Arthurian texts: The History of the Britons and the Welsh Annals. His conclusion: historians created Arthur to fit their present political agendas, rather than relying on primary sources. An eye-opening, fresh look at the Arthurian myths, King Arthur follows his kingship's longevity in the popular imagination from the ninth century to the twenty-first.
List of figuresAcknowledgementsIntroduction1IA King out of Time: Arthur in the twentieth century10Arthur comes of age26Arthur in the spotlight31IIThe Genesis of Arthur38Being 'British': The political and ideological context39Alternative ideologues and British authority59Prototype Arthurs74Bears and gods80IIIContested Histories: Anglo-Saxons and Britons c.730-83098Bede and the Britons98Welsh-Mercian interactions102Reclaiming the past: Writing British history in the early ninth century116The Historia Brittonum: Authorship and purpose119Britons, Trojans and Romans124Vortigern and the Adventus Saxonum128St. Patrick and Arthur136Arthur and the Old Testament141Arthur's battles144The image of Arthur150The English historical framework157Conclusions164The Pillar of Eliseg166IVText in Context: The Annales Cambriae c.954170England, Wales and the Vikings171Heroic poetry174Y Gododdin180Asser185The Armes Prydein188The Annales Cambriae193VThe Rise and Fall of the 'Historical' Arthur218The Arthurian legend to c.1100218Arthur as cultural icon221Arthur as royal cult226Arthur in question235The fall of King Arthur239VIPostscript: The Rhetorical Arthur267Bibliography275Index296
