The Legend of Excalibur!

Behold....Excalibur!!! King Arthur's magical sword, said to symbolise both destruction and fertility. Said to hath been forged by a god, fortold by the wizard Merlin and was the sword of kings, since the dawn of time! In one version of the legends of Arthur, the future king proved his right to rule by pulling Excalibur out of a stone, which no other man could do. In another version, he received the sword from the Lady of the Lake. As Arthur lay dying he asked Sir Bedevere, one of his knights, to return Excalibur to the lake, where an arm rose up out of the water to receive it.

The Sword in the Stone, sometimes a sword in an anvil, is drawn by Arthur as proof of his birthright and of his nobility. It is both a test and a miraculous sign of his royalty. The sword drawn from the stone is different from the one given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake. The latter is always referred to as Excalibur; the former is called by that name only once, when Arthur draws the sword at a crucial moment in the first battle to test his sovereignty.... (Vinaver I, 19):

"Thenne he drewe his swerd Excalibur, but it was so breyght in his enemyes eyen that it gaf light lyke thirty torchys."

Behold! One of the greatest figures in English folklore is King Arthur. According to legend he lived in the late 5th and early 6th centuries at a time when Britain was the scene of the final bloody struggles for domination between the Romano-British Celts and the Saxon invaders. He is considered to have been the leader in the defence of the south-western homelands.

Arthur was a Christian warrior, and led a band of 28 knights, the legendary knights of the round table. One of these knights was Lancelot, whose love for the beautiful Guinevere, the wife of King Arthur is one of these known Arthurian stories.

Early chroniclers believed that the seat of Arthur's power was the famed town of Camelot, situated in the south-west.

Modern research has shown that behind the figure of legend was a real person of considerable historical significance.

A historian writes: In this time of winter and destruction, there were brave men among the Britons, who for many years held back the heathen Saxons, striving with might and wisdom to preserve their country, to maintain an orderly and decent systems of government, to preserve town, church and villa, to rescue the beleaguered, and to bring peace to the land. Such a man was Arthur.

The south west of England, made up of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire, possesses a powerful tradition of independence, a strain of mysticism taken from early Pagan times and modified by Christianity and a breathtaking combination of scenery and climate. This area was the home of a man of greatness and fighting prowess who became a folk-hero......

Arthurs Birthplace: The legend has it that Arthur was the illegitimate son of Uther Pendragon and Ygerne, wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. Uther, aided by the magical arts of Merlin the wizard took on the likeness of Gorlois, entered his castle at Tintagel and seduced Ygerne.

Tintagel Castle, built in 1145 on the sight of previous occupation dating back to the 4th century is set on a ruin strewn wonderfully romantic headland siutated on the indented northern coastline of Cornwall and perched dizzily above the crashing surf of the Atlantic. Nearby is Merlin's Cave and the Vale of Avalon. In the village can be seen King Arthur's hall, the headquarters of the fellowship of the round table......

"Slaughter Bridge, Cornwall A Possible Site for the Battle of Camlann."

One mile from Camelford is the site of a decisive battle fought between the Celts and the Saxons in 823. Also claimed to be a possible place for the Battle of Camlann fought between Arthur and his nephew Modred, in which Arthur was fatally wounded.

"St Columb Major, Cornwall Arthur's Youth - The Hunting Lodge at Castle-An-Dinas..."

The village feels darkly ancient, its narrow streets lined by slate hung houses. Castle-An-Dinas a half mile climb from the road, is the most elaborate prehistoric fort in Cornwall, three rings of earth works are visible.

"Fowey, Cornwall The Tragic Love of Sir Tristram for Iseult, Castle Dore..."

Fowey is a popular town with delightfully narrow streets. During the 14th and 15th centuries few French north coast towns were without the constant fear of a raid by the "Fowey Gallants".

Relics of its swaggering days are the ruined forts at the river mouth, which formerly had a chain between them to slice off the masts of enemy ships.

Castle Dore is an iron age earthwork which has been connected with the romance of King Mark of Cornwall, Tristram and Iseult. Three miles from Castle Dore stands Tristram's stone, a monolith seven feet high inscribed in Latin "Tristram lies here, the son of Cunomorus (Mark)".

"Cadbury Castle, Somerset, The Search for Camelot..."

With Arthur the military leader of Britons, Tintagel would have been too far removed from the battle front for it to have been used as a military base. Cadbury is is a good defensive site, within easy reach of the battle front, yet not directly affected by warfare. Evidence has been discovered that the site was used during neolithic and iron ages and by Romans, Britons (5th-6th century AD) and Saxons (Circa. 1010). Traces of a timber hall of the 5th century period have been found. In 1542 a Tudor historian refers to Cadbury as being Arthur's Camelot. The view from Cadbury Castle is tremendous, over the broad tree-scattered mile vales typical of Somerset.

"A Possible Site for The Battle of Camlann":

The popular view is that the battle was fought beside the River Cam in the shadow of Cadbury Castle (Camelot) and that the mortally wounded Arthur was carried along "King Arthurs Causeway" to Avalon (Glastonbury).

Badbury Rings and Liddington Castle, Dorset and Wiltshire Arthur's Defeat of the Saxon Invader, The Battle of Mount Badon AD516

There are two possible sites for the great battle of Mount Badon. Firstly, Badbury Rings, near Wimborne Minster, Dorset. The steep hill top fortress rises in three tiers of mound and ditch defences which form one of the greatest iron-age forts in the country.

Secondly, Liddington Castle. The village boasts attractive thatched cottages, a 17th century manor house and a church dating back to the 13th century. High above the village, stands Liddington Castle. An ancient iron age earth work, consisting of a ditch and a 40 foot high rampart.

Glastonbury, Somerset: The legend of Arthur's quest for the Holy Grail is central to the story.

The legend of Glastonbury is that under the waters of a spring on the slopes of Glastonbury Tor, which is topped by a 14th century chruch tower, Joseph of Aremathea buried the chalice used by Christ at the last supper, that when on a nearby hill, he thrust his thorn staff into the ground it took root to produce the distinctive Glastonbury winter flower thorn tree, and that on an island amid marshes and lakes, surrounded by lake villages on what was later to be the site of the great abbey round which the town grew, he built a chruch of daub and wattle and there made the first conversions to Christianity in Britain.

Glastonbury Tor, under which Joseph is supposed to have buried the Grail, rises 500 feet above the town. The Tor is topped by the chapel of St Michael, while at it's foot is the fabulous Chalice Well the great bubbling spring that has flowed from Tor since ancient times, the waters of which where formerly considered to be curative and are to this day drunk by pilgrims.

"Glastonbury Abbey King Arthurs Tomb..."

In the year 1191 the bodies of Arthur and Guinevere were discovered in the Abbey's cemetery in an oak tree trunk. On a leaden cross with the relics was the Latin inscription "Here lies Arthur, the famous King in the Isle of Avalon". On the 19th April, 1278, their remains were removed in the presence of King Edward I and Queen Eleanor to a black marble tomb on the site of the abbey....

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