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Who was King Arthur?

That question has delighted, inspired, and confounded people for centuries. Was he a mighty warrior, as the Welsh tales tell it, who united the kingdoms of Britain to fight off the Saxons and their allies after the Roman Legions withdrew? Was he the champion of chivalry, as the French tales tell it, who was involved in a love triangle that ended up destroying all that he had built? Was he a larger-than-life king surrounded by magical weapons, people, and beasts? Was he a man who just wanted to defend his homeland from invaders?

For more than forty years I’ve spent time reading and enjoying the Arthurian legends. But as a student of history, I’ve found it difficult to rationalize the legends with historical fact. This led me to spend years trying to separate fact from fiction and identify the origins of the fictional accounts of Arthur and his knights.

The Welsh tales, which are much older than the French legends, place Arthur in the late 5^th century to the early 6^th century. This is consistent with the time period between the exodus of the Roman Legions from Britain and the fall of Britain to the Saxons and their allies.

The French legends often place Arthur in the late 9^th century to the early 10^th century – well after the conquest of Britain by the Saxons and the Danes. The French legends also incorporate myths and legends from throughout antiquity.

Oedipus. In Greek mythology, Oedipus was destined to kill his father, King Laius of Thebes, and marry his mother, bringing ruin to the kingdom. Years after being cast out and left for dead by King Laius, Oedipus ends up fulfilling his destiny. In the French Arthurian legends, Arthur is seduced by his sister, and she gives birth to Arthur’s son/nephew, Mordred. When Mordred is finally united with his father, he brings about a civil war, and at the battle of Camlann, Mordred kills Arthur.

Pharaoh/Herod. In the Bible, Pharaoh ordered the death of all first-born sons of Israel to prevent the prophecy of a deliverer (Moses) from coming true. King Herod does the same thing to prevent the Messiah (Jesus) from claiming lordship over Israel. In the French Arthurian legends, Arthur orders the death of the first-born sons in his sister’s kingdom as part of a plot to kill the baby Mordred.

Helen of Troy. In Greek mythology, Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, was married to King Menelaus of Sparta. When she runs off with Paris, the Prince of Troy, this initiates the Trojan War. In the French Arthurian legends, Guinevere was married to King Arthur. When Lancelot, a French knight from Joyous Gard, comes to the court, he and Guinevere fall in love. Lancelot carries her off to keep her from being executed for betraying the king, and Arthur follows them with his army, leaving the kingdom vulnerable to Mordred’s forces.

Mascen Wledig. In 383 AD, Mascen Wledig (Emperor Maximus to his soldiers) withdrew the Roman Legions from Britannia and conquered Gaul and Hispania. His goal was to assault Rome and claim the Imperial Throne of the Western Roman Empire, but he was stopped at Milan and later executed. In the French Arthurian legends, Arthur took his army and marched on Rome to prevent Rome from attempting to reclaim its former province of Britannia. This particular Arthurian legend is ludicrous for two reasons. First, the Western Roman Empire ceased to exist in 480 AD (dissolved by the Eastern Emperor after Rome was sacked by barbarians in 455 AD). Second, with the continuous threat of invasion from the Irish, Picts, Caledonians, Saxons, Anglians, and Jutes, no King of Britain would withdraw his armies to march on Rome, leaving his kingdom undefended.

In addition to the French weaving other myths and legends into the Arthurian legends, the stories about King Arthur are also filled with magical beings and objects, as well as courtly behavior and other romantic notions which are inconsistent with the times during which the real Arthur would have lived.

Magical Beings. Merlin the Magician, Niniane the Sorceress, Morgan le Fay the witch, the Green Knight, Ragnelle the Enchantress (the wife of Sir Gawain), the Lady of the Lake… these are some of the magical beings who make most of the Arthurian legends works of fantasy, rather than historical fiction or historical fact.

Magical Objects. Excalibur is the sword given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake (or drawn from the anvil/stone, depending on which variation of the legend you’re reading). The Holy Grail is the cup that caught Jesus’ blood on the cross, and it launches a quest by all of Arthur’s knights (because apparently there was nothing else going on in Britain at the moment) to find the grail and use it to restore health to the king and to the land.

Magical Beasts. Dragons fighting beneath castles and causing the castle walls to fall, the questing beast, magical dogs, and other creatures can be found in the Arthurian legends, adding additional elements of fantasy and obscuring the historical facts about the real Arthur.

Chivalry. The ideals of chivalry are certainly worthy ideals to emulate. However, the concepts of “Might for Right” and courtly behavior toward women and children are inconsistent with the time period in which the real Arthur lived. These are concepts from the High Middle Ages, not the age corresponding to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

As I was deciding whether or not to write my own version of the Arthurian legends, my research opened my eyes to what was really going on in Britain in the late 5^th century and early 6^th century. I gained new insight into what the real Arthur would have faced and accomplished. That’s what I wanted to write about. So rather than write another fantasy novel disguised as history, like most of the Arthurian novels, I decided to write historical fiction and attempt to tell a story of the real Arthur.

No myths and legends from other sources, no love triangles, no incest, no magic, no ideals from other time periods, no quests, no fantasy embellishments… just a story about a man who united a splintered and fractured island, and for “one brief shining moment,” kept the invaders away, carving out for himself a kingdom and a place in history.

Many of the names will be unfamiliar. Wherever possible, I chose to use the verifiable names of real people who actually lived during the time period.

Some of the names will be familiar, but they have been cast into roles that are appropriate for the story and are reasonable explanations for how they became part of the Arthurian legends.

The major events in the story are based on historical fact, but because of disagreements among scholars about dates and places for certain events, I freely admit that I have taken the liberty of placing these events in the times and places that seem logical/plausible to me and that best advance the story.

Arthur, King is my attempt to honor the man upon whom the legends are based. I hope that you enjoy it.

William Speir