tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012179240296572398.post1530161816373266562..comments2024-03-29T08:49:16.357+00:00Comments on Retro-Forteana: Camelot, maybeAndrew Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17073306343984931484noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012179240296572398.post-45962730393613767902015-05-18T08:37:08.330+01:002015-05-18T08:37:08.330+01:00Fascinating stuff - thanks for the clarification. ...Fascinating stuff - thanks for the clarification. I have to confess I didn't approach this blog post by thinking "Where was King Arthur's Camelot?" so much as "Where can I go for a short walk this afternoon now that it's stopped raining?"Andrew Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17073306343984931484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012179240296572398.post-28826995647383588762015-05-17T23:22:24.168+01:002015-05-17T23:22:24.168+01:00Camelot is Camelon, the Roman town and series of f...Camelot is Camelon, the Roman town and series of forts at the Eastern end of the Antonine Wall, now a suburb of Falkirk. The round table is a simple mistranslation of the Old French term for a "tabled rotunda" - this was a strange little building, a Roman Victory Monument (or perhaps a dedication to Terminus) at the Eastern End of the Antonine Wall (in modern day Stenhousemuir). This circular building was torn down in 1746 and was called "Arthur's O'on - Arthur's Oven. <br />Placing Arthur in Southrn England is wishful thinking, it was already over-run by Angles and Saxons before the legions had really left... there was no resistance keft down there. The only fight going on anywhere against these invasions was in the North. Land of The Goddodin! Sid Lawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01429162191158308782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012179240296572398.post-42401391229101038962015-05-03T15:12:27.379+01:002015-05-03T15:12:27.379+01:00Thanks for some very interesting points, Colin.
W...Thanks for some very interesting points, Colin.<br /><br />While I think it's possible that King Arthur was based on a garbled account of one or more real people (leaders of the various small kingdoms in post-Roman Britain), I've no doubt that the rest of the Arthurian mythos, with Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table etc, is pure legend. As you say, it may well be a Welsh legend, because most of the character names sound Welsh.<br /><br />I've written in the psst about how the legend of Joseph of Arimathea coming to Britain with the Holy Grail was spun into anti-Catholic propaganda by the Tudors, in exactly the way you suggest, and of course there is a strong legendary connection between the Arthurian cycle and the Grail, so you might be right that the "rediscovery" of Camelot was part of the same propaganda campaign.<br /><br />Earlier this year Paul Jackson did a blog post about the Winchester Round Table, in which he mentioned that the current paintwork dates from the time of Henry VIII and shows Henry in King Arthur's position at the top of the table - so that ties in too. <a href="http://unusual-encounters.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/the-winchester-round-table.html" rel="nofollow">http://unusual-encounters.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/the-winchester-round-table.html</a>Andrew Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17073306343984931484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012179240296572398.post-9988857176655014562015-05-03T13:59:40.550+01:002015-05-03T13:59:40.550+01:00I could also mention that 1533 was the year that H...I could also mention that 1533 was the year that Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn and broke with the Roman Catholic Church. At the time this was justified as returning to the ancient British version of Christianity unsullied by Rome. Perhaps the discovery of "Camelot" was also meant to connect the Tudor monarchy to the Arthurian past at a very sensitive time ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2012179240296572398.post-35600738231155752132015-05-03T13:42:56.391+01:002015-05-03T13:42:56.391+01:00As far as I know Wales has as much a claim on King...As far as I know Wales has as much a claim on King Arthur as the West Country of England and the names Morgan (ie: Morgan Le Fay) and Merlyn are Welsh names (Merlyn Rees was a Welsh Labour MP). The first Tudor monarch, Henry VII, wanted to divert attention from his dubious right to the crown and named his first born son Arthur thereby claiming some kind of fuzzy link with ancient Britain. Arthur died in 1502, aged 15, and his younger brother became Henry VIII. Maybe the discovery of "Camelot" in 1533 was just a way to continue that supposed link between Tudor times and Arthurian Britain - the Tudors were always a bit sensitive as to the legitimacy of their right to the throne and that was certainly true of Henry VIII.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com