King Arthur

The Once and Future King, or King Arthur, is a legend that is, despite its age, known by all. Everyone has heard of King Arthur and his loyal knights that make up the Round Table, but the rest of the famous legend is less known. If asked about Arthur’s parentage or birthplace, most people would not know. How many people can name off Arthur’s knights? Everyone knows Arthur’s name, but the details are less defined. Arthurian legend has many parts, the first being how Arthur came into being, then the most well-known part of the legend, but there is also his famous knights, the possibility of a historical Arthur, and how the legend has evolved over the ages.

Who was King Arthur? Most people would tell of a great King; a devoted circle of heroic knights; mighty castles and mightier deeds; a time of chivalry and courtly love; of Lancelot and Guinevere; of triumph and death. Historians and archaeologists, especially Leslie Alcock, point to shadowy evidence of a man who is not a king, but a commander of an army, who lived during the late fifth to early sixth century who may perhaps be the basis for Arthur. By looking at the context in which the stories of King Arthur survived, and the evidence pertaining to his castle Camelot and the Battle of Badon Hill, we can begin to see that Arthur is probably not a king as the legend holds.

King Arthur was an ideal person to many people during the medieval time period. He was brave, fair, fearless, supernatural, and honorable. These characteristics made King Arthur a legendary person. Many stories of the King Arthur legend exist today. These stories have many similarities and differences such as in Morte d'Arthur and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In both stories, the author's use the code of chivalry and fantasy, but one author decides to let King Arthur die and the other does not.

There are countless versions of the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Most English versions are based on Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, but where did these tales originate, and what different interpretations are there today? This essay seeks to examine the roots and different renditions of the various legends circulating today. The first section deals with the origins of the legend. The second section speculates on who the "real" King Arthur could have been. A comparison of several different versions, and suggestions of why they differ are given in the third section, and the conclusion presents an analysis on the ambiguity of the legend.

The events that have been described in the tale of King Arthur are not linked to any authentic historical events. For example, in the myth of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, when they were searching for the Holy Grail, it was described that they found the Grail but, in reality, the Grail was nowhere to be found. It is quite extreme to believe that the King himself and his

The Arthurian legends are well known in today's society. However, very few people know of the "real" Arthur -- who he was and what his accomplishments were. This paper will establish a difference between legend and truth, show evidence to support and explain who the real Arthur was, and shed some light on the sometimes confusing Arthurian legends.

Ideally, a king has an old look, a great amount of power, and naturally rules his domain with an iron fist in literature. In the two works, Le Morte d'Arthur and First Knight see two different versions of how king Arthur is portrayed. Yet the honor and respect that a king should have remains undisturbed, much like how both are products of their time. First Knight is told as a modern retelling of the legend and Le Morte d'Arthur is a minorly altered, much older work. While the depictions of king Arthur are seen as the paramount backbone for arthurian times, these two works have also proven to exhibit differences and similarities, illustrate Arthur’s figure in character, and serve as preservation of the time period.

The film King Arthur overall is a pretty accurate depiction on what actually happened in history. The only turn in events that may not go with the groove of history, is the controversial idea that King Arthur is not a real person. King Arthur is known to be a legend, and a legend is a traditional story that is sometimes popularly regarded as historical, but not proven or validated. There are people out in the world that believe Arthur is a heroic symbol of a group of people. A group of people that conquered the Saxons and that Arthur is just the overall big picture of everything that had happened. Then there are people that believe that Arthur is a real person, and he did everything that is shown to us in the film, and he actually lived the

We have all read the stories about the legendary King Arthur. Even though he supposedly ruled thousands of years ago, there are still many opinions today about his existence. Some people truly believe he was a real person, or based off of a real person, while others say he was just a myth. Let’s take a look at the most recent opinions.

During the years that King Arthur ruled over England, his reign is always remembered as a time of peace, a golden age, a great era, and a glorious time. However, this all comes to a halt, when two of Arthur’s most noble knights bring an affair into the open, causing his round table and kingdom to fall and bringing Arthur to his death. Written by Sir Thomas Malory in the latter half of the 15th century, books 20 and 21 of Morte D’Arthur (Death of Arthur) describe how over time, the tragic hero, King Arthur slowly loses control over his kingdom due to his ignorance, leading to a few errors in judgement that inevitably lead him to his own demise and to the passing of the great era that was the reign of the legendary King Arthur. King Arthur is a tragic hero due to his ignorance, overly trusting manner, and the careless mistakes that he makes during his time as king.

What role did the great King Arthur play in the way English Literature is perceived? Did King Arthur honestly exist? “Whether King Arthur existed or not is doubtful. However if King Arthur did exist, then he would have lived sometime between 400 AD and 600 AD, a time of turmoil in Britain following the Roman withdrawl. And a time when written literature did not exist, therefore events during this period are only known about from folklore passed down several generations before being written down, or from modern archeology giving insights from excavations of sites. If there was ever a true King Arthur in history, he would probably be Romano-British warleader, probably named Artorius, which is a Roman name for Arthur. Though the Roman

Although King Arthur is one of the most well-known figures in the world, his true identity remains a mystery. Attempts to identify the historical Arthur have been unsuccessful, since he is largely a product of fiction. Most historians, though, agree that the real Arthur was probably a battle leader of the Britons against the Anglo-Saxons in the sixthth century. In literature, King Arthur's character is unique and ever changing, taking on a different face in every work. There is never a clearly definitive picture that identifies Arthur's character. It is therefore necessary to look at a few different sources to get better insight into the character of Arthur, the once and future king.

These stories kept the thought that Arthur was taken to Avalon to be magically cured and to return to rule Britain. With the fact that there is no known whereabouts of where Arthur was buried after his battle means that there is no proof that he had died in the first place if any of these actions did happen. I feel that with the help of the magic that Arthur had help with means that Arthur could of survived that battle and could of been healed of his injuries in Avalon, but I also don’t believe in magic so Arthur is most likely died in battle and probably didn’t have any magic help in his lifetime, but I’ll let any reader of these stories

There were other great historical figures who became the heros of medieval legends, such as Alexander the Great and Charlemagne. We know that they existed and if somebody asks whether they did, we can say "yes" directly because we have reliable, historical records of them. But with Arthur, it is rather more difficult because the emphasis really is all on the legend, the romance.

Many know of the epic hero Arthur, but don’t know what it is that makes him so. Though there isn’t one solid story, like Beowulf, there are multiple stories that agree on the same things, such as Arthur’s allegiance to the Knights of the Round table, his companion Merlin, his relationships with his fellow knights, family, and close friends, and the legendary sword Excalibur. When all aforementioned qualities are explained and put together, it can truthfully define Arthur as an epic hero.