Arthur, mythical
king of the Britons in ancient
times, and the major figure in Arthurian
legend. According to
legend, Arthur expelled foreigners from Britain, brought peace to the country,
and established a kingdom based on justice, law, and morality. Arthur is the
son of King Uther Pendragon and the lady Ygraine (who was married
to Gorlois, the duke of Cornwall, when Arthur was conceived). After Arthur is
born, the magician Merlin gives him to a man named Hector (also
called Antor) to be raised with Hector’s son, Kay. Arthur grows up as a
commoner, but then he alone succeeds at a test devised to choose Uther''s
successor: Arthur draws a
sword from a stone (or, in some versions of the story,
from an anvil). Because of his humble origins, Arthur must overcome strong opposition from the
British nobles to his royal claim, but eventually he is crowned. To help him in
his task of leading Britain, he receives a great sword, Excalibur, offered by a
hand that rises mysteriously from a lake. To defeat Britain''s enemies, Arthur
undertakes a series of wars, conquests, and invasions. After Arthur completes
these, Britain has a long period of peace and security. Arthur sets up the Round
Table as a meeting place for his
knights. The shape of the table ensures that
all who sit around it are equal in statue.
Arthur meets and marries the lady
Guinevere, but she and Lancelot, one of Arthur''s
favored knights, eventually fall in
love, and their relationship divides
Camelot. The ruin of the kingdom is hastened by the quest for the Holy
Grail, the sacred cup used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper. However
worthy an enterprise the quest may be, it takes Arthur''s best knights away from
court and leads many of them to their deaths. Once Arthur discovers Lancelot and
Guinevere''s love affair, his own system of justice requires that he condemn his
wife to death. Lancelot rescues her, however, initiating a war between his
forces and those of Arthur and the knight Gawain. During the conflict with Lancelot, Arthur
learns that the Romans plan to attack him. He fights and defeats them, but at
the same time his illegitimate son (or, in some texts, his nephew), Mordred,
tries to usurp the throne. Arthur then battles Mordred in a terrible conflict on
Salisbury Plain that leaves many knights dead. Arthur kills Mordred, but before
dying, the young man gravely wounds the king.
Facing death, Arthur orders one of his knights
(Bedivere or Girflet, depending on the story) to throw Excalibur into a lake, so
that the sword cannot fall into the wrong hands. Versions of the legend differ
about Arthur''s fate thereafter. Some say that he dies and is buried, others tell
that a boat (usually containing a number of women, including Arthur''s half
sister Morgan le Fay) takes him away to the island of
Avalon. Many works promise that Arthur will return when Britain
again needs him to subdue the nation’s enemies and to bring peace and security
to the land.
The Passing of Arthur
According to legend, King Arthur was seriously wounded in
battle by his illegitimate son, Mordred. Arthur’s half sister Morgan le Fay and
a group of women then took him away to the island of Avalon to heal. English
photographer Julia Margaret Cameron portrayed the scene in her 1875 image The
Passing of Arthur.
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