King Arthur Real Essay

King Arthur is a medieval, mythological figure who was the head of the kingdom Camelot and the knights of the Round Table. It is not entirely known for sure if there was a real Arthur, though it is believed he may have been a Roman-affiliated military leader who successfully staved off a Saxon invasion during the 5th and 6th centuries. Now, we all know who King Arthur is. But, is he real? Was he a real king, or was he just a noble hero for the time period? Information about this topic is not so specific and it is hard to tell. Evidence gathers up, and I come to the conclusion, that King Arthur is indeed, a real King.

Now, all of the stories of King Arthur match up. They’re all the same! There may be few small details that are embellished
but due to context, it’s very similar. You would think, if King Arthur was fake, the stories would not all be the same. This all happened in the Dark Ages, right, and we all know that.The Dark Ages is the same thing as the Middle Ages, but we don’t know everything about the Dark Ages and that is the point, it’s called the Dark Ages for a reason. See, we couldn’t gather much about whether King Arthur was real or not, because of this lack of information from the past. Okay, so what exactly do we know about Arthur? He was head of the Kingdom Camelot and the knights of the Round Table. Searching the topic, “King Arthur Legend” gets you a whole lot of “King Arthur and knights of the Round Table never existed in real life. They are purely figures of historical legend.” (www.arthurian-legend.com/)(web) People definetley have their opinions, though. Like, me. It does not make sense. King Arthur was for sure REAL in my mind. He may have not been a king, but was a real person. There’s no way he could not have been. I feel as if the King part is thrown in there for fun, magical fairytales, and whatnot.

“Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone is the rightwise born king of all England.” Of course, Arthur, out of all. could withdrew the sword from that there stone. Following this, he became “king”. (www.caerlon.net/history/arthur/page2.htm) (print, EBSCO)

After King Arthur was born, Merlin (the wise magician) advised that he should be raised in a secret and that none should know his true identity. When you think about it, this all seems like a bit too much. Like, all of a sudden, a baby is born and he is “magic”. His identity needs to be hidden and kept a secret for a reason, right? Some things definitely sound a little unrealistic, but that is alright. There still has to be truth hidden behind it. “They carried out acts of chivalry such as rescuing damsels in distress and fought against strange beasts.” Strange beasts? What kind? Of course, we can not exactly find this out. “They would search for lost treasure, which they believed would cure all ills- that was the quest for the ‘Holy Grail’” Something else, Arthur obtained a magical sword called “Excalibur” and with this weapon, he vanquished many foes.

About King Arthur’s death, anyway. Research shows that his body was never found and he rests under a hill with all his knights. Some say he will rise up and once again, take action. This seems a little off and unrealistic. However, his grave was supposedly discovered at Glastonbury in the region of Henry the second. (www.biography.com/people/king-arthur-9190042) (web) There’s one thing I don’t quite understand. If King Arthur was really made up, why would all the stories be the same? They all seem to be very similar. So Camelot, King Arthur's kingdom, was that even real? I am aware that it was not. (http://www.timelessmyths.com/arthurian/camelot.html)(web) There was no Camelot in the early tradition Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace and Layamon. These early Arthurian authors say that Arthur’s capital was in Caerleon. The earliest reference to Camelot found comes from the French poet named Chretien de Troyes. Arthur was holding court at Camelot which was situated in the region of Caerleon, no other details given.

As for the other characters related to King Arthur..
were they made up for excitement? Were they real? Uther Pendragon was the father of Arthur along with three other daughters. He was the strongest of all kings. Irayne was was the wife of Duke of Cornwall but later marries Uther Pendragon (A trick incident) She becomes the mother of Arthur. Merlin was the “wizard” that counseled King Arthur. Morgan Le Fay- Arthur’s sister tries to KILL Arthur all so that her lover, can become king. The Lady of the Lake gave King Arthur his new sword called Excalibur. Launcelot Du Lake was considered the greatest knight. Guinevere was Arthur’s wife, BUT Launcelot’s lover. She “truly” loves both. Now that we have established these main characters related to Arthur, we determine, are they real? When you search this, you definitely do not get much. I’ll have to tell you what I believe, most. I feel as if this part of the legend is fake. The wizard anyway. The love affairs seem pretty real because of the way women were way, way back in time. It makes sense. As for names, these names possibly were made up for look, and the way they sound. It seems much more exciting. Even if they are fake, they are very important. They make up a huge part of the historical
legend.