Similar survival stories have been told about other historical figures: the Norwegian King Olaf Tryggvason, Richard II, the Grand Duchess Anastasia, Alexander I of Russia, Holger Danske, Sebastian of Portugal. These were real people, yet elaborate stories adding layers of mystery to their deaths are still told. The mystery elements added to Arthur’s life do not mean that he never existed at all.
THE SYMBOLIC VALUE OF ARTHUR
Why did this particular king so fascinate his contemporaries and those who came after? The most immediate reason is that his military prowess halted the westward progress of the Anglo-Saxon colonization of southern Britain for 20 years. His time would afterward be remembered as the sunset of Celtic England. A distinctive feature of the Celts is dwelling on defeats; there is wailing, keening, lamentation, and nostalgia. A. L. Rouse commented, “It was the hero of the losing side, King Arthur, who imposed himself on the imagination.” Arthur became a symbol of the glory of Britain as it once was and might yet have been, but for its destruction by the Saxon invaders. He was the perfect symbol of a kingdom and a culture lost.
The image of the king hung over the aristocracy of the Middle Ages like a faded, tattered, war-torn battle standard hanging in a royal chapel, redolent of past greatness and signifying virtues that could never be matched by the living. The idea of Arthur became a force in politics. Henry II wanted to prove that Arthur was dead in order to remove any hopes the Celts may have nursed that he would rise again to do battle against the Plantagenets. It was probably for this reason that in 1190 Henry II arranged for Arthur’s coffin to be “discovered” at Glastonbury and exhumed. We know that, when Henry II visited Pembrokeshire in 1179 and met the bard who told him where Arthur’s grave was, he was also told of the tradition that Arthur would ride once more. If Henry could produce Arthur’s bones, even the most superstitious would be able to see that there was no chance of Arthur riding again.
King Edward III identified himself as Arthur’s successor when he contemplated re-establishing the Round Table as an order of chivalry. In the end, in 1348, he founded the Order of the Garter instead, but still in imitation of King Arthur’s order of Round Table knights.
ARVERNI
An Iron Age Gaulish tribe, with its main center at Gergovia: a hillfort on a plateau in the Puy-de-Dome. In the second century BC, under King Luernios, they were the most powerful tribe in Gaul. Luernios was known for scattering gold and silver coins to his followers from his chariot. When his son Bituitus was defeated by the Romans in 121 BC, the power of the Arverni was diminished and the Aedui and Sequani became the leading tribes in Gaul. The Arverni were able to negotiate a peace treaty with the Romans that preserved their independence, though in the end they lost territory. No more kings are mentioned.
ATREBATES
An Iron Age British tribe in central southern England. Their territory occupied the modern counties of West Sussex, West Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, and north-east Wiltshire.
The Atrebates in England had strong ties with the Atrebates of north-west Gaul, where Commius was king under Julius Caesar. When Commius fled from Gaul, he went across the Channel to join the British Atrebates; and it was there that he had his new coins struck.
BARDS
A class of poets, like the minstrels of the Middle Ages, specializing in popular and non-religious subjects. They were distinct from ovates or vates, a class of priest with a focus on composing and performing prophetic poetry. Bards had a particular and recognized place in society.
Posidonius describes an incident involving a bard:
When at length he fixed a day for the ending of the feast, one of their barbarian poets arrived too late. The poet met Luernius [or Luernios, King of the Arverni] and composed a song magnifying his greatness and deploring his own late arrival. Luernius was delighted and asked for a bag of gold and threw it to the poet who ran beside his chariot. The poet picked it up and sang another song saying that the very tracks made by his chariot on the ground gave gold and blessings to mankind.
The bards also had a public role in disseminating myths and genealogies amongst the ordinary people. There were different grades of bard, the lowest of which was the novice, or Mabinog.
BARINTHUS
The Navigator, also known as Barrfind and Barrindus, who guided Merlin and Taliesin on their voyage to the Otherworld with the wounded Arthur; Barinthus was the ferryman of the dead.
Barinthus also accompanied Ternoc on a voyage to the Land of Promise and reported his experience to Brendan.
BARRFIND
See Barinthus.
BARRINDUS
See Barinthus.
BATTERSEA SHIELD
See Art.
BELLOVACI
An Iron Age Gaulish tribe with its capital at Beauvais. The Bellovaci intended to expand their territory and Julius Caesar saw this as a threat to his plan to control the whole of Gaul. He confronted the Bellovaci under their leader Correus. They were taken by surprise, but Caesar was intimidated by the size of the enemy force. At first there were only skirmishes and the Bellovaci retreated into their camp. When Correus attempted an ambush of Roman troops, the Bellovaci were defeated and Correus himself was killed. Caesar treated the Bellovaci leniently, as a result of the intercession