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Shortly after Monmouth, Arthurian myth became the province of Romantics and poets. These new elaborations of the myth were less interested in history and more interested in adventure. This was when the myth began to grow and take on a life of its own.
One of the tales from the Mabinogion, this story is another of those originally found in the Red Book of Hergest, first known to have been written down no earlier than 1375, but believed to have been composed around 1160.
This strange tale describes how Madawg ap Maredudd, king of Powys, tries to apprehend his own evil brother Iorwoerth by sending his warrior Rhonabwy to arrest him. Whilst lodging with a poverty-stricken old couple Rhonabwy has a weird dream, which seems to assume the following, often contradictory, facts:
In a rather surreal moment, Rhonabwy's attention is drawn to a ring on Arthur's hand, and he is told that because he has seen the ring he will remember the dream when he wakes up.
It seems to Lugodoc that this story describes a visit to the Otherworld, where Arthur and his men exist in a kind of limbo until their time to return to Earth.
Lugodoc's own summary of this story can be found here.
Graham Phillips and Martin Keatman, in their book King Arthur - The True Story point out several remarkable correspondances between persons, things and events in the dream and historical fact, such as:
|
The Dream |
History |
|
Madawg ap Maredudd, king of Powys |
Madog ap Maredudd ruled Powys and died in 1159 |
|
Arthur is to face Osla Big-knife at Baddon |
The Saxon Octha fought the Britons at the real Mt Badon in AD 493 |
|
Arthur's sword has a duel serpent motif |
The duel serpent motif was the insignia of the Segontienses Auxilium Palatinum garrison of Segontium, the principle Roman garrison of N-W Wales, and might well be inherited by a Welsh Romano-Briton warlord |
Even though the story was probably first composed in its present form as late as 1160, the dream sequence definitely contains references to much earlier times, suggesting that the 12th century bards who composed it for Madog ap Maredudd had copied a lot of material from much earlier 6th century sources, either lost manuscripts or the oral record.
Phillips and Keatman further use several subtle facts from the text to support their theory that the true identity of the mythical King Arthur was the historical character Owain Ddantgwyn, King of Powys, but if that interests you, read their book (Arrow, ISBN 0-09-929681-0).
This tale of Peredur (AKA Sir Perceval) is recorded in the ancient Welsh collection of manuscripts known as The Red Book of Hergest, known to have been assembled in around 1375 - 1425, from monkish copies of earlier, lost documents. Its origins are unknown, but it highly unlikely to be as old as, say, "Culhwch & Olwen", which was probably composed around the end of the tenth century. It is not even certain as to whether this story was one of the inspirations for Malory's "Le Morte Darthur", or whether both were inspired from a common root.
The story is mostly about the life and adventures of Peredur, and how he
As well as clear references to pagan Irish myth there are definite hints of a version of the Christian Grail-myth, but whereas in Malory the Christian paragon Perceval sees the grail on a silver platter, his earlier Welsh Celtic alter-ego Peredur sees a severed head.
Lugodoc's own summary of this story can be found here.
The Mount Everest of Arthurian myth.
This Arthurian bible known as Le Morte Darthur (The Death of Arthur) was written by Sir Thomas Malory (Member of Parliament for Warwickshire) in prison, and finished in the ninth year of the reign of Edward IV - 1469. It was printed sixteen years later around the end of the 30 year long civil Wars of the Roses, by William Caxton, in 1485 (MCCCCLXXXV).
Lugodoc's own attempt to summarise this 300,000 word monster in a mere 23,000 words (plus analysis) can be found here.
After Malory, everything else was just a summary.
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