Is there any truth to the King Arthur legends? - Alan Lupack

King Arthur has risen again and again in our collective imagination, along with his retinue of knights, Guinevere, the Round Table, Camelot, and of course Excalibur. But where do these stories come from, and is there any truth to them? Alan Lupack traces the evolution of King Arthur.

Lesson by Alan Lupack, directed by Patrick Smith.

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[sithuaung]

King athur wanted to search the holy grail because it gave immortality. We will never know if king arthur existed but in a way, he did achieve immortality. We are still talking about him after all these years.

[fatimah]

*in a land of myth and a time of magic, the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young man, his name, MERLIN*

[schizoidboy]

This sure gives an example of how far fan-fiction can go. The story got started by someone, possibly based on someone real and just became something that had a life of its own because people kept on adding to it.

[glamgirl]

Imagine being such an amazing author that your stories literally makes the world question whether they're fact or fiction, that's legendary status

[TheZanzaroni]

Can you imagine how simple "but he was no Arthur" could have been to the guy writing it, but how important it must be to the one who discovered it years later?

[AlexBallMusic]

Definitely all true, I've seen documentary footage of the knights who say "ni".

[nothanks]

I always figured it was a myth. But, I live in Cornwall, not far from the ruins of 'camelot' nor far from the area he supposedly acquired excalibre. And despite knowing it's not real, it still brings so much magic and wonder to the world.

[wijcik]

Could "Arthur" be a title that we have turned into a name? Just a thought.

[Norsketrutt]

My god his voice is soothing and chill!

[ArnoldTeras]

Sigh...if only we but had a time machine. So many stories and ancient secrets could be ours to unravel and behold.

[FunFilmFare]

So the Arthurian legends were just one big fanfiction collab !

[ekoi]

0:16 Thomas Malory - Le Morte D'Arthur 15th century
1:26 The Gododdin - Gwawrddur was skilled slaying his enemies
2:01 1130 - Geoffrey of Monmouth
∟2:13 The history of the Kings of Britain
∟2:27 he cobbled together fragments of myth and poetry to compensate of almost complete lack of offical records
∟2:48 Caledfwlch and Caerleon
∟3:03 Merlin - Myrddin
3:21 Latin to French - Wace 1155 CE
∟3:34 Round Table
3:45 Chretien de Troyes
∟3:55 Lancelot and Gawain
∟4:06 Love Triangle
∟4:08 Holy Grail
4:39 Caerleon to Camelot
4:41 Caliburnus to Excalibur

[emmaxx]

I'm from Monmouth, and Caerleon is very near my home. We used to go on school trips to see the Roman amphitheatre that is there and I remember learning all about Arthur and being so captivated by the story. A lot of Welsh history comes from story telling and I love how with each new telling it gets embellished, adding magic, dragons, the sword and then it's passed on through generations and we can still enjoy it today. I like to think that there is truth in the roots of stories, and that there was indeed a man called Arthur who fought battles near the place where I grew up.

[Ra-husg]

You know Arthur is legendary when you see Hollywood movies showing 400CE England as a glorious place.

[paulsunday]

The narrator's voice & accent, are ideal for a story teller. And that music in the end is epic. I just love this video

[fpychmm]

Poet in 2021: “Dickbutt.”
Historians in 3032: “Though records of this era are incomplete due to the nuclear war that followed, it is widely believed that Dickus Buttockus, king of America in the early 21st century, sent his knight sir Dancelot out on a quest for the Holy Grill.”

[settrasurfs]

In the comments

50% Anime references
50% Monty Python References

[shortfuse]

"We have the Holy Hand Grenade!"
"Yes of course! The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch!"

[Warrka]

Imagine being so interested in a random throw away reference that you accidentally create a legend so big it's never forgotten.

[TheDataman]

I always find it amusing when Arthur is used as an example of a mythical, medieval king of England. It's ironic because he was historically made famous in the earlier Old welsh poems, as he led the Britons in their battles to defend Albion against the invading Saxons (modern day English). So not an English King, but rather their worst enemy! Also, shocking pronunciations of the welsh words Caledfwlch and Caerleon!