The Origins of the Arthurian Legend

The legend of King Arthur influenced and inspired a lot of medieval literature, however, what works first mention this legendary king? In this video, I talk about the earliest of Arthurian literature, going back to the 9th century. The texts I discuss are the Historia Brittonum and its account of twelve battles fought by Arthur against the Saxons, the Annales Cambriae and its two mentions of Arthur, and several other Welsh texts. I also discuss the two great historical works of Gildas and Bede, and Arthur’s absence from these texts. These works inspired later authors such as Geoffrey of Monmouth, and in turn all of the great Arthurian romances we know today. They are also the basis for theories about a historical Arthur.

Sources:

Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Penguin Classics.

Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kinds of Britain, Penguin Classics.

Oliver James Padel. Arthur in Medieval Welsh Literature. Writers of Wales, 2000.

Alan Lupack. The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend, 2005.

Norris J. Lacy, Geoffrey Ashe, Debra N. Mancoff. The Arthurian Handbook, Second Edition, 1997.

Elizabeth Archibald and Ad Putter. The Cambridge Companion to the Arthurian Legend (Cambridge Companions to Literature), 2009.

Some of the images used in the video are from the wonderful British Library illuminated manuscript site, and you can find them all and explore them using the link below:
Royal 14 E III
Royal 20 A II
Harley 3859, f. 187.
Burney 310, f. 158
Harley 1808, f. 30v
Additional 5474
Arundel 67
Cotton MS Tiberius C II
Cotton MS Vitellius A VI
Latin 10861

0:00 Introduction
1:03 Historia Brittonum
3:35 Annales Cambriae
5:00 Other poems and texts
6:38 Gildas and Bede
8:29 Final thoughts

[thevintageplaylist]

I could watch this kind of content the whole day

[rhob]

I first read of Arthur when I was about seven in the late 1960s in The Mabinogion and have been fascinated in early Welsh poetry ever since.

[herobrinesblog]

Man, i only realized now that this video is 2 years old. Im already hooked on this channel

[medievallovernerd]

my fav youtube + Arthurian Legends = 💓💓💓💓

[billdestroyerofworlds]

I actually had a college class partially on this years ago, and you managed to hit on every key issue from that class in that video. I personally think the most compelling historical Arthur is just this Ambrosius Aurelianus guy that Gildas mentions and that he just somehow got renamed in the centuries after.

[jakegriffith]

I read "Once and Future King" as a kid and have loved Arthurian legend ever since, can't wait for the next video in the series!

[ECStarProductions]

I'm writing a novel based on the legend, your videos are very useful! thank you!

[shelbynilsena.]

This is so BEAUTIFUL 🥺 I'm working in a tristan and isolde essay for school and you put me in the Arthurian mood thank you!!!

[ulrichstrater]

HI Annie, great summary. I think, there are two likely candidates for the historical Arthur. A king named Owain Ddantgwyn ("King Arthur" by Graham Phillips and Martin Keatman, and a warrior called Riothamus ("The Discovery Of King Arthur" by Geoffrey Ashe).
Another great Book by Geoffrey Ashe: "Mythology of the British Isles".

[malmalmalmeow]

Thank goodness for this video you’ve been so helpful at explaining and making it easy to understand Arthurian literature! - a senior in high school 😵‍💫

[towerjunkie]

Ever since I read The Dark Tower series by Stephen King I've been interested in Arthurian literature. In The Dark Tower there are characters named Arthur Eld and Mordred. Thanks for the very interesting backstory to these legendary names!

[jade]

I was so surprised to see books written in Portuguese on your shelves! I am from Portugal :) I love your videos! At the moment I am reading a modern retelling, Lancelot by Giles Kristian, but I prefer the medieval texts. Le Morte d'Arthur is one of my favourite books of all time.

[beatleowl]

I recently read The Discovery of King Arthur by Geoffrey Ashe and it blew me away! He must have been based on a real person for such wonderful legends to exist.

[jakeralph]

Your Welsh pronunciation is excellent. The only pointer I'd give is that 'dd' is pronounced as a 'th' sound

[KevinArdala]

Philologist Andrew Breeze has a very interesting lecture on YouTube called 'The Real King Arthur: A 6th Century North British Hero'. It's very convincing compared to anything else I've come across over the years.

[rudeboy]

Thank you for the information. Very well done.

[chrisphaeton]

A very clear and balanced account of a subject which is all too often fraught with errors and assumptions. Thank you. I look forward to more from you on this interesting theme

[mrpig]

Anyone Interested in arthurian legends should check out ALAN WILSON AND BARRAM BLECKETTS WORKS, THE HOLY KINGDOM AND MANY MORE BOOKS

[tdg]

Great video!! I really love all the accurate informarion - makes everything even more interesting than it alrteady is! I've never actually read anything "arthurian" so far, even though I have great interest about the subject and certainly consume this kind of content from other medias influenced by those legends. Do you know any audiobook you'd reccomend so i can quit being a "poser" when it comes to arthurian legends? Keep on with rhe greate work! :)

[Velandonie]

Great video. Do you happen to know anything about there being 2 historical Arthurs? I saw this on a comment for a different video, but they didn't give any more information. So I'm curious if you know anything about this, as I haven't encounter this idea before in my research on the legend. I'm writing an Arthurian novel, so I very much appreciate your contemt, very accurate and clear. Thank you.