Is King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table based on real people?

Answer 1

I think so, in my own mind. Read this and visit web site.

King Arthur was Real?

Possible evidence of the existence of Arthur, the legendary warrior king, has been found at Tintagel in Cornwall. A Cornish slate with sixth-century engravings was found in July on the eastern terraces of Tintagel on the edge of a cliff overlooking the place traditionally known as Merlin's Cave. It was discovered under broken pottery and glass from the late sixth or seventh centuries during the re-excavations of an area last dug in the 1930s.

The 8 inch by 14 inch slate bears two inscriptions. The older, upper letters have been broken off and cannot be deciphered. The lower inscription, translated by Charles Thomas of the University of Glasgow, reads "Pater Coliavi ficit Artognov--Artognou, father of a descendant of Coll, has had this built." The inscription is basically in Latin, perhaps with some primitive Irish and British elements, according to Thomas. The British name represented by the Latin Atrognov is Arthnou. Geoffrey Wainwright of English Heritage says that the name is close enough to refer to Arthur, the legendary king and warrior. Thomas, however, believes that we must dismiss ideas that the name is associated with King Arthur. Christopher Morris, professor of archaeology at the University of Glasgow and the director of the excavations, feels that the script does not necessarily refer to Arthur, because King Arthur first entered the historical domain in the twelfth century.

The slate, part of a collapsed wall, was reused as a drain cover in the sixth century. The first secular inscription ever found at a site from the Dark Ages in England, the find demonstrates that Latin literacy and the Roman way of life survived the collapse of Roman Britain. It is the first evidence that the skills of reading and writing were handed down in a nonreligious context, according to Morris.

Also found were sherds of Mediterranean amphorae, large vessels used for storing and transporting commodities, and a cache of fragments from a single glass vessel. The latter are from a large glass flagon of a type not found elsewhere in Britain or Ireland during this period, but found in Malaga and Cadiz from the sixth or seventh century. The find indicates, for the first time, a direct link between Spain and Western Britain at this time.

Tintagel has come to be associated with King Arthur as his birthplace, depicted by the Welsh monk Geoffrey of Monmouth in A History of the Kings of Britain (ca. 1139), and renewed by Alfred Lord Tennyson in Idylls of the King in the 1870s.

The Tintagel Excavations are a joint project sponsored by English Heritage and the University of Glasgow.

http://www.archaeology.org/online/news/arthur.html

Answer 2

I'm going to have to buck the trend.

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table as we know them today are not based on real people. It's like a version of whispering a phrase from one person to the next to the next and on down the line. By the time the last person says what he has heard, it's not even close to the original.

We percieve King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table as "might for right". Good and honest men to varying degrees trying to right the wrongs in the world and bring us closer to God. Doubt that anything to do with the original Arthur.

Answer 3

I believe that King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table once lived. King Arthur's father was King Uther PENDRAGON.I also find The Lady Of The Lake very fascinating. This lady gave to King Arthur the sword Excalibur . When King Arthur was dying, he told one of his knights to throw the sword back into the lake from whence it came. A mysterious hand rose from the the lake to claim the sword. One may say that this part of the story is a myth. Myth or no myth it is very interesting reading. Do not dismiss every -thing strange as fiction.

Answer 4

King Arthur and a few of the names of knights appear to have really existed. Little else of the tales of King Arthur are actually true.

Answer 5

as was answered previously, a lot of myths are actually loosely based on real people. so it is very possible that asrthur was an actual person in history. the problem with this is that there are many accounts of arthur of varying details and dates and of his knights and activities that it's hard to determin whether he was in fact a real person, or not. tales are carried down verbally for generations before they were ever written down and through that, people could have changed it and/or elaborated in certain areas for the entertainment of the listeners or just for themselves. there are at least 5 schools of thought for who arthur really was. one of them is that he never really existed. others are that he was really Ambrosius Aurelianus or Lucius Artorius Castus, half roman half british officer in the roman army stationed in britain at hadrian's wall like you saw in the movie King Arthur. there are many more that you can find on the web. what you finally decide on is up to you. but as for now, there is no real, hard fact that he really, for sure, existed. but it always possible.

Answer 6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_arthur

This site provides a very thorough history of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, possible origins, etc.

Answer 7

The short answer is yes.

The long answer can be summarized as "not exactly."

These are two excellent books (pick one or both) that place Arthur in British history - well worth a read, and much better than the Wikipedia nonsense (no offense intended to the person above who offered it up).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0897332873/sr=8-2/qid=1153315204/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-6188824-9275011?ie=UTF8
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0141390697/qid=1153315511/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-6188824-9275011?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Answer 8

Hi,
To download for free King Arthur Gold you can click here: http://j.mp/1qXIuJZ

it's the full version, avaiable for free! very fast to install
Players of the King Arthur’s Gold title are required to construct siege machines for the destruction of their enemies, buildings for the production of military units and resources, and of course mines for gold.
It's amazing.

Answer 9

It's a legend but often times legends are based on some sliver of fact and this is no different. I wouldn't get too excited though as the similarities are only minimal.

Answer 10

yes, you should go pick up the series by Jack Whyte. it is called The Camulod Chronicles it explains the story of the roman occupation, the re-founding of Camulod (camelot) and the story of the british wars and King Aurthur.