Where is King Arthur buried?

Question

I have visited no less than 3 places that claim to be the final resting place of the once and future King. So where do you think his remains lie- if at all. 10 points for the answer which intrigues me the most.

Answer 1

Glastonbury

Answer 2

I'm convinced it is in the Scottish borders near Kelso. He was not a king, but a leader of battles and a cavalry leader. His final battle was Camlann which in P-Celtic means "crooked glen". The Roman name fort Castlesteads fort on Hadrian's Wall was Cambroglanna, which means the same thing. Near Kelso, where the Teviot and Tweed rivers meet is Marchmound, old name Marchidun, which in P-Celtic means cavalry fort. Also here is a place which the Celts held sacred which was called Orchairt - the place where apples grew. Avalon - the isle of apples - on the peninsular between the Teviot and Tweed?

I have been reading an excellent book called Arthur and the Lost Kingdoms, which has convinced me that the Gododdin came from the Scottish borders. Their migration to Wales is remembered in the Mabinogion, where since the stories were written down a hundred or so years ago, it has been assumed that the Men from the North simply meant North Wales, whereas it really meant the ancient Celtic kingdoms of North Britain.

Read the book - it might convice you too. It is fascinating historical detective work...

Answer 3

Read this from the TIME TEAM, because it's just about what I would say.
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/archive/2000arthur.html

I must add that the 'French' which they speak of were in Brittany, which was where Britons, ie; the British moved to. So the tales probably do have a British source.
Brittany was once known as 'Lesser Britain'; as opposed to Greater Britain (the British Isles)

I'm partial to Caerleon in Wales being Camelot. And I do think Arthur was Welsh. (Briton. Britons moved to Brittany. They are Breton.) This area was home to the Silures tribe during Iron Age, Roman times.
http://www.caerleon.net/history/lodge/
http://www.caerleon.net/#

"Back at Caerleon, the great earthen mound raised above a Roman building just outside the town walls by the Welsh Kings was used as the basis for a Norman castle built by the Earl of Pembroke in the early thirteenth century. This was, almost certainly, built of wood and was destroyed within ten years by the local Welsh King, Morgan ap Hywel. It was never rebuilt, the Normans presumably relying on the more secure structure at Newport for control of the neighbourhood. The mound can still be seen towering above the grounds of several houses within a walled enclosure and it is said that a stone passage was found leading towards the centre of the mound (called The Mynde) late in the nineteenth century. Legend speaks of the mound as marking the burial place of King Arthur; this is only one of the many such supposed sites throughout the country."

http://www.caerleon.net/history/port/

Answer 4

In most myths, it is written that King Arthur, gravely wounded, is taken by the last ladies of Avalon to rest, and heal, until he is needed again. Avalon literally translates into "Land of Apples". Since the first stories of King Arthur popped up in Wales, it can be assumed that Avalon would be in the general area, or at least close. Glastonbury seems to have the most similarities between mythical Avalon; ancient apple orchards, the worn down Tor (a ritual maze), and even evidence of stone tombs underneath the monastery, which was built some time after King Arthur was supposed to have lived (somewhere in between 300 ce, and 600 ce). There are even excuses for why it was no longer an island; erosion, evaporation, and even the lake the island was on drying out to little more than a river, or stream.

All this makes sense, if you think about the Roman emporer Constantine conquering worlds under the name of Christianity, even though he himself was of a Pagan religon (Christianity would unite all his people under not only one ruler, but one God). During this time, many pagan places, artifacts, and symbols were adopted and taken over, and are even still used by Christians, such as the cross, which originally represented equality and balance.

Some people even say that Avalon still exists, on another plane, exactly where Glastonbury sits today. There are many tales, and reviews, of trips up the Tor resulting in a feeling of wholeness, magic, energy, power, and even just "tingly".

But as to the issue of where King Arthur is buried...if you believe the legends, he isn't dead, merely waiting, healing, for when he is needed again.

Answer 5

It seems to be a bit like the Robin Hood "bury me where this arrow lands" for depending on what you read he could be, assuming he existed at all, and also isn't just sleeping, just about anywhere.

You mention 3 places you have been. Tintagel, Glastonbury, the third perhaps Scotland or Wales. I'm West country myself, and there appears to be a strong claim here. The Welsh also try to take him as they believe Merlin was Welsh, and the whole Arthurian Legend is Welsh. The welsh legend was written based on Scottish tales, so perhaps we look there. Arthur, king of the Peninies was indeed Scottish, so perhaps somewhere like Stirling could be our hero's final resting place. But wait. No I believe Kent also lay claim, oh come to think of it, so does Cumbria, oh yes not to forget...... the list goes on. Then you have France of course...

Try looking at a few pieces I've posted on King Arthur, starting at:
http://uk.blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-_bmsUQM_a6ScIske2F9.?tag=kingarthur

If not helpful you may find them vaguely interesting.

Answer 6

Margam Abbey Chronicle
The Discovery of King Arthur's Grave at Glastonbury

This entry from a chronicle of Margam Abbey is one of the accounts that have come down to us, detailing the discovery of King Arthur's body at Glastonbury Abbey. The date of composition is uncertain, but it is believed by some scholars to have been written within a decade or two of the original discovery in 1190. A much later date is likely, however, as we will see.
Margam is the only report that mentions the discovery of Mordred's tomb and is, on that account, suspect. The chronicle also mentions transferring the body of Arthur "with suitable honour and much pomp" to a marble tomb in the abbey church. The only reliable record of anything remotely like that happening is the account of the visit of Edward I to Glastonbury in 1278, when he transferred, with much pomp, the bones of Arthur and Guinevere to a marble tomb in the abbey church.

According to C.A. Ralegh Radford (the archaeologist whose excavations at Glastonbury have shown that the monks did, in fact, dig up a grave at about the right time), the relics of Arthur and Guinevere that had been exhumed, "lay in a treasure in the east range of the abbey" until the time when they were reinterred by Edward, some 88 years later. The Margam account could not contain the information that it does and still be written a decade or two after the discovery of the grave.
.............................................................

At Glastonbury the bones of the most famous Arthur, once King of Greater Britain, were found, hidden in a certain very ancient coffin. Two pyramids had been erected about them, in which certain letters were carved, but they could not be read because they were cut in a barbarous style and worn away. The bones were found on this occasion.

While they were digging a certain plot between the pyramids, in order to bury a certain monk who had begged and prayed the convent to be buried here, they found a certain coffin in which they saw a woman's bones with the hair still intact. When this was removed, they found another coffin below the first, containing a man's bones. This also being removed, they found a third below the first two, on which a lead cross was placed, on which was inscribed, "Here lies the famous king Arthur, buried in the isle of Avalon." For that place was once surrounded by marshes, and is called the isle of Avalon, that is "the isle of apples." For aval means, in British, an apple.

On opening the aforesaid coffin, they found the bones of the said prince, sturdy enough and large, which the monks transferred with suitable honour and much pomp into a marble tomb in their church. The first tomb was said to be that of Guinevere, wife of the same Arthur; the second, that of Mordred, his nephew; the third, that of the aforesaid prince.

Answer 7

actually King arthur was a real person but the reason there is more than one resting place is the legend is spanned across a long tim span 100-250 years or so. the title would have been passed down throu linage as well as name i would expect. There were king arthurs but most have either been roman who stayed after the rest left the uk or french/vikings who also took title to help the legend keep going and enemies become scared to attack there provence.

Answer 8

Some claim he is buried in Avalon. Some say Glastonbury. But for true believers in the Arthurian legend, he is just sleeping. So, he wasn't buried anywhere. The nuns of Avalon took his wounded body to their island and are keeping watch over it. He is in a deep sleep, waiting for the time when England needs him again. Just like Excalibur, it is waiting for him with the Lady of the Lake. But you have to be a true believer in the Arthurian Legends. Arthur was not a legend. He stood for everything that was right.

Answer 9

I accept as true with a number of what you have written, whether I even have not heard of him being buried in Croatia, perhaps it somewhat is real? I even tend to think of he became into born in England of a Roman protection rigidity guy and a community Brit. The knights could have come from the section which you pronounced.

Answer 10

Hey there,
Here I got King Arthur Gold for free: http://bit.ly/1qXIoC7

it's a perfectly working link, no scam !
King Arthur’s Gold is a game set in the time of legends. There are castles that need to be built, and he meets that need to be destroyed, and of course gold that must be mined.
It's the best game of its category.

Answer 11

It is not known whether Arthur was a king or not. We do know he wasn't a king of England, more likely a King of a small kingdom, which Great Britain was once made up of. It is likely that he was a king of Cornwall, who still believe that they should be independent of Great Britain ( Flag is white cross on Black background). But others also claim that he was the local king.

However, as we don't know whether he was real or fictitious, we will never truly know where he is buried