[dfwgator]

[Bookshelf]

In the year 1191 the monks at Glastonbury, ostensibly the site of the epic Avalon, claimed to have discovered the coffins of King Arthur and Guinevere. And writers have had fun ever since.

[PlateOfShrimp]

Now the party’s over
I’m so tired
Then I see you coming
Out of nowhere…

[PlateOfShrimp]

Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.

[Bigg Red]

Fascinating stuff.

[sphinx]

I've often wondered how many named individuals in total we know from 5th and 6th century Britain during the period of the Germanic invasions. There can't be many. It's called the dark ages for a reason. Scholars have speculated about Riothamus/Arthur for many years, but that's largely a matter of trying to stretch any available candidate to see if he can be made to fit.

The Romanized Britons resisted the Germanic invasions with some initial success before they were defeated and driven into the last Celtic refuges in Cornwall, Wales and the north. We simply don't know the names of their political and military leaders. I find it entirely plausible that someone did indeed play the Arthur role and that the legends coalesced around his memory. In the absence of concrete information, I prefer to believe that his name was actually Sphinx.