King Arthur's Legend
There are a lot of different versions about the arthurian legend and it is difficult to say which of them is the closest to the truth if Arthur really existed. Of corse there are many documents that refer a man that rules an army and conquers the Great Britain called Arthur, however, there is no evidence that he even existed and experts think that the name Arthur was given to some general in that time.
Despite the fact that no one knows the thruth, this legend is very interesting and has some wonderful and surprising events. I'm going to write one of the most known versions of King Arthur's Legend.
Some parts of this legend were taken from some popular books as Le Morte d'Arthur, by Thomas Malory, King Arthur, by Alan Massie and some films and series as "King Arthur" (2004), "Excalibur" (1981), "Lancelot, the first knight" (1995) and "Merlin" (2000).
Legend:
During the 5th century, Great Britain was rulled by the High King, Uther Pendragon, who was married to Igraine. Before that time, Great Britain was a place where war never stopped, between Saxons, Irish, Powys, Silury, Camelot and many other kingdoms. When Uther started rulling in Camelot, he managed to stop all those wars and become the High King of Britain. His wife has conceived the first son, Arthur, and lately Morgana. However, the peace didn't last as long as Uther predicted. One day, a wizzard called Merlin, Uther's most loyal and helpful adviser, predicted that Uther was going to die from ilness in 5 months and said the baby, Arthur, should be given to him so he could be safe from those who wish the throne, and so he could learn how to be a wise, fair and strong King. Merlin was considered a very wise person and Uther knew that Merlin never failed to predict the future so he agreed giving him Arthur.
After 5 months, Uther died leaving no heir to the throne, however, before dying he stucked his magic sword, Excalibur, the sword given by the gods, in a big stone and said: " Only the rightful King can manage to pull Excalibur from the stone, and only the rightful King can rule Britain.
Since that time, a lot of people and knights went to Camelot in order to try to pull the sword including the most fearful knight Lot of Orkney. No one was able to pull the sword so the war between the kingdoms started again. That time, where peace was an impossible achievement was called the Dark ages.
During that time, Arthur was growing up and learning with Merlin how to be fair but strong, fearful but kind and how to fight and rule his men to the victory. When Merlin saw that he was ready to fulfil his destiny, he send Arthur to Camelot to pull that sword.
Arthur was just a boy, he wasn't even a knight, so when he appeared no one believed that he could manage to pull the sword, an when he did it, not everybody wanted to believe so they declared war to Arthur and to everyone that followed.
Despite the fact that Arthur was just a boy, he had a lot of good kinghts and companions with him, as Sir Uriens, Sir Kay and Sir Dagonet. At the beginning, he was afraid of ruling a big kingdom like Britain, but he managed to have simple but brilliant ideas as: " All soldiers must have knives because if they drop their swords in battle they can pull the knife and protect themselves until they find another weapon".
Morgana, Arthur's sister, was forced to marry with Lot of Orkney by Merlin, so she learned Dark Magic in order to destroy the wizzard and all those who supported him as Arthur.
Arthur won great battles, gained more support and had more and more loyal Knights as Lancelot, his best friend and best Knight, Sir Percival, Sir Gawaine and Sir Agravaine (sons of Morgana).
Everything was going good as Arthur wanted however they found saxons a very difficult enemy and they were preparing for the final battle that would decide who would win the war. Arthur and his knights managed to achieve the victory and to make piece with the saxons, Arthur married with the saxon's leader's daughter, Lady Guinevere.
Arthur managed to achieve something that was not possible, piece. He created the Round Table, where he and his knights had meetings and where they spoke as equal.
Despite the fact that there was peace, in Morgana's head she only thought of war. She enchanted Arthur to think that Morgana was Guinevere and they made love. After that Morgana conceived a child and disappeared for a long time.
Some years later, Arthur and Morgana's son, Mordred, grown up and was ready to declare war to his father and rule the Great Britain. In order to be king, he needed to get close to Arthur and for that he joined the Knights of the Round Table. Some years later, Mordred discovers that Lancelot loved Guinevere and in secret, they betrayed the King. Mordred told Arthur and also told that he doesn't need Guinevere to conceive a heir to the throne because Mordred was his son. Arthur, with his heart broken, didn't want to believe so he denied to make Mordred as heir. Mordred got so angry that he joined the saxons and became their leader. Arthur banned Lancelot from the kingdom and sentenced Guinevere to be burned. Lancelot in that day, appeared to save her but died in the flames with her.
Arthur "lost his soul" for some years but later, he went back to normal because he had to fight Mordred for the throne. In the last battle, Mordred and Arthur fought and both died in battle leaving no one in the throne.
This is one of the most popular versions however, there are a lot of interesting diferences between this one and others that I will write about next time.
