King Arthur
In one of the earliest references to Arthur, namely the Historia Brittonum of Nennius, a ninth-century Welsh monk, he was described as dux bellorum, ‘leader of troops’. Like the Irishman Finn MacCool, he was a warrior who defended his country against foreign invaders. But his legendary character by far outshone whatever historical fame he may have had. In romance, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were the paragons of chivalry.
Son of Uther Pendragon, King of Britain, and Igraine, wife of Duke Gorlois of Cornwall, Arthur was conceived out of wedlock and brought up by the wizard Merlin. By pulling the magic sword Excalibur from a stone from which no one else could extract it, he revealed himself, though then a child, as the predestined king. Crowned at the age of fifteen, in Wales, he soon showed his skill as a military commander, even reaching the city of Rome in one campaign. Against Merlin’s advice Arthur married Guinevere, who loved Sir Lancelot and was unfaithful to the king. Disaster struck his kingdom in the shape of a rebellion raised by Mordred, his nephew. A great battle was fought, nearly all of the Knights of the Round Table slain, and Arthur himself sorely wounded. Excalibur was thrown into a lake, and in a boat three fairies took Arthur away to Avalon, or Avallach which has been identified with Glastonbury
