Reflections
on Legends
By Tim
Walker
I recently appeared via Skype (taking the place of Mary Anne Yarde
who was unable to take part) on a Sky UK Television studio panel discussion (YouTube
link below). The programme was appropriately called ‘Round Table’, and this
edition was concerned with discussing the relevance of legends in contemporary
times, given that scientists are now claiming to have disproved the existence
of the Loch Ness Monster. Has science killed Nessie? …And, by extension, can it
kill off our favourite legends?
One of the points I was keen to make was that the dictionary definition
of ‘legend’ - a traditional story or myth; traditional literature; famous
person or event; stories about such a person or event; inscriptions –
understates the concept. A legend is a story whose origins are lost in the hazy
mists of time, and therefore cannot be conclusively proved or disproved. They
endure because their themes are re-interpreted by each age through re-tellings
that reflect the values, fears and hopes of that age, and their appeal is
partly held by the element of the unknown that add an air of mystery.
 |
| English Heritage |
In reading about the origins of the King Arthur story, I became
fascinated by the blurred boundary between historical fact and storytelling.
The oral tradition of remembering great heroes and their deeds, who often
protected a fearful community from an external threat, delivered through bardic
praise poems, songs and dramatic performance, often has a root in factual
events and real people. But by their nature, the feats of the hero are
exaggerated and he is ‘bigged-up’ to make for a more engaging story. The bard,
after all, was singing for his supper. The feats of an heroic warrior is a
recurring theme in many of our favourite legends including Beowulf – the
earliest epic poem in the English language; George and the Dragon and Robin
Hood.
George and the Dragon is a meshing together of two stories – that
of an early Christian martyr and a British folk tale about a brave warrior called
Gaarge who is hired by a village to save it from ‘a giant worm’. The story of
Arthur was cobbled together by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the twelfth century from
mentions of a heroic resistance leader in the fifth and sixth centuries in
earlier Welsh chronicles and folk tales, although it is accepted by historians
that he piled onto Arthur’s shoulders the deeds of other unnamed heroic figures
in a political gambit to create a super-warrior who opposed the Saxons, and
thus please his Norman readership.
However, there are echoes of a real Arthur in the writings of a
monk called Nennius, accredited with writing The History of the British
People in the ninth century, who talks of the twelve battles of Arthur, and
describes Arthur as leading the combined armies of the Kings of the Britons
against Saxon invaders, naming his opponent as Octha, the son of Hengist
(deemed to be a real historical figures) as the King of Kent. Although Arthur,
Britain’s first superhero, has a toe-hold in history, the legendary figure was deliberately
created by Geoffrey to flatter his Norman lord and sponsor, goading the
defeated Saxons with the tale of a noble king who lead the Britons in
resistance to the coming of the Anglo-Saxons. In contrast, the dispossessed
Saxons built up their own legendary folk hero in Robin Hood, who protected the
common people from the tyranny of a Norman lord. There are grains of truth in the
half-remembered stories that underpin these legends, kept alive by reflecting
the values, fears and hopes of each generation, for whom the stories are
slightly customised.
Legends persist because they are part of the fabric of our
cultural identity, our sense of who we are. Witness a basic, sixth
century warlord Arthur, seized upon by later generations who embellished him
with Middle Ages chivalric and Christian virtue, presenting him as a just and
devout ruler who kept the peace and protected the people from external (often
pagan) threats. These are similar attributes now given to superheroes that have
captured the public imagination in our contemporary popular culture. They are
recurring themes in human society – the need for justice, order, peace and
protection. Arthur, Beowulf, Saint George and Robin Hood provide these
reassurances, and that is why they are enduring legends in British culture.
I’ve no doubt that Nessie will survive the glare of science and endure
in popular memory and belief, despite scientists declaring that the only non-fish
DNA found in the loch is that of eels. So, why not a giant eel? After all, the
pre-runner of dragons in early folk lore are ‘giant worms’.
Tim Walker
Tim Walker is an independent author based in Windsor, UK. His background is in marketing, journalism, editing and publications management. He began writing an historical series,A Light in the Dark Ages (set in Fifth Century Britain), in 2015, starting with Abandoned, set at the time the Romans left Britain. This was extensively revised and re-launched as a second edition in 2018.
Book two, Ambrosius: Last of the Romans, was published in 2017 and the third installment, Uther’s Destiny, was published in March 2018 (winner of One Stop Fiction book of the month award, April 2018). The adventure continues from March 2019 in the fourth book, Arthur, Dux Bellorum.
His creative writing journey began in July 2015 with the publication of a book of short stories, Thames Valley Tales. In September 2017 he published a second collection of short stories – Postcards from London. These stories combine his love of history with his experiences of living in London and various Thames Valley towns.
In 2016 he published his first novel, a dystopian political thriller, Devil Gate Dawn,following exposure through the Amazon Scout programme. In 2017 he published his first children’s book, The Adventures of Charly Holmes, co-written with his 12-year-old daughter, Cathy, followed In 2018 by a second adventure, Charly & The Superheroes.
Tim Walker’s A Light in the Dark Ages book series starts
with…
Abandoned:-
Ambrosius: Last of the Romans:-
Uther’s Destiny:-
Arthur Dux Bellorum:-
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See you on your next coffee break!
Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx