The Land of King Arthur - Dozmary Pool

A slender arm that gripped a sword

rose slowly from the water.

"I'll save her" cried young Arthur.

"She must be some knight's daugter..."

"Be still," hissed Merlin. "There you see

the Lady of the Lake.

She's like a kind of mermaid.

That sword is yours to take."  

Excalibur the Magic Sword- Crazy Camelot Capers  Tony Mitton and Arthur Robins

My children loved the stories from Crazy Camelot when they were little. There is nothing like children stories in rhyme and the illustrations that are inside the book are fabulous. If you have young children and you want to introduce them to King Arthur and his knights then this is a fun way to do it.

Before I take the rest of this post to praise Crazy Camelot, I actually wanted to talk about a very famous lake in Arthurian legend.
 
There are two stories as to how Arthur came by his magical sword. Both will be familiar I am sure. The first one claims that Arthur pulled a sword from a stone. The other states that the sword was gifted to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake.

But where is the Lake?

Could Dozmary Pool be the lake in question??!

Dozmary Pool can be found in Cornwall, in the parish of Altarnun on Bodmin Moor. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - I can understand why. And from the picture above, it is easy to imagine a sword rising from the water.

Now, Excalibur came with instructions - not quite a 'how to use' manual - I am sure Arthur knew how to handle a sword. The instructions were simple. I shall quote from Crazy Camelot again, so prepare yourself for some more rhyme...

I am Excalibur, your sword,

and I will never break.

But when your reign is over,

return me to the lake.

The general consensuses is that Arthur was mortally wounded at the Battle of Camlann. Arthur recalled the instructions about the sword. He had to get back to the lake. Sir Bedivere, the only surviving knight of The Round Table - took Arthur back to the lake, but Arthur was too weak to throw the sword back into the lake, so he instructs Sir Bedivere to do it for him. But Sir Bedivere could not bring himself to throw such a beautiful sword into the water, so he hid it and returned to Arthur. Arthur asked him if he had thrown the sword back in the lake. Sir Bedivere lied and said he had. Arthur could see through the lies and told Sir Bedivere to do as he instructed. But Sir Bedivere just could not do it. He lied to Arthur for the second time. Once again, Arthur could see through the lies and for the last time told Sir Bedivere to do as he was instructed. Against his better instincts, Sir Bedivere threw the sword into the lake. To his very great surprise, a hand reached up from the water and grabbed the sword, drawing it back down into the watery depths, out of sight forever more. Sir Bedivere returned to Arthur and told him what he had seen. This time, Arthur believed him.

Dozmary Pool is bottomless and has a secret tunnel that leads directly to the ocean - a perfect home for the Lady of the Lake.  

 

Back to the question is Dozmary Pool - that lake?

It is certainly atmospheric enough, but...

It isn't bottomless - in 1869 the pool dried up and apart from finding some amazing Neolithic arrowheads, there was no tunnel - so there goes that theory.

It is also argued that Dozmary Pool is too far away from the proposed site of the Battle of Camlann.

 So the bottom line is that it is very unlikely that Dozmary Pool is that lake - but it is stunning.

The Battle of Camlann - The final battle of Arthur Pendragon

"The Strife of Camlann in which Arthur and Medraut perished"

Annales Cambriae ( The Annals of Wales)

The Battle of Camlann is reputed to have been the last battle that Arthur fought in, although there is no mention of it in Nennius famous list of battles. The first documented evidence of the battle can be found in the 10th Century work, Annales Cambriae.

(How Mordred was Slain by Arthur, and How by Him Arthur was Hurt to the Death, by Arthur Rackham)

What happened?

Now, legend would have it that this was the battle in which Mordred turned on Arthur and they fought each other - but the Annales Cambriae does not actually say this...it simply states that they both perished. It makes me wonder?

But, never mind that, it certainly did not stop Geoffrey of Monmouth writing his romantic work of fiction - I meant fact...historical fact...I am always getting that wrong!

If you are not familiar with the story, than I shall do my best to enlighten you!

Arthur finds out about Lancelot and Guinevere's betrayal. So enraged is he, that he follows Lancelot to France, determined to seek his revenge. Arthur leaves Mordred in charge of Britain in his absence.

While he is away, Mordred decides that he rather likes being King of Britain and upsurges Arthur. 

Arthur, learning of Mordred's treachery, takes his army back to Britain and the two meet at Camlann where they battle for the throne. Mordred is killed - by the hand of Arthur, perhaps? Unfortunately, Arthur is also fatally wounded. He is taken to Avalon -- the water is said to be magical and he hopes it can heal him. No one knows what happened to Arthur after that. It is a mystery.

Where is Camlann?

As with all stories of Arthur, there are many haphazard guesses as to where Camlann is. However, there is one clue, Camlann comes from the word, Cambo-glanna, which means a crooked bank of a river! It remains me of Gidas and the location of Badon Hill - The battle was in the south-west. There was a siege on a hill. So helpful!

Monmouth suggested Queen Camel in Somerset, which would be an ideal location if Camelot was at South Cadbury, for the two are very close and for a fictional story it makes perfect sense. Mordred would defend his strong hold on Camelot, whilst Arthur would do everything within his power to reclaim Camelot and Britain.

Queen Camel and that crooked river.

Monmouth tells of a proper full on battle, where the opposing armies line up to face each other, whereas Malory says that the battle was a mistake, a simple misunderstanding, which involved a snake and one of the knights drawing his sword to kill it -  this made the rest of the army draw their swords and carnage consequently resulted. Some mistake!

The Legendary King Arthur.

I have just realised that I seem to be quite happy to tell you all about Arthur's legendary knights, but I have forgotten to tell you about Arthur's legendary life. Although, I am sure you probably know a great deal about it already.

So, lets for a minute, forget about Nennius, Gildas, and my hunt for the real Arthur, and instead look at the stories.

Geoffrey of Monmouth really paved the way when it came to the stories of Arthur, but it would be the work of Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur, which would come to influence the 'history' of the Once and Future King.

Bradley James played Arthur Pendragon in the BBC adaptation of Merlin

See if you recognise any of these themes.

King Uther Pendragon holds court, and there he meets Igrain, the wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. Uther is driven almost out of his mind with lust for Igrain. He cannot help but make his attraction known. But Igrain loves her husband and tells him of Uther's pursuit. Gorlois whisks his wife away from court and they head back home to the safety of Tintagle Castle.

So great is Uther's lust that he follows her home, and while Gorlois is out fighting in a noble battle, Uther asks the great sorcerer, Merlin, to disguise him as Gorlois. Thinking Uther is Gorlois, Igrain makes love to him. That very night, Gorlois dies.

After this there is a great deal of confusion as to what happened next. Did Igrain have two daughters by Gorlois and a son by Uther, or were all her children Uthers? Did she marry Uther? Did she die? -- I am guessing at some point she died, because that tends to happen, but no one seems to know when.

We need to look at Robert de Boron and Thomas Malory's work to find out what happened next.

Arthur is giving to Sir Ector to be raised in secret.

In the meantime, Uther dies and as there is seemingly no heir to take his place, Merlin decides to place a sword in a stone - saying that whoever can draw the sword out of the stone is the rightful king.

Many try. No one succeeds. Except for Sir Ector ward, Arthur.

Arthur is crowned king. Hurrah! But not everyone is happy about it. Merlin takes Arthur to Avalon, here he meets with the Lady of the Lake who gives Arthur his magic sword, Excalibur. There is a rebellion of the eleven kingdoms, which Arthur brutally puts down. He is the King and he will have respect.

Arthur meets and falls in love with Guinevere. Her father gives Arthur a magnificent Round Table as part of his daughter's dowery. There is no head to a round table, so all those who sit around it are equal. And so begins a memorable reign. It is all going splendidly well, until his wife falls in love with one of his knights.

Lancelot and Guinevere keep their affair a secret. But as with all secrets, at some point the truth will out.

Guinevere begs Lancelot to flee the castle, fearing for his life. He is reluctant to leave her, but he sees no other option. He leaves, but then he hears the shocking news that Arthur has sentenced Guinevere to death for High Treason. Lancelot cannot leave her to such a fate, so he embarks on a bold rescue, in which he is successful. Lancelot takes Guinevere to the relatively safety of his own kingdom in Brittany.

Arthur cannot allow such an insult to go unpunished. He crosses the channel to Brittany and lays siege to Lancelot's castle. There are several version as to what happens next...did Lancelot make peace with Arthur? Did Guinevere return to her husband? Was there a bloody battle?

Meanwhile, back in Britain, Mordred, whom Arthur had left in charge of the kingdom, comes to the conclusion that he actually quite likes having all this power and he could easily do what Arthur does - no problem whatsoever. He rebells against Arthur and claims the throne of Camelot for himself. Enraged, Arthur leaves Brittany and heads home.

There is a vicious battle on Salisbury Plain - The Battle of Camlann - in which Arthur slays Mordred. Unfortunately, Arthur is also gravely wounded. He needs to journey to Avalon where the magic of the waters will heal him. He is placed in a barge - the quickest way to get to Avalon is by boat. But, Arthur knows he will not make it. He commands that his sword be thrown back into the lake. He dies...well, maybe he died, for his death is surrounded in mystery.

The end...or is it?