Tintagel Castle and Arthurian Legend

"...it is right by the sea, and surrounded by the sea on all sides; and there is no other way into it, except that provided by a narrow rocky passage—and there, three armed warriors could forbid all entry, even if you took up your stand with the whole of Britain behind you..." 

Geoffrey of Monmouth

This is quite an achievement. I have spent the last 6 months blogging about Arthur and his Knights, but I have failed to mention Tintagel Castle. Why? I hear you ask...Truefully, I just haven't got around to it until now. I know, poor excuse, but hey, I am on it!

Tintagle Castle is located on the peninsula of Tintagel Island in Cornwall. It is a medieval fortification, built by Richard, Earl of Cornwall in the 13th Century. The castle became a tourist attraction in the 19th Century when archeologist started to excavate the site. In the 1930's a team of archeologists discovered a much earlier high status building. But what does this have to do with King Arthur and his Knights?

Well...a certain Welshman wrote a certain book, you may have heard of it...It goes by the name, The History of the Kings of Britain. Yes, that's right, I am talking about Monmouth yet again!!

Can you remember the story about Uther Pendragon falling madly in love with the Duke of Cornwall's wife? No?  Okay, quick recap...

***

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.

***

So, if we believe Monmouth's versions of events ( and there is not reason not to...he did, after all, have that ancient manuscript that he conveniently lost ) Arthur was conceived at Tintagel. Monmouth never suggested that Arthur was born at Tintagel, neither did he mention Arthur ever visiting the place..but you know what it's like when poets get hold of a story! As the years passed, Tintagel became embroidered into the delicate tapestry which is Arthurian Legend.

But still, there are those who want proof - something that they can see, that they can touch. If Arthur was at Tintagle then surly there would be evidence?

Ralegh Radford (1900 -1999) an English archaeologist whose interest was in Dark Age Britain, had this to say about Tintagle and Arthurian legend in 1935.

"...no concrete evidence whatsoever has yet been found to support the legendary connection of the  (Tintagel) Castle with King Arthur..."

Charles Thomas - a well respected historian and archeologist stated;

"...there simply is no independently attested connection in early Cornish folklore locating Arthur, at any age or in any capacity, at Tintagel..."

But how does this explain the Artognou stone?

"patern coli avi ficit artognou"

"Artognou, father of a descendant of Coll, has had this constucted" 

The stone's discovery in 1998, met with much media excitement. Had evidence of Arthur been found at last? Did the name Artognou really translate as Arthur? The stone is of the right age and, if Monmouth is to believed, then Arthur was conceived at Tintagle - at last, here is the proof.

 Of course there were plenty of people to discredit such a notion - including many historians. I guess, like with everything else when it comes to Arthur and his knights, it depends on what you believe. And thats why Arthur and his world drew me in in the first place...the endless possibilities.

"There is no evil in sorcery, only in the hearts of men. My request is that you remember this" Merlin

Gaius: :  Where did you study? Answer me.

Merlin:  I've... I've never studied magic or been taught. 

Gaius:   Are you lying to me, boy?

Merlin: What do you want me to say?

Gaius:  The truth!

Merlin: I was born like this. 

Gaius:  That's impossible!

                                                   (Merlin - The Dragons Call)

If you had not already guessed, I am going to be blogging about Merlin again today.

Last time I was talking about Monmouth and all the wonderful things he did for Merlin. Today, I am going to have a look and see where this fascinating wizard went next.

Robert de Boron was one of those amazing French poets of the 12th Century. He wrote a poem called Merlin. Boron is credited with the great works Prose Merlin as well.                                       

Let us see how he portrayed Merlin in Prose Merlin.

It is said that in between Christ’s horrific crucifixion and joyful resurrection he spent some time in Hell, bringing salvation to all who had died (excluding the damned).                                                                                                         

“Full wrothe and angry was the Devell, whan that oure Lorde hadde ben in helle and had take oute Adam and Eve and other at his plesier” Prose Merlin

 

Christ's Descent into Limbo Andrea Mantegna c.1470 

 

Boron starts the story of Merlin just after Christ’s resurrection. The Council of devils was called in to order. They were angry, enraged by Christ’s Harrowing of Hell and they wanted revenge. Christ and his God would not be allowed to get away with this. They would rue the day they thought to enter into a domain that was never theirs.

They came up with a plan.

They would create a being that would undo everything that Christ had done. They would create an antichrist, who would follow their orders, who would do their bidding and there would be nothing that God or his son could do about it.

Their plan was deceptively simple. If God could beget a child with a virgin maid, then so could they. They found such a woman and begot her with child.

 

 But they did not understand love, or virtue, faith...hope. The woman they had chosen had a close advisor, a holy man called Blaise and she confided in him what had happened. She begged for his help

 

 Blaise tries to reassure the woman. He tells her that they will baptize the child as soon as it is born and they pray with all their might that the demon will be chased away from the babies body.

 

The baby, a boy, is born and Blaise immediately baptizes him and they pray that the demon will not plague the child. It seems that they were successful. They have snatched the child away from Satan’s clutches.

                                                                                                                         

The woman names the child Merlin after her father.

But Merlin is no ordinary child. He may not be under the influence of Satan anymore, but the demon has left him a legacy. He can see things – the past – the present. He can predict future events. He is, in short, a prophet. But he is no ordinary prophet; he has other skills as well. He can shapeshift.

Last time I spoke about Nennius and his story of Vortigern and his struggle building a tower that kept on collapsing? If you missed that post you can check it out here.

In Nennius’s story, the fatherless boy who is brought before Vortigern is Ambrosius.

In Boron’s story the boy is Merlin.

Like Ambrosius in Nennius story, Merlin blames the destruction of the tower on two fighting dragons, but here the story take a sharp turn and veers off on its own course. Instead of the dragons represent the Saxon’s and the Briton’s, Merlin states that the dragons represent Vortigern and two brothers, Pendragon and Uther. Merlin also prophesies Vortigern’s death.

On Vortigern’s death, Pendragon take the throne. Merlin becomes an adviser to this new royal dynasty. He helps them with their struggles with the Saxons.

Merlin foresees a great battle at Salisbury where Pendragon will meet his fate. All that he predicts comes true and the younger of the brothers, Uther, takes the throne as well as his brothers name. He becomes known as Uther Pendragon.

The battle was fierce and many Britons died. Merlin decides that a permanent memorial is needed so this battle would be remembered forever. The memorial still stands – Stonehenge.

Uther needs to be a strong king and Merlin advices that he needs a symbol of the Christian religion. He recommends a replica of the table that was used at the Last Supper and was pinnacle in the story of the Holy Grail - It is said that Joseph of Arimethea used the Grail (A cup) - from the Last Supper - to catch the blood from Jesus's body as he hung from the cross - They did not have the Grail, but they could recreate at least part of the story. What they needed was....

A Round Table.

A glorious Round Table was commissioned and it came to represent not only the Grail and the last supper, but also chivalry and the knightly code of honour.

But not everything Merlin does is for the good. When Uther is overcome with lust for the Duke of Cornwall’s wife. Merlin casts a spell, so Uther’s appearance is changed to that of the Duke. Igrain, the Dukes wife, is deceived into thinking that she is sharing her body with her husband. That night, Arthur is conceived.

The Duke dies that night in battle and Uther and Igrain marry soon after.

When Arthur is born he is fostered and is raised by Antor (Ector). Arthur grows up and as we all know he draws a sword from a stone.

 References

University of Rochester - Middle English Text Series

http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/conlee-prose-merlin-introduction 

If you would like to read Prose Merlin, then check out this link. 

Forget about Arthur -- Let's take a look at Merlin!

 Higitus Figitus zumbabazing! 

Today, I am going to blog about....

  Merlin  

( Imagine John Hurt saying that - It makes it sound so much more majestic).

Oh my days...now here's a topic. I fear it will take more than one post to talk about this rather interesting chap.

Okay. Lets start with the basics...

When I think of Merlin, I think of several things.

1. He was a wizard.

 

(Maybe not this Wizzard, but you get the idea...I hope!)

2. He was Welsh

( A Welsh mountain.)

3. Colin Morgan

 

4. Myrddin Emrys 

 

( Colin Morgan again!) 

5.Higitus Figitus

 

Today, for simplicity's sake, I am going to look at the legend.

The name Emrys means immortal and that was exactly what Geoffrey of Monmouth did to Merlin when he wrote his wonderful  Historia Regum Britanniae. Which - we all know - is the most fascinating factual book ever to be written. Fascinating, yes. Factual...not so much. But then again, maybe one day someone will find Monmouth's mysteriously lost manuscript - where he claimed he got all of his sources from. Wouldn't it be marvellous if they did? Can you image the uproar that would cause?! Oh, I so want someone to find it. Hey, you know, that could be an interesting idea for a book - I could have fun with that! Monmouth's Lost Manuscript. Has a certain ring to it, don't you think? Watch this space...

Monmouth's, Merlin was incredibly popular. Particularly with the Welsh. The English may have some flimsy claim to Arthur, but the Welsh had Merlin and lets be honest - he was a far more interesting character than some knight who pulled a sword out of a stone.

Let me introduce you to Myrddin Wyllt (a.k.a. Myriddin the Wild / of the Woods / of Carmarthen). Now rumour has it, that Myriddin was driven mad by witnessing the horrors of war and he fled to the woods and became a bit of a wild-man. Monmouth had a very reliable source - here we go - he claimed to have the actual words of this mysterious hermit. Which he then tuned into a great work, which he aptly named Prophetiae Merlini (The Prophesy of Merlin).

Before we continue, we need to take a look quickly at Nennius works. Now Nennius famously listed Arthur's 12 battles, although he never mentioned that Arthur was a king. Who he did talk about was Aurelius Ambrosius...

....The British Warlord, Vortigern, was trying to erect a tower ( like you do), but the tower, for some unknown reason, always collapsed before completion. The solution was simple - all that was needed was the blood of a child born without a father - so simple, why did no one else think of that?! This meant they had to travel to a galaxy far far away, meet up with the Jedi -- hang on -- sorry -- wrong story....

...Luckily, for Vortigern and the tower, there was such a child. A boy called Ambrosius. He was brought before the king. He bravely told the king that the reason why the tower kept falling down was because the foundations were built on a lake where two dragons continuously fought each other. Obviously this was a not so subtle metaphor for the Saxon's and the Britons who were continuously fighting for dominance. The tower would not stand while Vortigern had the throne. It would only stand when Ambosius became king. Ambrosius then has the cheek to tell Vortigern to go away. Ambrosius says "I will stay here." I bet Vortigern didn't see that one coming.

But what has this got to do with Merlin?

Monmouth changed the story Nennius told -- such things happen now and then. The fatherless child is actually a prophetic bard, who goes by the name of Merlin.


Monmouth magically weaves Merlin into the stories of Arthur and his knights. And he states that it was Merlin that brought the stones for Stonehenge from the Preseil Hills. Stonehenge - according to Monmouth- is the burial place of Aurelius Ambrosius.

It was a good job Merlin knew a giant to help him build Stonehenge - I do not understand why archaeologists have never found any evidence for the giant race helping with Stonehenge - I mean, it makes sense and how hard can it be to find a giant's footprint?! I do not think they are looking hard enough.

 This depiction of Merlin and the giant can be found in the manuscript of Roman de Brut by Wace.

Monmouth is also responsible for the tale of how Arthur was conceived. If you are not familiar with it, you can read about it here. But to quickly recap... Merlin casts a magic spell on Uther Pendragon, changing his appearance so that he looks like Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. Uther creeps into the bedchamber of Gorlois's wife, Igrain, and begets her with child.

Monmouth caught, what I like to call, the King Arthur bug - I must warn you it is very contagious - He could not leave Merlin's story alone, just like he could not leave Arthur's. Merlin pops up again in Vita Merlini.

Once Monmouth finished his great works, that wasn't the end for Merlin and his story. In fact that old Wizard was just getting started. Keep an eye out for the next blog on Merlin and I will continue his tale...

The gallant Sir Tristan - Knight of the Round Table

"...If our two loves be one, or thou and I 
Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die..."

The Good-Morrow John Donne

Tristan and Iseult Edmund Blair Leighton (1853–1922)

Lancelot, Gawain and Tristan are my all time three favorite knights. I have already talked about Lancelot and Gawain and now it is Sir Tristan's turn.

Tristan is much like Lancelot in that he stands for everything that is noble. He is chivalrous and kind. He is loyal and brave. You would want him on your side if you were going into battle. He would protect his fellow knights and countryman until the last drop of blood fell from his body.

His tale is also one of the oldest romantic stories ever told. But it traveled a great distance before becoming the story we now know...

I need to whisk you back to the Highlands of Scotland and to the home of the Picts, where a tale emerged of a young noble prince called Drust, who saved a beautiful princess from some terrible pirates.

The story then traveled to Wales where it became fictionalized (?)- Drust became Drystan and this Drystan became the nephew of a powerful King March. King March married the said princess, but the princess was in love with Drystan and he with her. The ultimate love triangle.

The story then weaved its way to the south of Britain and settled in Cornwall. Drystan became Tristan and Marsh became Mark. The tale traveled on to Brittany, before settling in France, where the finishing touches were put on to it.  The tale has being mesmerizing English and French audiences ever since.

Bards once traveled from place to place weaving their magic with words, but there was no point in write such things down -- not many people could read after all, and listening to stories was the Dark Age equivalent to watching the television. The original Celtic tale of Drust and the pirates has long since been lost.

The story of Tristan and Iseult, that we now know, is the creation of one of those glorious French poets of the 12th Century.  Béroul was the first to write down the tale of Tristan, but his version was hardly courtly and not at all fitting with the Arthurian theme to which the story is now associated with.

Thomas of Britain took up the story and he wrote the courtly version that became the forefather of the story we know today. Unfortunately, there are only fragments of the original manuscripts now left in existence.

The German poets then took up the challenge. Prose Tristan introduced the Arthurian legend to the tale and by 1469, Le Morte d'Arthur written by Sir Thomas Malory, an English author, cemented the tale firmly in the minds of the people.

The Tale of Tristan and Iseult.

Tristan is a Cornish knight and the nephew to the great King Mark.  The tale is set during a trouble period of Cornish history. Mark was having to defend his kingdom against those troublesome barbarians from Eire, who kept on invading. He had offered them tributes to stay away. The Irish took the money, but they still kept coming and the war continued.

During one such nasty raid, Tristan fights Morholt, a vicious Irish warrior, and kills him, but not before Morholt leaves Tristan with a deep wound that will not heal, no matter what his kinsmen try.

There was a whispered rumor that there was a very skilled healer in Ireland that could possibly heal Tristan's wounds. Leaving his homeland in disguise, Tristan braves the rough Irish Sea and seeks out this woman who has the power to heal him. He knows only that her name is Iseult.

He finds Iseult. He is expecting to see an old hag, but Iseult is young and beautiful, and she is, without a doubt, the most compassionate person he has ever met. She heals him and sends him back to Cornwall. He praised her skills and her beauty to Mark, who is so taken with what he hears that he orders Tristan to return to Ireland and bring Iseult back to Cornwall so that he can marry her himself.

Tristan, ever loyal to his uncle the king, does as he is bid. But something strange happens on the way home. He and Iseult are drugged by a powerful love potion and they fall instantly in love with each other.

Although Iseult loves Tristan, she has no choice but to marry Mark. However, the love potion is so strong that she can not keep away from Tristan and the the two of them become lovers.

King Mark finds out about his wife and his nephew. They have committed treason and there can be only one outcome. Death. Tristan escapes on the way to the gallows and he rescues Iseult from being burnt at the stake.

Does this tale sound familiar to you??!

It sounds remarkable similar to the love triangle between Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot.
 Don't you think?

On with the story...

Tristan and Iseult hide out in the forest of Morrois -- in later texts it is said that Lancelot helped to conceal the lovers for a time -- but Tristan is noble and he can not live with what he has done.

Despite everything that has happened, Mark loves his wife and he loves Tristan - as if he were his own son.

Tristan returns Iseult to her husband and he banishes himself to Brittany where he meets Iseult of the White Hand, daughter of Hoel. He marries her, despite still being in love with Iseult, the Queen of Cornwall.

The years go by and out heroes age...

 Tristan is injured while trying to rescues a young woman from six villainous knights. The wound is fatal unless he is treated by the Queen of Cornwall. He sends for Iseult. He asks that if she comes, then the ship must sail back with six white flags. If she refuses to come, then the ship must sail with black flags instead of white. The ship comes and Tristan, who is too weak to rise from his bed, asks his wife what colour the sails are. In a fit of jealous rage, she tells him they are black. Tristan dies thinking his first love has forgotten all about him. Iseult arrives to save her former lover, but she is too late - he is already dead. She dies of grief that same day.

The dead lovers are taken back to Cornwall and buried. From their graves spouted a hazel tree and a honeysuckle, and as they grew they intertwined around each other. Mark had the branches cut back three times, but each time they would regrow and wrapped themselves around each other. And Mark released that their love was indeed a very great thing. After that he left the trees alone.

And so ends the tale.

It is the greatest and saddest of love stories.

The Tristan stone.

The Tristan stone is a long, 2.7 m, tall granite pillar near Fowey in Cornwall. It dates around AD 600 and is inspired with these words:

DRVSTANVS HIC IACIT CVNOWORI FILIVS CVM DOMINA OUSILLA

Drustan lies here, the son of Cunomorus, with the lady Ousilla

Drustan translate to Tristan and Ousilla, Iseult.

I could talk more of Tristan and Iseult, but I think I will leave it there today. But if you fancy watching a movie tonight, then why not check out this one. It is rather good.

Arthur's Seat

We are heading back to Scotland today...

To be more specific we are heading about 1mile - 1.6km for those who prefer metric - to the east of Edinburgh Castle.

Just a short walk from Edinburgh's famous Royal Mile, is Holyrood Estate, which is owned by the reigning monarch, Elizabeth II. This 650 acre sight is made up of an array of hills, glens, lochs ( we are in Scotland after all) and basalt cliffs.

The highest point of the Royal Park is Arthur's Seat. For those who are interested, Arthur's Seat is a dormant volcano.

If you ever happen to find yourself in Edinburgh - great city, cannot recommend it enough - and you have the energy to climb it, then you will be rewarded with panoramic views of Scotland's capital city.

Arthur's Seat was once the site of a large, and very well preserved fort, that dates from around 2000 years ago.

 

Arthur's Seat

Okay. Let us venture back to the 6th Century and to a Welsh poem called Y Gododdin and let us travel to an area which we now call Edinburgh. The land belonged to the Votadini (Gododdin) and these people were warriors. They also held a strong dislike for those invading Angles. The poem speaks of what happened in the battle between the Gododdin's and their enemy. But there is one, interesting stanza. Check it out...

 He pierced three hundred, most bold,
He cut down the center and wing.
He was worthy before the noblest host,
He gave from his herd horses in winter.
He fed black ravens on the wall
Of the fortress, although he was not Arthur.
Among those powerful in feats
In the front rank, a palisade, Gwawrddur.

If you are interested in reading more of the poem, check out this site http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/sechard/492godo.htm

                                                                                                

Is that it? I hear you ask, clearly confused.

 

Umm...Well, one thing is certain, whoever the poet was talking about, it wasn't Arthur, but he was a great man... an almost Arthur. But, if this great man was compared to - now I am assuming they are talking about the Arthur that we are talking about - then by the 6th Century, Arthur was already somewhat of a legend. A man others were compared to.

But what has this got to do with Arthur's Seat? 

Arthur's Seat is where, it is said, the Votadini's - Gododdin's - had their fort or maybe they had their fort where Edinburgh Castle now sits - lets rephrase - their fort was somewhere in what is now modern day Edinburgh.

Let's clutch at some straws. Lets pretend that Arthur's Seat (or Edinburgh) is another contender for the site of Camelot? Knowing what we already know of Camelot ( if you missed it check out this link) we must come to our own conclusions.

I do not think there is that much to link Arthur's Seat with Camelot. I may be wrong. It has been known to happen now and then. The only thing that connects it, as far as I can see, is the name and even that turns out to be slightly dubious.

William Maitland proposed the most outlandish idea that Arthur Seat was actually a corruption of the Gaelic Àrd-na-Said, which he translated as "Height of Arrows." - which became known as - Archer's Seat - Arthur's Seat?? Do you see where he was going with it?

Now it is proposed that the actual "seat" is between the highest point of the peak and a secondary point a little way South. Perhaps Arthur was really big? Who Knows.

But, all jesting aside. Arthur Seat does come up in Arthurian literature several times. It is said that the fort once went by the name Castellum Puellarum - Castle of Women. This castle was the home to women prisoners (and / or) seductive women who would tempt any knights to a night of sin...unless the knight was Galahad, but that's a whole other story. And of course, it was the home of Arthur's half-sister, Morgan Le Frey.

There are many stories that swirl around these ancient hills - from the mysterious coffins found there to the anti-aging properties of the hills Mayday dew. My personal favorite isn't about Arthur at all. It is about a dragon. A terrible dragon who plundered the kingdom, burning and eating all the livestock. The dragon became so full that he lay down, fell asleep and never woke up again. It kind of fits with this whole dormant volcano thing Arthur's Seat has going on.