As King Arthur was the most popular figure in European literature from the 12th to the 15th centuries, and because speculations about his origins and possible historicity have been endless, the study of his persona and associations fills libraries.
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 which no one else could extract, 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 mortally wounded. Excalibur was thown into a lake, and Morgan le Fey took Arthur away to Avalon, or Avallach.
Another story of throwing Excalibur into water is connected to Pomparles Bridge, the bridge that crosses the river Brue on the road from Street to Glastonbury.
Pomparles Bridge is also known as Pons Perilis (Perilous Bridge) in the Grail legends and is reputed to be the site where Arthur threw away Excalibur. Others say it was Bedwyr (Sir Bedivere) who threw it back.
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth and much subsequent literature, Avalon is the place where King Arthur was taken after fighting Mordred at the Battle of Camlann. Welsh and British tradition claimed that Arthur had never really died, but would return to lead his people against their enemies. Some later writers were less credulous, and said that Arthur had in fact died there.
Geoffrey dealt with Avalon again in his Vita Merlini, in which he describes the character Morgan le Fay as the chief of nine sisters who live on Avalon. Morgan remained associated with the island in later literature, as does Arthur’s mentor, the Lady of the Lake.
By the 12th century, Avalon became associated with Glastonbury, when monks at Glastonbury Abbey claimed to have discovered the bones of Arthur and his queen. During King Henry II’s reign the Abbot of Glastonbury, Henry of Blois, commissioned a search of the abbey grounds. At a depth of 5 m (16 feet) the monks discovered a massive oak coffin and an iron cross bearing the description Hic iacet sepultus inclitus rex Arthurus in insula Avalonia. (“Here lies King Arthur in the island of Avalon”). Inside the coffin were two bodies, some large bones, as well as some smaller bones and a scrap of hair that crumbled away when touched, were explained as Guinevere’s.
The bones were placed in caskets, and in 1278 were transferred, during a state visit of Edward I, to a black marble tomb before the high altar of the main Abbey church. There they remained until the Abbey was vandalised after the dissolution. No one has seen or heard of them since.
Legends proclaim that after Arthur’s death a powerful spirit haunted the ruins of the Abbey, appearing as a black armoured knight with glowing red eyes and a burning desire to eradicate all records of the ancient Arthurian legends which is why, it is said, that those seeking to discover the truth find so few facts available.
Today a notice board marks the spot of Arthur’s final resting place. Occasionally people leave flowers there to honour this mighty king whose ‘life and death’ gave birth to so many myths and legends.
Dee Flanagan
