King arthur s legend


arthurian legend , group of tales that developed in the dark ages concerning arthur , semihistorical king of the britons , and his knights . the legend is a complex weaving of ancient celtic mythology with later tradiditions around a core of possible historical authenticity .
the earliest references to arthur found in welsh sources the poem , y gododdin c. 600 , histories written in latin , in the 9th and 10th centuries , and tales in the welsh story collection the mabinogion c. 1100 . in one of these tales arthurs wife , guinevere , and his knights kay , bedivere and gawain make their appearance . the earliestcontinuous arthurian narrative is given in the historia regum britanniae c . 1139 by the english writer geoffrey of monmouth . here arthur is identified as the son of the british king uther pentragon and his counsellor merlin is introduced . the historia mentions the isle of avalon , where arthur went to recover from wounds after his...