Was King Arthur real?

[Samof94]

Was there a historical figure King Arthur was based on?? Of course, such a figure he was based on lived around the time the Romans left Britain and Germanic invaders came to an island that spoke Celtic Languages. Obviously, the standard myth is full of historical anachronisms by hundreds of years given the stories were made up by French authors in the High Middle Ages.

[dead0man]

perhaps there was a noble or five the stories were based off of, but that doesn't mean much.

My favorite anachronism is that the English never fought from horseback until after the Normans took over.  They had horses, their armies used horses for travel, but they didn't use them in combat.

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

perhaps there was a noble or five the stories were based off of, but that doesn't mean much.

My favorite anachronism is that the English never fought from horseback until after the Normans took over.  They had horses, their armies used horses for travel, but they didn't use them in combat.

The English lacked stirrups for fighting on horseback.

Off topic, but one of my favorite anachronisms is drawings or paintings of Columbus looking through a telescope which was not invented for around another 100 years.

[nicholas.slaydon]

Possibly. There very well could have been a Christian ruler to some degree who embodied the Romano-British opposition to the Germanic tribes. However, did that king rule in a castle called Camelot, go on a hunt for the Holy Grail, and have a wizard named Merlin at his court? No, certainly not.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

It's hypothesized that the original story (which obviously has been heavily modified and mythified) took place around 530-550 AD during the "ragnarok winters/fimbulwinters" (which is a real thing). King Arthur is similar to Jesus in that yes both existed, but the way modern society looks at them is nothing like them or what they are.

I didn't like the Monty Python films but they were right to ridicule both events. Jesus probably is more someone like Jim Jones was but in his time and without (i hope) the cult murders at the end. Basically Jones without the Jonestown.

And yes, the Abrahimic religions (or any religion based on "Gods" and "prophets" are basically cults, but broadly accepted ones because they have been around for several thousands of years).

The odd thing is that i feel like there is more truth to be found in norse mythology and sagas than in the Bible, because it's clear fimbulwinter was based on some volcanic winters that happened two centuries prior to the start of the Viking Age.

[Hindsight was 2020]

I find it hard to completely dismiss his existence as the oldest known recording of him talks about him in a general way historians are known to do for well known historical figures