10/02/2025
Have you ever wondered if King Arthur is real? I have! Here's a find in the British Library that indicates he may be. Enjoy!
ANCIENT MANUSCRIPT IN THE BRITISH LIBRARY MAY HOLD EVIDENCE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF KING ARTHUR.
Dating from three hundred years before the first of the Arthurian romances was compiled, in which King Arthur is portrayed as a fictitious character, a work was written that asserts him to have been a genuine historical figure. Attributed to the British monk Nennius around 830, it is the "Historia Brittonum" (History of the Britons). Pictured here are the pages referencing Arthur, with his name highlighted in a circle.
In this work, we are told that Arthur led the Britons against the invading Anglo-Saxons shortly after the death of the Anglo-Saxon leader Hengist, which is known from other sources to have been in the late 400s (The last reference to Hengist in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, for example, is for the year 473). Nennius lists twelve of Arthur’s battles, the last being the Battle of Badon, which another British monk, Gildas, who lived within living memory of the event, records as occurring around AD 500. At the beginning of the work, Nennius - or whoever the author is – freely admits that he has consulted writings that were both historical and legendary in compiling his work, but the section concerning Arthur seems free from myth or elaboration. Translated from Latin to English, it reads:
“And Octa, after the death of his father Hengist, came from the North to the kingdom of Kent, and from him have proceeded all the kings of that province, to the present period. Then Arthur fought against them in those days, together with the kings of the Britons; indeed, he himself was the leader in battle. The first battle was at the mouth of the river Glein. The second, third, fourth, and fifth were on the river Dubglas, in the region of Linnuis. The sixth battle took place on the River Bassas. The seventh was in the wood of Celidon, that is, Cat Coit Celidon. The eighth battle was at the fortress of Guinnion, in which Arthur carried the image of holy Mary, the everlasting Virgin, on his shield; and through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and the holy Mary, the pagans [Anglo-Saxons] were put to flight on that day, and great slaughter fell upon them. The ninth battle was fought at the City of the Legion. The tenth was on the bank of the river Tribruit. The eleventh was on the hill called Agned. The twelfth was on Mount Badon, in which nine hundred and sixty men fell in one charge by Arthur alone, and no one laid them low except himself; and in all these battles, he was the victor.”
The reference to Arthur fighting alone at the Battle of Badon probably implies that his own personal contingent, without help from others, won the day.
The "Historia Brittonum," now in the British Library, was the starting point in the search for Arthur in my book “King Arthur: The True Story.”
