ページの画像
PDF
ePub
[graphic][subsumed][merged small]

Ar'thur-Constans-Arthur Chosen King-Guin'evere-The Marriage of Arthur and Guin'evere-How Tor Became a KnightGa'wain's Victory.

Ar'thur.

WE shall begin our history of King Arthur by giving those particulars of his life which appear to rest on historical evidence ; and then proceed to record those legends concerning him which form the earliest portion of British literature.

Arthur was a prince of the tribe of Britons called Silures, whose country was South Wales-the son of Uther, named Pendragon, a title given to an elective sovereign, paramount over the many kings of Britain. He appears to have commenced his martial career about the year five hundred, and was raised to the Pendragonship about ten years later. He is said to have gained twelve victories over the Saxons. The most important of them was that of Badon, by some supposed to be Bath, by others Berkshire. This was the last of his battles with the Saxons, and checked their progress so effectually that Arthur experienced no more annoyance from them, and reigned in peace until the revolt of his nephew Modred, twenty years later, which led to the fatal battle of Camlan, in Cornwall, in five hundred and fortytwo. Modred was slain, and Arthur, mortally wounded, was conveyed by sea to Glastonbury, where he died, and was buried. Tradition preserved the memory of the place of his interment

within the abbey, as we are told by one who was present when the grave was opened by command of Henry II. about the year eleven hundred and fifty, and saw the bones and sword of the monarch, and a leaden cross let into his tombstone, with the inscription in rude Roman letters, "Here lies buried the famous King Arthur, in the island Avalonia."

"Or mythic Uther's deeply wounded son,
In some fair space of sloping greens,
Lay dozing in the vale of Avalon,
And watched by weeping queens."

-PALACE of Art.

This story has been elegantly versified by Warton. A popular traditional belief was long entertained among the Britons that Arthur was not dead, but had been carried off to be healed of his wounds in Fairy-land, and that he would reappear to avenge his countrymen and reinstate them in the sovereignty of Britain. In Warton's Ode a bard relates to King Henry the traditional story of Arthur's death, and closes with these lines:

"Yet in vain a paynim foe

Armed with fate the mighty blow;
For when he fell, the Elfin queen,
All in secret and unseen,

O'er the fainting hero threw

Her mantle of ambrosial blue,

And bade her spirits bear him far,

In Merlin's agate-axled car,

To her green isle's enamelled steep,
Far in the navel of the deep.
O'er his wounds she sprinkled dew
From flowers that in Arabia grew.
There he reigns a mighty king,
Thence to Britain shall return,
If right prophetic rolls I learn,
Borne on victory's spreading plume,

His ancient sceptre to resume,

His knightly table to restore,

And brave the tournaments of yore."

After this narration another bard came forward, who re

cited a different story:

"When Arthur bowed his haughty crest,
No princess veiled in azure vest
Snatched him, by Merlin's powerful spell,
In groves of golden bliss to dwell;
But when he fell, with winged speed,
His champions, on a milk-white steed,
From the battle's hurricane,

Bore him to Joseph's towered fane1
In the fair vale of Avalon;
There, with chanted orison

And the long blaze of tapers clear,
The stoled fathers met the bier;
Through the dim aisles, in order dread
Of martial woe, the chief they led,
And deep entombed in holy ground,
Before the altar's solemn bound."

It must not be concealed that the very existence of Arthur has been denied by some. Milton says of him: "As to Arthur, more renowned in songs and romances than in true stories, who he was, and whether ever any such reigned in Britain, hath been doubted heretofore, and may again, with good reason." Modern critics, however, admit that there was a prince of this name, and find proof of it in the frequent mention of him in the writings of the Welsh bards. But the Arthur of romance, according to Mr. Owen, a Welsh scholar and antiquarian, is a mythological person. "Arthur," he says, "is the Great Bear, as the name literally implies Arctos, Arcturus, and perhaps this constellation, being so near the pole, and visibly describing a circle in a small space, is the origin of the famous Round Table":

"Dost thou know the star

We call the Harp of Arthur up in heaven?"

-THE LAST TOURNAMENT.

Let us now turn to the history of King Arthur as recorded by the romantic chroniclers.

Constans.

Constans, King of Britain, had three sons, Moines, Ambrosius, otherwise called Uther, and Pendragon. Moines, soon after his accession to the crown, was vanquished by the Saxons,

1 Glastonbury Abbey, said to be founded by Joseph of Arimathea, in a spot anciently called the island or valley of Avalonia.

in consequence of the treachery of his seneschal, Vortigern, and growing unpopular, through misfortune, he was killed by his subjects, and the traitor Vortigern chosen in his place.

Vortigern was soon after defeated in a great battle by Uther and Pendragon, the surviving brothers of Moines, and Pendragon ascended the throne.

This prince had great confidence in the wisdom of Merlin, and made him his chief adviser. About this time a dreadful war arose between the Saxons and Britons :

"For many a petty king ere Arthur came
Ruled in this isle, and ever waging war
Each upon the other, wasted all the land."
-COMING OF ARTHUR.

Merlin obliged the royal brothers to swear fidelity to each other, but predicted that one of them must fall in the first battle. The Saxons were routed, and Pendragon, being slain, was succeeded by Uther, who now assumed in addition to his own name the appellation of Pendragon.

Merlin next proceeded to Carlisle to prepare the Round Table, at which he seated an assemblage of the great nobles of the country. The companions admitted to this high order were bound by oath to assist each other at the hazard of their own lives, to attempt singly the most perilous adventures, to lead, when necessary, a life of monastic solitude, to fly to arms at the first summons, and never to retire from battle till they had defeated the enemy, unless night intervened and separated the combatants:

"It was the time when the first the question rose
About the founding of a Table Round."-VIVIAN.

Soon after this institution the king invited all his barons to the celebration of a great festival, which he proposed holding annually at Carlisle.

As the knights nad obtained the sovereign's permission to bring their ladies along with them, the beautiful Igerne accompanied her husband, Gorlois, Duke of Tintadiel, to one of these anniversaries. The king became deeply enamored of the Duchess, and disclosed his passion; but Igerne repelled his advances, and revealed his solicitations to her husband. On hear

ing this, the Duke instantly removed from court with Igerne, and without taking leave of Uther. The king complained to his council of this want of duty, and they decided that the Duke should be summoned to court, and, if refractory, should be treated as a rebel. As he refused to obey the citation, the king carried war into the estates of his vassal, and besieged him in the strong castle of Tintadiel. Merlin transformed the king into the likeness of Gorlois, and enabled him to have many stolen interviews with Igerne. At length the Duke was killed in bat

tle, and the king espoused Igerne.

From this union sprang Arthur, who succeeded his father, Uther, upon the throne:

[graphic][subsumed][merged small]

"And that night the bard

Sang Arthur's glorious wars, and sang the King
As well-nigh more than man, and rail'd at those
Who call'd him the false son of Gorloïs;

For there was no man knew from whence he came;

But after tempest, when the long wave broke
All down the thundering shores of Bude and Bos,
There came a day as still as heaven, and then

« 前へ次へ »