ARTHUR (Fr. Arius), the central hero of the cycle of romance known as the Matiere de Bretagne (see Arthurian Legend). Whether there was an historic Arthur has been much debated; undoubtedly for many centuries after the appearance of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Britonum (circ. 1136), the statements therein recorded of a mighty monarch, who ruled over Britain in the 5th-6th centuries, and carried his conquests far afield, even to the gates of Rome, obtained general, though not universal, credence. Even in the 12th century there were some who detected, and derided, the fictitious character of Geoffrey's "History." As was naturally to be expected, the pendulum swung to the other extreme, and in a more critical age the existence of Arthur was roundly denied. The truth probably lies midway between the two. The words of Wace, the Norman poet who translated the Historia into verse, are here admirably to the point. Speaking of the tales told of Arthur, he says:- "Ne tot mencunge, ne tot veir, Ne tot fable, ne tot saveir, Tant ont li conteor conte, Et li fableor tant fable Por for contes embeleter Que tout ont fait fable sembler." The opinion now generally accepted by scholars is that the evidence of Nennius, whose Historia Britonum preceded that of Geoffrey by some 400 years, is in the main to be relied on. He tells us that Arthur was Dux bellorum, and led the armies of the British kings against the Saxon invaders, whom he defeated in twelve great battles. Tune Arthur pugnabat cum regibus Britonum, sed ipse dux erat bellorum. The traditional site of these battles covers a very wide area, and it is supposed that Arthur held a post analogous to that of the general who, under the Roman occupation, was known as Comes Britanniae, and held a roving commission to defend the island wherever attacked, in contradistinction to the Dux Britanniarum, who had charge of the forces in the north, and the Comes Littoris Saxonici, whose task it was to defend the south-east line. The Welsh texts never call Arthur gwledig (prince), but amheradawr (Latin imperator) or emperor, a title which would be bestowed on the highest official in the island. The truth thus appears to be that, while there was never a King Arthur, there was a noted chieftain and general of that name. If we say that he carried on a successful war against the Saxons, was probably betrayed by his wife and a near kinsman, and fell in battle, we have stated all which can be claimed as an historical nucleus for his legend. It is now generally admitted that the representation of Arthur as world conqueror, Welt-Kaiser, is due to the influence of the Charlemagne cycle. In the 12th century the Matiere de France was waning, the Matiere de Bretagne waxing in popularity, and public opinion demanded that the central figure of the younger cycle (for whatever the date of the subject matter, as a literary cycle the Arthurian is the younger) should not be inferior in dignity and importance to that of the earlier. When we add to this the fact that the writers of the 12th century represented the personages and events of the 6th in the garb, and under the conditions, of their own time, we can understand the reason of the manifold difficulties which beset the study of the cycle.
But into the figure of Arthur as we know him, other elements have entered; he is not merely an historic personality, but at the same time a survival of pre-historic myth, a hero of romance, and a fairy king; and all these threads are woven together in one fascinating but bewildering web. It is only possible here to summarize the leading features which may be claimed as characteristic of each phase.
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