Worlds of Arthur: Facts and Fictions of the Dark Ages

by Guy Halsall

Overview

King Arthur is probably the most famous and certainly the most legendary medieval king. From the early ninth century through the middle ages, to the Arthurian romances of Victorian times, the tales of this legendary figure have blossomed and multiplied. And in more recent times, there has been a continuous stream of books claiming to unlock the secret or the truth behind the "once and future king."

The truth, as Guy Halsall reveals in this fascinating investigation, is both radically different—and also a good deal more intriguing. Broadly speaking, there are two Arthurs. On the one hand is the traditional "historical" Arthur, waging a doomed struggle to save Roman civilization against the relentless Anglo-Saxon tide during the darkest years of the Dark Ages. On the other is the Arthur of myth and legend, accompanied by a host of equally legendary people, places, and stories: Lancelot, Guinevere, Galahad and Gawain, Merlin, Excalibur, the Lady in the Lake, the Sword in the Stone, Camelot, and the Round Table.

The big problem with all this, notes Halsall, is that "King Arthur" might well never have existed. And if he did exist, it is next to impossible to say anything at all about him. As this challenging new look at the Arthur legend makes clear, all books claiming to reveal "the truth" behind King Arthur can safely be ignored. Not only the fanciful pseudo-historical accounts—Merlin the Magician, the Lady in the Lake—but even the "historical" Arthur is largely a figment of the imagination. The evidence that we have, whether written or archeological, is simply incapable of telling us anything detailed about the Britain in which he is supposed to have lived, fought, and died.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198700845
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/29/2014
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Guy Halsall has taught at the universities of London and York, where he has been a professor of history since 2003. His early specialism was in the history and archaeology of the Merovingian period (c.450-c.750), and he has since published widely on a broad range of subjects: death and burial, age and gender, violence and warfare, barbarian migrations, and humour. This investigation into the 'worlds of Arthur' brings him back to the study of early medieval British history and archaeology with which his scholarly training began.

Table of Contents

Preface
Part I: Old Worlds
1. The Story of 'King Arthur'
2. The Matter of Arthur: the Traditional Narrative
3. Swords in the Stones: the Archaeology of Post-Imperial Britain
Part II: Present Worlds
4. The Antimatter of Arthur: Reassessing the Written Sources
5. Continuity or Collapse? The End of Roman Britain
6. Beyond Brooches and Brochs: Rethinking Early Medieval British Archaeology
Part III: Mad Worlds
7. Red Herrings and Old Chestnuts
Part IV: New Worlds?
8. The Matter of Arthur: Changing the Framework
9. Rethinking the Anglo-Saxon Migration and Setttlement (1): When Did the Anglo-Saxons Come to Britain?
10. Rethinking the Anglo-Saxon Migration and Setttlement (2): The Nature and Scale of the Migration
11. Fifth and Sixth Century Politics in Britannia
12. The End of the 'World of Arthur'
Further Reading
Index

Editorial Reviews

A historian of late antiquity, Halsall successfully explains in his newest (after Humor, History and Politics in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages) why there’s good reason to doubt the validity of the many histories and legends of King Arthur. He begins by discussing the “traditional narrative” of the famed (and likely fictitious) king and exploring the archeological records of Britannia, before moving on to note the scarcity of extant contemporaneous written sources, many of which, the author asserts, have been “cherry-pick” in the service of mythmaking. He also denounces claims of corroborative “lost written sources” as no more than “superficially attractive.” In the latter half of the book, Halsall leaves Arthur far behind and turns his attention to the grander question of the provenance of Arthur’s world—England itself—yet this section, like the tale of Arthur, suffers from a lack of convincing evidence. Halsall pursues some compelling argumentative threads, such as the time line and scale of Anglo-Saxon migration to the isles; scholars will find plenty of academic fodder, but the import of Halsall’s conclusions is hazy. 20 b&w images, 15 maps. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Written by our leading authority on Early Medieval Warfare this sweeping synthesis cuts through all the fantasy Arthuriana to the chaotic reality of the tumultuous years after the end of Roman Britain. With a fresh and incisive look at all the key sources, and a masterly and imaginative use of the archaeological evidence, Guy Halsall offers nothing less than a rethinking of what happened at the time of the Anglo-Saxon migrations. Readable, authoritative, and witty, this is an ambitious and wide ranging synthesis which will appeal to all who are interested in the history behind one of the world's greatest collections of myths and stories, vividly recreating the fractured world out of which medieval Britain emerged. And while some may regret the loss of the Hollywood Arthur, Halsall shows us that behind that image is a reality which is no less fascinating."—Michael Wood, historian, broadcaster, and author of In Search of the Dark Ages

"An excellent book."—McClatchys Newspapers

"Halsall's is a very good book aimed at the general public, but it is also a very original and thought-provoking book for specialists of the period, both historians and archaeologists...It is refreshing to see a distinguished historian take the time to explain in simple and suggestive terms (sometimes even picturesque) some quite difficult concepts and arguments: Halsall does have a talent for it, using charts, diagrams, maps, and chronologies that make the book a very friendly object to its reader...[H]is argument is a cogent and well-put one, delivered in clear and clever language, without jargon, and one should definitely read it..."—Speculum

From the Publisher

Halsall's (history, Univ. of York) study is really two books in one. The first argues in great detail against the possibility of proving the existence of King Arthur, or even an "Arthurian" age. The second is an exhaustive survey of written and archaeological records pertaining to late-Roman/early-medieval Britain, laying out what can and cannot be inferred from the records. Halsall concludes by outlining his own ideas—not provable but consistent with the record—of what might support a much more modest picture of some kind of Arthur in fifth- or sixth-century Britain. He does a good job conveying the murkiness of the evidence and the confusions surrounding current arguments for the existence of a warrior king—Briton or otherwise—who could have been the inspiration for Arthur. However, this is not an easy book to follow. VERDICT The level of detail here, combined with its circuitous organization, probably renders this book attractive only to experts in the field and enthusiasts looking for evidence to support their views about Arthur. (The latter will be surprised!)—David Keymer, Modesto, CA

Library Journal

Halsall (History/Univ. of York; Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 2008) studies the veracity of Arthurian legends. The author draws on a lifetime of study on the Dark Ages, encyclopedic knowledge of the few known references and detailed notes on area archaeology, and migration. Perhaps the references are the most interesting, not for their content but for the author's instructions on their use. Citing works written from the sixth to the ninth centuries, including the Venerable Bede and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he searches for hints about Arthur. Of the main works available, Halsall notes that we must understand that chronicle doesn't necessarily mean factual history. As often as not, their writing was didactic and hagiographic, there to teach a lesson and to laud one particular individual. If there's little mention of Arthur, is it because the writers didn't think he was sufficiently important? Or maybe he just didn't exist. There are records of three historical Arthurs in the sixth century, but that's the limit of information--just the name. Mere mention of the battle at Mount Badon and the death of an Arthur and a Mordred at the battle of Camlann isn't sufficient proof of the existence of that idyll. The social, political and economic conditions of the time are better clues to the enigma of Camelot. The author carefully notes that there is little direct mention of Arthur--this doesn't necessarily prove he never existed, but it doesn't help prove that he did, either. One of the most thorough scholarly works on the subject.

Kirkus Reviews