| Glastonbury Arthur's Avalon (Ian Topham) Page3 |
Then Arthur fought against them in those days with the kings of the Britons, but he himself was the leader of battles.
The first battle was at the mouth of the river Glein. The second, third, forth, and fifth upon another river which is called Dubglas, in the district of Linnuis. The sixth battle upon a river, which is called Bassas. The seventh battle was in the Caledonian wood that is Cat Coit Celidon. The eighth battle was in Fort Guinnion in which Arthur carried the image of St Mary the Virgin, his mother. The ninth battle was waged in the city of the legion. The tenth battle he fought on the shore of a river called Tribruit. The eleventh battle took place on a mountain, which is called Agned. The twelfth was on Mount Badon, in which nine hundred and sixty men fell in one day from one attack by Arthur, and no one overthrew them except himself alone. And in all the battles he was the victor."
Nennius claimed to have compiled the work from what he described as a 'heap' of documents at his disposal, however none of the references have since been traced. He doesn't mention Ambrosius at all, but, as seen from the above passage, goes on at length about Arthur's campaign, which he took from a poem (circa early sixth century), listing twelve of his victories in order, culminating with the battle of Badon. It has however proven near impossible to determine where these actual battle sites are, except for Badon, which is considered to be somewhere near Bath in the county of Avon. As for Arthur single-handedly killing nine hundred and sixty men, surely this is beyond the capabilities of one man alone. It is thus justly speculated that perhaps Arthur's host was the only one present at the battle, and he wasn't joined by any allied troops.
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I am not actually trying to discover who Arthur was, but plot how he changed into his present form, therefore I don't intent to scrutinise the evidential status of these documents. It is enough to know that in the early ninth century a warrior was written about, and he was deemed to be the 'dux bellorum' who finally defeated the Saxon hordes at the battle of Badon, in the early sixth century. A battle that was attested to by Gildas writing from the time that it took place. Whether what Nenius said was true or not doesn't matter. This being the earliest written record based on a poem from the time of the exploits, it is probably the nearest we will get to Arthur in his most basic form. From here on he becomes exaggerated into mythic proportions.
Possibly written around 950AD, comes the Annals Cambriae (Annals of Wales), which discusses events dating back over five hundred and thirty three years, in the form of an incomplete chronology of dates with brief notations. There are two prominent quotes that concern Arthur to be found within them.
"The battle of Badon, where Arthur carried the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ on his shoulders for three days and nights, and the Britons were victorious".
"The strife of Camlann in which Arthur and Medraut perished, and there was a plague in Britain and Ireland".
The first quote is dated 518AD, whilst the second is dated 539AD. Here again Arthur is mentioned in connection to Badon, which has now been described as a three-day event. There is again the claim that Arthur went into battle with a Christian mantle, however, this time it is described as the cross of Christ, not the image of the Virgin Mary. Nennius only mentioned him baring the Christian symbol in one battle, this being his eighth. |
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Arthurs Avalon