The Appropriation Of King Arthur's Myth

From its first mentions in historic documents to all its modern adaptations, the Arthurian legend is one of the most famous British myth. It has so many versions, adaptations and retellings that almost everyone has heard about it at some point. It is so ancient, and it has so many versions that it might even result intimidating when we first start considering it but, what is the reality behind King Arthur? Does it have a real historic background? Should we consider it to be English or British? Using Stephanie Barczewski’s Myth and National Identity in nineteenth-century Britain: The Legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood as a primary source , this essay will discuss the appropriation of King Arthur’s myth by English national identity, the legend’s

In the 1190s the bodies of both King Arthur and Guenevere were ‘discovered’ in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey, linking this location to the legend. The bodies were buried again in the 13th century under the presence of King Edward I to attest the validity of such event. King Arthur had become a hero of elite who stood for order, authority and stability, thence most English kings began to be identify in his qualities, including William III who was, in fact, not English but of Dutch origin . During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the figure of King Arthur was used as military motivation. All British military conflicts along British history seemed to be never-ending, therefore, they needed a figure of martial power and chivalric nature to inspire British armies. King Arthur appeared to be the perfect embodiment of both qualities as it represents loyalty, unity and military glory. He was most commonly identified in the figure of the Duke of Wellington, who served as a link to the eighteenth-century during the Napoleonic Wars and, as Barczewski clearly states, culminated the tradition of comparing him to the nation’s military leaders (p. 30). Also, during the eighteenth-century a new phenomenon regarding King Arthur emerged: the commercialisation of the myth. Suddenly, it was everywhere. Horses, pubs, ships and every other kind of ordinary elements were named after the Arthurian

For the first time, the use of the Arthurian legend to represent the nation’s values was put under scrutiny and examined in detail. Several issues about its historical credibility were challenged but the number of defenders of its validity was overwhelming. English writers were forced to situate him in the sixth-century, fighting against their Saxon antecedents. This, again, was against the Victorian sense of English supremacy as they prided themselves on their Anglo-Saxon origin. Welsh writers, on the contrary, would use King Arthur as a representation of the struggle and resistance of the Welsh nation against the English rule. Considering this new situation, the English were presented with a new dilemma: how to depict a legendary figure who perfectly defined their values but not their origins. The answer is simple, they chose to plainly ignore King Arthur’s Celtic identity as a warrior (Barczewski,