King Arthur's messianic return
Encyclopedia
King Arthur's messianic return is an aspect of the legend of King Arthur
, the mythical 6th-century British king. Few historical records of Arthur remain, and there are doubts that he ever existed, but he achieved a mythological
stature that gave rise to a growing literature about his life and deeds. One recurrent aspect of Arthurian literature was the notion that he would one day return in the role of a messiah
to save his people.
in the early 12th century: "But Arthur’s grave is nowhere seen, whence antiquity of fables still claims that he will return." In the "Miracles of St. Mary of Laon" (De Miraculis Sanctae Mariae Laudensis), written by a French cleric named Herman
in c. 1145 AD, but referring to events that occurred in 1113 AD, mention is made of the Breton and Cornish belief that Arthur still lived. As Constance Bullock-Davies demonstrated, various non-Welsh sources indicate that this belief in Arthur's eventual messianic return
was extremely widespread amongst the Britons
from the 12th century onwards. How much earlier than this it existed is still debated – it was often linked to the expulsion of the English and Normans from Britain. This did, in fact, remain a powerful aspect of the Arthurian legend through the medieval period and beyond. So John Lydgate
in his Fall of Princes (1431–8) notes the belief that Arthur "shall resorte as lord and sovereyne Out of fayrye and regne in Breteyne" and Philip II of Spain
apparently swore, at the time of his marriage to Mary Tudor
in 1554, that he would resign the kingdom if Arthur should return.
A number of locations were suggested for where Arthur would actually return from. The earliest-recorded suggestion was Avalon
. Geoffrey of Monmouth asserted that Arthur "was mortally wounded" at Camlann but was then carried "to the Isle of Avallon (insulam Auallonis) to be cured of his wounds", with the implication that he would at some point be cured and return therefrom made explicit in Geoffrey's later Vita Merlini. Another tradition held that Arthur was awaiting his return beneath some mountain or hill. First referenced by Gervase of Tilbury
in his Otia Imperialia (c.1211), this was maintained in British folklore into the 19th century and Loomis
and others have taken it as a tale of Arthur's residence in an underground (as opposed to an overseas) Otherworld. Other less common concepts include the idea that Arthur was absent leading the Wild Hunt
, or that he had been turned into a crow or raven.
used the idea of Arthur sleeping under a hill as the central theme in his poem Midsummer Night (1928). C. S. Lewis
also was inspired by this aspect of Arthur's legend in his novel That Hideous Strength
(1945), in which King Arthur was said to be living in the land of Abhalljin on the planet Venus. The return of King Arthur has been especially prominent in the comics medium with examples from at least the 1940s, while the best known use of this motif is by Mike Barr
and Brian Bolland
, who have Arthur and his knights returning in the year 3000 to save the Earth from an alien invasion in the comic book series Camelot 3000
(1982–85). Finally, Stephen R. Lawhead
's novel Avalon: The Return of King Arthur (1999) features a reincarnated Arthur who rises to restore the British monarchy as it is about to be abolished.
incursions in the 12th century and later. One Anglo-Norman text recounts of the Welsh that "openly they go about saying,... / that in the end they will have it all; / by means of Arthur, they will have it back... / They will call it Britain again." It may be that such references as this reflect a post-Galfridian Welsh belief that Arthur ought to be associated with the "Mab Darogan" ("Son of Prophecy"), a messianic figure of the Welsh prophetic tradition who would repel the enemies of the Welsh and who was often identified with heroes such as Cadwaladr
, "Owain" (Owain Lawgoch
and Owain Glyndŵr
in Welsh prophetic verse. However, as Oliver Padel
has noted, no example of a Welsh prophetic poetry telling of Arthur's return to expel the enemies of the Welsh from Britain has survived, which some have seen as troubling and a reason for caution: we must rely on non-Welsh texts (such as the above) for the notion that this was a widespread belief amongst the Welsh from the mid-12th century onwards, along with more debatable evidence such as Henry VII's attempts to associate himself with Arthur when taking the throne, discussed below.
On the other hand, the notion of Arthur's eventual return to rule a united Britain was adopted by the Plantagenet kings to justify their rule. Once King Arthur had been safely pronounced dead and buried at Glastonbury
, in an attempt to deflate Welsh dreams of a genuine Arthurian return, the Plantagenets were then able to make ever greater use of Arthur as a political cult to support their dynasty and its ambitions. So, Richard I used his status as the inheritor of Arthur's realm to shore up foreign alliances, giving a sword reputed to be Excalibur
to Tancred of Sicily
. Similarly, 'Round Tables
' – jousting and dancing in imitation of Arthur and his knights – occurred at least 8 times in England between 1242 and 1345, including one held by Edward I
in 1284 to celebrate his conquest of Wales and consequent 're-unification' of Arthurian Britain. The Galfridian
claim that Arthur conquered Scotland was also used by Edward I to provide legitimacy to his claims of English suzerainty over that region.
also found it expedient to make use of Arthur. In 1485 Henry VII
marched through Wales to take the English throne under the banner of the Arthurian Red Dragon
, he commissioned genealogies to show his putative descent from Arthur, and named his first-born son Arthur
. Later, in the reigns of Henry VIII
and Elizabeth
, Arthur's career was influential once again, now in providing evidence for supposed historical rights and territories in legal cases that pursued the crown's interests. Whilst the potential for such political usage – wherein the reality of Geoffrey's Arthur and his wide-ranging conquests was accepted and proclaimed by English antiquarians and thus utilised by the crown – naturally declined after the attacks on Geoffrey's Historia by Polydore Vergil
and others, Arthur has remained an occasionally politically potent figure through to the present era. In the 20th century, a comparison of John F. Kennedy
and his White House
with Arthur and Camelot
, made by Kennedy's widow
, helped consolidate Kennedy's posthumous reputation, with Kennedy even becoming associated with an Arthur-like messianic return in American folklore.
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, the mythical 6th-century British king. Few historical records of Arthur remain, and there are doubts that he ever existed, but he achieved a mythological
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
stature that gave rise to a growing literature about his life and deeds. One recurrent aspect of Arthurian literature was the notion that he would one day return in the role of a messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
to save his people.
Origins
The possibility of Arthur's return is first mentioned by William of MalmesburyWilliam of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
in the early 12th century: "But Arthur’s grave is nowhere seen, whence antiquity of fables still claims that he will return." In the "Miracles of St. Mary of Laon" (De Miraculis Sanctae Mariae Laudensis), written by a French cleric named Herman
Hériman of Tournai
Hériman of Tournai , the third abbot of St Martin of Tournai, was a chronicler of his abbey and, in many anecdotal accounts connected with the abbey, a social historian of the world seen from its perspective...
in c. 1145 AD, but referring to events that occurred in 1113 AD, mention is made of the Breton and Cornish belief that Arthur still lived. As Constance Bullock-Davies demonstrated, various non-Welsh sources indicate that this belief in Arthur's eventual messianic return
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
was extremely widespread amongst the Britons
Brython
The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...
from the 12th century onwards. How much earlier than this it existed is still debated – it was often linked to the expulsion of the English and Normans from Britain. This did, in fact, remain a powerful aspect of the Arthurian legend through the medieval period and beyond. So John Lydgate
John Lydgate
John Lydgate of Bury was a monk and poet, born in Lidgate, Suffolk, England.Lydgate is at once a greater and a lesser poet than John Gower. He is a greater poet because of his greater range and force; he has a much more powerful machine at his command. The sheer bulk of Lydgate's poetic output is...
in his Fall of Princes (1431–8) notes the belief that Arthur "shall resorte as lord and sovereyne Out of fayrye and regne in Breteyne" and Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
apparently swore, at the time of his marriage to Mary Tudor
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
in 1554, that he would resign the kingdom if Arthur should return.
A number of locations were suggested for where Arthur would actually return from. The earliest-recorded suggestion was Avalon
Avalon
Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was...
. Geoffrey of Monmouth asserted that Arthur "was mortally wounded" at Camlann but was then carried "to the Isle of Avallon (insulam Auallonis) to be cured of his wounds", with the implication that he would at some point be cured and return therefrom made explicit in Geoffrey's later Vita Merlini. Another tradition held that Arthur was awaiting his return beneath some mountain or hill. First referenced by Gervase of Tilbury
Gervase of Tilbury
Gervase of Tilbury or Gervasius Tilberiensis was a 13th century canon lawyer, statesman and writer, apparently born in either East Tilbury or West Tilbury, in Essex, England.-Life and works:...
in his Otia Imperialia (c.1211), this was maintained in British folklore into the 19th century and Loomis
Roger Sherman Loomis
Roger Sherman Loomis was an American scholar and one of the foremost authorities on medieval and Arthurian literature.-Biography:...
and others have taken it as a tale of Arthur's residence in an underground (as opposed to an overseas) Otherworld. Other less common concepts include the idea that Arthur was absent leading the Wild Hunt
Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal, spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground,...
, or that he had been turned into a crow or raven.
Modern adaptations
This idea of Arthur's eventual return has proven attractive to a number of modern writers. John MasefieldJohn Masefield
John Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967...
used the idea of Arthur sleeping under a hill as the central theme in his poem Midsummer Night (1928). C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
also was inspired by this aspect of Arthur's legend in his novel That Hideous Strength
That Hideous Strength
That Hideous Strength is a 1945 novel by C. S. Lewis, the final book in Lewis's theological science fiction Space Trilogy. The events of this novel follow those of Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra and once again feature the philologist Elwin Ransom...
(1945), in which King Arthur was said to be living in the land of Abhalljin on the planet Venus. The return of King Arthur has been especially prominent in the comics medium with examples from at least the 1940s, while the best known use of this motif is by Mike Barr
Mike W. Barr
Mike W. Barr is an American writer of comic books, and mystery, and science fiction novels.-Biography:Barr's debut as a comics professional came in DC Comics' Detective Comics #444 , for which he wrote an 8-page back-up mystery feature starring the Elongated Man...
and Brian Bolland
Brian Bolland
Brian Bolland is a British comics artist, known for his meticulous, detailed linework and eye-catching compositions. Best known in the UK as one of the definitive Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology 2000 AD, he spearheaded the 'British Invasion' of the American comics industry, and in...
, who have Arthur and his knights returning in the year 3000 to save the Earth from an alien invasion in the comic book series Camelot 3000
Camelot 3000
Camelot 3000 is an American twelve-issue comic book limited series written by Mike W. Barr and penciled by Brian Bolland. It was published by DC Comics from 1982 to 1985 as one of its first direct market projects, and as its first maxi-series.-Plot:...
(1982–85). Finally, Stephen R. Lawhead
Stephen R. Lawhead
Stephen R. Lawhead, born , is a best-selling American writer known for his works of fantasy, science fiction, and more recently, historical fiction, particularly Celtic historical fiction...
's novel Avalon: The Return of King Arthur (1999) features a reincarnated Arthur who rises to restore the British monarchy as it is about to be abolished.
Medieval politics
The influence of Arthur's legend is not confined to novels, stories and films; the legend of Arthur's messianic return has often been politically influential. On the one hand it seems to have provided a means of rallying Welsh resistance to Anglo-NormanAnglo-Norman
The Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...
incursions in the 12th century and later. One Anglo-Norman text recounts of the Welsh that "openly they go about saying,... / that in the end they will have it all; / by means of Arthur, they will have it back... / They will call it Britain again." It may be that such references as this reflect a post-Galfridian Welsh belief that Arthur ought to be associated with the "Mab Darogan" ("Son of Prophecy"), a messianic figure of the Welsh prophetic tradition who would repel the enemies of the Welsh and who was often identified with heroes such as Cadwaladr
Cadwaladr
Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon was King of Gwynedd . Two devastating plagues happened during his reign, one in 664 and the other in 682, with himself a victim of the second one. Little else is known of his reign...
, "Owain" (Owain Lawgoch
Owain Lawgoch
Owain Lawgoch, , full name Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri , was a Welsh soldier who served in Spain, France, Alsace and Switzerland. He led a Free Company fighting for the French against the English in the Hundred Years' War...
and Owain Glyndŵr
Owain Glyndwr
Owain Glyndŵr , or Owain Glyn Dŵr, anglicised by William Shakespeare as Owen Glendower , was a Welsh ruler and the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales...
in Welsh prophetic verse. However, as Oliver Padel
Oliver Padel
Oliver James Padel is an authority on the origin and meaning of place-names, currently Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic in the University of Cambridge and Visiting Professor of Celtic at the University of the West of England.He was born in 1948...
has noted, no example of a Welsh prophetic poetry telling of Arthur's return to expel the enemies of the Welsh from Britain has survived, which some have seen as troubling and a reason for caution: we must rely on non-Welsh texts (such as the above) for the notion that this was a widespread belief amongst the Welsh from the mid-12th century onwards, along with more debatable evidence such as Henry VII's attempts to associate himself with Arthur when taking the throne, discussed below.
On the other hand, the notion of Arthur's eventual return to rule a united Britain was adopted by the Plantagenet kings to justify their rule. Once King Arthur had been safely pronounced dead and buried at Glastonbury
Glastonbury
Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,784 in the 2001 census...
, in an attempt to deflate Welsh dreams of a genuine Arthurian return, the Plantagenets were then able to make ever greater use of Arthur as a political cult to support their dynasty and its ambitions. So, Richard I used his status as the inheritor of Arthur's realm to shore up foreign alliances, giving a sword reputed to be Excalibur
Excalibur
Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. The sword was...
to Tancred of Sicily
Tancred of Sicily
Tancred was King of Sicily from 1189 to 1194. He was an illegitimate son of Roger III, Duke of Apulia, the eldest son of King Roger II, and of Emma, daughter of Achard II, Count of Lecce...
. Similarly, 'Round Tables
Round table (tournament)
A Round Table was a festive event during the Middle Ages that involved jousting, feasting, and dancing in imitation of King Arthur's legendary court. Named for Arthur's famed Round Table, the festivals generally involved jousts with blunted weapons, and often celebrated weddings or victories...
' – jousting and dancing in imitation of Arthur and his knights – occurred at least 8 times in England between 1242 and 1345, including one held by Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
in 1284 to celebrate his conquest of Wales and consequent 're-unification' of Arthurian Britain. The Galfridian
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
claim that Arthur conquered Scotland was also used by Edward I to provide legitimacy to his claims of English suzerainty over that region.
Post-medieval politics
The influence of King Arthur on the political machinations of England's kings was not confined to the medieval period: the TudorsTudor dynasty
The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...
also found it expedient to make use of Arthur. In 1485 Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
marched through Wales to take the English throne under the banner of the Arthurian Red Dragon
Y Ddraig Goch
The Welsh Dragon appears on the national flag of Wales . The oldest recorded use of the dragon to symbolise Wales is from the Historia Brittonum, written around 820, but it is popularly supposed to have been the battle standard of King Arthur and other ancient Celtic leaders...
, he commissioned genealogies to show his putative descent from Arthur, and named his first-born son Arthur
Arthur, Prince of Wales
Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales was the first son of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and therefore, heir to the throne of England. As he predeceased his father, Arthur never became king...
. Later, in the reigns of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, Arthur's career was influential once again, now in providing evidence for supposed historical rights and territories in legal cases that pursued the crown's interests. Whilst the potential for such political usage – wherein the reality of Geoffrey's Arthur and his wide-ranging conquests was accepted and proclaimed by English antiquarians and thus utilised by the crown – naturally declined after the attacks on Geoffrey's Historia by Polydore Vergil
Polydore Vergil
Polydore Vergil was an Italian historian, otherwise known as PV Castellensis. He is better known as the contemporary historian during the early Tudor dynasty. He was hired by King Henry VIII of England, who wanted to distance himself from his father Henry VII as much as possible, to document...
and others, Arthur has remained an occasionally politically potent figure through to the present era. In the 20th century, a comparison of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and his White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
with Arthur and Camelot
Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and eventually came to be described as the fantastic capital of Arthur's realm and a symbol of the Arthurian world...
, made by Kennedy's widow
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
, helped consolidate Kennedy's posthumous reputation, with Kennedy even becoming associated with an Arthur-like messianic return in American folklore.
External links
- Arthurian Resources: King Arthur, History and the Welsh Arthurian Legends - detailed and comprehensive academic site, includes numerous scholarly articles, from Thomas Green of Oxford University
- Arthuriana - the only academic journal solely concerned with the Arthurian Legend, see the site for a good selection of resources and links
- Arthurian Folklore - an excellent site detailing Welsh Arthurian folklore
- The Medieval Development of Arthurian Literature - from H2G2