Where Was Camelot?

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St. Michael's Tower on Glastonbury Tor overlooks flatlands. Some believe it was once the Arthurian Isle of Avalon.
Courtesy of Donnylad [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Ah, Camelot! The legendary home of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and the Knights of the Round Table inspires our imaginations today. Whether (and where) it existed remains a hotly contested topic. 

The first mention of Camelot occurred in Chrétien de Troyes' poem "Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart," written around 1177, with a passing reference to Arthur coming from Caerleon in Wales, his usual seat, to hold court there. The name, Camelot usurped Caerleon in 13th-century French romances such as the Lancelot-Grail and the Post-Vulgate Cycle, although many details remained the same. It wasn’t until Sir Thomas Malory’s “Le Morte d'Arthur,” based on the earlier French romances, appeared in the late 15th-century that Camelot came into its own.

Mallory placed Camelot in Winchester, a Northampton town, and indeed a Round Table hangs in Winchester Castle. Although an interesting artifact, it is not the original. King Henry VIII commissioned this table in 1522 in honor of a state visit of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The table features the names of Arthur’s knights and King Henry, himself, in Arthur’s seat below a Tudor rose.

Winchester Castle Great Hall and Winchester Round Table,
Courtesy of Graham Horn [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Arthurian scholar Ernst Brugger thought that ‘Camelot’ might be a corruption of ‘Camlann,’ the site of Arthur’s final battle against Mordred and a Pictish army. The location of this battle is not known, however theories exist. 

Another Arthurian scholar, Roger Sherman Loomis, thought ‘Camelot’ to be a corruption of ‘Avalon.’ The Isle of Avalon is first mentioned in “Historia Regum Britanniae” (‘The History of the Kings of Britain”) by Geoffrey of Monmouth (circa 1136). Glastonbury became associated with Avalon in 1191 when monks at the abbey claimed to have located the graves of King Arthur and Queen. These remains were moved and lost during the Reformation, and scholars suspect they were not genuine.

Could this be the grave of King Arthur?
Courtesy of Harvey Robinson [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

One of the best claims comes from Cadbury Castle, an iron-age hill fort that was reoccupied and rebuilt by someone who was probably a king of great wealth during the Arthurian era. Read why this location has my vote in Cadbury Castle: Location of Camelot? 

I’ve barely scraped the surface of possible locations for Camelot. The list goes on. In reality, we may never know for certain whether Camelot, or King Arthur himself, actually existed. For most of us, that’s not important. Arthur, Guinevere, the Knights of the Roundd Table, and Camelot live in our imaginations and belong to us all. As Arthurian scholar Norris J. Lacy so aptly put it, "Camelot, located no where in particular, can be anywhere."

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Beginning with DawnSinger, Janalyn's epic fantasy series, Tales of Faeraven, carries readers into a land only imagined in dreams.

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Did King Arthur Really Exist?

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Escape into creative worlds of fiction.

Title page illustration from The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights (Facing p. 78), 1912., 9th edition. Ed. Sir James Knowles, K. C. V. O. London; New York: Frederick Warne and Co., 1912; Public domain image.

Did King Arthur Really Exist?

Historians and archeologists debate whether the King Arthur of legend was all myth or based on a person who actually lived. "Concerning the Ruin of Britain" ("De Excidio Britanniae") was a lamentation over the fading of the Roman way of life written just prior to 549 by a British monk named Gildas. Although Gildas didn't actually name Arthur, he did refer to someone called "The Bear," which is what the Celtic word, 'Art' means. Gildas also mentions the siege of Mount Badon, 

The Battle of Mount Badon is important in establishing a date for a historical Arthur. Somewhere between 828 through 831 AD, a Welsh monk named Nennius wrote (or as some argue, compiled) the Historia Brittonum, that describes Arthur as a military leader (dux bellorum) rather than a king and names 12 battles he fought. 

Arthur's legend was already growing: 

The twelfth battle was on Mount Badon in which there fell in one day 960 men from one charge by Arthur; and no one struck them down except Arthur himself, and in all the wars he emerged as victor. (Historia Brittonum, chapter 56)

Gildas, who was writing a contemporary account, dated the siege of Mount Badon 44 years prior to his record. This places Arthur, if he existed, near the turn of the 6th Century in northern Britain.

Another source, The Welsh Easter Annals (Annales Cambriae). This record gives a date of 516 AD for the Battle of Badon and mentions Arthur:

The Battle of Badon, in which Arthur carried the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ for three days and three nights on his shoulders and the Britons were the victors. (Annales Cambriae, 516 AD)

The reference to a cross on Arthur's shoulder may have been a transcriptual error, with 'shoulder' being substituted for 'shield.'

Another reference to Arthur occurs a little later in the text:

The battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut fell. (Annales Cambriae, 537 AD)

Medraut is a Welsh form of Mordred.

The Annales Cambriae was supposed to have been updated yearly between 447 and 957, but earlier entries may have been made in later years. This makes it a more questionable resource than De Excidio Britanniae, and some have argued that Arthur may have been added to the record after the fact. Whether Arthur was an actual person may never be proven without a doubt. In my opinion, since all other persons named in the Annales Cambriae were actual people who lived in history, there seems no reason to assume that Arthur was not.

By James Archer (artist) (1823 – 1904) (http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

I've covered the earliest references to King Arthur in this post, but a wealth of other material is available on this fascinating topic. You'll find some links to start your own research at the end of this post.

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt's unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and fantasy creates worlds of beauty and danger for readers. Tales of Faeraven, her medieval epic fantasy series, beginning with DawnSinger, carries the reader into a land only imagined in dreams. Janalyn is represented by Sarah Joy Freese of Wordserve Literary. 

Visit Janalyn Voigt's website.

Further Reading

Early References to a Real Arthur, A Discussion by David Nash Ford 

King Arthur: How the Legend Developed

King Arthur Was Real? Archeology Archive

Video: King Arthur, Biography (Warrior, King, Military Leader)