 Although the themes, events and characters of the Arthurian legend varied widely from text to text, and there is no one canonical version, Geoffrey's version of events often served as the starting point for later stories.Geoffrey depicted Arthur as a king of Britain who defeated the Saxons and established a vast empire.Many elements and incidents that are now an integral part of the Arthurian story appear in Geoffrey's "Historia", including Arthur's father Uther Pendragon, the magician Merlin, Arthur's wife Guinevere, the sword Excalibur, Arthur's conception at Tintagel, his final battle against Mordred at Camlann, and final rest in Avalon.