Did “King” Arthur really exist? The story of King Arthur and his
Knights of the Round Table is one of western culture’s best
known. Many people assume that they deal with a king from the
Dark Ages of England and that, once the clearly legendary
aspects such as the magician Merlin are removed, they have some
value as history. This is not the consensus opinion of
historians, though. Many – probably the majority, in fact – are
of the opinion that there was no “King” Arthur, that the stories
originate in Welsh legend or mythology and that they can tell us
nothing of value about the fifth and sixth centuries in Britain.
On the other hand, a small minority believe that there is a
kernel of truth behind the stories and that it is possible to
glimpse the activities of a shadowy individual known as Arthur
behind them. The documentary evidence If there were contemporary
documents mentioning Arthur, there would be no controversy about
his existence (although there might well be controversy over
other aspects of the stor