XI Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2019

The legends about King Arthur’s Round Table appeared when the Celtic people dominated in northern Europe in the 5th century. They corresponded to the peculiarities of their thinking, beliefs, and culture under the influence of historical events that took place, such as attacks of the Germanic tribes, which made it necessary to glorify one of the military leaders. Later the legends were reflected by the Welsh bards of the XI-XII centuries, and in courtly novels of the 16th century.

King Arthur is one of the greatest figures born by Britain. He is the character of many stories and serves as the image of the British nation. For hundreds of years, many writers, artists and poets have been creating their works inspired by his image. The question "Did Arthur exist as a historical figure?" remains unanswered.

King Arthur represents the image of the defender of his native lands, who established his power over Britain, having managed to pull a magic sword out of a stone lying on the altar. He created the famous Round Table (the information about it first appeared at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries) at which the bravest knights of the king were seated. King Arthur defeated the invasion of the Anglo-Saxon tribes. After winning a duel with his bastard Mordred, the mortally wounded Arthur was transferred by his sister fairy Morgana to the island of Avallon, where he was lying in a wonderful palace on the top of the mountain waiting for rescuing Britain during the Dark Time. [1, p.90]

Several stages of formationcan be distinguished in the development of Arthurian legends.

The first stage is the beginning of the formation of legends in Celtic literature. A. D. Mikhailov noted: «... the first stage is like Arthur before Arthur. There is no name, no heroic deeds, no familiar environment. There are only "motives" that will soon find a response in the early monuments of Celtic (Welsh) literature and folklore, where Arthur will also appear». [2, p.70] Arthurian legends are based on Celtic epic legends, which are known from the Irish variation. Irish sagas are not the source of Arthurian legends, but the parallel, perhaps even the model of the legends about King Arthur. Nothing was added to the narrative from the early Welsh sagas. Epic motives reflect the general model according to which Arthurian legends are built. But the stylistics of the legends about Arthur was influenced by the Welsh epos.[2, p.34]

The second stage is the formation of Arthurian legends in the period of the Christianization of all Celtic people. Christianity appeared among the Celts of the British Isles in the IV century. The process of Christianization took place peacefully without much resistance. It is thanks to the preserved pagan beliefs that Arthurian legends were so full of fantastic, wonderful images and elements. Monasteries became the center of secular and spiritual life. Bardswith their verbal creativity based on the Celtic tradition, which developed parallelly with the Latin written tradition of the church alsogravitated to monasteries. Therefore, the impact of biblical motives was palpable. The new religion that came from the continent did not destroy the Celtic paganism, but only made it richer, bringing new traditions of Roman and Greek texts. Thanks to Christianization, not only monasticismbut also reclusion was popular in the British Isles. The recluse spirit fills the poetry of the Welsh bards, for example Aneirin. In his poem “Goddodin”, Arthur appears as an ominous figure.Black crows flock to those places where he worked with his sword because there was a prey for these birds - Arthur's defeated enemies. At this stage, Arthur was still a narrowly-tribal character. The ideological content, which is the essence of Arthurian legends known to us, wasn’t traced then.[2, p. 47]

The third stage is the formation of Arthurian legends in the period of the resistance of the Celtic peoples to the Anglo-Saxon troops. From the middle of the 5th century Saxon troops began to invade eastern and central England. With the advance of the Anglo-Saxon warriors to the Celts’ territory, Arthur turned into a gallant knight, a protector, the legends acquired patriotic meaning. [2, p.28] At this stage, Arthur as the leader of the northern Britons, the hero of local battles, attained the features of a hero, his image became patriotic. It was aimed at raising the morale of the Celtic people.

The first to mention Arthur as a gallant hero was Nennius, a Welsh priest, who wrote the Latin chronicle "The History of the Britons" around 800, in which Arthur was depicted as the famous warlord of the Britons, who won 12 victories over the Anglo-Saxons. According to Nennius, Arthur was not a king; he did not have such a noble origin as the other leaders of the Britons, but, nevertheless, Arthur was elected as the leader for his military talents. A. D. Mikhailov noted: «Nennius'es work is the evidence of a turning point in the development of the legend: a private episode, a private minor character turns out to be in the center of a created national legend as a result of his appearance at the moment of particular tension of power and personal luck accumulating all the most significant events of national history». [2, p.68]

The fourth stage is the formation of Arthurian legends on the eve of the Norman Conquest. The patriotic mood can be traced at the background with an adventurous fantasy element, and now Arthur is not only a successful warlord but a wise ruler with gray hair, sitting on a throne surrounded by his loyal knights. [2, p.71] Such Arthur’s reincarnation can be seen in the Welsh saga "Kullokh and Oluen", created in the 11th century. In all the exploits and obstacles not only Arthurbut also his valiant knights helped the young man Kullokh with wise advice.

Further significant stages of the development of Arthurian legends took place after the Norman Conquest of Britain.

Литература

1. Мифы народов мира. Энциклопедия в 2 т. М.: Советская энциклопедия, 1987-1988. Т.1.

2) Михайлов А.Д. Артуровские легенды и их эволюция // Мэлори Т. Смерть Артура. М.: Наука, 1991.