The Children of Adam and Eve

He is the semilegendary king of the Britons who fought against the invading Anglo-Saxons. Although some historians consider him a mythical figure, there is reason to believe that a historical Arthur may have led the Long resistance of theBritons against the invaders. According to legend, Arthur was the son of Uther Pendragon, king of Britain. Kept in obscurity during Childhood, he was suddenly presented to the people as their king. He proved a wise and valiant ruler. Hegathered a great company of Knights in his court; problems of precedence were avoided by the use of a round table at gatherings.

With his queen, Guinevere, he maintained a magnificent court at Caerleon-upon-Usk (perhaps the legendary Camelot) on the southern border of Wales, where the Britons Longest maintained their hold. His wars and victories extended to the continentof Europe, where he successfully defied the forces of the Roman Empire until he was called home because of
the acts of his nephew Mordred, who had rebelled and seized his kingdom. In the final Battle of Camlan, in southwestern England, the king and the traitor both fell, Pierced by each other's spears. Arthur was mysteriously carried away to themythical island of Avalon to be healed of his "grievous wound." The first allusion to Arthur is in the Welsh poem Y Gododdin (circa 600). He is again mentioned in Historia Britonum (c. 850) of the Welsh historian Nennius (flourished about800); the Annales Cambriae, in a 10th-century manuscript, mentions him, giving 537 as the date of his Death; and the fully developed legend appears in the Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1139) of the English chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth.