Nancy Harvey, age 12, of Phoenix, Arizona, for her question:
How much of the King Arthur legend is true?
The historical facts are lost in the shadowy past, but these do not concern the basic themes enfolded in the famous Arthurian legends. Historians have traced the noble stories back through many centuries and their ideals will live on to inspire mankind through ages to come. When, where and even if King Arthur really lived does not matter so very much. What is important is the timeless truths that the wondrous legends were meant to convey.
A great deal of time has been wasted in tracing back the historical times and places. Various experts claim that the real King Arthur ruled a minor kingdom in dales or maybe in southern England, perhaps around 500 years ago. Others produce evidence that he was a sort of general who lived during the Roman occupation of Britain, perhaps 1,000 years ago. Certainly the legends about him are very old. For centuries, they were folk stories, handed on orally from generation to generation. And perhaps the ordinary folk who told them understood the true purpose of fling Arthur better than many sophisticated people who pondered the problem later. Most of them assumed that their hero was a king of fairyland, whose true realm was an ideal world beyond the realities of harsh, human history. We cannot fix the fabulous legends to historical facts and, sad to say, many writers have twisted the themes they were meant to convey. They have stressed too much the glamour and glory of Arthur's court his queen, his knights and his friends. We think of his Round Table as a convenient seating arrangement. Actually it symbolized a democratic assembly in which all members had equal rights. No minor member could be given lower status at one end of a long table. The romance woven throughout the legends was an early attempt to treat women with respect. Perhaps it had elements of the women's lib movement, which may explain why so many mothers handed the popular tales down to their daughters. Also important are the political themes embedded in the legends. Arthur's knight errants were dedicated to fight for the oppressed and dead set against cruel tyrants.
Sometimes we get carried away by the glamorous, romantic characters and miss the real purpose of the age old legends. But these are the real purpose behind the attractive scenery. We cannot say who clothed them in the fabulous Arthurian legends, or when. Perhaps they grew theme by theme as folic stories and those that belonged to the ages were repeated and enhanced. In any case, these noble themes are the real timeless truths of the King Arthur legend, the only truths that really matter.