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King Arthur


            There has been a lot of material written about the legendary King .
             Arthur and even though he has been a popular figure in literature for a long time, not a lot is known about the real Arthur. It is believed that Arthur .
             was a 5th century British King named Riothamus, meaning "high king", who .
             ruled from 454 to 470 A.D. and led an army into Gaul where he was defeated .
             by the Goths of Burgundy. Two men by the names of Jordanes and William contributed to the legend of Arthur. Their input was perhaps the real basis of the changes in the story. Arthur appeared in literature as a national hero in a book written in Latin by Geoffrey of Monmouth called Historia Regum Britanniae meaning History of the Kings of Britain. The book covered history from 1200 B.C. to 689 A.D. it includes many sources of information with his work but .
             most people believe it added only to make his book better. Therefore his work is considered to be literature and not factual history. Geoffrey is the one responsible for the description of Arthur as a noble King who conquered the British Island and much of Europe Introduced by Geoffrey are Guenevere, Merlin, information about Arthur's strange birth and death. Due to the popularity of Geoffrey's book, authors continued with the development of King Arthur and his .
             life, adding yet more detail and depth to the story. Robert Wace .
             concentrated on the Arthurian aspect of the story and Chretien .
             concentrated on the romantic aspect of Arthur's life. Some of the new .
             elements added included the Round Table, courtly love and the love affair .
             between Lancelot and Guenevere. In 1205 A.D. Layamon wrote the first .
             English version of the King Arthur stories with a distinctly British .
             perspective. Another nationalistic version of the story was Morte Arthure. .
             This version was centered on fighting and action diminishing many of .
             the character's parts, like Lancelot. Perhaps the most widely .
            
            
            
            
            


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