Arthur is a masculine given name of Latin origin, derived from the Roman clan Artorius . Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur .
61-465: A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur . In Spanish and Italian it is Arturo . The earliest attestation of the name Arthur is in the early 9th century Welsh-Latin text Historia Brittonum , where it refers to a circa 5th century Romano-British general who fought against the invading Saxons , and who later gave rise to the famous King Arthur of medieval legend and literature. A possible earlier mention of
122-484: A Brittonic compound name *Arto-uiros should produce Old Welsh *Artgur (where -u- represents the short vowel /u/) and Middle/Modern Welsh *Arthwr and not Arthur (where -u- is a long vowel /ʉː/) In Welsh poetry the name is always spelled Arthur and is exclusively rhymed with words ending in -ur —never words ending in -wr —which confirms that the second element cannot be [g]wr "man"). An alternative theory, which has gained limited acceptance among scholars, derives
183-550: A Celtic origin, being a Latinization of the hypothetical name *Artorījos , derived from the patronym *Arto-rīg-ios , meaning "Son of the Bear/Warrior-King". *Arto-rīg-ios is unattested, but the root, *arto-rīg , "bear/warrior-king", is the source of the Old Irish personal name Artrí , while the similar *Arto-maglos , "bear-prince", produced names in several Brittonic languages. According to Zimmer's etymology,
244-596: A dog in it. When Cabal, who was the dog of Arthur the soldier, was hunting the boar Troynt, he impressed his print in the stone, and afterwards Arthur assembled a stone mound under the stone with the print of his dog, and it is called the Carn Cabal. And men come and remove the stone in their hands for the length of a day and a night; and on the next day it is found on top of its mound. The second concerns Arthur's son Anir or Amr ( Amhar in Welsh) and his sepulchre: There
305-542: A few marvels of Anglesey ( Menand insulae or Mona) and of Ireland. The Mirabilia section is thought to not be part of the original work, but to have been composed shortly after (early 9th cent.). Two of the marvels are Arthurian lore (Chapter 73 of the Historia ). Old editions give "Troynt" as the name of the great boar and "Anir" as the name of Arthur's tragic son in the Harleian manuscript, but Fletcher suggested
366-541: A fragment of a story about the battle preserved in manuscript Peniarth 98B states that the battle had an alternate name, Cad Achren , which suggests a connection with the Caer Ochren raided by Arthur in the earlier poem Preiddeu Annwfn . Various writers have asserted that this chapter supports a historical basis for King Arthur and have tried to identify the twelve battles with historical feuds or locales (see Sites and places associated with Arthurian legend ). On
427-597: A great scourge of the Saxons immediately prior. Of the other battles, only the Battle of Tribruit is generally agreed to be associated with Arthur in another early Welsh source. Tribruit appears as Tryfrwyd in the Old Welsh poem Pa Gur? , dating to perhaps the mid-ninth century. This poem follows the story of a battle against cinbin , or dogheads , whom Arthur's men fought in the mountains of Eidyn (Edinburgh); in
488-458: A king in his own right, and also includes other characters such as Vortimer and Bishop Germanus of Auxerre . Chapter 56 discusses twelve battles fought and won by Arthur , here called dux bellorum (war leader) rather than king: At that time, the Saxons grew strong by virtue of their large number and increased in power in Britain. Hengist having died, however, his son Octha crossed from
549-609: A late forgery, and believes that the work underwent several anonymous revisions before reaching the forms that now survive in the various families of manuscripts. Dumville's view is largely accepted by current scholarship, though not without dissent. Peter Field in particular has argued for the authenticity of the preface, suggesting that it was left out of many recensions because it was seen as derogatory to British scholarship. However, Field believes Liebermann's earlier argument for Nennius's authorship still bears consideration. Various introductory notes to this work invoke Nennius's (or
610-548: A paragraph about the beginnings of Welsh literature At that time, Talhaiarn Cataguen was famed for poetry, and Neirin , and Taliesin and Bluchbard, and Cian, who is called Guenith Guaut, were all famous at the same time in British poetry. A number of works that are frequently associated with the Historia Brittonum , in part because some of them first appear with the Harleian manuscript, and partly because when
671-530: A probable link between Vedic Sanskrit, Classical Sanskrit and languages of the Epics. Complex meters such as Anuṣṭubh and rules of Sanskrit prosody had been or were being innovated by this time, but parts of the Brāhmaṇa layers show the language is still close to Vedic Sanskrit. This is the last stratum of Vedic literature, comprising the bulk of the Śrautasūtras and Gṛhyasūtras and some Upaniṣad s such as
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#1732764776575732-468: A second time you will not find it to have the same length—and I myself have put this to the test. Chapters relating events in the life of Saint Germanus of Auxerre claim to be excerpts from a (now lost) biography of the saint. The document includes a collection of traditions about Saint Patrick , as well as a section describing events in the North of England in the sixth and seventh centuries, starting with
793-476: A story of the king Vortigern , who allowed the Saxons to settle in the island of Britain in return for the hand of Hengist 's daughter. One legend about Vortigern says he tried to build a stronghold near Snowdon called Dinas Emrys , only to have his building materials disappear every time he tried. His advisers told him to sprinkle the blood of a fatherless boy on the site to lift the curse. Vortigern found such
854-525: A strict tripartite division of vocalic length between hrasva (short, 1 mora), dīrgha (long, 2 morae) and pluta (prolated, 3+ morae). Pluta vowels are recorded a total of 3 times in the Rigveda and 15 times in the Atharvaveda , typically in cases of questioning and particularly where two options are being compared. For example: The pluti attained the peak of their popularity in
915-468: A youth in Ambrosius , who rebuked the wise men and revealed that the disturbance was caused by two dragons buried underground. The tower story is repeated and embellished by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae , though he attributes it to Merlin , saying "Ambrosius" is the sage's alternative name. Geoffrey includes Aurelius Ambrosius, another figure mentioned in the Historia , as
976-487: Is another wonder in the region which is called Ercing . A tomb is located there next to a spring which is called Licat Amr; and the name of the man who is buried in the tomb was called thus: Amr (←Anir). He was the son of Arthur the soldier, and Arthur himself killed and buried him in that very place. And men come to measure the grave and find it sometimes six feet in length, sometimes nine, sometimes twelve, sometimes fifteen. At whatever length you might measure it at one time,
1037-400: Is in the region of Linnuis . The sixth battle was above the river which is called Bassas. The seventh battle was in the forest of Celidon, that is Cat Coit Celidon. The eighth battle was at the fortress of Guinnion, in which Arthur carried the image of Holy Mary ever virgin on his shoulders; and the pagans were put to flight on that day. And through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and through
1098-537: The Annales Cambriae ; here, Arthur is described as carrying "the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ on his shoulders for three days and three nights…", though here the battle is said to be Badon rather than Guinnion. T. M. Charles-Edwards argues that these accounts both refer to a single source. Other scholars, however, such as Thomas Jones and N. J. Higham , argue that the Annales account is based directly on
1159-477: The Kaṭha Upaniṣad and Maitrāyaṇiya Upaniṣad . These texts elucidate the state of the language which formed the basis of Pāṇini's codification into Classical Sanskrit. Vedic differs from Classical Sanskrit to an extent comparable to the difference between Homeric Greek and Classical Greek . The following differences may be observed in the phonology: Vedic had a pitch accent which could even change
1220-597: The Ṛg·veda must have been essentially complete by around the 12th century BCE. The pre-1200 BCE layers mark a gradual change in Vedic Sanskrit, but there is disappearance of these archaic correspondences and linguistics in the post-Rigvedic period. This period includes both the mantra and prose language of the Atharvaveda (Paippalada and Shaunakiya), the Ṛg·veda Khilani , the Samaveda Saṃhitā, and
1281-516: The Historia , suggesting the name of the battle was switched from the unknown Guinnion to the famous Badon, and that the icon Arthur carries was replaced with a more common one. The Battle of Mount Badon is associated with Arthur in several later texts, but not in any that predate the Historia . It was clearly a historical battle described by Gildas , who does not mention the name of the Britons' leader. He does however mention Aurelius Ambrosius as
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#17327647765751342-706: The Historia Britonum is studied, these sources are eventually mentioned. Vedic Sanskrit Vedic Sanskrit , also simply referred as the Vedic language , is an ancient language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European language family. It is attested in the Vedas and related literature compiled over the period of the mid- 2nd to mid-1st millennium BCE. It is orally preserved , predating
1403-559: The Historia Brittonum to Arthur carrying the image of St. Mary on his shoulders in a battle has been interpreted by later commentators as a mistranslation of Arthur bearing the image of Mary on his shield ; the words in Welsh are very similar. The 19th-century classicist Theodor Mommsen divided the work into seven parts: Preface ( Prefatio Nennii Britonum ); I. The Six Ages of the World ( de sex aetatibus mundi ) (§1-6); II. History of
1464-615: The Late Harappan horizon from about 1900 BCE, and "Proto-Rigvedic" (Proto-Dardic) intrusion to Punjab as corresponding to the Gandhara grave culture from about 1700 BCE. According to this model, Rigvedic within the larger Indo-Aryan group is the direct ancestor of the Dardic languages . The early Vedic Sanskrit language was far less homogeneous compared to the language described by Pāṇini , that is, Classic Sanskrit. The language in
1525-559: The Prakrit language. Originally the epigraphic language of the whole of India was mainly Prakrit and Sanskrit is first noticed in the inscriptions of North India from about the second half of the 1st century BCE. Sanskrit gradually ousted Prakrit from the field of Indian epigraphy in all parts of the country. Five chronologically distinct strata can be identified within the Vedic language: The first three are commonly grouped together, as
1586-518: The Britons ( Latin : Historia Brittonum ) is a purported history of early Britain written around 828 that survives in numerous recensions from after the 11th century. The Historia Brittonum is commonly attributed to Nennius , as some recensions have a preface written in that name. Some experts have dismissed the Nennian preface as a late forgery and argued that the work was actually an anonymous compilation. The Historia Brittonum describes
1647-560: The Britons ( historia Brittonum ) (§7-49); III. Life of Patrick ( vita Patricii ) (§50-55); IV. Arthuriana (§ 56); V. Genealogies ( regum genealogiae cum computo ) (§c. 57–66); VI. Cities of Britain ( civitates Britanniae ) (§66 ); VII. Wonders of Britain ( de mirabilibus Britanniae ) (§67—76). The Historia Brittonum can be dated to about 829. The work was written no earlier than the "fourth year of [the reign of] king Mermenus" (who has been identified as Merfyn Frych ap Gwriad , king of Gwynedd ). Historians have conservatively assigned 828 to
1708-536: The Celtic short compositional vowel -o- was lengthened and the long -ī- in the second element of the compound -rījos was shortened by Latin speakers, under the influence of Latin agent nouns ending in -tōr (and their derivatives in -tōrius ). Some scholars have noted that the legendary King Arthur 's name only appears as Arthur , Arthurus , or Arturus in early Latin Arthurian texts, never as Artōrius (although
1769-541: The Classical Latin Artōrius became Arturius in some Vulgar Latin dialects). However, this may not say anything about the origin of the name Arthur , as Artōrius would regularly become Art(h)ur when borrowed into Welsh . The commonly proposed derivation from Welsh arth "bear" + (g)wr "man" (earlier *Arto-uiros in Brittonic) is not possible for phonological and orthographic reasons; notably that
1830-463: The Roman nomen gentile (family name) Artorius . Artorius itself is of obscure and contested etymology; some have proposed a Messapic or Etruscan origin. Nevertheless, according to etymologist Kemp Malone "the theory that derives Arthur from Artorius is left unsupported by any evidence worthy of the name". According to the linguist and Celticist Stefan Zimmer, it is possible that Artorius has
1891-529: The Saṃhitās comprising the four Vedas: ṛg, atharvan, yajus, sāman, which together constitute the oldest texts in Sanskrit and the canonical foundation both of the Vedic religion, and the later religion known as Hinduism. Many words in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Ṛg·veda have cognates or direct correspondences with the ancient Avestan language, but these do not appear in post-Rigvedic Indian texts. The text of
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1952-680: The Tryfrwyd battle they spar with a character named Garwlwyd (Rough-Gray), who is likely the Gwrgi Garwlwyd (Man-Dog Rough-Grey) who appears in one of the Welsh Triads . Arthur's main protagonist in the fight is Bedwyr , later known as Sir Bedivere, and the poem also mentions the euhemerized god Manawydan . "The City of the Legion" may be a reference to Caerleon , whose name translates as such, but it might also refer to Chester ,
2013-533: The advent of writing by several centuries. Extensive ancient literature in the Vedic Sanskrit language has survived into the modern era, and this has been a major source of information for reconstructing Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Indo-Iranian history. The separation of Proto-Indo-Iranian language into Proto-Iranian and Proto-Indo-Aryan is estimated, on linguistic grounds, to have occurred around or before 1800 BCE. The date of composition of
2074-641: The anonymous compiler's) words from the Prefatio that "I heaped together ( coacervavi ) all I could find" from various sources, not only concrete works in writing but "our ancient traditions" (i.e. oral sources) as well. This is quoted from the Apologia version of the preface. Giles's translation rendered this as "I put together", obscuring the fact that this is indeed a quote from the work and not from some commentator (See Morris's more recent translation as given in wikiquote: Historia Brittonum ) . Leslie Alcock
2135-644: The author incorporated the list from a now-lost Old Welsh poem, based on the fact that some of the names appear to rhyme, The odd description of Arthur bearing the image of the Virgin Mary on his shoulders at Guinnion might stem from a conflation of the Welsh word iscuit (shield) with iscuid (shoulders). Others reject this as untenable, arguing that the author included battles not previously associated with Arthur, perhaps even made them up entirely. A similar story to that attached to Guinnion also appears in
2196-412: The development of periphrastic aorist forms. This must have occurred before the time of Pāṇini because Panini makes a list of those from the northwestern region of India who knew these older rules of Vedic Sanskrit. In this layer of Vedic literature, the archaic Vedic Sanskrit verb system has been abandoned, and a prototype of pre-Panini Vedic Sanskrit structure emerges. The Yajñagāthās texts provide
2257-470: The earliest date for the work, which is consistent with the statement in chapter 4 that "from the Passion of Christ 796 years have passed. But from his Incarnation are 831 years". The text makes use of two narrative techniques that are generally considered not reliable by modern academic standards: synthesizing and synchronizing history. Synthetic history combines legendary elements with fact, which makes
2318-488: The early Upanishads of Hinduism and the late Vedic literature approaches Classical Sanskrit. The formalization of the late form of Vedic Sanskrit language into the Classical Sanskrit form is credited to Pāṇini 's Aṣṭādhyāyī , along with Patanjali 's Mahabhasya and Katyayana 's commentary that preceded Patanjali's work. The earliest epigraphic records of the indigenous rulers of India are written in
2379-509: The long-running history of the land, such as the Middle English Brut of England , also known as The Chronicles of England . The work was the first source to portray King Arthur , who is described as a dux bellorum ('military leader') or miles ('warrior, soldier') and not as a king . It names the twelve battles that Arthur fought, but, unlike the Annales Cambriae , does not give any actual dates. The reference in
2440-474: The mantras of the Yajurveda . These texts are largely derived from the Ṛg·veda, but have undergone certain changes, both by linguistic change and by reinterpretation. For example, the more ancient injunctive verb system is no longer in use. An important linguistic change is the disappearance of the injunctive , subjunctive, optative, imperative (the aorist ). New innovations in Vedic Sanskrit appear such as
2501-458: The meaning of the words, and was still in use in Pāṇini's time, as can be inferred by his use of devices to indicate its position. At some latter time, this was replaced by a stress accent limited to the second to fourth syllables from the end. Since a small number of words in the late pronunciation of Vedic carry the so-called "independent svarita " on a short vowel, one can argue that late Vedic
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2562-584: The name Arthur from the Latin Arcturus (the brightest star in the constellation Boötes , near Ursa Major or the Great Bear), which is the latinisation of the Greek Ἀρκτοῦρος ( Arktouros ) and means Bear Guardian from ἄρκτος ( arktos "bear" ) and οὖρος ( ouros "watcher/guardian" ). This form, Arcturus would have become Art(h)ur when borrowed into Welsh, and its brightness and position in
2623-431: The name by the late 6th century (either from an early Archaic Welsh or Cumbric form Artur ), producing Old Irish Artúr ( Latinized as Arturius by Adomnán in his Life of St. Columba , written circa 697–700), The earliest historically attested bearer of the name is a son or grandson of Áedán mac Gabráin (died 609). The exact origins of the name Arthur remains a matter of debate. Some claim that it derives from
2684-410: The northern part of Britain to the kingdom of Kent and from him are descended the kings of Kent. Then Arthur along with the kings of Britain fought against them in those days, but Arthur himself was the military commander ["dux bellorum"]. His first battle was at the mouth of the river which is called Glein . His second, third, fourth, and fifth battles were above another river which is called Dubglas and
2745-627: The oldest hymns of the Rigveda is vague at best, generally estimated to roughly 1500 BCE. Both Asko Parpola (1988) and J. P. Mallory (1998) place the locus of the division of Indo-Aryan from Iranian in the Bronze Age culture of the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC). Parpola (1999) elaborates the model and has "Proto-Rigvedic" Indo-Aryans intrude the BMAC around 1700 BCE. He assumes early Indo-Aryan presence in
2806-493: The other hand, Caitlin Green argues that the only identifiable battles linked explicitly with Arthur in Old Welsh sources are mythological, undermining any claims that the battles had a basis in history. Attached to the Historia is a section called De mirabilibus Britanniae (or simply Mirabilia for short, a Latin word meaning 'marvels, miracles'). It gives a list of 13 topographical marvels, or wonders of Britain, followed by
2867-423: The overlong or prolated vowels are themselves called pluta . Pluta vowels are usually noted with a numeral "3" ( ३ ) indicating a length of three morae ( trimātra ). A diphthong is prolated by prolongation of its first vowel. Pāṇinian grammarians recognise the phonetic occurrence of diphthongs measuring more than three morae in duration, but classify them all as prolated (i.e. trimoraic) to preserve
2928-557: The power of the blessed Virgin Mary his mother there was great slaughter among them. The ninth battle was waged in the City of the Legion . The tenth battle was waged on the banks of a river which is called Tribruit. The eleventh battle was fought on the mountain which is called Agnet. The twelfth battle was on Mount Badon in which there fell in one day 960 men from one charge by Arthur; and no one struck them down except Arthur himself, and in all
2989-504: The same man is to be found in the epic Welsh poem Y Gododdin by Aneirin , which some scholars assign to the late 6th century, though this is still a matter of debate and the poem only survives in a late 13th century manuscript entitled the Book of Aneirin . A 9th-century Breton landowner named Arthur witnessed several charters collected in the Cartulary of Redon . The Irish borrowed
3050-653: The site of a large Roman base. Cat Coit Celidon is probably a reference to the Caledonian Forest ( Coed Celyddon ) which once covered the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Scholar Marged Haycock has suggested that this battle can be identified with the Cad Goddeu , the "Battle of the Trees", best known from the tenth-century poem Cad Goddeu . Arthur is mentioned towards the end of this poem, and
3111-583: The sky led people to regard it as the "guardian of the bear" and the "leader" of the other stars in Boötes. Avestan aṣ̌a /arta and its Vedic equivalent ṛtá both derive from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ṛtá- "truth", which in turn continues Proto-Indo-European * h 2 r-to- "properly joined, right, true", from the root * h 2 ar . The word is attested in Old Persian as arta . Sources Historia Brittonum The History of
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#17327647765753172-495: The supposed settlement of Britain by Trojan settlers and says that Britain was named for Brutus , a descendant of Aeneas . The "single most important source used by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his pseudohistorical Historia Regum Britanniae " and through the enormous popularity of the latter work, this version of the early history of Britain, including the Trojan origin tradition, was incorporated into subsequent chronicles of
3233-463: The text as anonymously written would be the best approach as theories attributing authorship to Nennius have since been disputed by subsequent scholars. Repudiating the so-called vindication of Nennius in 1890 by the Celtic scholar Heinrich Zimmer , Mommsen returned to the earlier view of a ninth-century Nennius merely building on a seventh-century original, which he dated to around 680. The historian Ferdinand Lot swiftly challenged Mommsen; but it
3294-406: The variant readings "Troit" and "Amr" be preferred since they are closer to the Welsh forms of those names. The first concerns Arthur's dog, Cabal ( Cavall in Welsh) and the footprint it left while chasing the boar Troynt (→Troit) Twrch Trwyth : There is another marvel in the region which is called Buelt . There is a mound of stones there and one stone placed above the pile with the pawprint of
3355-405: The veracity of the text challenging to evaluate. Various specious causal connections and attempts to synchronize material from different sources and traditions also contribute to undermining the reliability of the chronicle. The question of the nature of the text of the Historia Brittonum is one that has caused intense debate over the centuries. Some scholars have taken the position that treating
3416-740: The wars he emerged as victor. And while they were being defeated in all the battles, they were seeking assistance from Germany and their numbers were being augmented many times over without interruption. And they brought over kings from Germany that they might reign over them in Britain, right down to the time in which Ida reigned, who was son of Eobba . He was the first king in Bernicia , i.e., in Berneich. Many of these battle sites are obscure and cannot be identified with any certitude. Some appear in other Welsh literature, though not necessarily explicitly connected to Arthur. Some scholars have proposed that
3477-482: Was marginally a tonal language . Note however that in the metrically-restored versions of the Rig Veda almost all of the syllables carrying an independent svarita must revert to a sequence of two syllables, the first of which carries an udātta and the second a so-called dependent svarita . Early Vedic was thus definitely not a tonal language like Chinese but a pitch accent language like Japanese , which
3538-542: Was inherited from the Proto-Indo-European accent . Pitch accent was not restricted to Vedic. Early Sanskrit grammarian Pāṇini gives accent rules for both the spoken language of his post-Vedic time as well as the differences of Vedic accent. However, no extant post-Vedic text with accents are found. Pluti , or prolation , is the term for the phenomenon of protracted or overlong vowels in Sanskrit ;
3599-424: Was not the first to draw attention to the phrase though he may have started the recent spate of interest. The Historia Brittonum has drawn attention because of its role in influencing the legends and myths surrounding King Arthur . It is the earliest source that presents Arthur as a historical figure, and is the source of several stories which were repeated and amplified by later authors. The Historia contains
3660-605: Was not until 1925 that the Anglo-Saxon scholar Felix Liebermann offered a major reconstruction of the Mommsen view, arguing that Nennius in fact first put the whole work into shape in the ninth century. Re-analysing the eleven manuscript variants of Mommsen, he produced a two-stemma analysis of their hypothetical descent, noting however that “Only one branch, viz. C2d2 of the second stem, preserves Nennius's name”. His overall conclusion (based on uniform particularities of style)
3721-476: Was that “The whole work...belongs to Nennius alone”, but this did not prevent him from recognising that “we must lower Nennius's rank as a historian...[but] praise his patriotic heart. The Nennius question was re-opened in the 1970s by Professor David Dumville . Dumville revisited the stemmatics of the various recensions and published the Vatican version. Dumville called the Nennian preface ( Prefatio Nennii )
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