Legendary Arthur

The Marriage of King Arthur and Guineverehttp://www.kingarthursknights.com/arthur/legendary.asp

Name. The name Arthur may be (and according to K. H. Jackson certainly is) a form of Artorius,  a Roman gens name, but, according to J. D. Bruce, it is possibly of Celtic origin, coming from artos viros (bear man) - see . Welsh arth gwyr (T. R. Davies). Bruce also suggests the possibility of a connection with Irish art (stone). Life. An outline of the hero's life is given by Geoffrey of Monmouth (twelfth century) in his Historia Regum Brittaniae - History of theKings of Britain. Just how much of this life  was Geoffrey's invention and how much was culled from traditional material is uncertain.  He tells us that King Arthur was the son of Uther and defeated the barbarians in a  dozen battles. Subsequently, he conquered a wide empire and eventually went to  war with the Romans. He returned home on learning that his nephew Mordred had  raised the standard of rebellion and taken Guinevere, the queen. After landing, his  final battle took place. The saga built up over the centuries and Celtic traditions of Arthur reached the  Continent via Brittany. Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur would become what many  considered the standard 'history' of Arthur. In this, we are told of Arthur's conception  when Uther approached Igraine who was made, by Merlin's sorcery, to resemble  her husband. The child was given to Ector to be raised in secret. After Uther's death there was no king ruling all England. Merlin had placed a sword in a stone, saying that whoever drew it out would be king.