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FRANK MARKOV'S WORLD OF MYSTERY Dudley. The center of the area known as the Black Country is famous only for its industrial heritage and a large shopping center. But high up on a hill stands Dudley Castle. A strange and foreboding place, full of history. The current castle, dating back to the middle ages, is a red herring in this story. For underneath the ruins of that castle is a history going back many more centuries. Including, I believe, King Arthur's legendary round table. So is Dudley Castle just, Dudley Castle, or is it perhaps the legendary Camelot ? Quite possibly. The original Camelot probably consisted of a wooden structure, which of course will be long lost. No doubt also there were some earthworks surrounding this. These too will have been lost as subsequent occupiers amended the defenses. So we have no obvious physical evidence. But we do have the rich oral history of the area. In the poem 'Ode to Dudloi' which is first mentioned in records in 1202, there is a line which refers to 'thee grate castel of which stands upon thee rounded hill.' This is a contemporary translation, which I would suggest, is inaccurate. For in the local tongue the words for hill and table may well have been similar, or even identical. And in another song, 'As I went up Castle Hill', sung by minstrels at around the same time, there is a another telling reference: 'thee castel where we went often' Clearly, this is another mistranslation. 'We went often' is a corrupted form of 'came a lot' or more obviously, 'Camelot.' And why should King Arthur and his Round Table not have been based at Dudley ? With its central position in the country, it would have been an ideal base for his role as King of the Britons. If I was King of the Britons I would have chosen a similar site. The facts all add up, but as with so much in Arthurian legend, we may never know the truth. If you would like to visit FRANK MARKOV'S WORLD OF MYSTERY web site, you may use the link below. |
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WAS ARTHUR MYTH or MAN Written references to Arthurian-type figures begin with the work of Gilda's, a sixth-century monk who wrote De Excidio Britanniae ("Concerning the Ruin of Britain"). Gilda’s' lurid description of battle against the Saxons culminates with the British "remnants" rallying behind a man called Ambrosius Aurelianus. Nennius, a Welsh monk who wrote around the year 800, was the first to refer to Arthur by that now-familiar name. In his Historia Brittonum, Nennius lists Arthur's twelve great victories over the Saxon's, finishing with the triumph at Mount Badon. Mordred's role in Arthurian legend may also began with Nennius, who mentions a son of Arthur, killed by his father. By the twelfth century, the legend of King Arthur had become very popular. William of Maimesbury wrote in Gesta Regum Anglorium of Arthur's prowess as a warrior. This is a dressed-up version of the tales of Nennius and Gilda’s with one vital variation: in his tale Arthur's role appears to be not that of overlord, but of general. Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britainniae appeared about the same time as Malmesbury's work. Geoffrey claimed his story came from an ancient book handed him by the Archdeacon of Oxford. The existence of such a book cannot be disproved, but it is entirely likely that Geoffrey's fantastic story came from a compilation of contemporary romantic tales and his own inventive imaginations. A number of Welsh manuscripts dated to this period also deal with Arthurian legend. (The stories themselves, however, may be even older.) Culhwch and Olwen details the exploits of Arthur and his company, while the Triads of the Isle of Britain lend us a tantalizing glimpse of stories lost to us. For more information on The Arthurian Legend, use the e-mail link below for information on a great web site on King Arthur. Thank you, Dudley |
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Thous shouldst be for all ladies and fight for their quarrels, and ever be courteous and never refuse mercy to him that asketh mercy, for a knight that is courteous and kind and gentle has favor in every place. Thou shouldst never hold a lady or gentle woman against her will. Ever it is a worshipful knights deed to help another worshipful knight when he seeth him a great danger, for ever a worshipful man should loath to see a worshipful man shamed, for it is only he that is of no worship and who faireth with cowardice that shall never show gentleness or no manner of goodness where he seeth a man in any danger, but always a good man will do another man as he would have done to himself. It should never be said that a small brother has injured or slain another brother. Thou shouldst not fail in these things: charity, abstinence and truth. No knight shall win worship but if he be of worship himself and of good living and that loveth God and dreadeth God then else he geteth no worship here be ever so hardly. An envious knight shall never win worship for and envious man wants to win worship he shall be dishonored twice therefore without any, and for this cause all men of worship hate an envious man and will show him no favor. Do not, nor slay not, anything that will in any way dishonor the fair name of Christian knighthood for only by stainless and honorable lives and not by prowess and courage shall the final goal be reached. Therefore be a good knight and so I pray to God so ye may be, and if ye be of prowess and of worthiness then ye shall be a Knight of the Table Round. |
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