The oldest known legends that obviously relate to the Arthurian mythology are Welsh.
But the further back you go, the less historical they become. And I don't mean in the sense of historical records being less reliable farther back in time; I mean that the characters in the oldest legends are clearly supernatural figures. There is no reason to postulate supernatural figures as having historical enemies. Why would they?
Yeah. There is a difference between something like Geoffrey's "De gestis Britonum" which was thought by the author to be sort of true, and Malory who knew he was writing literature.
Most of what people think about as part of the Arthur myth are from literary sources, like Lancelot, the Knights of the Round Table, or the Grail quest.
Peredur from the Mabinogion and Chrétien De Troyes Perceval are pretty strongly related, implying that there is a common Celtic source tale, but I don't think anyone has ever found one.
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Well, no, the mythology has him fighting against all kinds of people, notably including the Saracens.
The more typical question would be "is Arthur based on any historical events at all?"
It is unknow whether it is based on a real historical person, but is there any question the oldest known version of the legend is Welsh?
The oldest known legends that obviously relate to the Arthurian mythology are Welsh.
But the further back you go, the less historical they become. And I don't mean in the sense of historical records being less reliable farther back in time; I mean that the characters in the oldest legends are clearly supernatural figures. There is no reason to postulate supernatural figures as having historical enemies. Why would they?
This makes zero sense.
Sorry never seen that - where does it say he fought Saracens.
Mallory's Morte d'Arthur.
Most of the Arthur "myth" is deliberately constructed fiction by specific authors, rather than folk myths.
I'd put Le Morte D'Arthur as the first modernization of the myths, not another myth.
Yeah. There is a difference between something like Geoffrey's "De gestis Britonum" which was thought by the author to be sort of true, and Malory who knew he was writing literature.
Most of what people think about as part of the Arthur myth are from literary sources, like Lancelot, the Knights of the Round Table, or the Grail quest.
Peredur from the Mabinogion and Chrétien De Troyes Perceval are pretty strongly related, implying that there is a common Celtic source tale, but I don't think anyone has ever found one.