Maybe Camelot has always been, in fact, the friends we made along the way. In this new Arthurian lore video I’ll talk about Camelot in the legends and the possible locations that time has considered as Camelot. Don’t get you hopes up though.
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PD: All art not properly credited in the video was generated using Bing AI to fill bits in the story lacking representation.
What is Camelot? Is it a fortress in Caerleon or Caerwent, in Wales? Or a city in Winchester or Cornwall in England? Did it ever exist? Or maybe Camelot has always been the friends we made along the way… This is Arthurian Lore. And we are gonna talk
About Camelot. The city of justice. The house of chivalry and honour. The dream rulers and ruled aspire to achieve. My initial question was actually an honest doubt; what actually is Camelot? There are a lot of theories about its whereabouts but firstly
We need to understand what it is. Again, was it a city or a fortress? Or maybe a palace. There is a difference between all of these. The existence of Camelot comes to us purely from the legends. Especially the romances, so maybe we should take a look at that.
I’ll start listing multiple classical texts containing mentions or references to Camelot (and places that could be associated with Camelot) in no particular order. Of course, in an attempt to maintain my mental health, I will stick to the most famous sources of Arthurian legends, because
God knows how convoluted the Arthuriana is. Lancelot, or the Knight of the Cart (by Chretien de Troyes) is the first mention of Camelot in written text. It reads as follows: “Upon a certain Ascension Day King Arthur had come from Caerleon, and had held a very magnificent
Court at Camelot as was fitting on such a day.” Courts were usually held at palaces, though more often than not kings would hold court at castles. So far not a hint about what Camelot was. Notice, however, how Chretien distinguishes Camelot from Caerleon quite clearly,
Citing Caerleon as Arthur’s primary court. In the Vulgate Cycle (or Lancelot-Grail Cycle) Camelot is mentioned as an entire city; during the History of the Grail, when the Holy Grail is taken to St. Stephens Cathedral in Camelot. During the Lancelot Proper
When Lancelot comes and goes from Camelot and in Mort Artu after King Arthur’s death when the city was destroyed (this last two are are contained in the Lancelot Prose part of the Vulgate Cycle, one of the three parts of the cycle, the other two being the previously mentioned History of
The Grail and History of Merlin) Then, we have a city. Moving away from the french tradition of the Arthurian legends there is Historia Regum Britannia. But wait a second! This version of the legends, previous to the Romances of Chretien,
Does not mention Camelot. [Gasp] Could it be proof of the nonexistence of Camelot? Well yes. And no. You see, there’s a difference between understanding Camelot as a place that existed but no longer does, and a place that continues to exist under a different name. Geoffrey of
Monmouth, the author of Historia Regum Britannia, set Arthur’s court to be in the City of Legions, commonly associated with Caerleon, in Wales. I’ll return to the real places identified with Camelot later. Back to the legends. Following the british or english or romano-british
Or latin tradition I swear the legends have expanded more scandinavian tv dramas… which is not too much, but more than you would expect, there is the man himself, Sir Thomas Malory, with Le Mort DArthur, who mentions Camelot as a castle… once. After that, he always calls it a city.
“The meanwhile as they talked, there came a dwarf from the city of Camelot on horseback…” “…and so by adventure it swam down the stream to the City of Camelot, that is in English Winchester” WInchester now, is it?
Then comes along Wace, with Roman de Brut and says: “He [Arthur] desired to be crowned king in Caerleon, because it was rich beyond other cities, and marvellously pleasant and fair.”. Once again, a city. But wait, I said Caerleon, not Camelot. Does it still count? We’ll see later.
In Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight written by who-knows Camelot is mentioned again: “At Camelot lay the King, all on a Christmas-tide, With many a lovely lord, and gallant knight beside,” And since they were celebrating Christmas I would say it’s safe to assume Camelot
Is a palace, or a city at best. Not a fortress. To finish the legendary aspect of Camelot, we’ll go to what I believe was the beginning of the legends; the Welsh Tradition. And guess what? The name Camelot is never mentioned. Not in Culhwch and Olwen (although Arthur and his knights have
A significant role), not in Brut y Brenhinedd, the Welsh translation of History of the Kings of Britain (which, again, has Caerleon as Arthur’s court, not Camelot) and not in Rhonabwy’s Dream, which sets Arthur’s court in Caerleon once more). Then, we have established Camelot (or Caerleon)
As a city. Okay? Okay. On the other hand, if you remember what I said before; distinguishing between the idea of Camelot as a lost Atlantis-like city and Camelot as an ancient town that has evolved under a different name is important when trying
To pinpoint its location. Why? Well because good luck finding it if Camelot doesn’t exist anymore! Camelot, after all, is just a name. A word. And if Britain doesn’t lack something is languages and dialects. So, what places could hide Camelot under its layers and
Layers of history? And what reason is there to call these places “the Forgotten Camelot”? You’ll notice in the names of the places I’m about to mention a similarity. Not only in their names, but a common feature in their land; they all have ruins. These ruins however, have
A little detail to bring down most of our hopes of finding the true Camelot. Only one of these places has no name connection to Camelot though. And it is the previously mentioned Winchester. There are two reason for Winchester to be in this list (or one if you look too much into it);
One is the Winchester Round Table, hanging from the wall located in The Great Hall. A mere replica of the Round Table, made in the 13th century by one of the many Edward or Henry that Britain had
As kings. Of course, at the time Malory wrote Le Mort D’Arthur some people thought it to be the real Round Table of King Arthur. Thus, Malory himself connected Winchester to Camelot, simply because of the Winchester replica. And that is the second reason. Yeah… maybe it is actually one.
The Cadbury-castle-hillfort-thing in Somerset. Ruins of a fort on a hill from the iron age. Excavations at the site showed the hillfort had human presence from a long time before the supposed Arthurian period, but it also showed evidence of a refortification by some
Important British (possibly Roman) ruler in the 5th century. Hence the connection to Arthur. Caerwent, in Wales, was founded by the Romans a long time ago, as a market town. And it remained a town well until the publication of Le Mort DArthur. Do try to follow me on this one; In the
Same manner Malory connected Camelot to Winchester because of the Round Table, Caxton, his publisher, thought Camelot to be in Wales because the ruins could still be seen. Now, he [Caxton] didn’t say exactly where in Wales, but some modern scholars suggested Caxton thought of Caerwent to
Be Camelot since Roman ruins remain to this day. And last but not least; the village of Caerleon. I have introduced it already, but only through the references the legends have made to the town. And Caerleon did come up quite a lot, didn’t it? An aerial view of the outskirts will likely
Reveal the reason for all such connections to the legends; near the river Usk the ruins of a roman amphitheatre camouflages between the green pasture. According to the legends, as I repeatedly said before, Arthur held court at Caerleon. This meant for many years this ruined
Amphitheatre was considered the Round Table itself. And I believe I need not say more. But all them ruins of Cadbury, of Caerwent and of Caerleon… they’re all Roman ruins of fortresses. The Cadbury Castle Hill was simply a hillfort. Excavation in the Caerleon amphitheatre
Showed no evidence of human activity after the roman period until the 14th century. And about Caerwent you could say “Well, this one was a roman town”. Yes, but no straightforward connection to the legends has been made. None of these places live up to the grand
Luxurious city of Camelot we established previously from the legends. Even if you accept the idea of King Arthur as a Roman character or post-Roman of Welsh origin, they’re all fortresses and strongholds. Which, don’t get me wrong, it would make sense for a Roman
General or a warlord to reside in a fortress and wage war, to the Saxons for example, from there. But the splendid city of Camelot from the legends… does not exist. And neither would Arthur be a king. The whole point of figuring out where Camelot
Could have been is to add further evidence to the existence of Camelot, and thus, of King Arthur. Does it mean Camelot is nothing more than a pointless lie? A creation of deception? No. For centuries we have searched, just as the knights of the Round Table searched for the holy Grail, the grand
City Camelot. It’s wealth, it’s might and it’s splendour. And even though we may never find it, Camelot will always remain in our minds as a vision of hope. Of justice. Of honour. But it will also be a reminder that glory can fade just as quickly as it comes. Because Camelot,
Despite its beauty and magnificence, met a tragic end alongside his king. A cruel reminder to the consequences of our actions. If it ever existed, the ruins of this ideal city lay under the dirt, forgotten. The Dream of Camelot indicates the
Greatness of King Arthur’s existence, but is also a remembrance of his tragic end. So I urge you to make Camelot and work just as hard to maintain it.