1 00:00:08,638 --> 00:00:10,629 (FAINT SHOUTING) 2 00:00:13,158 --> 00:00:15,752 Every year, in a field in Cornwall, 3 00:00:15,918 --> 00:00:21,436 they gather to commemorate the last battle of the greatest of all British heroes. 4 00:00:23,518 --> 00:00:26,510 Arthur! Arthur! 5 00:00:26,678 --> 00:00:29,067 Rex Britannia! 6 00:00:29,238 --> 00:00:31,433 The tales of Arthur have got it all - 7 00:00:31,598 --> 00:00:34,066 love and courage, betrayal, 8 00:00:34,238 --> 00:00:36,832 and the ultimate spiritual quest. 9 00:00:41,358 --> 00:00:44,509 This is a search for the legend of King Arthur, 10 00:00:44,678 --> 00:00:48,796 a journey through Celtic Britain, France and Ireland. 11 00:00:50,678 --> 00:00:55,115 It's a story of ancient alchemy and medieval mysticism. 12 00:00:56,758 --> 00:01:01,070 The tale of a lost golden age, which one day will return. 13 00:01:03,798 --> 00:01:08,713 And, more than that, Arthur's story - so the Celtic bard said - 14 00:01:08,878 --> 00:01:11,597 was the ''matter of Britain''. 15 00:01:54,198 --> 00:01:59,875 The legend of King Arthur has been told by poets and filmmakers for a thousand years. 16 00:02:00,038 --> 00:02:04,077 How the pure knighthood was destroyed by adulterous love 17 00:02:04,238 --> 00:02:06,832 and the horror of civil war. 18 00:02:09,198 --> 00:02:11,917 Merlin! Where are you? 19 00:02:12,998 --> 00:02:16,673 It has immortal characters and imperishable symbols - 20 00:02:16,838 --> 00:02:23,107 the Holy Grail, the round table and the magic sword, Excalibur. 21 00:02:32,358 --> 00:02:37,910 Behold the sword of power! Excalibur! 22 00:03:03,358 --> 00:03:08,990 0ur search for the legend of Arthur begins not in the Isle of Avalon or in Camelot, 23 00:03:09,158 --> 00:03:13,674 but here among the canal barges in an industrial suburb of 0xford. 24 00:03:27,558 --> 00:03:31,471 It's rare that you can pinpoint the exact time and place 25 00:03:31,638 --> 00:03:35,950 in which a myth gets created or reshaped by a great storyteller, 26 00:03:36,118 --> 00:03:37,949 but, in this case, we can. 27 00:03:38,118 --> 00:03:41,667 This, believe it or not, is the most important place 28 00:03:41,838 --> 00:03:44,636 in the creation of the myths of King Arthur. 29 00:03:44,798 --> 00:03:49,872 Come and have a look at this. Isn't that brilliant? 30 00:03:51,278 --> 00:03:54,714 This is all that's left of the 12th-century abbey 31 00:03:54,878 --> 00:03:57,836 on Osney Island outside Oxford. 32 00:03:58,878 --> 00:04:04,111 It was here in 1129 that a young Welsh cleric... 33 00:04:05,358 --> 00:04:09,670 ..became the most influential, the most brilliant 34 00:04:09,838 --> 00:04:13,194 and the most imaginative creator of the Arthur myth. 35 00:04:13,358 --> 00:04:15,952 His name - Geoffrey of Monmouth. 36 00:04:24,158 --> 00:04:29,676 It was right on this spot that Geoffrey created an imaginary history of the Celts 37 00:04:29,838 --> 00:04:33,672 as the Celts might have dreamed their history could be. 38 00:04:33,838 --> 00:04:37,592 Here, for the first time, are Merlin and Guinevere 39 00:04:37,758 --> 00:04:40,955 and the wicked Mordred, the betrayer of Arthur. 40 00:04:41,118 --> 00:04:46,556 Here's the prototypes of Excalibur and Camelot and Avalon, 41 00:04:46,718 --> 00:04:51,997 and at the centre of it, Arthur himself - ''the once and future king''. 42 00:04:53,238 --> 00:04:59,393 But when you think of Geoffrey's Arthur, don't think history, think storytelling. 43 00:04:59,558 --> 00:05:03,471 This is a kind of dazzling medieval ''infotainment'' 44 00:05:03,638 --> 00:05:08,393 in comparison with which mere historical fact is simply boring. 45 00:05:17,598 --> 00:05:21,750 Now Uther Pendragon was Lord of Britain. He held a great feast. 46 00:05:21,918 --> 00:05:25,149 Among those present was Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, 47 00:05:25,318 --> 00:05:29,516 with his wife, Ygerna - the greatest beauty in all Britain. 48 00:05:29,678 --> 00:05:33,227 When the king cast his eyes on her, he fell madly in love. 49 00:05:33,398 --> 00:05:36,913 Her husband, discovering this, retired angrily from court. 50 00:05:37,078 --> 00:05:41,037 He put his wife into the castle of Tintagel by the sea shore - 51 00:05:41,198 --> 00:05:43,507 a place of the greatest safety. 52 00:05:43,678 --> 00:05:46,636 Then King Uther said to the wizard Merlin, 53 00:05:46,798 --> 00:05:50,837 ''My passion for Ygerna is such that if I do not possess her, 54 00:05:50,998 --> 00:05:53,193 ''I will go mad with desire.'' 55 00:05:53,358 --> 00:05:56,236 Merlin said, ''I have a magic potion 56 00:05:56,398 --> 00:06:01,631 ''that will make you the exact likeness of her husband and you can go to her.'' 57 00:06:01,798 --> 00:06:06,713 The king drank the potion and he went to Tintagel and he was let in. 58 00:06:06,878 --> 00:06:12,077 The king stayed all night in Ygerna's arms and he made passionate love to her, 59 00:06:12,238 --> 00:06:15,833 for she was deceived by Merlin's magic. 60 00:06:15,998 --> 00:06:20,116 And that was the night Arthur was conceived. 61 00:06:39,638 --> 00:06:42,471 Great myths need great locations 62 00:06:42,638 --> 00:06:47,871 and the Dark Age fortress of Tintagel in Cornwall simply begs to be included. 63 00:06:54,878 --> 00:06:59,508 Here, Geoffrey heard folk tales about a Celtic hero - Arthur - 64 00:06:59,678 --> 00:07:02,112 who would one day return. 65 00:07:09,278 --> 00:07:12,429 (MAN) We know that Geoffrey was writing in the 1130s, 66 00:07:12,598 --> 00:07:15,715 picking up stories from around the country, 67 00:07:15,878 --> 00:07:19,268 and that he was somehow induced to visit Tintagel. 68 00:07:19,438 --> 00:07:24,512 His description, when we get to the question of Arthur's conception by trickery, 69 00:07:24,678 --> 00:07:27,476 makes it perfectly clear that he was here. 70 00:07:32,518 --> 00:07:37,114 We're told is Arthur's conceived here. The assumption is he's born here. 71 00:07:37,278 --> 00:07:40,554 After that, in ''The History of the Kings of Britain'', 72 00:07:40,718 --> 00:07:45,792 Arthur has nothing more to do with Tintagel, but that was enough to spark it off. 73 00:07:45,958 --> 00:07:51,316 Somehow, a whole series of beliefs is brought together by this genius romancer, 74 00:07:51,478 --> 00:07:55,357 this Jeffrey Archer of our period. 75 00:07:55,518 --> 00:07:59,989 He was. It's a wonderful book, the ''Historia'' and it's brought here. 76 00:08:01,838 --> 00:08:05,308 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 77 00:08:09,238 --> 00:08:14,870 (W00D ) But Geoffrey's Arthur wasn't just a good story, it was a political weapon. 78 00:08:15,038 --> 00:08:20,635 His prophecy that Britain would rise again could be used against English oppressors. 79 00:08:20,798 --> 00:08:24,791 The Celts needed a hero and Geoffrey provided him. 80 00:08:26,038 --> 00:08:31,715 (MAN) Arthur represents the Celtic spirit for the bards and the people of Cornwall. 81 00:08:31,878 --> 00:08:35,757 Therefore, when we all cry ''Nyns yw marow maghytern Arthur'', 82 00:08:35,918 --> 00:08:41,595 it's expressing the fact that the Celtic spirit is not dead in this country. 83 00:08:44,798 --> 00:08:48,188 (W00D ) Every year, the Celtic bards meet in Bodmin, 84 00:08:48,358 --> 00:08:50,997 speaking the ancient language of Cornwall. 85 00:08:51,838 --> 00:08:54,830 (SPEAKS CORNISH) 86 00:08:59,678 --> 00:09:05,355 Swearing on Arthur's Excalibur their independence from the English. 87 00:09:07,758 --> 00:09:11,068 ''Nyns yw marow maghytern Arthur'' - King Arthur's not dead. 88 00:09:11,238 --> 00:09:13,229 At least not in spirit. 89 00:09:13,398 --> 00:09:16,834 The sword represents the spirit of Arthur, who defended Britain 90 00:09:16,998 --> 00:09:22,470 as we diminished westward in the onslaught of the Anglo-Saxons thousand of years ago. 91 00:09:23,798 --> 00:09:26,790 (STIRRING SINGING) 92 00:09:36,198 --> 00:09:40,191 (W00D ) But the idea of Arthur as a resistance hero against the English 93 00:09:40,358 --> 00:09:42,349 was far older than Geoffrey. 94 00:09:44,318 --> 00:09:48,197 In the Roman Empire, Britain was the jewel in the crown. 95 00:09:48,358 --> 00:09:53,716 When the Romans left, it was coveted by the barbarians, especially the Saxons - 96 00:09:53,878 --> 00:09:58,998 ancestors of today's English who sailed across the sea from Germany. 97 00:10:06,638 --> 00:10:10,916 According to later legend, the Saxon invaders were first welcomed 98 00:10:11,078 --> 00:10:14,787 by the British ruler, the tyrant Lord Vortigern. 99 00:10:23,478 --> 00:10:27,630 The Anglo-Saxon tradition was that the first landing of the Saxons 100 00:10:27,798 --> 00:10:32,428 was at a place called Ebbesfleot, which people say is Ebbsfleet. 101 00:10:32,598 --> 00:10:38,116 - Where's Ebbsfleet, then? - Ebbsfleet is behind the power station. 102 00:10:38,278 --> 00:10:40,746 (LAUGHTER) 103 00:10:45,678 --> 00:10:51,628 It all looks like some nondescript backwater of 21st-century Britain, doesn't it? 104 00:10:51,798 --> 00:10:57,350 But this is the scene of perhaps the most momentous events that ever took place 105 00:10:57,518 --> 00:11:00,078 in the history of the British Isles. 106 00:11:00,238 --> 00:11:05,596 We're in one of the channels between the Isle of Thanet and the mainland of Kent. 107 00:11:05,758 --> 00:11:12,072 According to legend, it was here, in the year 449 AD, 108 00:11:12,238 --> 00:11:15,196 that three ships came sailing up 109 00:11:15,358 --> 00:11:19,192 under the command of two pagan Saxon chieftains. 110 00:11:19,358 --> 00:11:26,036 Their names were Hengist and Horsa - ''the stallion'' and ''the horse''. 111 00:11:34,838 --> 00:11:37,636 Hengist and Horsa, so the legend goes, 112 00:11:37,798 --> 00:11:42,872 were hired as mercenaries by Lord Vortigern to fight for him. 113 00:11:47,478 --> 00:11:51,710 Unwisely, perhaps, Vortigern gave them land as a reward. 114 00:11:51,878 --> 00:11:56,429 But the Saxons soon turned against him and took more for themselves. 115 00:11:57,878 --> 00:12:02,190 A foothold in Britain that would become England. 116 00:12:24,318 --> 00:12:26,468 In the heart of rural Kent, 117 00:12:26,638 --> 00:12:30,950 this re-enactment group are recreating that ancient English past. 118 00:12:34,198 --> 00:12:37,235 They're building a Saxon long hall. 119 00:12:38,398 --> 00:12:42,391 For Kim Siddhorn, it really is a dream come true. 120 00:12:42,558 --> 00:12:44,628 Isn't that amazing? 121 00:12:46,158 --> 00:12:49,275 - So it's like the great medieval barns. - It is. 122 00:12:49,438 --> 00:12:52,589 - It's the same idea. - The woodwork is very similar. 123 00:12:54,478 --> 00:12:57,868 The hall will be accurate in every historical detail, 124 00:12:58,038 --> 00:13:00,598 but it will also embody an English myth. 125 00:13:00,758 --> 00:13:05,786 - Where's the fire? - There, basically. It will be a long fire. 126 00:13:05,958 --> 00:13:08,472 Perhaps 12 feet long or so. 127 00:13:12,478 --> 00:13:15,754 For many English people, that myth arouses emotions 128 00:13:15,918 --> 00:13:19,911 as strong as those felt by the Celtic bards in Cornwall. 129 00:13:24,358 --> 00:13:28,033 But then, the English were the winners. 130 00:13:30,158 --> 00:13:33,514 ''Aethelstan cyning... 131 00:13:33,678 --> 00:13:35,669 ''eorla drythen, 132 00:13:35,838 --> 00:13:41,868 ''beorna beag-giefa and his brothor eac, Edmund aetheling... 133 00:13:42,038 --> 00:13:43,357 ''On thys ig-land...'' 134 00:13:43,518 --> 00:13:47,796 This poem was written over a thousand years ago in 0ld English. 135 00:13:47,958 --> 00:13:52,713 ''Sweordes ecgum siththan Engle and Seaxe...'' 136 00:13:52,878 --> 00:13:57,508 It boasts of the coming of the Saxons and their conquest of the Britons. 137 00:13:57,678 --> 00:14:00,715 ''Britene sohton...eard begeaton.'' 138 00:14:00,878 --> 00:14:03,756 You can almost hear it in modern English. 139 00:14:03,918 --> 00:14:08,594 Since the Angles and Saxons came over across the broad waves - 140 00:14:08,758 --> 00:14:10,714 ''ofer brad brimu''. 141 00:14:10,878 --> 00:14:14,188 Sought out Britain - ''Britene sohton''. 142 00:14:14,358 --> 00:14:16,918 And took the earth - ''eard begeaton''. 143 00:14:17,078 --> 00:14:18,796 Amazing, isn't it? 144 00:14:20,398 --> 00:14:25,756 England. England is an idea that has lit the world for a thousand years. 145 00:14:27,198 --> 00:14:30,747 The land holds the bones of those who died for it. 146 00:14:33,678 --> 00:14:36,909 England is still an idea and an ideal 147 00:14:37,078 --> 00:14:41,310 and is held high in the hearts of many of us. 148 00:14:41,478 --> 00:14:46,757 I speak for ordinary people as well as nuts like us that seek to recreate this period. 149 00:14:51,598 --> 00:14:55,637 It was in response to such tales of Saxon victories 150 00:14:55,798 --> 00:14:58,915 that the Celts created their own hero. 151 00:15:02,358 --> 00:15:04,952 Arthur, the lord of battles, 152 00:15:05,118 --> 00:15:08,872 fought for the kings of Britons against the Saxon invaders. 153 00:15:09,038 --> 00:15:14,032 He fought 12 battles and carried the image of the Virgin Mary on his shoulders 154 00:15:14,198 --> 00:15:16,758 and our Lord Jesus Christ in his heart. 155 00:15:16,918 --> 00:15:19,386 In his 12th battle on Mount Badon, 156 00:15:19,558 --> 00:15:23,756 960 Saxons fell in one day from one charge 157 00:15:23,918 --> 00:15:27,035 and no one struck them down but Arthur alone. 158 00:15:27,198 --> 00:15:30,907 And in all his wars, he was the victor. 159 00:15:37,198 --> 00:15:39,837 By the time that was written in the 9th century, 160 00:15:39,998 --> 00:15:42,831 the Celts - or the Welsh as the English call them - 161 00:15:42,998 --> 00:15:48,948 had been pushed to the corners, railing against the man who had betrayed Britain. 162 00:15:51,718 --> 00:15:55,552 (MAN) Vortigern, having fled from the Saxons 163 00:15:55,718 --> 00:15:58,835 that he'd invited here to help him with his battles, 164 00:15:58,998 --> 00:16:05,392 was advised to build a castle in one of the strongest places in Britain, and came here. 165 00:16:05,558 --> 00:16:09,631 Unfortunately, every time his workmen returned to their labours, 166 00:16:09,798 --> 00:16:14,349 they found the stones were scattered and they weren't able to build. 167 00:16:14,518 --> 00:16:19,273 His advisors, his counsellors, told him that there was a curse 168 00:16:19,438 --> 00:16:22,510 that made it impossible to build anything. 169 00:16:22,678 --> 00:16:27,308 And the only way to break that curse was to find a golden-haired boy 170 00:16:27,478 --> 00:16:31,232 whose mother could confirm that there never was any father, 171 00:16:31,398 --> 00:16:35,755 and to kill the boy and sprinkle his blood around the hill. 172 00:16:41,438 --> 00:16:46,387 (W00D ) The boy led Vortigern to the top of the hill here at Dinas Emrys. 173 00:16:49,318 --> 00:16:53,550 Under a stone pavement, he revealed a great jar. 174 00:16:53,718 --> 00:16:58,075 Inside were two dragons - one white and one red. 175 00:16:58,238 --> 00:17:03,710 The dragons fought each other until the red one triumphed and the white one fled. 176 00:17:05,118 --> 00:17:07,268 It was a prophecy, the boy said. 177 00:17:07,438 --> 00:17:11,829 0ne day, the Celts would overthrow the Saxons, a hero would appear 178 00:17:11,998 --> 00:17:14,512 and Britain would rise again. 179 00:17:15,518 --> 00:17:19,477 (NEALE) This is supposedly the spot where it happened. 180 00:17:19,638 --> 00:17:27,192 When the archaeologist that was working here in the 1950s dug, he did find a pavement 181 00:17:27,358 --> 00:17:30,111 exactly where you'd expect to find it. 182 00:17:30,278 --> 00:17:35,113 I don't suppose it's possible this really was the fortress of Vortigern? 183 00:17:35,278 --> 00:17:37,348 That's another suggestion. 184 00:17:37,518 --> 00:17:42,353 Maybe there was a fortress here. Maybe there are dragons still here! 185 00:17:47,038 --> 00:17:52,635 Spared from death, it was the blond boy who prophesied the return of Arthur. 186 00:17:53,998 --> 00:17:59,026 And the boy's name? Myrddin. 0r, as we know him, Merlin. 187 00:18:02,118 --> 00:18:06,111 But to the Welsh, Myrddin is also one of their first bards 188 00:18:06,278 --> 00:18:10,066 and today's Welsh poets still claim his inspiration. 189 00:18:12,118 --> 00:18:17,590 The image of Merlin we have today is a bit like Gandalf in ''The Lord of the Rings'', 190 00:18:17,758 --> 00:18:19,874 but who is the first Merlin? 191 00:18:20,038 --> 00:18:25,954 He was a court poet in the north of England when the whole of Britain was British-Welsh. 192 00:18:26,118 --> 00:18:28,678 He becomes a seer, but not a wizard. 193 00:18:28,838 --> 00:18:31,716 He doesn't go changing people into frogs, 194 00:18:31,878 --> 00:18:35,188 but he has this power to see things that other people can't. 195 00:18:35,358 --> 00:18:40,193 He's more of a prophet than somebody who pulls rabbits out of a hat. 196 00:18:40,358 --> 00:18:42,826 Yeah, that's right. 197 00:18:42,998 --> 00:18:46,911 The oldest surviving poetry talks about him with his piglet. 198 00:18:47,078 --> 00:18:50,070 He speaks to his piglet, like a familiar. 199 00:18:50,238 --> 00:18:54,277 And there are long pieces of verse, 200 00:18:54,438 --> 00:18:58,113 half of which are factual and historic 201 00:18:58,278 --> 00:19:01,668 and half are just ranting about different things. 202 00:19:01,838 --> 00:19:04,113 - These survived? - Yes. 203 00:19:04,278 --> 00:19:07,076 - Can you do them? - We can do some of them. 204 00:19:07,238 --> 00:19:11,516 - Can we refer to our book? - Yes, of course. 205 00:19:11,678 --> 00:19:15,466 (SPEAKS WELSH) 206 00:19:18,478 --> 00:19:23,313 He says, ''I am Merlin, the king of prophets and I loudly...'' 207 00:19:23,478 --> 00:19:25,275 (GLASS BREAKS) 208 00:19:25,438 --> 00:19:27,633 ''..I loudly proclaim. 209 00:19:27,798 --> 00:19:34,636 ''Since I am Merlin, prophetic words pour from my mouth like the best wine.'' 210 00:19:34,798 --> 00:19:38,188 (SPEAKS WELSH) 211 00:19:41,758 --> 00:19:45,717 Which is, ''I know the depth of every lake, the number of a bird's feathers, 212 00:19:45,878 --> 00:19:48,438 ''why fish go unshod.'' 213 00:19:48,598 --> 00:19:52,068 (SPEAKS WELSH) 214 00:19:56,078 --> 00:19:57,796 What does that mean? 215 00:19:57,958 --> 00:20:02,588 It means, ''I know how high a star is and I know how wide heaven is 216 00:20:02,758 --> 00:20:04,828 ''and I know why minds are troubled.'' 217 00:20:10,878 --> 00:20:16,271 So it was through poetry and prophecy that Arthur first came into being. 218 00:20:16,438 --> 00:20:21,228 But it was Merlin's magic that made him not just a warrior, but a king. 219 00:20:24,158 --> 00:20:27,992 On Christmas Eve, when the nobles of England came out of church, 220 00:20:28,158 --> 00:20:32,868 they saw a great stone with an iron anvil into which a sword was fixed 221 00:20:33,038 --> 00:20:35,996 and on the sword blade, inlaid in gilt, it said, 222 00:20:36,158 --> 00:20:40,595 ''Whoever takes this sword out of the stone shall be king.'' 223 00:20:40,758 --> 00:20:45,036 And all the worthiest lords tried and no one could move it. 224 00:20:45,198 --> 00:20:49,271 Young Arthur happened to ride up on his horse and saw the stone 225 00:20:49,438 --> 00:20:53,954 and he leaned over in his saddle, took the sword by the hilt and drew it out. 226 00:20:54,118 --> 00:21:00,557 The Archbishop said, ''Here is the man that God has chosen, as you have all seen.'' 227 00:21:00,718 --> 00:21:03,949 And that was the way Arthur became king. 228 00:21:11,278 --> 00:21:16,671 And that story shows how Arthur begins to attract other tales, like a magnet. 229 00:21:16,838 --> 00:21:19,716 - Hi, Neil. - Hello, Michael. 230 00:21:19,878 --> 00:21:25,191 - So this is it? - A simple charcoal furnace we're using. 231 00:21:25,358 --> 00:21:28,828 Take a seat. That's it. Just go left and right. 232 00:21:29,878 --> 00:21:34,315 The sword in the stone is one of the most famous of the tales of Arthur. 233 00:21:35,838 --> 00:21:40,468 But this part of the legend may come from much more ancient times. 234 00:21:43,598 --> 00:21:49,070 Back in the Bronze Age, this was an absolutely magical thing 235 00:21:49,238 --> 00:21:53,754 as well as a dramatic technological innovation. 236 00:21:53,918 --> 00:21:58,548 The smith is somebody who transforms base metals 237 00:21:58,718 --> 00:22:01,710 into something beautiful and extraordinary. 238 00:22:05,678 --> 00:22:08,067 Neil Burridge is a bronze caster 239 00:22:08,238 --> 00:22:13,790 and he's worked out the ancient technique of casting bronze swords in a stone mould. 240 00:22:25,518 --> 00:22:29,352 We'll get rid of some of this charcoal at the top. 241 00:22:29,518 --> 00:22:33,033 - Can you see? - Yeah. Wow. Look at it inside. 242 00:22:35,158 --> 00:22:37,228 - We go this way. - OK. 243 00:22:37,398 --> 00:22:39,389 Then we pour. 244 00:22:44,438 --> 00:22:46,156 There we go. 245 00:22:46,318 --> 00:22:49,355 - Right. You can talk. - Is that it? 246 00:22:49,518 --> 00:22:51,156 That's it. 247 00:22:54,838 --> 00:22:59,832 You can tell it's set now because it's not moving. 248 00:23:01,158 --> 00:23:05,151 Let me use this to push the middle and you can tell it's set. 249 00:23:05,318 --> 00:23:07,274 So we're going to lay it down... 250 00:23:13,958 --> 00:23:16,791 ..and try to encourage the moulds apart. 251 00:23:18,678 --> 00:23:21,067 Wow. 252 00:23:21,238 --> 00:23:24,514 So we've got a nice casting. 253 00:23:26,798 --> 00:23:31,553 Look at that. That's absolutely amazing. It is magic. 254 00:23:34,718 --> 00:23:37,278 So there's the sword in the stone. 255 00:23:54,998 --> 00:23:58,274 It's amazing how quickly you've got a weapon. 256 00:23:58,438 --> 00:24:00,588 It's almost instant. 257 00:24:01,718 --> 00:24:04,596 That technique is from the Bronze Age, about 1,000 BC, 258 00:24:04,758 --> 00:24:07,477 but you can see how a process like that 259 00:24:07,638 --> 00:24:12,428 was the kind of thing remembered by the bards and the poets and handed down. 260 00:24:12,598 --> 00:24:16,716 Maybe the story of the sword in the stone 261 00:24:16,878 --> 00:24:20,188 is a hangover of that ancient past. 262 00:24:27,398 --> 00:24:32,028 By the late 12th century, Arthur had become a rallying cry for Welsh revolt 263 00:24:32,198 --> 00:24:35,190 and the English began to see him as a threat. 264 00:24:37,278 --> 00:24:39,269 According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, 265 00:24:39,438 --> 00:24:43,795 Arthur's last resting place was the Isle of Avalon - Glastonbury. 266 00:24:43,958 --> 00:24:47,746 Lady Chapel starts at that arch there, does it? 267 00:24:47,918 --> 00:24:52,753 And here, the English king, Henry II, decided to prove that Arthur was dead 268 00:24:52,918 --> 00:24:54,909 and could never come back. 269 00:24:55,078 --> 00:24:58,275 - And how many paces? - About 14, 15. 270 00:24:58,438 --> 00:25:00,429 14 or 15 paces. 271 00:25:00,598 --> 00:25:05,797 Clues in medieval chronicles allow us to piece together what really happened 272 00:25:05,958 --> 00:25:08,836 on Britain's first archaeological dig. 273 00:25:08,998 --> 00:25:13,196 Nine, ten, 11, 12, 13, 14... 274 00:25:13,358 --> 00:25:16,828 - Round about here is the tomb? - Yeah. 275 00:25:17,838 --> 00:25:22,070 When they started digging, they put up a pavilion around the spot 276 00:25:22,238 --> 00:25:24,513 so people couldn't see. 277 00:25:24,678 --> 00:25:27,715 They screened it off like a police investigation! 278 00:25:27,878 --> 00:25:33,111 - Just like a police investigation. - Gerald of Wales said they dug 16 feet. 279 00:25:33,278 --> 00:25:36,429 What did Gerald say they found at the bottom? 280 00:25:36,598 --> 00:25:39,237 A large hollowed-oak coffin 281 00:25:39,398 --> 00:25:43,755 with two skeletons - one of Arthur, one of Guinevere. 282 00:25:43,918 --> 00:25:47,831 This is the page from ''Camden's Britannia'' 283 00:25:47,998 --> 00:25:53,197 and this is his drawing of the cross. 284 00:25:54,118 --> 00:25:59,954 ''Hic jacet inclitus Rex Arturius 285 00:26:00,118 --> 00:26:03,554 ''in insula avalonia.'' 286 00:26:03,718 --> 00:26:06,710 - Is that suspicious? - I think it's very suspicious. 287 00:26:06,878 --> 00:26:10,109 It's talking about the famous King Arthur, 288 00:26:10,278 --> 00:26:13,156 but he doesn't become famous until after his death. 289 00:26:13,318 --> 00:26:16,196 And the lettering's wrong. It's 12th century. 290 00:26:16,358 --> 00:26:19,953 - Is it? - Yes. They've given themselves away. 291 00:26:28,358 --> 00:26:30,189 So there you are. 292 00:26:30,358 --> 00:26:35,478 The 1191 excavation of King Arthur's body here at Glastonbury, 293 00:26:35,638 --> 00:26:39,267 without a shadow of doubt, was a fraud. 294 00:26:39,438 --> 00:26:44,512 But it sparked off an explosion of interest in the legend. 295 00:26:53,118 --> 00:26:57,953 Given a fine new tomb in Glastonbury, Arthur became a huge tourist draw. 296 00:26:58,118 --> 00:27:01,793 Meanwhile, his legend went international. 297 00:27:03,158 --> 00:27:06,389 Henry II's French wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, 298 00:27:06,558 --> 00:27:10,676 hired French poets to write new Arthur myths. 299 00:27:10,838 --> 00:27:15,036 Their Arthur was a courtly hero of the Age of Chivalry. 300 00:27:23,878 --> 00:27:28,156 A Welsh guerrilla was now head of the most glamorous court in Europe. 301 00:27:29,558 --> 00:27:32,026 And what better place to imagine it? 302 00:27:32,198 --> 00:27:37,989 Towering ramparts, fairy-tale turrets, monks and nuns, knightly halls. 303 00:27:38,158 --> 00:27:43,551 This is how the medieval romances picture the world of King Arthur. 304 00:27:46,998 --> 00:27:51,549 The Bretons are also Celts, cousins of the Cornish and the Welsh. 305 00:27:51,718 --> 00:27:56,428 Bertrand Vanton does tours of the Breton Arthurian sites. 306 00:27:58,078 --> 00:28:02,629 We're heading to a little island over there - Tombelaine. 307 00:28:02,798 --> 00:28:07,633 - How far is it? About a kilometre? - No, it's about three kilometres from here. 308 00:28:07,798 --> 00:28:11,837 It's really tricky. You think it's so near. It's distant. 309 00:28:11,998 --> 00:28:16,196 Here in France, Arthur became a medieval superman, 310 00:28:16,358 --> 00:28:21,113 who slew monsters, rescued maidens and fought giants. 311 00:28:21,278 --> 00:28:25,794 So the stories of Arthur and Merlin, 312 00:28:25,958 --> 00:28:29,234 they are well-known here in France and Brittany? 313 00:28:29,398 --> 00:28:33,596 There is a British legend that is about Tombelaine. 314 00:28:33,758 --> 00:28:38,627 Arthur came here and killed the giant. Is this story also here? 315 00:28:38,798 --> 00:28:41,835 Yes. That was an ogre who came from Spain. 316 00:28:41,998 --> 00:28:45,195 An ogre who came from Spain? Wow. 317 00:28:45,358 --> 00:28:49,067 And he used to live on this island of the Mont St Michel. 318 00:28:49,238 --> 00:28:51,547 Arthur was on his way to Rome. 319 00:28:51,718 --> 00:28:57,315 He heard there was a princess who was in trouble with that ogre, 320 00:28:57,478 --> 00:29:00,595 so he decided to come to the rescue. 321 00:29:00,758 --> 00:29:02,714 Arthur killed the ogre, 322 00:29:02,878 --> 00:29:06,553 but he was too late. Princess Héléne was already dead. 323 00:29:06,718 --> 00:29:10,506 Breton legend says he buried her here on the island. 324 00:29:10,678 --> 00:29:12,908 Here we are. 325 00:29:13,918 --> 00:29:15,909 There's Mont St Michel. 326 00:29:16,078 --> 00:29:19,388 And so Brittany became another Arthur country. 327 00:29:21,238 --> 00:29:26,596 And what a human thing it is in places of such breathtaking beauty 328 00:29:26,758 --> 00:29:30,910 to create wonderful stories and tie them to real landscapes. 329 00:29:34,518 --> 00:29:38,989 That's how myths grow - crystallising our dreams. 330 00:29:45,638 --> 00:29:49,153 And it was here in France that medieval dreamers 331 00:29:49,318 --> 00:29:51,912 now made the tale of Arthur and his knights 332 00:29:52,078 --> 00:29:55,866 a focus for the spiritual values of the age. 333 00:30:02,678 --> 00:30:08,833 But of all the writers that reinvented, re-imagined Arthur in the 12th century, 334 00:30:08,998 --> 00:30:12,547 the greatest was Chrétien de Troyes. 335 00:30:12,718 --> 00:30:17,553 Chrétien took the legend onto a whole new level of romance and chivalry 336 00:30:17,718 --> 00:30:19,629 and spiritual quest. 337 00:30:19,798 --> 00:30:23,268 And in his last work, he added an amazing twist - 338 00:30:23,438 --> 00:30:27,431 a wonderful theme which has captivated the world ever since. 339 00:30:33,278 --> 00:30:39,831 A young knight, Sir Perceval, arrives, tired and hungry, at a magical castle. 340 00:30:39,998 --> 00:30:45,231 From here to Beirut, says Chrétien, a more beautiful castle could never be seen. 341 00:30:47,678 --> 00:30:52,149 But a dark threat of war and suffering hangs over the land. 342 00:30:53,638 --> 00:30:59,076 Perceval is led into the hall and there is seated, as if for a feast. 343 00:31:02,438 --> 00:31:06,636 And he watches in silence as a vision unfolds. 344 00:31:06,798 --> 00:31:09,358 (SOFT SINGING) 345 00:31:23,718 --> 00:31:28,269 A boy came in holding a white lance and he passed in front of the fire. 346 00:31:28,438 --> 00:31:33,148 Everyone in the hall saw a drop of blood issue from the tip of the lance 347 00:31:33,318 --> 00:31:37,277 and the red drop ran right down to the boy's hand. 348 00:31:37,438 --> 00:31:40,555 Now a girl came in, fair and comely, 349 00:31:40,718 --> 00:31:43,755 and between her hands she held a grail. 350 00:31:43,918 --> 00:31:46,273 And when she carried the grail in, 351 00:31:46,438 --> 00:31:49,350 the hall was filled with a light so brilliant 352 00:31:49,518 --> 00:31:52,032 the candles lost their brightness - 353 00:31:52,198 --> 00:31:55,793 as do the moon or stars when the sun rises. 354 00:31:57,438 --> 00:32:02,387 And Perceval went to sleep longing to know the meaning of this vision 355 00:32:02,558 --> 00:32:05,550 and who was to be served from the grail. 356 00:32:16,558 --> 00:32:21,109 (W00D ) When Perceval woke, the castle was empty and the grail was gone 357 00:32:21,278 --> 00:32:26,671 and a quest began that has fascinated writers and filmmakers ever since. 358 00:32:26,838 --> 00:32:31,628 A grail is a serving dish, but it soon became ''the'' Grail - 359 00:32:31,798 --> 00:32:35,074 the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper. 360 00:32:41,798 --> 00:32:44,073 It's a sweet place. 361 00:32:45,718 --> 00:32:50,792 The tale invented by Chrétien came back to England and spread to the Welsh borders. 362 00:32:51,918 --> 00:32:54,796 - Am I on ''Candid Camera''? - Not yet! 363 00:32:54,958 --> 00:32:57,426 Here, if you want to find the Holy Grail, 364 00:32:57,598 --> 00:33:02,069 the key, or rather the keys, are kept in the Hodnet village shop. 365 00:33:02,238 --> 00:33:06,709 - Hi, Janice. This is Michael. - Nice to meet you. Sorry to disturb you. 366 00:33:06,878 --> 00:33:10,871 - Can we borrow the key for the church? - You certainly can. 367 00:33:11,038 --> 00:33:16,112 It's a bit complicated. That's the outer door - the little door in the corner. 368 00:33:16,278 --> 00:33:18,917 That's the outer door upper lock. 369 00:33:19,078 --> 00:33:24,630 That's the inner door upper lock and the inner door bottom lock. 370 00:33:28,078 --> 00:33:32,674 The Grail story appears in a 13th-century Shropshire legend 371 00:33:32,838 --> 00:33:36,877 and it resurfaces with a Victorian antiquarian, Thomas Wright. 372 00:33:37,038 --> 00:33:41,190 He left a series of clues which finally brought you to this church. 373 00:33:41,358 --> 00:33:44,430 Graham Phillips has spent years untangling the riddle. 374 00:33:44,598 --> 00:33:48,750 He thinks that Wright left clues to the whereabouts of the Grail 375 00:33:48,918 --> 00:33:51,751 in the west window of the village church. 376 00:33:56,838 --> 00:33:59,033 There it is. 377 00:34:00,918 --> 00:34:07,790 The four figures represented are supposed to be Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, 378 00:34:07,958 --> 00:34:12,634 although John quite clearly is a woman in this representation, 379 00:34:12,798 --> 00:34:14,868 perhaps Mary Magdalene. 380 00:34:15,038 --> 00:34:17,313 With the cup called the Marian Chalice, 381 00:34:17,478 --> 00:34:21,517 the chalice that was supposed to have been used by Mary Magdalene... 382 00:34:21,678 --> 00:34:25,796 At the Crucifixion, she holds the cup up to collect the blood of Christ. 383 00:34:25,958 --> 00:34:27,949 So what led you to this? 384 00:34:28,118 --> 00:34:33,590 A family called Fitz Warine possessed a cup which they claimed was the Holy Grail. 385 00:34:33,758 --> 00:34:36,591 Their descendants were called the Vernons 386 00:34:36,758 --> 00:34:41,548 and their descendant was Thomas Wright, the man who had this window put in. 387 00:34:41,718 --> 00:34:44,027 So the plot thickens here. 388 00:34:44,198 --> 00:34:48,749 He claims to have the very same cup, but he's got no son to hand it on to... 389 00:34:48,918 --> 00:34:52,911 No story has generated so many conspiracy theories. 390 00:34:54,438 --> 00:34:59,910 But that's a testimony to the seductive power of the myth and its symbols. 391 00:35:00,078 --> 00:35:03,388 If one of those statues is important, 392 00:35:03,558 --> 00:35:07,995 it must be the one above St John's head - the eagle statue. 393 00:35:12,118 --> 00:35:15,906 The Shropshire Grail mystery leads to Hawkstone Park. 394 00:35:18,318 --> 00:35:21,390 It's an 18th-century fantasy garden 395 00:35:21,558 --> 00:35:24,595 which has now become another Arthur country. 396 00:35:25,878 --> 00:35:29,234 0nly this one was made to order. 397 00:35:42,198 --> 00:35:48,512 In this man-made grotto, the mischievous Victorian, Thomas Wright, left a final clue. 398 00:35:49,918 --> 00:35:51,556 Right. 399 00:35:53,358 --> 00:35:55,826 So these are the two statues. 400 00:35:55,998 --> 00:35:59,149 This one here, the lion statue, 401 00:35:59,318 --> 00:36:03,869 and the other one over here is the actual eagle statue... 402 00:36:08,838 --> 00:36:13,832 You can see its feet here, this is its breast, and its head would have been here. 403 00:36:13,998 --> 00:36:15,989 It was in the base of this - 404 00:36:16,158 --> 00:36:20,310 it had been moved down the cliff there and it fell to the bottom. 405 00:36:20,478 --> 00:36:25,677 In the base of it there was a little hollow and that's where the cup was found. 406 00:36:25,838 --> 00:36:30,229 The cup that was found in the statue... 407 00:36:31,158 --> 00:36:36,437 ..it's quite small. In fact, when you see it... 408 00:36:36,598 --> 00:36:39,066 Wow. Can we bring it into the light? 409 00:36:40,718 --> 00:36:45,633 When you see it, it doesn't look much different to an egg cup. 410 00:36:45,798 --> 00:36:48,107 - But... - God, how interesting. 411 00:36:48,278 --> 00:36:52,635 It was taken to the British Museum where they identified it 412 00:36:52,798 --> 00:36:55,107 as a 1st-century Roman scent jar. 413 00:36:55,278 --> 00:36:56,597 No? 414 00:36:56,758 --> 00:37:01,548 It can't be proved that it's that, but that's certainly the style of it. 415 00:37:05,758 --> 00:37:09,353 How like medieval people we still are. 416 00:37:09,518 --> 00:37:13,830 The power of the tale is so great that we will it to be true. 417 00:37:19,118 --> 00:37:24,146 But, despite all the seekers from the medievals to ''The Da Vinci Code'', 418 00:37:24,318 --> 00:37:26,786 the Grail is pure myth. 419 00:37:28,838 --> 00:37:33,036 A symbol created by Chrétien and the poets who came after him 420 00:37:33,198 --> 00:37:39,546 of something that can never be possessed... but for which we must still strive. 421 00:37:40,878 --> 00:37:44,473 A symbol, perhaps, of the human quest itself. 422 00:37:59,758 --> 00:38:05,196 The Holy Grail is not the only symbol of Arthur which was created to meet our needs. 423 00:38:05,358 --> 00:38:09,397 In medieval England, they thought Camelot was Winchester, 424 00:38:09,558 --> 00:38:13,392 and here they have Arthur's round table. 425 00:38:14,638 --> 00:38:18,074 It's the ultimate symbol of equality among men of power, 426 00:38:18,238 --> 00:38:22,277 copied in parliaments round the world - the United Nations itself. 427 00:38:24,318 --> 00:38:27,355 It was made for Edward I in 1290 428 00:38:27,518 --> 00:38:31,989 after he'd reburied Arthur's bones in a marble tomb in Glastonbury. 429 00:38:32,998 --> 00:38:36,627 This is the best way to view it! 430 00:38:36,798 --> 00:38:41,189 So it's a fake but, of course, it's also real. 431 00:38:41,358 --> 00:38:44,907 Now we're up here you can make out the names of the heroes. 432 00:38:45,078 --> 00:38:48,991 - Galahad, Lancelot du Lac... - Gawain. 433 00:38:49,158 --> 00:38:51,956 - That's Gawain? - Perceval. 434 00:38:52,118 --> 00:38:54,837 - This is Tristram. - Tristram d'Orleans. 435 00:38:54,998 --> 00:38:58,673 Gareth, Bedivere, and all the odd ones... 436 00:38:58,838 --> 00:39:04,151 200 years later, the table was repainted by another would-be Arthur - Henry VIII. 437 00:39:04,318 --> 00:39:08,834 - This was painted when? - Some time after August 1516. 438 00:39:08,998 --> 00:39:11,717 Henry has come here - first visit as king - 439 00:39:11,878 --> 00:39:15,154 saw it was in bad condition and immediately issued a writ 440 00:39:15,318 --> 00:39:18,116 to repair the hall and paint the table. 441 00:39:18,278 --> 00:39:23,591 This is one of the world's greatest symbols, but it's changed its symbolic meaning. 442 00:39:23,758 --> 00:39:26,067 What was Henry's interest in Arthur? 443 00:39:26,238 --> 00:39:30,072 Henry wanted to be elected Holy Roman Emperor. 444 00:39:31,278 --> 00:39:34,350 So he has a King Arthur painted with his own face, 445 00:39:34,518 --> 00:39:40,309 so this is clearly a descendant of Arthur who rules the round table in this life. 446 00:39:40,478 --> 00:39:44,187 - Arthur reborn - Arthur reborn. Rege vivus. 447 00:39:50,638 --> 00:39:55,314 And so Geoffrey of Monmouth's prophecy had come true. 448 00:39:55,478 --> 00:39:59,357 Henry VIII was a Tudor. The Tudors were Welsh. 449 00:39:59,518 --> 00:40:02,988 The old monarchy of Britain had been restored. 450 00:40:06,078 --> 00:40:09,912 The myth of Arthur had become a parable of Britain itself, 451 00:40:10,078 --> 00:40:14,435 a dream of what Britain had been and could be once more - 452 00:40:14,598 --> 00:40:18,796 a paradise land whose golden age might still come again. 453 00:40:29,878 --> 00:40:35,987 But only a few years later, it was Henry himself who smashed that old world forever. 454 00:40:38,438 --> 00:40:42,317 When Henry fell out with the Pope and made England Protestant, 455 00:40:42,478 --> 00:40:47,268 he ordered the demolition of England's old medieval Catholic culture. 456 00:40:49,278 --> 00:40:52,429 And here in Glastonbury, Arthur's Isle of Avalon, 457 00:40:52,598 --> 00:40:55,954 they felt the full fury of the Reformation. 458 00:40:58,038 --> 00:41:03,271 It's like the Taliban in Afghanistan or the Cultural Revolution in China. 459 00:41:03,438 --> 00:41:10,389 Among the casualties, the bones that lay in the black marble tomb in the nave. 460 00:41:10,558 --> 00:41:15,109 Arthur and Guinevere, whoever they really belonged to, gone forever. 461 00:41:26,918 --> 00:41:32,390 And with that, you might have thought, the myth of Arthur had run its course. 462 00:41:32,558 --> 00:41:36,233 The Tudor revolution would lead us into the modern world. 463 00:41:36,398 --> 00:41:39,754 The age of angels and grails had gone forever. 464 00:41:41,958 --> 00:41:45,997 But, like every nation, the British still needed their myths. 465 00:41:46,158 --> 00:41:49,150 Myths of identity, myths of state. 466 00:41:52,158 --> 00:41:56,071 Visitors think this is medieval, but actually it's... 467 00:41:56,238 --> 00:42:01,835 Well, they know that it represents... British history. 468 00:42:02,878 --> 00:42:06,996 In the 19th century, the Houses of Parliament were rebuilt, 469 00:42:07,158 --> 00:42:10,468 decorated with the tales of Arthur and his knights. 470 00:42:13,398 --> 00:42:19,871 This is our legend and myth which the Victorians thought was most appropriate. 471 00:42:23,438 --> 00:42:28,114 In her robing room, when Queen Victoria dressed for great affairs of state, 472 00:42:28,278 --> 00:42:31,748 she did so under the gaze of her mythic predecessor. 473 00:42:34,278 --> 00:42:37,987 What they wanted in this room was some kind of aesthetic 474 00:42:38,158 --> 00:42:43,152 which represented the merits and the virtues of kingship, of monarchy. 475 00:42:48,318 --> 00:42:53,836 And through Arthur, England would engage again with her lost past. 476 00:43:09,078 --> 00:43:14,835 For his Arthurian epic, the Victorian's favourite poet, Alfred Tennyson, 477 00:43:14,998 --> 00:43:19,992 joined forces with the pioneer of photography, Julia Margaret Cameron. 478 00:43:20,158 --> 00:43:23,867 The same tales that had held the medievals spellbound 479 00:43:24,038 --> 00:43:27,633 now caught the mood of the Victorian age. 480 00:43:27,798 --> 00:43:30,790 The ''once and future king'' had returned. 481 00:43:33,798 --> 00:43:36,676 - This is the original volume? - Yes. 482 00:43:36,838 --> 00:43:40,069 - And the original signature. - There's the man himself. 483 00:43:40,238 --> 00:43:43,947 Gosh, so these are all original prints. 484 00:43:44,118 --> 00:43:47,872 What's so striking about them is how much they correspond 485 00:43:48,038 --> 00:43:52,589 to our image of what the Arthurian period looked like today. 486 00:43:52,758 --> 00:43:56,034 DW Griffith, the great American silent film maker, 487 00:43:56,198 --> 00:43:58,314 was hugely influenced by Mrs Cameron. 488 00:43:58,478 --> 00:44:04,951 So you have her sense of lighting and dress going straight into early Hollywood. 489 00:44:05,118 --> 00:44:08,474 There's a direct line through this and silent movies? 490 00:44:08,638 --> 00:44:12,074 - Yes. - They're such wonderful images. 491 00:44:13,358 --> 00:44:16,509 Look at this. Lancelot and Guinevere. 492 00:44:16,678 --> 00:44:21,308 There's a very melancholy strain in all this, isn't there? 493 00:44:21,478 --> 00:44:25,676 This is the height of the Victorian Empire. How do you explain this? 494 00:44:25,838 --> 00:44:29,592 You have as Arnold said, ''The sea of faith retreating''. 495 00:44:29,758 --> 00:44:33,148 You've got Darwin developing the Theory of Evolution. 496 00:44:33,318 --> 00:44:37,789 Not yet published, but in the air, so to speak, intellectually. 497 00:44:37,958 --> 00:44:43,510 This sense that Victorian certainties were ebbing away as they were at the high point. 498 00:44:43,678 --> 00:44:47,990 It's a conscious turning one's back on what's become the modern world. 499 00:44:58,558 --> 00:45:01,994 (W00D ) Freedom fighter, superman, Christian hero 500 00:45:02,158 --> 00:45:06,071 and now head of the first British Empire. 501 00:45:07,158 --> 00:45:11,436 A tired giant, whose noble ideals slip through his fingers. 502 00:45:12,438 --> 00:45:17,796 But a figure who united the British in a mystical vision of their past. 503 00:45:18,798 --> 00:45:24,987 A fantasy, but somehow, like all the best myths, still true. 504 00:45:39,198 --> 00:45:44,431 (TANN0Y) A no-smoking policy is now operated on all interior accommodation. 505 00:45:46,358 --> 00:45:52,035 So you see this great mass of legends and stories about King Arthur 506 00:45:52,198 --> 00:45:56,271 grew and was added to over hundreds of years. 507 00:45:56,438 --> 00:45:58,235 Responding to the times, 508 00:45:58,398 --> 00:46:02,949 to needs that were political and cultural and even emotional. 509 00:46:03,118 --> 00:46:09,512 You can see too that most of them have no origin in real historical events. 510 00:46:09,678 --> 00:46:14,627 They're the product of the wonderful imagination of the storytellers. 511 00:46:17,798 --> 00:46:20,710 But is that all there is to it? 512 00:46:20,878 --> 00:46:25,508 Where did the first Arthur storytellers get their tales? 513 00:46:25,678 --> 00:46:28,636 How far back do they really go? 514 00:46:33,358 --> 00:46:39,433 To find out in the islands of Britain today, there's only one place you can go. 515 00:46:39,598 --> 00:46:41,589 To Ireland. 516 00:46:48,278 --> 00:46:52,669 I went down into County Cork with Professor Dathi 0'Hogain 517 00:46:52,838 --> 00:46:56,194 to find one of only two storytellers still alive 518 00:46:56,358 --> 00:47:00,829 who can recite the Gaelic hero tales of ancient Ireland. 519 00:47:10,678 --> 00:47:14,387 Very nice to meet you. I'm Michael. 520 00:47:14,558 --> 00:47:18,187 - (INDISTINCT) - Michael Wood. 521 00:47:18,358 --> 00:47:20,667 (FIDDLE PLAYS) 522 00:47:22,598 --> 00:47:25,715 Padraig, the fiddle player, is 90 years old 523 00:47:25,878 --> 00:47:30,508 and the tale teller himself - Sean - a sprightly 80. 524 00:47:42,678 --> 00:47:46,751 (SPEAKS GAELIC) 525 00:47:57,238 --> 00:48:02,187 This story tells of Finn McCool and the young warriors, the Fianna. 526 00:48:02,358 --> 00:48:05,077 A tale with uncanny echoes of Arthur - 527 00:48:05,238 --> 00:48:09,026 the magic sword, the cup that brings eternal life. 528 00:48:18,198 --> 00:48:20,587 (APPLAUSE) 529 00:48:22,198 --> 00:48:25,793 How did you first hear these stories? 530 00:48:25,958 --> 00:48:29,155 - I learned them from the old people. - The old people? 531 00:48:30,278 --> 00:48:35,193 The only thing we have in this world is our way of thinking. 532 00:48:35,358 --> 00:48:37,349 There is nothing stronger than that. 533 00:48:38,438 --> 00:48:41,874 When that story is written in about the 16th century, 534 00:48:42,038 --> 00:48:46,156 the writer was using older motifs and older Fianna materials. 535 00:48:46,318 --> 00:48:52,951 When you hear Sean, you're listening to a voice that goes back for centuries. 536 00:48:53,118 --> 00:48:56,667 When you listen to Sean telling the Fianna story, 537 00:48:56,838 --> 00:49:02,515 you get an impression of what it was like in Wales from the 9th to the 11th century 538 00:49:02,678 --> 00:49:06,751 before the Arthurian tradition became part of the literature of Europe. 539 00:49:06,918 --> 00:49:10,388 When I'm telling those stories, I'm living them. 540 00:49:16,478 --> 00:49:22,997 So through Sean, we can trace elements of the tale back 1,500 years or more. 541 00:49:23,158 --> 00:49:25,353 But are they just fantasy? 542 00:49:28,478 --> 00:49:33,268 Could there even have been a real Arthur, as the Welsh believe? 543 00:49:33,438 --> 00:49:38,034 It's only a short hop of about 15 miles at its shortest 544 00:49:38,198 --> 00:49:42,191 between County Antrim in Ireland and the islands of Scotland. 545 00:49:42,358 --> 00:49:48,706 This stretch of water has been a passageway for migrants and seamen and saints, 546 00:49:48,878 --> 00:49:52,712 along with stories and legends, for thousands of years. 547 00:49:57,318 --> 00:49:59,752 This is the Isle of Iona. 548 00:50:03,518 --> 00:50:06,828 It's the burial place of the kings of the Scots, 549 00:50:08,038 --> 00:50:12,350 Gaelic speakers who came here from Ireland in the Dark Ages. 550 00:50:19,878 --> 00:50:24,315 It was here that an Irish saint, Columba, came in the 6th century 551 00:50:24,478 --> 00:50:27,470 and converted the Scots to Christianity. 552 00:50:28,598 --> 00:50:32,637 - So this is a 19th-century edition, is it? - Yeah. 553 00:50:32,798 --> 00:50:36,268 He came from what we would now call Northern Ireland, 554 00:50:36,438 --> 00:50:42,070 and this area of Scotland was already colonised by his people. 555 00:50:42,238 --> 00:50:44,229 They were having a hard time 556 00:50:44,398 --> 00:50:48,835 because the king of the Picts was giving them a hard time. 557 00:50:48,998 --> 00:50:53,435 They maybe sent for Columba as an important person from their own tribe 558 00:50:53,598 --> 00:50:57,432 to help them counter this pressure from the Pictish king. 559 00:50:57,598 --> 00:51:02,626 Columba's was a brutal age of battles between Scots, Picts and Saxons. 560 00:51:02,798 --> 00:51:08,031 His life was written down in one of Britain's earliest biographies. 561 00:51:08,198 --> 00:51:11,668 (WOOD ) This is the crucial bit here. 562 00:51:11,838 --> 00:51:16,753 It's about the sons of King Aidan, who's really the first king of the Scots, 563 00:51:16,918 --> 00:51:21,150 who emerges from the shadows as a real person. 564 00:51:21,318 --> 00:51:25,197 And it's about a prophecy that St Columba makes. 565 00:51:25,358 --> 00:51:28,794 ''Nunc barbari in fugam vertuntur, 566 00:51:28,958 --> 00:51:34,828 ''Aidanoque quamlibet infelix, tamen concessa victoria est.'' 567 00:51:34,998 --> 00:51:40,072 King Aidan's troops win the battle, but it's an unhappy victory. 568 00:51:40,238 --> 00:51:44,231 303 heroic warriors die in the battle. 569 00:51:44,398 --> 00:51:47,595 But even more important, in the same battle... 570 00:51:47,758 --> 00:51:53,390 ''Miatorum superius memorato in bello, trucidati sunt...'' 571 00:51:53,558 --> 00:51:57,631 ..were killed the two sons of Aidan. 572 00:51:57,798 --> 00:52:01,393 Echodius, and the eldest son... 573 00:52:01,558 --> 00:52:04,391 Arturius. 574 00:52:04,558 --> 00:52:06,037 Arthur. 575 00:52:12,798 --> 00:52:17,997 Just like the Holy Grail, we search for Arthur, willing him to be real. 576 00:52:19,398 --> 00:52:24,791 But there is a real Arthur, who died in a tragic battle in the 6th century, 577 00:52:24,958 --> 00:52:27,426 somewhere north of the Roman wall. 578 00:52:30,078 --> 00:52:35,994 Was it his name that was handed down by the bards to all those later storytellers? 579 00:52:44,518 --> 00:52:50,115 And never was there seen a more doleful battle in any Christian land. 580 00:52:50,278 --> 00:52:53,031 They fought all day long and never stinted 581 00:52:53,198 --> 00:52:57,635 till all the noble knights were laid to rest in the cold earth. 582 00:52:57,798 --> 00:53:00,596 They fought till it was near night 583 00:53:00,758 --> 00:53:04,512 and then King Arthur spied the traitor, Sir Mordred, 584 00:53:04,678 --> 00:53:09,593 and he ran toward him crying, ''Traitor! Now is your death day come!'' 585 00:53:09,758 --> 00:53:12,272 And King Arthur smote Sir Mordred 586 00:53:12,438 --> 00:53:15,828 with a thrust of his spear right through his body. 587 00:53:15,998 --> 00:53:18,956 When Sir Mordred felt he had his death wound, 588 00:53:19,118 --> 00:53:25,148 he pushed himself with his last strength up to the burr of King Arthur's spear... 589 00:53:26,158 --> 00:53:31,357 and he smote his father Arthur with his sword over the side of his head. 590 00:53:31,518 --> 00:53:35,067 Then Sir Mordred fell stark dead to the earth 591 00:53:35,238 --> 00:53:38,867 and the noble Arthur fell in a swoon. 592 00:53:39,878 --> 00:53:44,394 ''Ah!'' he said. ''Now I have my death.'' 593 00:54:03,398 --> 00:54:08,870 The Welsh chronicles say that Arthur's last battle was at a place called Camlann - 594 00:54:10,238 --> 00:54:14,356 a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall called Camboglanna. 595 00:54:15,638 --> 00:54:18,835 - It's so beautiful. - We're now climbing the wall. 596 00:54:18,998 --> 00:54:24,026 - Oh, yes. So we're now inside...? - You'd now be inside the fort. 597 00:54:26,998 --> 00:54:32,118 In Major Johnstone's potting shed were relics from the end of the Roman world. 598 00:54:33,398 --> 00:54:37,152 This is amazing. Absolutely amazing. 599 00:54:40,158 --> 00:54:44,754 The fort was occupied by a team of soldiers... 600 00:54:46,438 --> 00:54:51,558 The fort has never been excavated but we know it was occupied in the 6th century, 601 00:54:51,718 --> 00:54:54,630 when the legend of Arthur may have begun. 602 00:54:56,198 --> 00:54:58,189 And, even more extraordinary, 603 00:54:58,358 --> 00:55:01,828 the Welsh bard, Myrddin - the first Merlin - 604 00:55:01,998 --> 00:55:05,991 sang his heroic songs about this very area. 605 00:55:06,158 --> 00:55:11,107 Yeah. Look here. Another hero figure. 606 00:55:11,278 --> 00:55:13,746 This looks like some kind of altar 607 00:55:13,918 --> 00:55:18,548 with a hero or divine figure with some kind of club. 608 00:55:18,718 --> 00:55:21,516 It could be a war god. 609 00:55:21,678 --> 00:55:24,715 I don't know whether you know this story, 610 00:55:24,878 --> 00:55:29,998 but in the Annals of Wales, a 10th-century manuscript in the British Library, 611 00:55:30,158 --> 00:55:34,151 it has a note speaking of a battle at a place called Camlann, 612 00:55:34,318 --> 00:55:38,596 which, if it's a Roman place name at all, must be Camboglanna. 613 00:55:38,758 --> 00:55:42,307 - Right. - In which Arthur and Medrawt died. 614 00:55:42,478 --> 00:55:44,628 How very interesting. 615 00:55:44,798 --> 00:55:49,110 Yes, I remember that from what one knows of Arthur, 616 00:55:49,278 --> 00:55:52,554 but I never connected it might be here. 617 00:55:57,118 --> 00:56:03,387 So here at last, perhaps, is a tangible link with an Arthur of history. 618 00:56:10,958 --> 00:56:13,870 There doesn't have to be a historical prototype, 619 00:56:14,038 --> 00:56:16,711 but maybe this is the connection. 620 00:56:32,838 --> 00:56:36,547 As he lay dying, Arthur said to Sir Bedivere, 621 00:56:36,718 --> 00:56:43,237 ''Here, take Excalibur. Go with it to the lake and throw my sword in the water.'' 622 00:56:44,238 --> 00:56:48,550 But Sir Bedivere couldn't bring himself to throw such a wonderful thing away 623 00:56:48,718 --> 00:56:54,236 and twice he hid Excalibur and came back and said he had thrown it in the water. 624 00:56:54,398 --> 00:56:57,117 ''What did you see?'' said Arthur. 625 00:56:57,278 --> 00:57:01,271 ''I saw nothing but the ripple of the waves'', said Bedivere. 626 00:57:01,438 --> 00:57:04,828 ''Ah, traitor untrue!'' said King Arthur. 627 00:57:04,998 --> 00:57:07,592 ''Now you have twice betrayed me.'' 628 00:57:10,238 --> 00:57:14,356 (W00D ) The third time, Bedivere threw the sword into the lake 629 00:57:14,518 --> 00:57:19,592 and an arm appeared, grasped the sword and took it back into the water, 630 00:57:19,758 --> 00:57:23,148 safe for the day the king will return. 631 00:57:30,198 --> 00:57:36,637 And so, over the centuries, King Arthur became a symbol of their histories 632 00:57:36,798 --> 00:57:39,517 for the peoples of the islands of Britain. 633 00:57:39,678 --> 00:57:45,992 And, in that sense, as with all great myths and legends, he's still alive today. 634 00:57:47,598 --> 00:57:51,068 As Sir Thomas Malory said, more than 500 years ago, 635 00:57:51,238 --> 00:57:54,036 ''Some men say that King Arthur is not dead, 636 00:57:54,198 --> 00:57:58,476 ''but had by the will of our Lord Jesus Christ into another place. 637 00:57:58,638 --> 00:58:03,632 ''And men say he will come again and win the Holy Cross. 638 00:58:03,798 --> 00:58:07,108 ''I will not say that this shall be so, 639 00:58:07,278 --> 00:58:10,588 ''but on his tomb is written this verse: 640 00:58:10,758 --> 00:58:15,786 '''Here lies Arthur, once and future king'.''