At Sea

Annwen at sea

Off on expedition - back soon.

A Description of Avalon

It was thick fog here today and the ships bellowed like sea monsters as they passed.

So far, we've scanned the historical sources for possible clues as to where Arthur's final battle might have been such that he could have escaped by sea. The central south coast of modern England would be reasonable given the political situation and borders between Germanic and British territories at the turn of the 6th Century.

Of course, we must remember that it was Geoffrey of Monmouth who suggested the idea of Arthur going to Avalon in the first place - and he tended to mix fact with fiction.

However, Geoffrey did give a reasonably clear description of Avalon that we might be able to use to pinpoint our destination on the chart.

He said:

'The island of apples which men call 'The Fortunate Isle' gets its name from the fact that it produces all things of itself; the fields there have no need of the ploughs of the farmers and all cultivation is lacking except what nature provides.  Of its own accord it produces grain and grapes, and apple trees grow in its woods from the close-clipped grass.  The ground of its own accord produces everything instead of merely grass, and people live there a hundred years or more.  There nine sisters rule by a pleasing set of laws those who come to them from our country. She who is first of them is more skilled in the healing art, and excels her sisters in the beauty of her person. Morgen is her name, and she has learned what useful properties all the herbs contain, so that she can cure sick bodies.  She also knows an art by which to change her shape, and to cleave the air on new wings like Daedalus;

...Thither after the battle of Camlan we took the wounded Arthur, guided by Barinthus [the Celtic sea god] to whom the waters and the stars of heaven were well known.  With him steering the ship we arrived there with the prince, and Morgen received us with fitting honour, and in her chamber she placed the king on a golden bed and with her own hand she uncovered his honourable wound and gazed at it for a long time.  At length she said that health could be restored to him if he stayed with her for a long time and made use of her healing art.  Rejoicing, therefore, we entrusted the king to her and returning spread our sails to the favouring winds.'

A battle by the seaside

It was a lovely sunny day yesterday, so I lazed about on the beach reading and talking to those passing by.

Of course I got to thinking about the Avalon quest and whether the whole thing was possible. You see, Geoffrey of Monmouth who wrote the first comprehensive story of Arthur’s life is largely dismissed by modern academics for having twisted and made up facts.  And it was Geoffrey who informed his waiting Norman, Breton and British audience that Arthur had gone to Avalon.

In Geoffrey’s time, there was low public literacy and people took superstition and magic very seriously. Legendary characters and creatures definitely existed in far off realms (check out the Mappa Mundi).  

In purely factual terms, Geoffrey’s History was widely believed and cited for several centuries. But from the very beginning there were dissenters who pointed out that some of the characters Geoffrey wrote about couldn’t be found in other records and some of the events he described with eye-witness detail simply couldn’t have happened.

So, to understand what Geoffrey wrote, I am wondering if I might have to adopt a medieval mindset (there was a good programme about medieval thought on the television recently).

Oh, just to finish off my previous train of thought – the 14^th Century historian Ranulf Higden tried to find common ground between the Anglo-Saxon records and Geoffrey’s vision of the Arthurian Dark Age world. Higden decided Arthur’s main opponent must have be Cerdic of Wessex, although he tried to fit Modred in too.

Later, Malory, in his Morte d’Arthur, placed the final battle;
‘upon a down beside Salisbury, and not far from the seaside.’
Which would fit a south coast location somewhere between Southampton and Bornemouth.

Subathing

The skipper is out sunbathing.

Annwen is resting.

Two sides of the same story?

It’s been a much brighter day today. So, I weighed anchor and headed over to the Jolly Roger pub for a nice fish lunch and a think.

A problem with Arthurian studies is that whilst Arthur is mentioned in early British source, such as the Annales Cambriae and Nennius, he is not mentioned in the equivalent English sources such as Bede and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. Worst of all, Arthur is not mentioned by the academic Briton Gildas who was born within living memory of the Battle of Badon, which Arthur allegedly won.

Mind you, each side omits mention of many heroes of the other, so this line of argument doesn’t get us much further towards establishing the nature of the conflict in which Arthur was deposed.

However, as I have said, John Morris noticed a possible overlap between English and British records. He saw that the British poem about the loss of Geraint, and possibly even Arthur, at the ‘warship port’, could be about the same event as the English description of an attack on Portchester found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles attributed to  the year 501 AD:

Note: there's been a lot of dispute about whether 'Port' was a person or a mangled geographical reference to Roman 'portus' or British 'porth' - ie this was really about Bieda and Maegla landing at a port and the scribes having to find some 'English' explanation for the name of the place where they arrived.

“Port came to Britain with his two sons, Bieda and Maegla, and two ships to the place Portsmouth, and killed a young British man, a very noble man.”

Anyhow, let's assume there's a nugget of truth, as there is in many of the ASC entries. We’ve already looked at an entry in the Annales Cambriae that claims Arthur fell at the Battle of Camlann in 537.

The entry for 509 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles informs us about St Benedict’s death. We know from other sources that St Benedict died in 547 AD. We also know that the early dates in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles were approximated when the oral records were transcribed. I suspect and other have reported there was also some stretching of events backwards to disguise the British successes that culminated in Badon.

Logically then, it might be reasonable to suggest the English attack on Portchester occurred approximately 38 years after the date given in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles ie in 539, which would make it about the same time that the Annales Cambriae claim Camlann occurred.

The entries in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles that follow the Portchester entry tell of how Cerdic (who interestingly has a British name), the founder of Wessex and England, started to break out of the original English held territories. In other words, the events of these few years describe a change in the balance of power in favour of the English. This would fit well with the end of a British golden age of peace.

Given we located an ancient British ‘Cam’ site (settlement in the bend) within a mile of Portchester Castle with easy access to the sea, this a potentially viable start point to follow Arthur’s escape route to Avalon.

Although no one else, to my knowledge has suggested the Battle of Camlann occurred at Portsmouth, others have reached similar conclusions about the general location of Arthur's last battle...

But , I must finish this delicious – and highly recommended – fish...

Life in a small boat

My suggestion is that all writers thinking of producing a book about Arthur illustrated with dreamy shots of sunlit hills and misty mornings should spend a night in an open boat in the howling wind with rain drumming on the suspended tarpaulin (like yesterday as it happens). But, then I guess Arthur has become associated with mystery and magic and you need the hypnotic effect of such images to help keep the subject on an emotional rather than an analytical plane.

I expect many of us can picture Arthur’s departure from the field of battle in a small boat with billowing sails, crewed by women in pleasingly flowing, but totally impractical, dresses. In part, I blame John Boorman for creating such imagery in his wonderful film Excalibur, where the mortally wounded Arthur is shown carried off across the calm sea towards a moody sunset.

One can only hope the magic was strong or that the women had checked the charts, weather forecast and tides before setting off towards Avalon as I don’t think any badly wounded soldier, however hardy and brave, would last long in an open boat at the mercy of the changeable British climate.

Indeed, a sailor who’d experienced a night or two in a small boat might wickedly suggest that the reason Arthur wasn’t heard of again is that the gods took the boat and all in it, Viking funeral style, soon after it was waved off on its journey.

However, Geoffrey of Monmouth, our primary source for Avalon, tells us Arthur did reach his island destination.

An Interesting 'Cam' reference

I must admit, no one seems ever to have suggested Portchester as the location of Arthur's final battle before and there don't seem to be any Arthurian legends attached to the area (except for nearby Winchester).

However, the British of Hampshire were absorbed into the English speaking West Saxon heartland, so it wouldn't be surprising to find that Celtic stories were eventually replaced by English ones.

Nennius lists Arthur's 12 victories. But, the previously discussed battle of Llongborth was a defeat where Geraint died and Arthur may have been present (and possily injured or killed). The only defeat we know Arthur sufferered was at Camlann, immediately before his alleged departure to Avalon. So, could Llongborth and Camlann have been part of the same action?

Modern Cams Hall near Portchester

Interestingly enough, there is a 'Cam' location within a mile of Portchester castle. According to Hampshire Place Names by Richard Coates, the nearby Cams Hall estate takes its name from a Romano-British settlement and port in a river bend which was known as Kameys in 1242. This name in turn derives from the ancient British word 'cambes', meaning crooked, which is a geographical description of the settlement's location in relation to the river. Recent rescue archaeology investigations at the adjacent Cams Hill have revealed evidence of a high status Romano-British settlement that continued into the Dark Ages. The location would be ideal for an escape by boat.

The 'crooked bend' at Cams

Now, as it happens, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles describe an important battle at Portchester which appears to mark a turning point in the fortunes of the British and to lead directly to the formation of Wessex by Cerdic. Cerdic's descendents eventually went on to rule a united England.

So, could Portchester have also been the site of Arthur's last battle of Camlann and the start point for our voyage to Avalon?