Where did the story of King Arthur begin?

Answer 1

No one knows this for certain. Theories seem to point that if a man existed who was the basis for what we know as Arthur today, he probably lived in the years around 500 AD--ish. His court most likely would have had someone serving in a capacity similar to the Celtic bards--a storyteller and keeper of the events and battles fought and won. (A precursor to Merlin?) This is the person who would have told the very first stories regarding Arthur and his exploits as a warrior. Those stories would have been memorized by others and recited in other courts. And some apparently were passed on from generation to generation because we find mentions of Arthur and fragments of his stories in Welsh manuscripts that were written down centuries later.

The man who wrote out the origins of the story that we're now familiar with was Geoffrey of Monmouth who wrote his History of the Kings of Britain in around 1138--more than six centuries after Arthur's time. A goodly chunk of the History is taken up by the story of Arthur.

Read more: Who_first_told_the_story_of_King_Arthur

Answer 2

Le Morte De'Arthur

**Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his History of the Kings of Britain, in which he devotes a huge section to Arthur, about 400 years prior to the Morte. Geoffrey of Monmouth was the first to give us a full-blown written version of Arthur's story from his birth to death. Prior to that there was most likely an oral tradition--we see traces of them in the Welsh Mabingion, a colletion of stories that are probably much older than the dates they were set to writing. The most complete story of those that regards Arthur is Culhwch and Olwen. Another full version of Arthur's story that pre-dates the Morte is in the Medieval French Vulgate Cycle. **

Answer 3

There are many stories. i have no idea but i would find the oldest version i could find and read it; mostly likely its changed the least from the original story and closest to the actual event (oral language stuff) or you might get lucky and find the exact one but i doubt it.

The original story of King Arthur was written in the 12th-century and was included in a book called The History of the Kings of Britain, written by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Much of the book was taken from earlier sources and some was invented by Geoffrey himself. The original story tells of Arthur as a king of Britain who defeated the Saxons and established an empire over Britain. Many elements that are now an integral part of the Arthurian story first appeared here, including Merlin the wizard, the sword excalibur, his final battle against Mordred and final rest in Avalon.

Answer 4

Despite all the effort that has for centuries been expended in the search for King Arthur, he has continued to evade the pages of authentic history. Not only has there been a distinct lack of evidence to reveal who he really was; as yet no one has been able to prove beyond doubt that he even existed at all. Solving the mystery of King Arthur is like trying to assemble a huge jigsaw puzzle. The clues exist, but in many different forms: in folklore, Archaeology and recorded history. Many have tried to complete the picture, but very often the pieces were wrongly arranged, and until recently some were missing entirely.

We are about to embark upon an historical adventure - a search for the real King Arthur: his identity, his Camelot and his final resting place. By carefully disentangling the historical from the mythological, and piecing together the fascinating evidence that remains, we reveal for the first time a true story that is in every way as spellbinding as the romantic legend.

Answer 5

Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote the first comprehensive account of the life of King Arthur, which he based off of earlier Welsh traditions and folklore.