WILLIAM SHATNER: King Arthur.
A noble warrior, who embodied honor and chivalry,
wielded the legendary blade Excalibur
and went on epic quests with the Knights of the Round Table.
For more than a thousand years,
tales have been told about a peasant boy
who pulled a sword out of a stone and became a king.
Is the legend of King Arthur and the Knights
of the Round Table just a myth?
Or is it possible that the story we all know was based on fact?
Was King Arthur a real person?
Well, that is what we'll try and find out.
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(cheering)
Every year, thousands of people gather at
the Gulf Coast Renaissance Faire
to experience a taste of medieval life.
The fair is one of many similar events held around the globe
that are inspired by age-old tales
of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
I don't know what child, growing up, doesn't want
to be a knight in shining armor.
It's such a romanticized time period that the stories of
King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table and all of their
quests and adventures have branched and become
bigger and bigger right through today's modern age.
It has such a collective
grab on our imagination and our soul.
DORSEY ARMSTRONG: King Arthur is everywhere today.
You'd be hard-pressed to find another legendary figure that is
as popular all over the world, in so many times
and so many places, whether it's in the 12th century,
or the 15th century, or the 21st century.
SHATNER: Since the Middle Ages, the legend of King Arthur
has captured the imagination of countless people
all over the world.
But what are the origins of this powerful story?
JONATHAN YOUNG: The Arthur story begins with a boy raised by farmers.
One time, his brother is in a sword-fighting contest,
and his brother's sword breaks.
And Arthur said, "No, don't forfeit, hold off for a second.
I saw a sword."
And he saw a sword stuck in a stone.
SHATNER: As the story goes, the sword that Arthur saw
was no ordinary blade.
It had been prophesied that only the future king of England
could draw the sword out of the stone.
Many men had tried to remove it, but all of them failed.
That is, until Arthur pulled the sword,
and it slid out of the stone.
YOUNG: This is the earliest that Arthur begins to understand that
something is happening in his life beyond his grasp.
Gradually, this unusual young man
does become king of all Britain.
JULIETTE WOOD: The Arthurian legend basically tells about
a young person who discovers their destiny,
and discovers how to achieve this destiny.
He becomes the center of these medieval romances,
where he is the quintessential leader.
He is Rex Quondom, Rexque Futurus;
the Once and Future King.
It's amazing how much of that story
has permeated our culture just sort of by osmosis.
And the image we all have is that King Arthur
lives in Camelot, which is a big stone castle.
He had a wife, Guinevere, and also he is assisted
by a wizard named Merlin.
His knights of the Round Table looked for the Holy Grail.
And he has a fabulous sword named Excalibur.
It is this wonderful repository
of symbols and themes and adventures
that are all interlinked,
because they all relate to the court
of this one marvelous figure.
SHATNER: The vast influence of the Arthurian legend
is undeniable.
But for more than 1,000 years,
a fascinating question has lingered.
Is it possible that King Arthur wasn't merely a myth
but rather a real man?
If we go back to the original accounts of King Arthur,
written during the Dark Ages, around about 500 AD,
the Roman Empire collapsed, and the Roman soldiers
withdrew from Britain.
And this country turned into complete anarchy.
There were various separate tribes fighting each other.
And what was needed was one single warrior
or chieftain or king to unite them all.
And Arthur is said to have been that person in myth and legend.
TONY McMAHON: There are lots of theories on who King Arthur
might really have been.
And really, there's no clear answer.
The Arthur that we think we know came from
many hands, many authors, many writers,
who had slightly different takes on the Arthur story.
We know the basic elements of the story,
but the man himself remains a mystery.
SHATNER: According to historians, there are numerous versions of
the King Arthur legend, many of which have been lost to time.
But the most influential telling of the story
dates to the 12th century,
when a Welsh monk named Geoffrey of Monmouth
claimed he'd discovered a long-lost account of early
British history that recorded King Arthur
as being an actual person who lived around the year 500 AD.
Monmouth then published a translated version of this text,
which he called The History of the Kings of Britain.
Geoffrey of Monmouth, in his text in the 12th century,
this is what breaks the Arthurian legend wide open.
What's fascinating is that so many of the things
and places and events he writes about in recent times
have been proven to be correct in terms of
being the right time, the right place,
and the right elements to be based on,
many historians believe, real events.
SHATNER: Could it be possible that the tales
of King Arthur are more than mere fantasy?
Perhaps a clue may be found by examining a castle
in southwest England that Geoffrey of Monmouth claimed
to have been the site where King Arthur was born.
Overlooking the rocky cliffs of
Bristol Channel are the ruins of Tintagel Castle.
Built in the 13th century, this once-mighty fortress
is now a popular tourist attraction
with a fascinating history.
Well, Tintagel is a really wondrous and mysterious location
because it hides an enormous amount of
knowledge about our past.
There's this fantastic castle that is 900 years old.
But below the ground, there's tons of information
about hundreds of years before this,
in the period when, perhaps, Arthur existed.
ARMSTRONG: What's really fantastic and incredible
about this spot in particular is that
Geoffrey of Monmouth tells us
that Arthur's born in Tintagel, and that has now been
very conclusively proven to have very, very strong links.
SHATNER: Excavations beneath Tintagel have revealed the remains of
an earlier castle that dated back to the sixth century AD.
And a curious inscription found among the prior castle's remains
offers evidence in support of Geoffrey of Monmouth's claim
that the real King Arthur
had a profound connection to Tintagel.
In 1998, Glasgow University were excavating here,
and they found a drain cover behind one of the buildings.
And that drain cover-- they were amazed to find
it had an inscription on it.
At the top of the stone is very clearly Artognou.
A-R-T-O-G-N-O-U.
It was securely dated to the sixth century, based on
the items around it,
and on that stone
was carved a name that looks
very much like "Arthur." "Artognou."
When you have the site of Tintagel
that has been associated with
Arthur's supposed birthplace for centuries,
and the discovery of a stone
that has a name on it that begins A-R-T,
you have all the elements
coming together at the right time in the right place.
The mere possibility that one day we'll be able to verify
the birthplace of the real King Arthur is thrilling.
But could there be other parts of the legend
that might also be historically accurate?
Well, perhaps the answer can be found by examining
two of the most iconic elements of Arthurian lore:
Merlin the Magician and Excalibur.
SHATNER: One of the most iconic stories
from the tales of King Arthur
is that of a young Arthur singlehandedly
pulling a sword out of a stone.
It was a feat that revealed him
to be the one true king of Britain.
But there's another sword in the Arthur legend
that is no less compelling.
There are two swords in the Arthur story.
One comes out of that stone, and later,
he gets a sword as a gift from the Lady of the Lake.
This is the goddess of the lake.
And her arm comes up out of the water holding a sword.
And that is Excalibur, a sword beyond other swords.
Excalibur, we are told, had a golden hilt,
and had magical powers.
It's a sword that's supposed to make Arthur invincible.
YOUNG: Arthur's story is the hero's journey,
because it has the magic and the sacred
and all the mystical dimensions.
In the hero's journey,
the protagonist gains a special tool or weapon.
This is the magical thing.
It will be just the thing you needed,
although you might not know it at the time.
And then the moment will arise and you see
exactly why you have it.
SHATNER: According to legend, King Arthur used Excalibur
to win many battles and unite Britain under his leadership.
But, alas, Arthur finally died on the battlefield
when he was mortally wounded by his son, Mordred.
As King Arthur lies dying on the field of battle...
...he asks that his sword, Excalibur,
the source of all his power,
be taken by a knight and thrown into a nearby lake.
When this happens, the hand of the Lady of the Lake
breaks through the surface of the water,
grabs hold of the sword and takes it down
into the crystal depths to keep it
until some future king may need it
when Britain is again threatened.
SHATNER: Many scholars believe that magic is an important part of
what makes the King Arthur story so powerful.
And curiously, the supernatural elements of Excalibur
may not have been merely a fantasy.
The story of Excalibur may seem one of the medieval additions,
if you like, to the tale of King Arthur,
that sounds the least likely.
But in fact, the story of Excalibur
and the knight throwing it to the Lady of the Lake
could be based on historical events.
The Celtic warriors of the time Arthur existed had
a tradition that their soul, if you like,
was in their sword.
And at their funerals, their swords were often thrown
into a sacred lake, or pool,
as an offering to a water goddess.
And in fact, archaeology has discovered many ancient swords
that had been thrown into lakes that have since dried up.
So the story of the Lady of the Lake,
this strange nymph-like woman that takes the sword,
could have originated with the tradition of casting
a warrior's sword as an offering to a water goddess.
SHATNER: Is it possible that some of the mystical aspects
of the legend of King Arthur are based on fact?
Perhaps a clue can be found by examining the origins
of the most mysterious character in Arthurian lore:
Merlin the Magician.
Merlin is almost as fascinating as Arthur.
He's such a wonderful character who might have been
an alchemist or a wizard.
Merlin is Arthur's advisor, and we think of Merlin, really,
as a dignified old man with a long white beard.
YOUNG: Merlin is the classic sorcerer.
We've had many more recent
reincarnations, really, of Merlin:
Dumbledore, Gandalf, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda.
It comes back again and again.
Because we need characters in stories
that represent a higher knowing.
SHATNER: Even though Merlin represents a supernatural character,
there is growing evidence that
this wizard could have been based
on a real person who lived in the sixth century AD.
McMAHON: It's believed that the chroniclers
who first wrote the story of King Arthur,
when they came upon the character of Merlin,
they were actually referencing an ancient wizard who was known
in either Welsh or northern British folklore.
Somebody who had once really existed.
PHILLIPS: The name Merlin is a title.
It's old Brythonic for Eagle.
And we know of at least three people
during the late fifth and early sixth centuries,
all around Arthur's time, with the name Merlin.
The first person to write one of the medieval romances
about Arthur, Geoffrey of Monmouth, tells us
one of them is a character called Ambrosius Aurelius,
and this was Merlin's real name.
He's an historical figure,
a warrior in Britain just before Arthur's time,
who seems to have retired from the field of battle to become
advisor to the various kings, including Arthur.
That's quite amazing.
Merlin appears in Wales, he appears in Scotland,
and he appears deeply in the Breton legends.
The energy and the power behind
this character and this story is so strong
that we cannot write it off as strictly legend.
It was the representation of a man who had a particularly
spiritual power within the British world.
Was Merlin the Magician based on an actual
sixth-century mystic who lived in northern Britain?
It's a compelling theory,
but in recent years, researchers
have put forth an idea that's even more incredible.
One involving the origins of England's once and future king.
SHATNER: In the Scottish highlands,
30 miles northwest of Edinburgh,
lies Stirling Castle.
Built in the 12th century, this hardened fortress
is surrounded by cliffs on three sides,
and is protected by massive stone walls.
For centuries, Scottish kings used this stronghold
to defend their country's independence.
Although Stirling Castle was built in the 12th century AD,
archaeological records indicate that Scottish clans
built numerous structures on this same site
going back nearly 4,000 years.
SHATNER: Perhaps what's most intriguing about the site
where Stirling Castle sits is that, according to yet
another interpretation of medieval texts,
the real King Arthur may not have been from England...
but rather from this sacred ground in Scotland.
SHATNER: Is it possible that England's so-called
"Once and Future King" was actually Scottish?
In recent years, many researchers have
suggested that it's possible,
and they claim that there may be
physical evidence of Arthur's presence
deep beneath the grounds of Stirling Castle,
under an ancient earthen formation
known as King's Knot.
SHATNER: In 2011, archaeologists conducting underground scans
discovered the presence of a large, circular structure
buried beneath the center of King's Knot.
And there are those who believe that this subterranean formation
may have actually been King Arthur's Round Table.
TOK THOMPSON: One of the biggest parts of the Arthurian tradition
is the idea that he has
the Knights of the Round Table.
Round is important, because the traditional thing was for
the king to sit at the head of the table,
to sort of be the authoritarian leader.
But King Arthur wanted his knights
to be all equally empowered,
so he created the Round Table.
SHATNER: For centuries, people have wondered whether
the Round Table could have been real,
and searched for evidence of its existence.
Is it actually possible that it's been beneath King's Knot
at Stirling Castle all this time?
Many researchers believe the answer is yes.
And as proof, they point to an historical account written by
a Scottish poet in the year 1375.
SHATNER: Curiously, there is another group of people
who believe that King Arthur and his Round Table
were located in Scotland, instead of England.
It's an ancient Scottish family line known as Clan MacArthur,
who claim that they are
descendants of King Arthur himself.
The idea that the King's Knot was
the location of the Round Table
brings the legend of King Arthur to life in a profound way.
And if these noble knights were, in fact, real people,
then perhaps we should examine their most epic adventure:
the quest to find the Holy Grail.
SHATNER: In 2010, medieval literature scholar Carol J. C
published a translation of The History of the Holy Grail,
a 13th-century French text.
The original ancient manuscript is one of the earliest sources
documenting the story of King Arthur and his knights'
epic quest to find the Holy Grail...
the most sacred artifact in Christian lore.
The Holy Grail is supposed to be a chalice
that was once used by Jesus at the Last Supper,
when he shared his last meal with his disciples.
This cup was eventually used to collect a few drops
of Jesus's blood when he was on the cross.
And it was imbued with magical,
mysterious, holy healing powers.
Anyone that drank from it could be cured from any ill.
The signal for King Arthur to go on his quest
to find the Holy Grail is when a knight called Galahad
sits in a seat at the Round Table.
And when Galahad sits in that seat, the Holy Grail
appears miraculously above the Round Table.
McGOWAN: When the knights see the Grail in this manner,
this vision of this incredibly mysterious, veiled object,
they realize that this is sacred,
and that this is something that they must go in search of,
but also that it's going to be a quest.
It's not going to be an easy task.
SHATNER: As the story goes, the Knights of the Round Table
embarked on a perilous journey to find the Holy Grail.
Multiple accounts of the legend describe how
their quest led them to distant lands
and mysterious castles in search of this sacred artifact.
PHILLIPS: All the Knights of the Round Table are involved
in the quest, but the great unsolved mystery
is did King Arthur eventually find the Holy Grail?
Well, it depends which legend you want to follow.
But it's still supposed to be hidden
somewhere in Britain today.
SHATNER: If King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
were, in fact, real people,
then is it possible that they actually found the Holy Grail?
And if so, is the Grail still hidden
somewhere in England today?
McMAHON: There are lots of theories on where
the Holy Grail was allegedly buried.
But if you believe in King Arthur,
if you believe that he went on a quest for the Holy Grail,
you have to go to the area
around the Chalice Well, at Glastonbury.
McGOWAN: The Chalice Well in Glastonbury is a beautiful area
that is also known as the Blood Well,
because the water that flows from it is red.
Now, one of the legends is that it flows this way,
because the Holy Grail was once buried within it.
And because the Grail was related to the blood of Jesus,
that the spring itself then flowed with the blood of Jesus.
There's a long-standing story in England
that Joseph of Arimathea, the great-uncle of Jesus,
brought the Holy Grail to Glastonbury,
where he concealed it.
ARMSTRONG: In the early legends, there's an account of how
Joseph of Arimathea plants his staff
where there is a spring, at the bottom of Glastonbury Hill,
which grows into a thorn tree.
And so, the idea grew up over the centuries that
the Holy Grail has been hidden in the bottom of the spring.
McMAHON: Once he did that, the water from the well gushed forth red.
Red as blood. Warm as blood.
Coagulating even like hemoglobin, it's said.
And that this water is very literally the blood of Christ.
It's been a very durable legend because the water is stained
because the sand which it flows
out of is rich in iron.
And the iron stains it red,
so, naturally, people must have looked at that,
and they must have thought, "This looks like blood."
SHATNER: According to some versions of the Grail legend,
after being gravely wounded in battle,
King Arthur sought healing from the waters of the Chalice Well,
perhaps indicating that he knew that
the Grail was hidden there.
The idea that the Holy Grail is buried near
the Chalice Well was so inspiring
that in 1959, a man named Wellesley Tudor Pole decided to
spend a fortune in the hope of recovering the Grail.
Wellesley Tudor Pole was an eccentric English aristocrat.
He bought the area around the Chalice Well,
and commissioned an archaeologist, Philip Rahtz,
to conduct some digs there to find evidence
that Joseph of Arimathea had been there.
ALLAN: He did a great dig, and what he found was that
there is a well house around the well,
and it goes right back to 2,000 years ago.
So that would be about AD 63,
when people thought Joseph of Arimathea sailed to Britain.
SHATNER: Could the Holy Grail really be hidden
somewhere near the Chalice Well?
Perhaps. But whether or not the Grail is buried there,
the legend of King Arthur and his knights' quest
to find this sacred object
still inspires people to visit the Chalice Well today.
YOUNG: For a small fee, a tourist can have a drink
from the Chalice Well.
If you long for transcendence,
it is good to make such a pilgrimage.
It doesn't matter whether it's true or not.
It's true in the heart.
McGOWAN: The idea of the Grail is our human
quest for something that is bigger than we are.
This is what the Arthurian legends are all about.
The legend of Arthur and the legend of the Holy Grail
will always be intertwined.
SHATNER: The Holy Grail is one of the most popular aspects
of Arthurian lore, and the quest to find it is ongoing.
But there's another elusive relic that many hope
could prove King Arthur's existence. His body.
And believe it or not, some people claim they know
where it just might be buried.
SHATNER: Rising above the clay roofs of this We're told Arthur was buried on an i
humble town in the English countryside
is the ancient hill known as Glastonbury Tor.
Atop its peak lies the ruins of a 14th-century church,
the last remnants of what many researchers believe
was a series of religious sites constructed here.
McMAHON: Glastonbury Tor is the very center of Glastonbury.
This hill has always been a sacred place, going back
to the Christians, to the Romans, to the Celts,
and right back to the dawn of civilization
as a center of prayer, sacrifice, and ritual.
SHATNER: Perhaps what's most intriguing about Glastonbury Tor
is that many believe it to be
the place where King Arthur was buried
after legends say he died in 537 AD.
The legend is that, um,
Arthur's mortally wounded in battle,
at a battle called Camlann,
where his son, Mordred, was also killed.
ARMSTRONG: The Battle of Camlann is first attested
in a 10th-century Welsh text.
And it seems as if it may be
referring to earlier texts
that had accounts of this battle, that it was well known,
and seems to be based on, many historians believe, real events.
The Battle of Camlann is Arthur's final battle.
It's against Mordred.
And as Arthur's dying, he's taken away from there by
a bunch of mysterious maidens
and buried on a nearby island,
seemingly in the middle of a lake.
An island known as Avalon.
SHATNER: For centuries, people have been fascinated
by the idea of a mystical island where
this brave warrior was supposedly buried.
But if it's true that King Arthur was buried
on the Isle of Avalon,
then where is this supposed island located?
Well, one popular theory suggests that the Isle of Avalon
and Glastonbury Tor are one and the same.
There's a very, very strong tradition in England
that Glastonbury Tor is Avalon, the Isle of Avalon.
Now, you might say, wait a minute, this is inland,
it is not an island,
but Glastonbury Tor actually has a lot going for it
as a potential site for the Arthurian tradition.
When you're looking at Glastonbury Tor,
it stands out from this misty valley floor.
It is this massive mound that comes out of an otherwise
flat ground, surrounded very often by mist.
So, it looks like an island When you're looking at it.
McMAHON: Glastonbury was surrounded by a misty swamp,
more than likely a malarial swamp, for thousands of years.
So, in Arthur's time, those approaching Glastonbury
literally would have had to sail across,
because what we see today-- the hill, the Tor--
was essentially an island.
The Isle of Avalon.
SHATNER: Is it possible that King Arthur was laid to rest
somewhere on Glastonbury Tor?
It's a fascinating theory.
But many researchers claim that Arthur's remains
weren't buried on the massive hill
but rather at another location that is nearby.
Less than a mile away from Glastonbury Tor
lie the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey,
an ancient monastery that some believe was Arthur's
real final resting place.
And as proof, they point to a discovery made
by the monks who lived there almost a thousand years ago.
McMAHON: In the year 1191, the monks at Glastonbury Abbey
claimed that they all had this collective vision
which led them to the secret tomb of King Arthur,
which was allegedly buried in Glastonbury.
What they found there was a huge coffin.
And within it was a skeleton,
which they claimed had to be King Arthur,
and next to him a female skeleton, obviously Guinevere.
ALLAN: A cross was apparently discovered
in the excavation in 1191,
and it had Latin letters on it that said,
"Here lies the famous Arthur in the Isle of Avalon."
McGOWAN: We know from the 12th century that a grave was found.
And there's a lot of evidence that there might be
something to this; this idea of Arthur being buried here.
And there are at least six different sources,
some going back to the latter part of the Dark Ages,
that indicate that Guinevere was buried in Glastonbury as well.
SHATNER: According to historical records, Arthur's supposed tomb
and remains were destroyed in a fire in the 16th century.
But people still come from all around the world today
to see the site and pay their respects to the deceased king.
There's not much to see at the King Arthur grave site,
but you can see the outline
of where the marble tomb once was.
It's just grass everywhere around and a modern sign
telling you King Arthur was once buried here.
So, of course, there's a certain degree of skepticism,
but that is the story that was told in the Middle Ages.
THOMPSON: There's also another interesting factor
with the Arthurian tradition,
and that is there's a long-standing belief
among many people in England
that Arthur is the once and future king.
In other words, he's not really dead yet.
He's going to come back.
And so, wherever Arthur's buried
then becomes a potential site for his rebirth,
for his reemergence into our world.
Will further investigation uncover
King Arthur's final resting place?
Perhaps.
But while Arthur may be long dead,
there are many around the world who believe
that his spirit can still be found.
SHATNER: Scholars at Bristol University
make an astonishing discovery
hidden inside the bindings of a 16th-century French manuscript.
They find seven ancient handwritten notes
revealing a previously unknown tale of Merlin
inspiring King Arthur and his knights in battle.
JULIAN HARRISON: It's always incredible when anybody finds a new remnant
of the works of King Arthur for the very first time.
Subsequent analysis has suggested
that it was written probably in the 13th century
in the language which is known as Old French.
And we now believe it belongs to the so-called Vulgate Cycle
of the legends of King Arthur.
It's one of those things which makes you sit up
and think, well, what else is out there?
What else can we potentially find?
SHATNER: The discovery of each new ancient manuscript or
fragment of medieval poetry adds
a new piece to the puzzle of King Arthur and his origins.
But what's even more intriguing is that there are scientists
who believe that by using new technology,
we might find evidence that this mythical hero was real.
Scientists working at Family Tree DNA
conduct an analysis of genetic samples
from 400 ancestral British families,
whose lineage date back to the sixth century AD.
The goal of the study is to determine whether these families
could be descendants of the real King Arthur.
SHATNER: Will genetic analysis be able
to prove that King Arthur was real?
For now, that question is unanswered,
but one thing is certain.
The appeal of the legend of King Arthur
will endure for generations to come.
WOOD: Arthur has really become, in many ways, immortal.
He represents what's best of the past.
Heroicism, courtliness, even an element of magic.
He represents to us the past that we want to recapture.
He's still the hero that everybody wants to be,
and so he is really the Once and Future King.
People look at the Arthurian legends
and the stories about King Arthur in different ways.
Some look at it for the brotherhood.
Some look at it for the action.
And some look at it for the love stories.
Some look at it as a piece of history throughout time.
And that's why I think we'll always be chasing the legend
of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Was King Arthur a flesh and blood man,
or just a larger-than-life legend?
Well, some parts of the story are almost certainly fantasy
while others definitely make you wonder
whether there was a real man behind the myth.
So, while our quest to find answers continues,
the truth behind this iconic king remains...
unexplained.
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