Finding Arthur

[David Thorpe]

As he did in his earlier work, Finding Merlin, Adam Ardrey again unearths the truth by expertly dissecting the fabrications of medieval religious and political propagandists to reveal the real, historical man behind the myth - an Arthur who was not English, not Christian nor a king. Citing a wealth of literary, archaeological and linguistic evidence, Ardrey makes a compelling case for the real life Arthur - an immensely capable warlord of Dalriadic and Manauan descent who on behalf of his father, the King of Dalriada and Manau, wages a brilliant campaign resulting in the first glimmers of a united Scotland.
If this book does not set the legend on its ear, it will be only because those who through a millenneum of concentrated effort succeeded in creating the pure fantasy of a south Britian "King" Arthur. Some of us prefer the facts.

[kilted scholar]

According to blurb from his publisher, Adam Ardrey is an advocate and lives in Bothwell, near Glasgow, with his wife and three children. He has previously worked in television and as a solicitor.

[McClef]

The book will find little favour in Wales, Cornwall and Somerset, all of which claim him.

[Father Bill]

As one who deals daily with the relationship between fact and preferred story, you just have to choose which world you want to live in. For the best exploration of that dichotomy I've ever seen in literature, try the old movie "Don Juan DiMarco" - a romantic comedy with a philosophical turn to it. The psychiatrist has to decide which world is the better place for his patient... and for himself.

[Chas]

Hmm. His first book "Finding Merlin" is not universally accepted as being factual. A great many would put it somewhere between opinion and fanciful.

[David Thorpe]

Hmm. His first book "Finding Merlin" is not universally accepted as being factual. A great many would put it somewhere between opinion and fanciful.

Understandable. It was a slap in the face to many scholars, past and present, who made false assumptions at best. Rome wasn't built in a day, and it will take time for other academicians to catch on.

[Grizzly]

The book will find little favour in Wales, Cornwall and Somerset, all of which claim him.

Well said Trefor, I dont think his book will sell many copies in Tintagel, Caerwent, South Cadbury or Glastonbury. It may however keep their residents warm through the cold winter by being burnt in the fireplace.

[David Thorpe]

Well said Trefor, I dont think his book will sell many copies in Tintagel, Caerwent, South Cadbury or Glastonbury. It may however keep their residents warm through the cold winter by being burnt in the fireplace.

Interesting that you should mention Glastonbury. It is one of the conventional-wisdom candidates for being Avalon, despite the fact that it is not an island and never has been. The medieval writers walked a very fine line between the Church and the nobility and jumped through all manner of flaming hoops to save their own skins, with some ridiculous results. Thankfully, those threats have now abated, an objective analysis of the evidence can be conducted openly. That evidence clearly points to a real Arthur who was a highly celebrated warlord of the Scottish Highlands.

[Grizzly]

Interesting that you should mention Glastonbury. It is one of the conventional-wisdom candidates for being Avalon, despite the fact that it is not an island and never has been. The medieval writers walked a very fine line between the Church and the nobility and jumped through all manner of flaming hoops to save their own skins, with some ridiculous results. Thankfully, those threats have now abated, an objective analysis of the evidence can be conducted openly. That evidence clearly points to a real Arthur who was a highly celebrated warlord of the Scottish Highlands.

David you raise an interesting point, I think the people of Glastonbury may heartily disagree with you. You only need to walk down the Main Street to see how the economy of the area is based upon Arthurian Legend. Indeed Glastonbury is a place I know very well having lived within a forty mile radius of it all my life.

It is indeed a well known fact that the Somerset levels is land that has been reclaimed from the sea, and indeed it was possible at one time to sail right up to the doorstep of Glastonbury. If it wasn't for the drainage channels that criss-cross the area the land would still be under water. Whether Glastonbury was the isle of Avalon will probably never be known, but the fact remains is that it could have been. So for that matter could any amount of numerous other places from Brittany in France to the Scottish lowlands.

There are no contemporary writings that survive that mention Arthur only romanticised writings from several centuries later. Bede who wrote about the history of the kings of England in the 9th century made no mention of him at all.

We all like to believe a little of the myth of legends, from King Arthur, the Loch Ness monster, Roswell to the abominal snowman I think we need to take all of them with an air of healthy scepticism and indeed they all make a very interesting course of investigation and discussion but to say that he has discovered the truth is somewhat stretching belief.

Incidentally here is a link to the Isle of Avalon -

http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/arthur/avalon.html

[Kalok Sundancer]

As he did in his earlier work, Finding Merlin, Adam Ardrey again unearths the truth by expertly dissecting the fabrications of medieval religious and political propagandists to reveal the real, historical man behind the myth - an Arthur who was not English, not Christian nor a king. Citing a wealth of literary, archaeological and linguistic evidence, Ardrey makes a compelling case for the real life Arthur - an immensely capable warlord of Dalriadic and Manauan descent who on behalf of his father, the King of Dalriada and Manau, wages a brilliant campaign resulting in the first glimmers of a united Scotland.
If this book does not set the legend on its ear, it will be only because those who through a millenneum of concentrated effort succeeded in creating the pure fantasy of a south Britian "King" Arthur. Some of us prefer the facts.

I saw a show a while back that took another route on the Arthurian legend that examined "facts" and made the rather interesting claim that Aurthur was actually a Roman that stayed behind after the occupations of Britain. Interestingly, there is a fictional movie that takes a similar tack, which I have also seen.

I don't know how accurate the documentary was, it seemed to me like they took some liberties with the facts, but it was an interesting.