king arthur, merlin, and avalon

[kda1992]

im not sure why, but ive always be interested by all of these myths surrounding king arthur. what i dont understand is why its a myth. and the same goes with Merlin. he greatly interests me but whenever i ask anyone, they look like im an idiot. i for one believe they both exist(ed). and well at the end of the king arthur stories, he is always wounded and being carried to an isle called Avalon. through curiosity i began reading all i could about these three subjects which are all so deeply intertwined. along the way i read 2 book series by the same author which, while they are fantasy, are extremely good books and i would highly recommend them, but nows not the time for that. well all im asking here is if they existed, why was merlin considered a wizard, and what is so mystical about this fabled isle of avalon.

(oh and for those who are curious, the books were The Lost Years of Merlin epic, and The Great Tree of Avalon trilogy, both by T.A. Barron. The Avalon trilogy is kinda like a sequel to the Merlin epic so i would recommened reading that one first.)

[Adrian]

Hello kda1992,

Welcome to the forums and thank you for posting about this most interesting subject.

im not sure why, but ive always be interested by all of these myths surrounding king arthur. what i dont understand is why its a myth. and the same goes with Merlin. he greatly interests me but whenever i ask anyone, they look like im an idiot. i for one believe they both exist(ed). and well at the end of the king arthur stories, he is always wounded and being carried to an isle called Avalon. through curiosity i began reading all i could about these three subjects which are all so deeply intertwined. along the way i read 2 book series by the same author which, while they are fantasy, are extremely good books and i would highly recommend them, but nows not the time for that. well all im asking here is if they existed, why was merlin considered a wizard, and what is so mystical about this fabled isle of avalon.

(oh and for those who are curious, the books were The Lost Years of Merlin epic, and The Great Tree of Avalon trilogy, both by T.A. Barron. The Avalon trilogy is kinda like a sequel to the Merlin epic so i would recommened reading that one first.)

As it happens the island where I live is now thought by many to be the Isle of Avalon.  There are many reasons for this that correlate, not the least of which the Isle of Man - a name that post-dated the Arthurian legends, since named after the Celtic sea God Manannan Mac Lir - is the only "isle in the western seas" that would realistically make sense. And yes we do have the castle as well.

The island abounds with folklore and mysticism going back centuries, and we have the oldest government in the World formed by the Vikings over 1000 years ago.

I realise Glastonbury has also staked a claim, but it has been suggested that this was invented by monks of the local monastery hundreds of years ago, during hard times, in order to bring tourism and money to the area.  That is notwithstanding the fact that Glastonbury is firmly surrounded by land in England.  I have also seen claims that Glastonbury is a surving part of Atlantis, was settled by the Sumerians, was visited by Jesus as well as Joseph of Arimathaea and the location of the Holy Grail.

I would not presume to speak against any of these claims, not having any evidence one way or the other, but I am sure you can arrive at your own conclusions with a particular emphasis on tourism.

The other suggested location, which also has a booming Arthurian legend/Camelot theme is Truro in Cornwall - again on the mainland.

I would like to investigate this further one day, but I have other, more immediate priorities than to investigate legends, and what in fact could well turn out to be myths.

Kind regards,

Adrian.