More Arthurian Relics

ARTHURIAN 'relics' seem to have been most popular in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries though some are mentioned during the period of the revival of interest in Arthur that took place under the Tudors. Amongst the items said to have had direct connection with Arthur are his crown, his sword Excalibur, the imprint of his seal, and the Round Table at Winchester. Glastonbury claimed that the bones of Arthur and Guinevere were buried in a tomb before the high altar, and a crystal processional cross kept in the Abbey treasury was said to have been his gift. In addition we may note that King John had a sword of Tristram, Iseult's robe was said to be displayed in Golant church, Lancelot's sword was listed in an inventory of ancient weapons at Amboise, Gawain's sword was shown at Wallingford Castle and his skull, together with Craddock's mantle, were at Dover Castle. Altogether a heterogeneous and curious collection but all testifying to the popularity of the Arthurian story and to belief in its historical truth. Some of these relics have already been described by me in an article in Folklore, 1964, and in this paper I propose to limit myself to the consideration of only three of them

Art · Historical Studies of British Isles · History · Linguistics and language evolution · Medieval Literature and History