Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ucla-cs.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!qantel!hplabs!sdcrdcf!trwrb!trwrba!cepu!ucla-cs!reiher From: reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP Newsgroups: net.nlang.celts Subject: Re: King Arthur Message-ID: <6322@ucla-cs.ARPA> Date: Sun, 14-Jul-85 15:36:50 EDT Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.6322 Posted: Sun Jul 14 15:36:50 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 18-Jul-85 06:34:04 EDT References: <123@rpics.UUCP> <204@persci.UUCP> <484@calmasd.UUCP> Reply-To: reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (Peter Reiher) Distribution: net Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department Lines: 30 Summary: In article <484@calmasd.UUCP> cjn@calmasd.UUCP (Cheryl Nemeth) writes: >I'm sort of fuzzy on this myself, but I think a lot of the things in >Morte d'Arthur (or whatever) were borrowed from the Welsh and Irish >legends. Merlin is definately Welsh. I believe that Morgan Le Fay >came from Morrigu. Morgan Le Fay almost certainly came from the Celtic goddess Morrigan, a sinister shapechanger who, on Samhain (Halloween, today) mates with Dagda, the leading male figure of the British Celtic pantheon. Morrigan is a very, very old figure, dating back to when the Celts were in Gaul and Germany. Dagda is much more recent (relatively speaking). There are definitely lots of Celtic borrowings in Arthurian legend, but Arthur himself is probably not a generic Celtic figure. There are no Arthurian legends in Ireland, for instance. There are lots of theories on the origins of Arthur. One interesting recent theory is that he was originally a Roman cavalry captain who operated in the vicinity of Scotland, keeping the folks north of the wall from ravaging the south. Another theory is that he is actually a legendary figure from the Caucasus area in Eastern Europe, whose legend was brought to England by Roman troops recruited from that area. (The evidence here is some amazing similarities between Arthurian legend and Caucasus legend.) Arthurian legends exist all over Britain, but there is an unusually high concentration around Somerset and Glastonbury, in SW England. Some people think that this region was the home of the historic Arthur. -- Peter Reiher reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU {...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher