90-512: A number of ships have been named Avalon , after Avalon, the mythical Arthurian island or Avalon, California Avalon Avalon ( / ˈ æ v ə l ɒ n / ) is a mythical island featured in the Arthurian legend . It first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth 's 1136 Historia Regum Britanniae as a place of magic where King Arthur 's sword Excalibur was made and later where Arthur
180-711: A baronial plan to put Louis VIII of France on the throne of England in the First Barons' War was warmly welcomed by him. He died in about 1223 in his 77th year, probably in Hereford and he is, according to some accounts, buried at St Davids Cathedral . There is a statue, by Henry Poole of Gerald in City Hall, Cardiff , and he was included in the vote on 100 Welsh Heroes for his Descriptio Cambriae and Itinerarium Cambriae . His reputation in Ireland, due to his negative portrayal of
270-481: A great measure weakened and destroyed by your and other powers, and it will also prevail by its laudable exertions, but it can never be totally subdued through the wrath of man, unless the wrath of God shall concur. Nor do I think that any other nation than this of Wales, nor any other language, whatever may hereafter come to pass, shall on the day of severe examination before the Supreme Judge, answer for this corner of
360-483: A lead cross bearing the inscription: HIC hic IACET iacet SEPVLTVS sepultus INCLITVS inclitus REX rēx ARTVRIVS Arturius IN in INSVLA īnsula AVALONIA Avalonia. HIC IACET SEPVLTVS INCLITVS REX ARTVRIVS IN INSVLA AVALONIA hic iacet sepultus inclitus rēx Arturius in īnsula Avalonia. "Here lies entombed
450-752: A letter to Innocent III, "Because I am a Welshman am I to be debarred from all preferments in Wales? On the same reasoning so would an Englishman in England, a Frenchman in France, and Italian in Italy. But I am sprung from the Princes of Wales and the Barons of the Marches, and when I see injustice in either race I hate it." At this point he resigned his position as archdeacon of Brecon. Gerald spent
540-456: A part as well. Gerald was a constant supporter of royal authority; in his account of the discovery aims to quash the idea of the possibility of King Arthur's messianic return : Many tales are told and many legends have been invented about King Arthur and his mysterious ending. In their stupidity the British [i.e. Welsh, Cornish and Breton] people maintain that he is still alive. Now that the truth
630-464: A pleasing set of laws those who come to them from our country. In Layamon 's Brut version of the Historia , Arthur is taken to Avalon to be healed there through means of magic water by a distinctively Anglo-Saxon version of Morgan: an elf queen of Avalon named Argante. Geoffrey's Merlin not only never visits Avalon but is not even aware of its existence. This would change to various degrees in
720-551: A publicity stunt performed to raise funds to rebuild the Abbey after it had been destroyed by a 1184 fire. Leslie Alcock in his Arthur's Britain postulated a theory according to which the grave site had been originally discovered in an ancient mausoleum sometime after 945 by Dunstan , the Abbot of Glastonbury, who reburied it along with the 10th-century stone cross; it would then become forgotten again until its rediscovery in 1190. In 1278,
810-553: A sea voyage was needed to get there. His description of Avalon here, which is heavily indebted to the early medieval Spanish scholar Isidore of Seville (being mostly derived from the section on famous islands in Isidore's work Etymologiae , XIV.6.8 " Fortunatae Insulae "), shows the magical nature of the island: The Isle of Fruit Trees which men call the Fortunate Isle ( Insula Pomorum quae Fortunata uocatur ) gets its name from
900-499: A similar narrative, the chronicle Draco Normannicus contains a fictional letter from King Arthur to Henry II of England , claiming Arthur having been healed of his wounds and made immortal by his "deathless (eternal) nymph " sister Morgan in the holy island of Avalon ( Avallonis eas insula sacra ) through the island's miraculous herbs. This is similar to the British tradition mentioned by Gervase of Tilbury as having Morgan still healing Arthur's wounds opening annually ever since on
990-525: A variety of sites across Britain, France and elsewhere have been put forward as being the "real Avalon". Such proposed locations include Greenland or other places in or across the Atlantic, the former Roman fort of Aballava (known as Avalana by the sixth century) in Cumbria, Bardsey Island off the coast of Gwynedd, the isle of Île Aval on the coast of Brittany, and Lady's Island in Ireland's Leinster. In
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#17328523574471080-571: Is an eternal king who had never truly died but would return as the "once and future" king. The particular motif of his rest in Morgan's care in Avalon has become especially popular. It can be found in various versions in many French and other medieval Arthurian and other works written in the wake of Geoffrey, some of them also linking Avalon with the legend of the Holy Grail . Avalon has often been identified as
1170-496: Is by Gerald in Liber de Principis instructione c. 1193, who wrote that he viewed the cross in person and traced the lettering. His transcript reads: "Here lies buried the famous Arthurus with Wenneveria his second wife in the isle of Avalon" ( Hic jacet sepultus inclitus rex Arthurus cum Wenneveria uxore sua secunda in insula Avallonia ). He wrote that in the coffin were two bodies, whom Giraldus refers to as Arthur and "his queen";
1260-566: Is conflated with (and explicitly named as) the mythological Island of Brasil , said to be located west of Ireland and afterwards hidden in mist by Morgan's enchantment. In some texts, Arthur's fate in Avalon is left untold or uncertain. Other times, his eventual death is actually confirmed, as it happens in the Stanzaic Morte Arthur , where the Archbishop of Canterbury later receives Arthur's dead body and buries it at Glastonbury . In
1350-538: Is generally agreed today that his most distinguished works are those dealing with Wales and Ireland, with his two books on his beloved Wales the most important: Itinerarium Cambriae and Descriptio Cambriae which tell us much about Welsh history and geography and reflect on the cultural relationship between the Welsh and the English . Gerald, despite his desire for an independent Welsh Church and admiration for parts of Welsh life,
1440-526: Is generally considered to be of Welsh origin (a Cornish or Breton origin is also possible), from Old Welsh , Old Cornish , or Old Breton aball or avallen(n) , "apple tree, fruit tree" (cf. Welsh afal , from Proto-Celtic * abalnā , literally "fruit-bearing (thing)"). The tradition of an "apple" island among the ancient Britons may also be related to Irish legends of the otherworld island home of Manannán mac Lir and Lugh , Emain Ablach (also
1530-548: Is known, I have taken the trouble to add a few more details in this present chapter. The fairy-tales have been snuffed out, and the true and indubitable facts are made known, so that what really happened must be made crystal clear to all and separated from the myths which have accumulated on the subject. The burial discovery ensured that in later romances, histories based on them and in the popular imagination, Glastonbury became increasingly identified with Avalon, an identification that continues strongly today. The later development of
1620-487: Is related at the Indo-European level to English apple , Russian яблоко ( jabloko ), Latvian ābele , et al. In the early 12th century, William of Malmesbury claimed the name of Avalon came from a man called Avalloc, who once lived on this isle with his daughters. Gerald of Wales similarly derived the name of Avalon from its purported former ruler, Avallo. The name is also similar to "Avallus", described by Pliny
1710-464: Is still practised today, especially in competitions for the eisteddfod chair. Cynghanedd did not become a formal system with strict rules until the fourteenth century, but its uniquely Welsh forms had been honed for centuries before that. Finally, in Descriptio Cambriae , Gerald penned the following words that give so much pride to Welsh singers of today, especially those who participate in
1800-625: Is the more accurate term. He followed it up, shortly afterwards, with an account of Henry's conquest of Ireland, the Expugnatio Hibernica . Both works were revised and added to several times before his death, and display a notable degree of Latin learning, as well as a great deal of prejudice against foreign people. Gerald was proud to be related to some of the Norman invaders of Ireland, such as his maternal uncle Robert FitzStephen and Raymond FitzGerald , and his influential account, which portrays
1890-459: Is very evident too. Chapter XI of Distinction III ( Topographia Hibernica , Of the incomparable skill of the Irish in playing upon musical instruments): The only thing to which I find that this people apply a commendable industry is playing upon musical instruments; in which they are incomparably more skilful than any other nation I have ever seen. For their modulation on these instruments, unlike that of
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#17328523574471980-506: The Holy Grail . In the chanson de geste La Bataille Loquifer , Morgan and her sister Marsion bring the hero Renoart to Avalon, where Arthur now prepares his return alongside Morgan, Gawain , Ywain , Perceval and Guinevere . Such stories typically take place centuries after the times of King Arthur. In Perlesvaus , Guinevere and her young son Loholt are buried in Avalon by Arthur during his reign. Conversely, Lanzelet has Loholt (Loüt) as having left with Arthur to Avalon "whence
2070-568: The Holy Land , finally delivered there by Bron, the first Fisher King . In his final romance, Perceval, the Story of the Grail , Chrétien de Troyes featured the sea fortress of Escavalon, ruled by the unspecified King of Escavalon. The name Escavalon might be simply a corruption of the word Avalon that can be literally translated as "Water-Avalon", albeit some scholars proposed various other developments of
2160-557: The Isle of Arran off the coast of Scotland. Graham Phillips claimed to have located the grave of the "historical Arthur" ( Owain Ddantgwyn ) in the "true site of Avalon" on a former island at Baschurch in Shropshire. Gerald of Wales Gerald of Wales ( Latin : Giraldus Cambrensis ; Welsh : Gerallt Cymro ; French : Gerald de Barri ; c. 1146 – c. 1223 )
2250-661: The Old Irish poetic name for Isle of Man ), where Ablach means "Having Apple Trees" — from Old Irish aball ("apple") — and is similar to the Middle Welsh name Afallach , which was used to replace the name Avalon in medieval Welsh translations of French and Latin Arthurian tales. All are related to the Gaulish root * aballo "fruit tree" (found in the place name Aballo/Aballone ) and are derived from Proto-Celtic * abal - "apple", which
2340-511: The Strait of Messina , located to the north of Etna and associated with the optical mirage phenomenon of Fata Morgana ("Morgan the Fairy"). Pomponius Mela 's ancient Roman description of the island of Île de Sein , off the coast of Brittany, was also notably one of Geoffrey of Monmouth's original inspirations for his Avalon. In modern times, similar to the search for Arthur's mythical capital Camelot,
2430-404: The 1180s. Certainly the book has valuable details about Irish birds: while the common kingfisher is now common in Ireland, Gerald states clearly that it was not found there in his time: on the other hand the white-throated dipper , which he had evidently not seen before, was very common in Ireland. He also observed the great numbers of birds of prey in Ireland, including the golden eagle and
2520-512: The 12th century, the high conical bulk of Glastonbury Tor in today's South-West England had been surrounded by marsh before the draining of fenland in the Somerset Levels . In ancient times, Ponter's Ball Dyke would have guarded the only entrance to the island. The Romans eventually built another road to the island. Glastonbury's earliest name in Welsh was the Isle of Glass, which suggests that
2610-600: The Battle of Camlann, a noblewoman called Morgan, later the ruler and patroness of these parts as well as being a close blood-relation of King Arthur, carried him off to the island, now known as Glastonbury, so that his wounds could be cared for. Years ago the district had also been called Ynys Gutrin in Welsh, that is the Island of Glass, and from these words the invading Saxons later coined the place-name "Glastingebury". Around 1190, monks at Glastonbury Abbey claimed to have discovered
2700-501: The Bretons still expect both of them evermore." In Erec and Enide , an early Arthurian romance by Chrétien de Troyes , a "friend" (i.e. lover ) of Morgan early during King Arthur's rule is the Lord of the Isle of Avalon, Guingomar (manuscript variants Guinguemar, Guingamar, Guigomar, Guilemer, Gimoers). In this appearance, he might have been derived from the fairy king Gwyn ap Nudd , who in
2790-625: The Britons to which I am accustomed, is not slow and harsh, but lively and rapid, while the harmony is both sweet and gay. It is astonishing that in so complex and rapid a movement of the fingers, the musical proportions can be preserved........ it must be remarked, however, that both Scotland and Wales strive to rival Ireland in the art of music...... Gerald's works on Ireland, although invaluable for their detail, are obviously biased, and have been attacked by Irish writers such as Stephen White . The following passage from his Topographia Hibernica shows why
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2880-489: The Elder in his 1st-century Naturalis Historia as a mysterious island where amber could be found. According to Geoffrey in the Historia , and much subsequent literature which he inspired, King Arthur was taken to Avalon ( Avallon ) in hope that he could be saved and recover from his mortal wounds following the tragic Battle of Camlann . Geoffrey first mentions Avalon as the place where Arthur's sword Excalibur ( Caliburn )
2970-526: The Irish as barbaric savages, gives important insight into Cambro-Norman views of Ireland and the history of the invasion. Having thus demonstrated his usefulness, Gerald was selected to accompany the Archbishop of Canterbury , Baldwin of Forde , on a tour of Wales in 1188, the object being a recruitment campaign for the Third Crusade . His account of that journey, the Itinerarium Cambriae (1191)
3060-435: The Irish might not always be too enamoured with Gerald's views: Distinction III *Chapter XXXV (Of the number of persons in this nation who have bodily defects): Moreover, I have never seen in any other nation so many individuals who were born blind, so many lame, maimed or having some natural defect. The persons of those who are well-formed are indeed remarkably fine, nowhere better; but as those who are favoured with
3150-419: The Irish, is much less friendly. Gerald's writings in good-quality Latin, based on a thorough knowledge of Classical authors, reflect experiences gained on his travels as well as his great knowledge of the standard authorities. He was respected as a scholar in his time and afterwards. The noted scholar Edward Augustus Freeman , in his Norman Conquest , said he was "the father of comparative philology," and in
3240-561: The Isle of Avalon ( Davalim ). In the Vera historia de morte Arthuri ("True story of the death of Arthur"), Arthur is taken by four of his men to Avalon in the land of Gwynedd (north-west Wales), where he is about to die but then mysteriously disappears in a mist amongst sudden great storm. Morgan features as an immortal ruler of a fantastic Avalon, sometimes alongside the still-alive Arthur, in some subsequent and otherwise non-Arthurian chivalric romances such as Tirant lo Blanch , as well as
3330-476: The Isle of Avalon (named as Lady Lyle of Avalon by Malory) appears indirectly in the Vulgate Cycle story of Sir Balin in which her damsel brings a cursed magic sword to Camelot . The tales of the half-fairy Melusine have her grow up in the isle of Avalon. Avalon has been also occasionally described as a valley. In Le Morte d'Arthur , for instance, Avalon is called an isle twice and a vale once (the latter in
3420-573: The Otherworld in attempts to link the location firmly with Avalon, drawing on the various legends based on Glastonbury Tor as well as drawing on ideas like Earth mysteries , ley lines and even the myth of Atlantis . Arthurian literature also continues to use Glastonbury as an important location as in The Mists of Avalon , A Glastonbury Romance , and The Bones of Avalon . Even the fact that Somerset has many apple orchards has been drawn in to support
3510-525: The See of St Davids, despite the strenuous exertions of Gerald. Travelling back to France, he was briefly imprisoned there for these actions. He was afterwards reconciled with the king and was forced to vow never again to support the primacy of St Davids over Canterbury. The expenses of his unsuccessful election were paid by the crown. Gerald maintained his appointment had been prevented by fear of its possible effect on national politics in Wales. He famously complained in
3600-528: The Welsh Arthurian tradition figures as the ruler of Avalon-like Celtic Otherworld , Annwn . The German Diu Crône says the Queen of Avalon is the goddess ( göttin ) Enfeidas, Arthur's aunt (sister of Uther Pendragon ) and one of the guardians of the Grail. In Gottfried von Strassburg 's Tristan , Petitcrieu is a magical dog created by a goddess in Avalon. The Venician Les Prophéties de Merlin features
3690-417: The Welsh church at the time. He was appointed in 1174 as Archdeacon of Brecon , to which was attached a residence at Llanddew . He obtained this position by reporting the existence of the previous archdeacon's mistress; the man was promptly dismissed. While administering this post, Gerald collected tithes of wool and cheese from the populace; the income from the archdeaconry supported him for many years. Upon
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3780-401: The Welsh to rebellion and was put on trial, but the trial came to nothing as the principal judges were absent. After this long struggle, the chapter of St Davids deserted Gerald, and having been obliged to leave Wales, he fled to Rome. The ports had been closed against him, so he travelled in secret. In April 1203 Pope Innocent III annulled both elections, and Geoffrey of Henlaw was appointed to
3870-510: The annual Glastonbury Festival . Medieval settings for the location of Avalon ranged far beyond Glastonbury. Besides the mentioned examples of Gwynedd and Brasil, they included paradisal underworld realms equated with the other side of the Earth at the antipodes . Italian romances and folklore explicitly link Morgan's and sometimes Arthur's eternal domain with Mount Etna (Mongibel) in Sicily, and
3960-461: The archbishop had forestalled him, and his agents in Rome undermined Gerald's case; and as the pope was not convinced that St Davids was independent of Canterbury, Gerald's mission failed. Gerald had pleaded not only his own cause, but that of St Davids as a Metropolitan archbishopric (and thus of the same status as Canterbury) reviving the earlier claims of Rhygyfarch and Bishop Bernard of St Davids . It
4050-404: The bones of Arthur and his wife Guinevere. The discovery of the burial is described by chroniclers, notably Gerald, as being just after King Henry II 's reign when the new abbot of Glastonbury, Henry de Sully , commissioned a search of the abbey grounds. At a depth of 5 m (16 feet), the monks were said to have discovered an unmarked tomb with a massive treetrunk coffin and, also buried,
4140-558: The canons followed Richard I to France, but before they could interview him he died; his successor, King John, received them kindly and granted them permission to hold an election. They were unanimous in their selection of Gerald, and Gerald acted as bishop-elect for much of the next four years; and, as Hubert still refused to confirm the election, Gerald started for Rome to have his election confirmed. There he had an interview with Pope Innocent III . He visited Rome on three occasions (1199–1200; 1201; 1202–3) in support of his claims. But in 1198
4230-534: The character of an enchantress known only as the Lady of Avalon ( Dame d'Avalon ), a Merlin's apprentice who is a fierce rival of Morgan as well as of Sebile , another of Merlin's female students. In the late Italian Tavola Ritonda , the lady of the island of Avalon ( dama dell'isola di Vallone , likely the same as the Lady of Avalon from the Propheties ) is a fairy mother of the evil sorceress Elergia . An unnamed Lady of
4320-531: The connection. Glastonbury's reputation as the real Avalon has made it a popular site of tourism. Having become one of the major New Age communities in Europe, the area has great religious significance for neo-Pagans and modern Druids , as well as some Christians. Identification of Glastonbury with Avalon within hippie subculture, as seen in the work of Michell and in the Gandalf's Garden community, also helped inspire
4410-414: The crown and Prince Rhys ap Gruffydd . He was chosen to accompany one of the king's sons, John , in 1185 on John's first expedition to Ireland . This was the catalyst for his literary career; his work Topographia Hibernica (first circulated in manuscript in 1188, and revised at least four times) is an account of his journey to Ireland; Gerald always referred to it as his Topography , though "history"
4500-524: The death of his uncle, the Bishop of St Davids , in 1176, the chapter nominated Gerald as his successor. St Davids had the long-term aim of becoming independent of Canterbury, and the chapter may have thought that Gerald was the man to take up its cause. King Henry II of England , fresh from his struggle with Archbishop Thomas Becket , promptly rejected Gerald in favour of Peter de Leia , one of his Norman retainers, possibly because Gerald's Welsh blood and ties to
4590-505: The decision; and Gerald, disappointed with the result, withdrew to the University of Paris . From c. 1179 -8, he studied and taught canon law and theology. He returned to England and spent an additional five years studying theology. In 1180, he received a minor appointment from the Bishop of St Davids, which he soon resigned. Gerald became a royal clerk and chaplain to King Henry II of England in 1184, first acting as mediator between
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#17328523574474680-548: The earth. It was Gerald who also wrote (of the Welsh) that "If they would be inseparable, they would be insuperable", and that, unlike the English hirelings, who fight for power or to procure gain or wealth, the Welsh patriots fight for their country. He had pleasant things to say about the poetic talents of his people, too: In their rhymed songs and set speeches they are so subtle and ingenious that they produce, in their native tongue, ornaments of wonderful and exquisite invention both in
4770-424: The expedition. As a royal clerk, Gerald observed significant political events first-hand and was offered appointments as bishoprics of Wexford and Leighlin, and apparently, slightly later, the bishopric of Ossory and the archbishopric of Cashel , and later the bishopric of Bangor in Wales; and, in 1191, that of Llandaff . He turned them all down, possibly in the hope of landing a more prominent bishopric in
4860-427: The fact that it produces all things of itself; the fields there have no need of the ploughs of the farmers and all cultivation is lacking except what nature provides. Of its own accord it produces grain and grapes, and apple trees grow in its woods from the close-clipped grass. The ground of its own accord produces everything instead of merely grass, and people live there a hundred years or more. There nine sisters rule by
4950-610: The famous Arglwydd (Lord) Rhys and his family. Gerald received his initial education at the Benedictine house of Gloucester , followed by a period of study in Paris from c. 1165 –74, where he studied the trivium . He was employed by Richard of Dover , the Archbishop of Canterbury, on various ecclesiastical missions in Wales, and distinguished himself by his efforts to remove supposed abuses of consanguinity and tax laws flourishing in
5040-432: The former island of Glastonbury Tor . An early and long-standing belief involves the purported discovery of Arthur's remains and their later grand reburial in accordance with the medieval English tradition, in which Arthur did not survive the fatal injuries he suffered in his final battle. Besides Glastonbury, several other alternative locations of Avalon have also been claimed or proposed. Many medieval sources also localized
5130-459: The future. He was acquainted with Walter Map , whose career shares some similarities with Gerald's. Retiring from royal service, he lived in Lincoln from c. 1196 to 1198, when his friend, William de Montibus , was chancellor of the cathedral. In this period De principis instructione was probably first written, a useful historical source on contemporary events. It was an influential work at
5220-486: The gifts of nature grow up exceedingly handsome, those from whom she withholds them are frightfully ugly. No wonder if among an adulterous and incestuous people, in which both births and marriages are illegitimate, a nation out of the pale of the laws, nature herself should be foully corrupted by perverse habits. It should seem that by the just judgements of God, nature sometimes produces such objects, contrary to her own laws, in order that those who will not regard Him duly by
5310-588: The immensely popular cymanfaoedd canu (hymn-singing festivals) held throughout Wales and North America: In their musical concerts they do not sing in unison like the inhabitants of other countries, but in many different parts... You will hear as many different parts and voices as there are performers who all at length unite with organic melody. Another part of the above work, however, is less positive. As Gerald puts it, "an attention to order now requires that, in this second part, we should employ our pen in pointing out those particulars in which it seems to transgress
5400-527: The ladies who know all the magic in the world are" ( ou les dames sont qui seiuent tous les enchantemens del monde [ sic ]) not long before his final battle. Its Welsh version was also claimed, within its text, to be a translation of old Latin books from Avalon, as was the French Perlesvaus . In Lope Garcia de Salazar's Spanish version of the Post-Vulgate Roman du Graal , Avalon
5490-429: The later Arthurian prose romance tradition that expanded on Merlin's association with Arthur, as well on the subject of Avalon itself. In many later versions of Arthurian legend, including Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory , Morgan the Fairy and several other magical queens (either three, four or "many" ) arrive after the battle to take the mortally wounded Arthur from the battlefield of Camlann ( Salisbury Plain in
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#17328523574475580-419: The legend that beavers castrate themselves to avoid danger. Likewise he gives a good description of an osprey fishing, but adds the mythical detail that the bird has one webbed foot. His description of Irish wildlife has been the subject of much adverse comment for its inaccuracies and lapses into fiction but nonetheless, despite its faults, some have argued that it gives an important glimpse of Irish fauna in
5670-712: The legends of the Holy Grail and Joseph of Arimathea interconnected these legends with Glastonbury and with Avalon, an identification which also seems to be made in Perlesvaus . The popularity of Arthurian romances has meant this area of the Somerset Levels has today become popularly described as the Vale of Avalon. Modern writers such as Dion Fortune , John Michell , Nicholas Mann and Geoffrey Ashe have formed theories based on perceived links between Glastonbury and Celtic legends of
5760-529: The light of their own consciences, should often have to lament their privations of the exterior and bodily gift of sight. Gerald was a keen and observant student of natural history, but the value of his observations is lessened by credulity and the inability to distinguish fact from legend. He gives a vivid and accurate description of the last colony of the Eurasian beaver in Wales on the Teifi , but spoils it by repeating
5850-563: The line of virtue and commendation". David Powel published an abridged version of Itinerarium Cambriae and Descriptio Cambriae in 1585 omitting Gerald's negative comments about the Welsh. Due to translations into English, the first being done by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart. , and other translations such as in Everyman's Library and Penguin Classics , Gerald's works on Wales are well known today. In Gerald's writing on Ireland, his love of music
5940-461: The location was at one point seen as an island. At the end of the 12th century, Gerald of Wales wrote in De instructione principis : What is now known as Glastonbury was, in ancient times, called the Isle of Avalon. It is virtually an island, for it is completely surrounded by marshlands. In Welsh it is called Ynys Afallach , which means the Island of Apples and this fruit once grew in great abundance. After
6030-438: The male body's bones were described as gigantic. The account of the burial by the chronicle of Margam Abbey says three bodies were found, the other being that of Mordred ; Richard Barber argues that Mordred's name was airbrushed out of the story once his reputation as a traitor was appreciated. The story is today seen as an example of pseudoarchaeology . Historians generally dismiss the find's authenticity, attributing it to
6120-559: The name Escavalon from that of Avalon (with Roger Sherman Loomis noting the similarity of the evolution of Geoffrey's Caliburn into the Chrétien's Escalibur in the case of Excalibur ), perhaps in connection with the Old French words for either Slav or Saracen . Chretien's Escavalon was renamed as Askalon in Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach , who might have been either confused or inspired by
6210-608: The place in Sicily , and European folklore connected it with the phenomenon of Fata Morgana . Geoffrey of Monmouth in his pseudo-chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae ("The History of the Kings of Britain", c. 1136) calls the place Insula Avallonis , meaning the "Isle of Avallon" in Latin . In his later Vita Merlini ("The Life of Merlin", c. 1150), he calls it Insula Pomorum , the "Isle of Fruit Trees" (from Latin pōmus "fruit tree"). The name
6300-532: The preface to the last volume of Gerald's works in the Rolls Series, he calls him "one of the most learned men of a learned age," "the universal scholar." His writings were prolific, running to about ten volumes in modern printed editions. Gerald was a man of strong opinions whose works are frequently polemical , including bitter attacks on his enemies, but he also had an intense curiosity, recording much valuable detail of everyday life in his ethnographic works. It
6390-619: The real-life Middle Eastern coastal city of Ascalon . It is possible that the Chrétien-era Escavalon has turned or split into the Grail realm of Escalot in later prose romances. Nevertheless, the kingdoms of Escalot and Escavalon both appear concurrently in the Vulgate Cycle. There, Escavalon is ruled by King Alain, whose daughter Florée is rescued by Gawain and later gives birth to his son Guinglain (and possibly two others). The character of Alain may have been derived from Afallach (Avallach) of Avalon. Though no longer an island in
6480-409: The remainder of his life in academic study, most probably in Lincoln, producing works of devotional instruction and politics, and revising the works on Ireland and Wales he had written earlier in his life. He spent two years (1204–6) in Ireland with his relatives and made a fourth visit to Rome, purely as a pilgrimage, in 1206. The controversy over St Davids soured his relationship with the crown. In 1216
6570-548: The remainder of his life. Much of his writing survives. Born c. 1146 at Manorbier Castle in Pembrokeshire , Wales, Gerald was of mixed Norman and Welsh descent. Gerald was the youngest son of William Fitz Odo de Barry (or Barri), the common ancestor of the De Barry family of Ireland, a retainer of Arnulf de Montgomery and Gerald de Windsor , and one of the most powerful Anglo-Norman barons in Wales. His mother
6660-545: The remains were reburied with great ceremony, attended by King Edward I and Queen Eleanor of Castile , before the High Altar at Glastonbury Abbey. They were moved again in 1368 when the choir was extended. The site became the focus of pilgrimages until the dissolution of the abbey in 1539. The fact that the search for the body is connected to Henry II and Edward I, both kings who fought major Anglo-Welsh wars , has had scholars suggest that propaganda may have played
6750-403: The renowned king Arthur in the island of Avalon." Accounts of the exact inscription vary, with five different versions existing. One popular today, made famous by Malory, claims "Here lies Arthur, the king that was and the king that shall be" ( Hic iacet Arthurus, rex quondam rexque futurus ), also known in the now-popular variant "the once and future king" ( rex quondam et futurus ). The earliest
6840-623: The romances) to Avalon in a black boat. Besides Morgan, who by this time had already become Arthur's supernatural sibling in the popular romance tradition, they sometimes come with the Lady of the Lake among them; the others may include the Queen of Northgales (North Wales) and the Queen of the Wasteland . In the Vulgate Queste , conversely, Morgan only tells Arthur of her intention to relocate to Avalon, "where
6930-482: The ruling family of Deheubarth made him seem like a troublesome prospect. According to Gerald, the king said at the time: "It is neither necessary nor expedient for king or archbishop that a man of great honesty or vigour should become Bishop of St Davids, for fear that the Crown and Canterbury should suffer thereby. Such an appointment would only give strength to the Welsh and increase their pride." The chapter acquiesced in
7020-457: The scene of Arthur's final voyage, oddly despite Malory's adoption of the boat travel motif). Notably, the vale of Avalon ( vaus d'Avaron ) is mentioned twice in Robert de Boron 's Arthurian prequel Joseph d'Arimathie [ fr ] as a place located in western Britannia , to where a fellowship of early Christians started by Joseph of Arimathea brought the Grail after its long journey from
7110-726: The tales of Huon of Bordeaux , where the faery king Oberon is a son of either Morgan by name or "the Lady of the Secret Isle", and the legend of Ogier the Dane , where Avalon can be described as an enchanted fairy castle ( chasteu d'Auallon ), as it is also in Floriant et Florete . In his La Faula , Guillem de Torroella claims to have visited the Enchanted Island ( Illa Encantada ) and met Arthur who has been brought back to life by Morgan and they both of them are now forever young, sustained by
7200-470: The telling from Alliterative Morte Arthure , relatively devoid of supernatural elements, it is not Morgan but the renowned physicians from Salerno who try, and fail, to save Arthur's life in Avalon. Conversely, the Gesta Regum Britanniae , an early rewrite of Geoffrey's Historia , states (in the present tense) that Morgan "keeps his healed body for her very own and they now live together." In
7290-553: The time, spreading, for example, the legend of MacAlpin's treason . Here Gerald is frequently critical of the rule of the Angevin kings, a shift from his earlier praise of Henry II in the Topographia . He also wrote a life of St Hugh of Lincoln . On the death of Peter de Leia in 1198, the chapter of St Davids again nominated Gerald for the bishopric; but Hubert Walter , Archbishop of Canterbury, refused confirmation. Representatives of
7380-415: The words and the sentences... They make use of alliteration in preference to all other ornaments of rhetoric , and that particular kind which joins by consonancy the first letters or syllables of words. Gerald could not have predicted the later perfection of cynghanedd , the complex system of sound correspondence that has characterised the strict-metre poetry of the Welsh for so many centuries and that
7470-727: The works of William F. Warren , Avalon was compared to Hyperborea along with the Garden of Eden and theorized to be located in the Arctic. Geoffrey Ashe championed an association of Avalon with the town of Avallon in Burgundy, as part of a theory connecting King Arthur to the Romano-British leader Riothamus who was last seen in that area. Robert Graves identified Avalon with the Spanish island of Majorca ( Mallorca ), while Laurence Gardner suggested
7560-411: Was Angharad FitzGerald, a daughter of Gerald FitzWalter of Windsor , Constable of Pembroke Castle , and his wife Nest ferch Rhys , daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr , the last King of South Wales . Through his mother Angharad, Gerald was a nephew of David FitzGerald , Bishop of St Davids, as well as a great-nephew of Gruffydd ap Rhys , the son and heir of Rhys ap Tewdwr, and a cousin of Rhys ap Gruffydd ,
7650-516: Was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian . As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taught in France and visited Rome several times, meeting the Pope. He was nominated for several bishoprics but turned them down in the hope of becoming Bishop of St Davids , but was unsuccessful despite considerable support. His final post was as Archdeacon of Brecon , from which he retired to academic study for
7740-504: Was followed by the Descriptio Cambriae in 1194. His two works on Wales remain very valuable historical documents, useful for their descriptions (however untrustworthy and inflected by ideology, whimsy, and his unique style) of Welsh and Norman culture. It is uncertain whether Gerald was a Welsh speaker ; although he quotes Welsh proverbs and appears familiar with the language, he seems not to have been employed as an interpreter for
7830-454: Was forged. Geoffrey dealt with the subject in more detail in the Vita Merlini , in which he describes for the first time in Arthurian legend the fairy or fae-like enchantress Morgan ( Morgen ) as the chief of nine sisters (including Moronoe, Mazoe, Gliten, Glitonea, Gliton, Tyronoe and Thiten) who rule Avalon. Geoffrey's telling (in the in-story narration by the bard Taliesin ) indicates
7920-456: Was in connexion with this cause that he wrote his books De jure Menevensis Ecclesiâ and De Rebus a Se Gestis . Gerald returned, and his cause was now supported by the Princes of Wales, most notably Llywelyn the Great , and Gruffydd ap Rhys II , while King John, frequently in conflict with the Welsh, warmly espoused the cause of the Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1202, Gerald was accused of stirring up
8010-533: Was taken to recover from being gravely wounded at the Battle of Camlann . Since then, the island has become a symbol of Arthurian mythology, similar to Arthur's castle of Camelot . Avalon was associated from an early date with mystical practices and magical figures such as King Arthur's sorceress sister Morgan , cast as the island's ruler by Geoffrey and many later authors. Certain Briton traditions have maintained that Arthur
8100-515: Was very loyal to Norman Marcher rule, regarding the Normans as more civilised than the Welsh, a feeling reflected in his writings. Professor Davies tells us that Gerald, whom he calls "an admirable story-teller", is the only source for some of the most famous of the Welsh folk tales including the declaration of the old man of Pencader to Henry II which concludes Descriptio Cambriae : This nation, O King, may now, as in former times, be harassed, and in
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