Burne-Jones Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon
1 2016-10-15T17:17:32-07:00 Brandon Richards 8536bf0786c14cfd040009cc7e282b52c5306090 11878 6 The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon plain 2016-10-15T17:38:45-07:00 Brandon Richards 8536bf0786c14cfd040009cc7e282b52c5306090This page is referenced by:
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2016-10-15T18:03:23-07:00
The Isle of Avalon
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Brandon Richards Page on The Isle of Avalon (King Arthur's final resting place)
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2016-10-31T09:08:19-07:00
51.144444, -2.698611
I chose this location because it is an essential part of the Arthurian legend/lore. According to legend the Isle of Avalon is where King Arthur’s Excalibur sword was forged but more importantly where the mythical king died after being fatally wounded by his illegitimate son Mordred, at the Battle of Camlann. King Arthur’s death was a significant event and many powerful people were in attendance, specifically women. According to Le Morte d'Arthur “Thus of Arthur I find never more written in books that be authorised, nor more of the very certainty of his death heard I never read, but thus was he led away in a ship wherein were three queens; that one was King Arthur's sister, Queen Morgan le Fay; the other was the Queen of Northgalis; the third was the Queen of the Waste Lands. Also there was Nimue, the chief lady of the lake” (BOOK XXI CHAPTER VI). Additionally the suggestion that Glastonbury is Avalon from the Arthurian legends came about in an interesting way. It is said that monks at Glastonbury Abbey in 1190 claimed to have discovered the grave and bones of King Arthur and his Queen. Henry de Sully who was the head of the monastery at the time commissioned a search of the grounds and the monks discovered a tree trunk coffin which conveniently had the inscription: (Here lies renowned King Arthur in the island of Avalon). This discovery in turn brought many visitors, and hence money, to Glastonbury. Regardless of the legitimacy of the tomb the Isle of Avalon holds significance because it is where the story of King Arthur began and also where it came to an end. In this way the location serves to bring the story full circle. However more importantly it also serves to add acceptability to the legend, as it gave the Celtic people a tangible physical location that they could associate with their mythical king.
