Free The Mammoth Book of King Arthur by Mike Ashley Page B

from the fifth and sixth centuries, some of
whom are remembered only in later tales and legends, and it is difficult to know what part they played in the emergence of these kingdoms. One in particular stands out – Amlawdd Wledig. I
shall discuss him in more detail later, but because he married a daughter of Cunedda, he must also have been fairly active around this period. Legend makes him the grandfather of Arthur’s
wife Guinevere. He is associated with territory in South Wales and it is possible that he filled the vacuum left by Owain.
    There is no reason to believe that any other kingdoms emerged in the south at this time. Both the archeological evidence and, to a degree, the written record – primarily that left by
Gildas – suggest that Roman life continued much as before for at least a generation. Whilst northern Britain and parts of west Waleswere the scenes of fighting and
increasing devastation, it was not until the 430s and 440s that the south began to be threatened by the more serious incursion of the Saxons. It was then that the seeds were sown for the Arthurian
legend with the stories of Vortigern, Ambrosius and Uther Pendragon.
    In order that we can see how this legend emerged I want to follow through all of the surviving ancient documents that cover this period, no matter how dubious.
    The principal documents are the De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae ( The Ruin of Britain ) by Gildas, the Welsh Annals (Annales Cambriae) , the Historia Brittonum ,
usually credited to Nennius, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. There are also the genealogies, a few ancient poems such as the Y Goddodin , and the lives of the saints, none of which is
contemporary and few of which are reliable. More reliable are ancient inscriptions on stones, but these have been subject to weathering and destruction.
    There may well have been more documents at some stage. When Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his History of the Kings of Britain in the 1130s, he referred to a “certain very ancient
book” which he had consulted. But such chronicles as may have been kept in the fifth or sixth centuries would mostly have been compiled and retained in monasteries, and these were subject to
regular attack from the Vikings for over two hundred years, let alone the ravages of time and other dangers such as fire and flood. The library at Glastonbury Abbey was all but destroyed by fire in
1184 and one can but weep at what irreplaceable documents were lost.
    The Venerable Bede, regarded as the father of British history, was a dedicated researcher and may have had access to some of these lost documents, but he relied heavily on Gildas for his
coverage of the fifth and sixth centuries and, like Gildas, makes no mention of Arthur. That may by itself seem significant, but Bede was not that interested in events before the arrival of St.
Augustine, and would not have looked further into ancient British history. He was, however, the first to provide the name Vortigern. His primary research relates to later years, which means that
England’s foremost historian of the Dark Ages can provide no help with the story of Arthur.
    One can live in hope that some long lost document may surface in an ancient archive, but until then we have to work with what we’ve got and hope that archaeology may
help substantiate or further define the world in which the events took place. I shall look at each of these sources over the next few chapters, which will also help flesh out a chronology so we
know where in time to place Arthur.
    Before doing that, though, it is worthwhile listing here the various pedigrees that survive in the ancient records. These are far from reliable – in fact at times they are wholly
misleading – and they are almost impossible to date. But we will encounter many of these people as we travel through the other documents so it is worth acquainting ourselves with them here
and trying to get at least a rough chronology. This will also show where