Battle of Camlann
The
Battle of Camlann is best known as the final battle of
King Arthur, where he either died in battle, or was fatally wounded. As the surviving accounts of this battle are all generally little more than
legend or
myth (and all versions exhibit traces of
folklore), some historians doubt this battle even took place. In most non-contemporary accounts, the battle was caused by a knight on one side who drew blade against orders to kill a snake. As the unsheathing of cold steel was against the rules of the truce, both armies subsequently charged at each other, beginning the battle in earnest. Older Welsh tradition has the battle as the outcome of a feud between Arthur and
Medrod (Mordred) with its origins in a quarrel between Arthur's wife Gwenhwyfar (later
Guinevere) and her sister
Gwenhwyfach.
The earliest known reference to this battle, however, is the entry in the
Annales Cambriae for the year 537, which does not specify that Arthur and Mordred were on opposite sides:
Gueith camlann in qua Arthur et Medraut corruerunt.:(
The Strife of Camlann in which Arthur and Medraut (Mordred) perished".)
Later accounts of this battle are in
Geoffrey of Monmouth's
Historia Regum Britanniae, the
Alliterative Morte Arthur, and in the 13th century
Welsh tale
The Dream of Rhonabwy.
The location of the battle is unknown, but several candidates exist. One possible site is
Queen Camel in
Somerset which is close to the
hill fort near
South Cadbury (identified by some with King Arthur's
Camelot), where the River Cam flows beneath Camel Hill and Annis Hill. The sites most consistent with the theory of a northern Arthur are
Birdoswald or Castlesteads near
Hadrian's Wall (one of which was named, in Latin, "Camboglanna" â€" there is debate about which). Other identifications have been offered, the
River Camel along the border of
Cornwall, and the River Camlann in
Eifionydd in
Wales.
*Hunt, A. (2005).
From Glein to Camlann: The life and death of King Arthur.
Vortigern Studies.
[[Category:Sub-Roman Britain{{de:Schlacht von Camlann}}{{fr:Bataille de Camlann}}{{it:Battaglia di Camlann}}{{sv:Slaget vid Camlann}}
