Explorations in Arthurian
History
The Importance of Geography
Part 10: Camlann
That Arthur would return is, of
course, predicated on the belief that he has gone away. Legends of
Avalon
and the like say he is carried away after the Battle of
Camlann.
Where was Camlann? What was Camlann?
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First to the word:
Camlann is a Welsh derivation of Camboglanna, a British word
meaning "crooked bank." As such, it could be anywhere.
Northern proponents point to the Roman fort called
Camboglanna along Hadrian's Wall and say that it was
probably Birdoswald.
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Other possibilities are
the River Cam, which runs near Cadbury,
and the River Camel (left), in Cornwall. This is where
Geoffrey
of Monmouth puts
Camlann, which the addition that the fighting took place at
and near Slaughter Bridge. Later legends would have
Bedivere
toss Excalibur
from this bridge into a pool or into the waiting hand of the
Lady
of the Lake.
Tennyson
says Camlann was in Lyonesse;
Malory
says it was at a "down beside Salisbury."
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What is known for sure is that
Arthur and Medraut
(whom Geoffrey calls Modred) were mortally wounded at this battle.
The Annales
Cambriae dates it to
539 but doesn't say where it was.
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