As always, the facts are slim and the proof almost none. But historians make a habit of finding something when they are faced with nothing to go on. Also, some logical conclusions can be made as a result of having no evidence at all.
Previous columns examined the secrecy of the Druids in particular and the Celts in general. Written records were almost nonexistent because the powers that were preferred to pass their secrets and their knowledge by words of mouths. But ties to the Arthurian story can be found herein. To wit, when you can’t find something, no matter how hard you try, you can generally assume that it doesn’t exist ... or that people didn’t want it to be remembered.
One of the constant themes of writers contemporary with Arthur is that “they didn’t know what they were seeing.” This interpretation is from modern historians, of course, who tend to see things through hindsight. “How could they have not seen how great Arthur was?” they will surely say. Yet, historians living in the time of Arthur don’t write a whole lot about Arthur the general or the cavalry commander or whatever kind of warrior he really was.
Why? One possibility is that they didn’t think much of him, as with Gildas, who was too involved in writing about the destruction of his people’ s island to hearken back to the “glorious time before.” Gildas, himself a Catholic monk irritated with the pagan resurgence in Britain, probably had his own agenda in not mentioning Arthur, although he does mention Badon Hill.
Now, the Romans left in the mid-5th century, leaving a tremendous void. It would be only natural for the Celts, one of the powers in Britain before the Romans took over, to step back in and reassert order. And these same Celts did not write things down. This could very well explain why no written records of Arthur’s time exist. We know that in the generations following Arthur’s, the name Arthur was the most popular in Britain, given to baby boys all over the island. This popularization must have come from somewhere. It is reasonable to assume that a great warrior lent his name to these
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