King Arthur in Antiquity

This original and compelling study argues against the traditional identification of Arthur with a king in Celtic Britain. Instead, Graham Anderson explores the evidence for two much older Arthur figures, known to classical writers as kings of Arcadia and Lydia over a millennium before. He shows how these kings can be clearly connected with traditional Arthurian characters and adventures, including an ancient Gawain, a Lady of Shallott, and a predecessor of Excalibur, and that the Arthurian universe found in Welsh tales and French Romances is already anticipated in these earliest of Arthurian materials.This radical reassessment of the origins of the Arthurian legends provides a new perspective on an age-old historical puzzle.