No one knows for sure if there really was a King Arthur. Most historians, however, believe there really was a Briton King named Arthur, or a combination of Briton Kings whose exploits are summed up in the life of one man.
Arthur was allegedly the son of King Pendragon, a Briton Welsh King during the Roman occupation. Legend states that the departing Roman army asked Arthur to protect Britons from the warring Anglo-Saxons pouring into England.
King Arthur is so inextricably tied up in Celtic Mythology that he must, in origin, have been, not a man at all, but a god. In early stories he and his knights have superhuman strength and abilities. Some Welsh legends say that Arthur is not dead but only sleeping in one of numerous caves waiting to return and lead his people. (David Nash Ford, www.Britannicahistory.com).
Serving with King Arthur were the Knights of the Round Table. The knights themselves are the heroes of many of the stories. The most important ones are Sir Bedivere, Sir Gawain, and Sir Kay. Later surpassed by Sir Lancelot.
Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur is first mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s The History of the Kings of Britain. According to this account, King Arthur gets a sword called “Caliburn,” which was made on the Isle of Avalon. Later legends have the sword being returned to the Lady of the Lake on the mortal wounding of King Arthur at Camlann. It was not until Robert de Boron wrote Merlin (c. 1200) that the author introduced the story of the young King Arthur drawing the sword Excalibur from a rock.
Arthur’s knights perennial go on quests for the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail is the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper and which was used by Joseph of Arimathea to catch Christ’s blood as he died on the cross.
Tennyson is perhaps the author who has the greatest influence on the conception of the Holy Grail quest through his Idylls (in Skills for Literary Analysis)and his short poem “Sir Galahad”.
How did Arthur die? In some accounts, King Arthur was taken to the Isle of Avalon to be healed, and what happened to him after reaching the island is a mystery. Some say he lies in a cave awaiting the day he is needed again by his country; others say King Arthur he died at Avalon. Apart from the somewhat dubious claim by some Medieval monks to have found King Arthur’s grave, no real evidence has emerged for an Arthurian grave.
In summary,King Arthur was probably a folk tale, based roughly on a historic, figure. He was portrayed as a ‘Protector of Britain’ who wanders across Britan with his band of chivalrous knights. Perhaps there was a great king who saved Briton from Saxon hands for a time.