Re: What was King Arthur's Round Table?

On Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:00:40 +0000, in sci.archaeology, Whiskers wrote:

On 2008-02-26, David <pchristainsen@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Norma Lorre Goodrich

Obituary <http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06275/726707-122.stm>

offers brilliant speculation that it
was an open-air temple set in Scotland.

I hadn't heard that one before. Although the Clan Campbell do, I think,
trace their descent from someone called Arthur.

Oh god, Norma Lorre Goodrich, who never read anything about Arthur she
didn't believe.
A quote from someone at the time she died:
"I've had occasional meetings with one or another of her students, and
they have never gotten over their attachment for Goodrich -- but how
anyone could ever believe any of those works under any circumstances is
more than I can fathom."
And:
" Over the years the
questions about and analyses of her work on Arthur has helped me to
define the very nature of bad scholarship, as opposed to passable
fiction, about King Arthur."
and earlier:
"By the way, I would like to congratulate my local Waldenbooks for
being one of the few bookstores to put one of her books in the proper
section. I saw a copy of her "King Arthur" in the science fiction section
-- quite appropriate given that this category does seem to include works
of sheer fantasy."

and
"Goodrich is fiction masquerading as fact,"

All from the Arthurnet mailing list.


Would any sci.archer share his knowledge of any such
as described in the professional literature?

David Christainsen

The first written mention of a 'Round Table' in connection with King
Arthur, is in the 12th century
<http://www.caerleon.net/history/arthur/page3.htm>. Since then, if it's
round then let's call it Arthur's Round Table and cash in on the tourists
- and if it isn't then let's call it Camelot or King Arthur's Castle or
Arthur's Seat or Arthur's Tomb and cash in anyway ;)) (And if Arthur is
too much of a stretch, there's always Robin Hood or the Knights Templar to
fall back on).

There's an actual round table preserved in Winchester - but it was made
for King Edward III <http://www.hants.gov.uk/greathall/great-hall2.html>
<http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page66.asp>.

Arthur himself is firmly placed in the post-Roman period, possibly a
conflation of many tales of events that took place over several generations
during the confusion when the Romano-British people were adjusting to
withdrawal of the Roman legions in the early 5th century. Arthur is
usually seen as a Christian, so no 'temple' is a plausible association.
Even less so if it pre-dates his period - such as this one
<http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=88> in Cumbria.
--
Doug Weller --
A Director and Moderator of The Hall of Ma'at http://www.hallofmaat.com
Doug's Archaeology Site: http://www.ramtops.co.uk
Amun - co-owner/co-moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Amun/

.

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