Sources

Gododdin
A series of poems composed around 600 AD, attributed to the bard Aneirin. The poems detail the battle against the Angles at Catraeth. Arthur is mentioned only in passing; one of the fallen warriors that the poem he commemorates was good, but he was "no Arthur." An important source because of it's earliness and off-handedness; the poems exist in a manuscript dating from the thirteenth century, but the insignificance of the reference to Arthur makes it unlikely to have been inserted between composition of the poems and the inscription.

Saint Gildas
Author of De exidio et conquestu Britanniae, which names the Battle of Badon, though not Arthur. He otherwise chronicled the Kings of Briton, notably mentioning Aurelius Ambrosius. He mentions the Battle of Badon, but does not make mention of who the British leader of it was.

Nennius
A chronicler whose remarks about Arthur might otherwise be taken at face value-- did he not record several absolutely fantastic tales about Arthur as well (such as the footprint of Arthur's dog being imprinted in stone). His other chronicles are well-done, but because he did not attempt to separate fact from fiction, his effort is disparaged and his words about Arthur disbelieved. His Historia Brittonum, dating from 800 AD, claims that Arthur fought alongside the British kings, not as a king himself, but as the dux bellorum, war-leader. Nennius lists twelve battles that Arthur won, including Badon.

Annales Cambriae
The Welsh historical archive dating from the tenth century, have been proven to be accurate in almost every instance. The annals declare that both the Battle of Badon and the Battle of Camlann took place.



 

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This page last updated on April 11, 2006