King Arthur's Twelve Battles
A discussion by David Nash Ford
The Welsh historian,
Nennius,
records twelve great victories in battle during
Arthur's time as Dux Bellorum. Much of his
material is mythical, however, and the magical
number 12 does not sit well for historical
evidence. Some historians have argued that this
is too great a number for one man's lifetime, and
their locations may well have been too widespread
for a single leader to have fought in each.
Counteracting this view, some believe Arthur to
have headed up a warband of cavalrymen travelling
around the country and championing the British
cause: hence his widespread popularity. True or
not, it seems likely that, as with stories
attached to the real Arthur, several of
these battles may have been properly associated
with alternative Arthurs or just with other great
Dark Age heroes. A tendency towards Northern
locations may strengthen this theory.
Unfortunately identifying the location of the
battles is a highly controversial pass-time.
"The
first battle was at the mouth of the
river called Glein": This has been tentatively
identified as one of the two Rivers Glen
in Britain today, one in Lincolnshire and
one in Northumberland. Unfortunately, Glen
stems from the Celtic for
"pure", so there were probably
many rivers thus named in 6th
century Britain. A battle at the former
would have presumably been against the
first Bernician settlers and at the
latter against the northward moving East
Anglians. Either could be attributed to King Arthuis of the
Pennines.
"The
second, the third, the fourth and the
fifth were on another river, called the
Dubglas, which is in the region of
Linnuis": The River Dubglas is
modern Douglas, meaning
"black water". If the Saxons
translated this directly, it might be any
one of the many Rivers Blackwater around
the country today. So, we must first turn
to identifying Linnuis. The 2nd
century geographer, Ptolemy, recorded the
associated name of Lindum at the
Roman Fort of Drumquhassle in the Lennox
area of Scotland. The River Douglas still
runs into the nearby Loch Lomond, on the
borders of Strathclyde. Could King Arthuis of the
Pennines have fought the Scots or the
Strathclyde Britons here? The better
known Roman Lindum, however, is
now the city of Lincoln. The surrounding
area would be Linnuis: it is still
called Lindsey today. Unfortunately,
there is no longer a River Blackwater or
the like here, but one of the waterways
flowing off the muddy peat moors could
easily have been originally described as
such. Geoffrey of Monmouth indicates this
as the correct identification. His
chronicle relates how immediately Arthur
came to the throne, he swore to rid
Britain of the Saxon menace and so set
out to attack the Anglian stronghold at
York. Hearing of this, the Deiran leader,
Colgrin, gathered together an alliance of
Saxons, Scots and Picts and marched south
to meet him. They clashed on the River
Douglas. Geoffrey also describes an
ensuing Battle of Lincoln, probably one
of the successive battles on the same
river, thus identifying it as the Witham.
Several of these ensuing battles may have
been invented, however, to increase the
number to the mysterious 12. Some
theorists have argued that Linnuis
simply means "Lake Region" and
therefore other rivers, such as the
Douglas near Wigan in Lancashire have
been suggested. Southerly alternatives,
more suited to the traditional
Arthur, include an imaginative
identification with the Battle of Natanleag,
now Netley in Hampshire; and, more
convincingly, the area around Ilchester
in Somerset, the Roman Lindinis,
which may have become corrupted to Linnuis.
The River Divelish and Devil's Brook,
both deriving from Dubglas, flow
nearby. Perhaps one of them demarked the
border of Dumnonia.
"The
sixth battle was on the river called
Bassas": Only one convincing possible
identification appears to have been
forthcoming for this battle: Cambuslang
in the southern suburbs of Glasgow. This
place already has Arthurian associations
as the burial place of the great King's
Northern British enemy, Caw. Perhaps he
was killed in the battle. Other proposals
include the Lothian coast near Bass Rock;
Baschurch in Shropshire, Old Basing and
an obscure identification with the Battle
of Cerdicesford, now Charford,
both in Hampshire.
"The
seventh battle was in the Caledonian
Forest, that is, the Battle of Celidon
Coit": As
well as unconvincing arguments for the
Chilterns and the Sussex Weald, some
follow Geoffrey of Monmouth in supporting
a wood just north of Lincoln for the
location of this battle. However,
Geoffrey appears to have been confused.
He informs us that the battle took place
after the Saxon, Scottish and Pictish
alliance fled north from the Battle of
Lincoln. He does not seem to have
realized just how far they managed to
travel before Arthur finally caught up
with them; for the seventh battle site
can pretty certainly be identified as the
Caledonian Forest in modern Scotland: Coed
Celyddon. It may originally have
stretched from the Solway to the
Highlands, but Welsh tradition indicates
the area of the Scottish border. The
Moffat region of Dumfieshire, Penrith in
Cumbria or Glasgow have all been
suggested. This could, again, have been King Arthuis of the
Pennines fighting against invading
Scots; or possibly this is a memory of
the later Battle of Arfderydd,
now Arthuret in Cumbria. In 573, the
British armies of Kings Gwendoleu of
Caer-Winley and Peredyr of Ebrauc
clashed here in a territorial
quarrel over the fort at Caer-Laverock.
The fight is particularly associated with
Arthurian legend because the original
Merlin or Myrddin fled, after the
battle, into the Celidon Forest.
"The
eighth battle was in Guinnion fort, and
in it Arthur carried the image of the
holy Mary, the everlasting Virgin, on his
shield, and the heathen were put to
flight on that day, and there was great
slaughter upon them, through the power of
Jesus Christ and the power of the holy
Virgin Mary, his mother.": This quote suffers from the same
problems as that for the Battle of Badon
in the Annales Cambriae: the Welsh
words for shield and shoulder being
confused. Geoffrey of Monmouth explains
that Arthur bore armorial bearings of
both cross and virgin: the arms later
adopted by Glastonbury Abbey. Guinnion is
another site that is difficult to
identify. The name is very similar to the
Roman fort of Vinovium at
Binchester, Durham. Land's End, Caer
Guidn in the British tongue, has also
been proposed. An interesting theory
suggests a translation of the Saxon
Battle of Wihtgarasburh, the Isle
of Wight: Gwyn in Welsh. However, either
of the walled towns called Venta
by the Romans seem more likely. One
became the modern Caer-Went in Gwent, the
other Win-Chester in Hampshire. The
latter was the location for a pre-Camlann
battle between Arthur and his usurping
nephew, Morded, according to Geoffrey of
Monmouth. Modern historians suggest the
Saxon invader, Cerdic, as a more likely
enemy. An intermediate stage in the
evolution of Winchester's name was the
Romano-British Caer Guinntguic or Caer
Guinn. -guic would be a corrupt form
of -iog, a standard Celtic place-name
ending. -ion was used similarly and,
though there is no record of it, an
acceptable alternative for the name would
be Caer Guinnion, as with Caer Leir
recorded as Caer Lerion and Caer Celef
recorded as Caer Celemion. Caerwent is
unlikely. The e never did change
to an i.
"The
ninth battle was in the City of the
Legion": The Urbe
Legionis or "City of the
Legions" causes problems because
there were two cities so called: Caerleon
and Chester, at either end of the Welsh
border. It is also possible that York
bore such a title. The idea that many
other Roman forts, like Carlisle or
Exeter, once had similar names seems
unlikely though; as does identification
with the Battle of Dyrham. Chester was Caer
Legion, while Caerleon was Caer
Legion guar Uisc (that is
"Caerleon-upon-Usk"), though
the latter often lost its suffix. Chester
appears to be the likeliest candidate. It
was actually recorded in the Annales
Cambriae as Urbs Legionis and
was the site of a well-attested Battle of
Chester in Dark Age times. In 613, King
Ęthelfrith of Bernicia invaded the Welsh
Kingdoms in order to stop
King Iago of Gwynedd
restoring the former's old
enemy, Edwin, to the Deiran throne. The
armies of Gwynedd, Powys, Pengwern &
Dumnonia rose to repell him, but were
bitterly defeated at the Battle of
Chester: Kings Iago of Gwynedd &
Selyf Sarffgadau of Powys
being killed. This brave British stand
against the Northern Saxons was probably
transported back a hundred years to the
time of Arthur.
"The
tenth battle was on the bank of the river
called Tribruit": Tribruit is more properly Tryfrwyd.
The battle is mentioned in an eleventh
century Welsh poem from the Black Book of
Carmarthen, Pa Gur.
Cai Hir (the Tall), Arthur's
foster-brother of traditional legend,
apparently fought there against a foe
named Garwlwyd. Presumably therefore,
Arthur, as Cai's patron in the poem, was
the British commander at the battle. Some
people identify it's location as the
River Frew at Stirling; others, the River
Ribble in Lancashire; the Severn at
Gloucester or the Eden at Carlisle.
"The
eleventh battle was on the hill called
Agned": Geoffrey of Monmouth identifies Monte
Agned as Edinburgh and there appears
to be little evidence to contradict him.
The rock of Edinburgh Castle was
certainly occupied at this time. It was a
strategic point of some importance at the
centre of the Kingdom of Gododdin.
Perhaps the battle was connected with
King Lot of Gododdin
being one of the eleven kings
who rebelled against Arthur at the
beginning of his reign. Edinburgh alias Din-Eityn
specifically relates to the settlement on
top of the rock of course. Geoffrey calls
this the Castle of Maidens or the
Dolorous Castle. There was apparently a 7th
century Siege of Din-Eityn. Could this
have been the real Battle of Mount Agned
pushed back to Arthur's reign? More
obscure proposed identifications include
Brent Knoll, Somerset; Ribchester, Lancashire and Cirencester,
Gloucestershire. A 10th
century version of Nennius' History gives
this battle the alternative name of Breguoin.
This may have been another of Arthur's
victories. The name could be a corruption
of Bravonium, a Roman name for
Leintwardine in Herefordshire. This is
conveniently situated for a possible
battle involving King Athrwys of
Ergyng, though the place
was, more usually, called Branogenium.
Alternatively, the name could stem from Bremenium,
now High Rochester in Northumberland.
Unfortunately, this is probably also the
site of
King Urien Rheged's Battle of the Cells of
Brewyn, as mentioned in Welsh poetry.
Arthur, therefore, erroneously claims
another battle.
"The
twelfth battle was on Badon Hill and in
it nine hundred and sixty men fell in one
day, from a single charge of Arthur's,
and no-one lay them low save he
alone.": It was at the Battle of Mount
Badon that tradition says the Saxon
advance into Britain was finally halted.
It was Arthur's greatest victory and, not
surprisingly, there are many claimants
for its location. Forts are preferred
since
Gildas,
in his De Excidio Britanniae", more properly called the
battle a "siege" and nearby
Rivers Avon strengthen claims.
Possibilities include Bowden Hill,
Lothian; Dumbarton Rock, Strathclyde;
Mynydd Baedan, Glamorgan; Little Solway
Hill, Somerset; or Brent Knoll, Somerset.
Modern theory, however, suggests one of
the many Badburys around the
country: in Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire,
Berkshire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire
and Lincolnshire. Liddington Castle, near
Badbury in Wiltshire, seems most popular
at present. Welsh tradition backed up by
Geoffrey of Monmouth is, however, almost
certainly correct in identifying the
battle site with Bath, Caer Baddon,
or, at least somewhere in its vicinity.
Bathampton Down has been suggested.
Arthur's last battle, where he
was fatally wounded, is not mentioned by Nennius.
It is known to us from the Annales Cambriae
as:
"The Strife of
Camlann in which Arthur and Medraut
perished".
Over the years, it has been
variously identified as being at Queen or West
Camel on the River Cam, Somerset; at Slaughter
Bridge on the River Camel in Cornwall; at
Camelon, Stirlingshire or Salisbury Plain,
Wiltshire. Recent suggestions indicate Goring Gap
on the Thames at the Berkshire/Oxfordshire border
or Cadnam in the New Forest. Generally, however,
modern historians recognise the battle-site as
the Roman fort of Camboglanna, on
Hadrian's Wall. The place is now called
Castlesteads in Cumbria, though the place is
often confused with nearby Birdoswald, now
thought to have been Banna. However, this
northern site appears unlikely for the traditional
Arthur and there seems no good reason to look
anywhere other than one of the three Welsh
Camlans of today: the two Camlan Valleys in
Southern Meirionydd and the River Gamlan in
Southern Dunoding.
See Also:
Arthur, King of the Britons
Arthur, General of the Britons
Arthur, the Myth
King Arthur in Popular Literature
References to an Historical King Arthur
---------------------------------------------------------
©2007 Britannia.com Design and Development by SightLines, Inc.
|
