King Arthur Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

King Arthur - Essay Example Geoffrey also translated an ancient book titled â€Å"History of the Kings of Britian†, which was most likely highly elaborated upon in his hands. This was the first work to cover the life of King Arthur in much detail. It was taken as truth until around the 17th century. Modern historians trace much of the content of Geoffreys â€Å"History† to Celtic mythology and other Breton writings, as well as some historical works tying the content back to actual events of the time period. â€Å"Life of Merlin†, another of Geoffreys writings, was both written and placed into the timeline after â€Å"History of the Kings of Britian†. However, since Merlin appeared in the original â€Å"History† as well, his role was made more mythical by extending his lifespan to an impossible degree. Geoffrey did this in order to make the events in â€Å"Life of Merlin† and â€Å"History† agree with each other, even though it is most likely that the Merlin from â€Å"History† and the Merlin in â€Å"Life of Merlin† were two different people. As a reward for his work, Geoffrey was first named Bishop of St. Asaphs and then Archbishop Theobald. However, he was unable to fill this role well due to the Welsh revolution that was taking place. In addition, he died shortly after being named Archbishop, and was never really able to enjoy being elected to the position. I selected this reading because it is more interesting for me to learn about real historical figures and the background of the stories than it is to study the life of characters that never existed. Geoffrey of Monmouth is the man responsible for the popularity of the Arthur stories we know and love today; this alone makes him worthy of further study. This reading attempts to be as historically accurate as is possible. There are probably errors, given the scarcity of records that remain about Geoffrey of