Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords may be no basis for a system of government, but the legends surrounding Arthur, king of the Britons, are the foundation for a grand artistic tradition. For a millennium, tales of Arthur and his knights have inspired remarkable works of literature, visual art, opera, film, and comics — and not just in the English-speaking world, but everywhere.
Even the wildest legend may be rooted in historical fact. And despite their fantastical elements, Arthurian legends position him in a real historical and political milieu: southern Britain, around Wales and Cornwall, in the 5th century A.D., within a generation or two of the Roman withdrawal in A.D. 410. Roman occupation had brought peace and prosperity to Britannia; their departure created a power vacuum that homegrown warlords scrambled to fill, while leaving the island newly vulnerable to conquest by the seafaring Saxons.
