The Saxon Advent

The trail of the historical Arthur leads not to medieval England, but toDark Age Britain, recently cast off by the dying Roman Empire, andstruggling to maintain its authority over an island beset on all sides by barbarian invaders.

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by Geoffrey Ashe

Centuries have passed since the English adopted Arthur as a national hero. Their attachment to him is somewhat ironic. When first sighted in the mists of antiquity, Arthur was the mortal enemy of their ancestors. The Britain of his saga was Celtic, its people, including himself, being forebears of the Welsh. He defended it against Anglo-Saxon invaders and opposed the advance that turned most of it into Angle-land . . . England.

Medieval authors transformed Arthur from a Celtic warlord into a monarch whom English kings could claim as a predecessor. He acquired an official biography, included in History of the Kings of Britain, written by a cleric known as Geoffrey of Monmouth in the late 1130s. Wildly imaginative, this account can never be relied on for facts, yet it preserves some basic truths about Arthur. It introduces familiar details that romancers develop–his origin at Tintagel, his magic sword, his order of knighthood, his betrayal by Modred. But in Geoffrey’s narrative Arthur first rises to general popularity by routing Saxon aggressors, and the northern Picts in alliance with them, who have been ravaging the country. His glory is founded on that triumph, restoring peace to a troubled Britain lately separated from Rome. And here Geoffrey knows what he is about; he grounds his story on historical bedrock. Despite all his fantasy, he shows us where to look for Arthur and in what role.

Roman Britain–comprising, roughly, England and Wales as modern geography defines them–endured for more than 300 years. But in the 4th century AD, as the Empire lost its grip, this Celtic land was increasingly harassed by barbarian raiders: Irish from the west, Picts from the unsubdued north, Saxons from the Continent. Imperial rescues had little lasting effect. About 410, with no Roman forces left on the island, the Emperor authorized the Britons to look after themselves, virtually granting them independence.

Beset by further Pictish attacks, a ruler called Vortigern tried to solve the problem by following an imperial precedent. He allowed barbarians to settle in Britain on the condition that they defended it against other barbarians, in this case, the Picts. His imported auxiliaries were known collectively as Saxons; they included Angles and others. At first the policy seemed to work, but more settlers poured in from the Continent, and Vortigern lacked the resources to support so many. Probably in the 440s, the Saxons revolted. They allied themselves with the Picts whom they were treaty-bound to keep out, and began to raid across Britain.

In the resulting period of turmoil and devastation, the native Britons abandoned many of their Roman-built towns. Then, surprisingly, a British recovery began. They managed to contain fresh incursions. After decades of to-and-fro warfare they won a decisive victory at a place called Badon Hill, sometime about the year 500. For a time the position stabilized, and the Saxons were contained within their authorized enclaves near the east coast. But over the ensuing decades the Saxons increased in relative number, and presently they were able to gain ground again. The conquest was slow, and Wales never succumbed at all. Its bards still held on to the traditions of their forebears’ achievements when England was irreversibly Anglo-Saxondom.

The essential point in all this is that despite the ultimate outcome, something unique had happened during the 5th century. Throughout the rest of the crumbling western Empire, barbarians moved in and the provincial subjects didn’t care. In Britain the subjects had won their independence, and did care. When barbarians encroached, an appreciable number of Britons fought back–for a while, successfully.

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