Re: Arthur

On Dec 31 2007, 9:37 pm, wjhonson <wjhon...@xxxxxxx> wrote:

The previously contributed date of 538 is quite possibly a modern-day
attempt to correct dates in Geoffrey's account

The date goes back before Geoffrey to the Welsh Annals, Version A,
compiled in the tenth century. The implied date is year 93 in whatever
bizarre system the author was using:

....
an. St. Columba is born. Death of St. Bridget.
an.
an.
an. lxxx.
an.
an.
an.
an.
an.
an.
an.
an.
an.
an. xc.
an.
an.
an. The Action of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut fell. And there
was a pestilence in Britain and in Ireland.
an.
an.
an.
an.
an.
an.
an. c. The falling asleep of Ciaran.
.....

Note that no number is given for the year of the Battle of Camlann,
but it looks as if xciii was intended. Unfortunately these Annals are
worthless. The earlier entries relate to events that supposedly
occurred several centuries before the Annals were compiled, and
include fictional people, such as St. Bridget, whose is a
Christianized version of the Celtic god Brigantia. Converting the
dates in the Annals to another system is therefore not just
problematic but pointless.

Nevertheless, Geoffrey equated year 93 with his year 542, but other
authors have obtained different results, such as 537.

.