Medieval Beliefs in Arthur's Atlantic Voyages

3 MEDIEVAL BELIEFS IN ARTHUR’S ATLANTIC VOYAGES ARTHUR’S DEATH OVERSEAS IN GEOFFREY’S HISTORY Geoffrey’s Reconcilation of Two Traditions The thesis set out in this book, that Arthur sailed west to a distant land in the sixth century, here identified as North America, is not a new one. It was present at the time that Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his famous History of the Kings of Britain in c. 1138. Geoffrey drew on a wide range of material to write his book and would have been familiar with the entry in the Annales Cambriae that Arthur died at the battle of Camlann along with Mordred (Medraut) in 537/539. Camlann was thought to be located in Britain. In his pseudo-history, Geoffrey expands this data into a tale of adultery and betrayal. He presents Mordred as Arthur’s nephew, usurping the crown and having a sexual relationship with Guinevere (Gwenhwyfar), while Arthur was fighting in Europe. Hearing this news, Arthur returns to Britain and engages Mordred in a series of battles until Mordred flees to Cornwall. There at the River Camblam (Geoffrey’s location for Camlann) the final battle took place, where Mordred is killed. However at this point Geoffrey inexplicably departs from the basic data of the Annales Cambriae. Instead of Arthur dying at Camlann, Geoffrey presents him as only being severely wounded and abruptly states that he was then carried off to the Isle of Avalon so that his wounds might be healed. No information or explanation concerning the Isle of Avalon is given. The key question of interest is why did not Geoffrey simply allow Arthur’s life to end at Camlann, as in the Annales Cambriae, dying a heroic death but winning the battle against the traitors and heathens opposed to him? The answer to this is that Geoffrey was aware of a different tradition that had Arthur dying at a distant place overseas. The Life of Merlin About twelve years after writing his History Geoffrey elaborates on this theme in his Life of Merlin (Vita Merlini), written c. 1150.1 In this poem, the dying Arthur is taken from the Camlann battlefield to a ship, accompanied by Taliesin, who is named in the Historia Brittonum as a sixth-century bard. The ship then sails on a long voyage to a mysterious place overseas. That this place was not a known country is indicated by the name Geoffrey created for it in his History – Avalon. This name is derived from the Welsh afal meaning ‘apple’, as discussed by Rachel Bromwich.2 In his Life of Merlin, Geoffrey explicitly describes the country as the ‘island of apples’ and the ‘Fortunate Isle’. In giving these names, Geoffrey relates Avalon to legends 2 Medieval Beliefs in Arthur’s Atlantic Voyages about mysterious lands across the Atlantic Ocean, associated with apples, and described as a paradise where there is no decay or death. Three such early Irish tales are Echtrae Chonnlai, The Voyage of Bran son of Febal and the Navigatio of St Brendan.3 The first two tales refer to a magic apple and apple tree branch, respectively, associated with this paradise while the Navigatio refers to the ‘Promised Land of the Saints’ where there was not a tree without fruit. Such lands of paradise had been discussed in antiquity. In Plutarch’s life of Sertorius (in his Parallel Lives, written about AD 90-100), he refers to the ‘Isles of the Blest’, the Atlantic islands to the west, some 10,000 furlongs from Africa, and remarks ‘here is the Elysian Field and the abode of the blessed, of which Homer sang’.4 That Geoffrey thought Avalon was a long and difficult journey (not just a journey to a familiar place like Ireland) follows from two details in his poem. The first is the fact that the ship was to be guided by an expert to whom the seas and the stars were well known. Secondly, when Geoffrey has Taliesin reflect on whether Arthur should be brought back to expel the Saxons (after his wounds were healed), a ‘swift ship’ is desired, implying that the journey was not a trivial one.5 Geoffrey’s Life of Merlin has links to important Irish and Welsh traditions. It is linked to the Irish stories on the voyages of Brendan the Navigator and is also linked to the ancient Welsh poem, Preideu Annwfyn, as will now be discussed. The Link to Brendan the Navigator In the Life of Merlin, Geoffrey names Barinthus as the guide who steered Arthur’s ship to Avalon. In doing so, he is linking the Arthurian journey to the legendary journeys of the Irish monk, Brendan the Navigator. In the Navigatio, Barinthus sailed west into the Atlantic to the ‘Promised Land of the Saints’ and told Brendan of this land. This inspired Brendan to travel there himself, as described by his voyages in the Navigatio.6 The implication is that Geoffrey thought that Arthur had been taken to the same overseas land to which Brendan had gone. America was not to be discovered by Columbus for another three and a half centuries, but speculation about such a land in the west had been made in antiquity and this land appeared to be associated with Arthur before Geoffrey’s time. The voyages of Brendan were linked to America by the Elizabethan polymath, John Dee. An outstanding scholar whose interests ranged widely from mathematics, astronomy, history, law, navigation, cartography, to extensive studies in the occult, Dee had assembled arguably the best library in Europe at his home in Mortlake near London. He had gathered evidence for establishing a ‘British Empire’, in particular, a case for Elizabeth I to claim parts of America that were not under the influence of Spain and Portugal. In a package of four documents given to the queen, Dee presents a case that King Arthur had visited America in c. 530, followed by Brendan in c. 560. This package was given to Elizabeth in August 1578, as discussed by Ken MacMillan and Jennifer Abeles.7 Medieval Beliefs in Arthur’s Atlantic Voyages 3 Apart from Dee, many writers have thought that Brendan may have reached America or that the Navigatio reflected general knowledge of such westward voyages, even if Brendan did not make the full journey. These include Tim Severin, who with four others attempted to replicate Brendan’s journey. They sailed in a leather curragh (like Brendan’s) and made a one- way journey from Ireland to Newfoundland, via the Faroes and Iceland.8 Others such as Jonathan Wooding note that having the capacity to do the voyage is not proof that it was done. He thinks it not impossible that Brendan could have visited the Faroes and Iceland but that the Navigatio is not evidence for the Irish reaching America.9 Most scholars would agree with Wooding. The Navigatio data is too vague and inconsistent to serve as evidence but it did influence people to believe that Brendan could have reached America and, 350 years before America was known, Geoffrey seems to have thought that Arthur and Brendan had sailed to the same place in the distant Atlantic. The Link to the Celtic Otherworld of Annwfyn In the Life of Merlin, Taliesin relates that after the battle of Camlann he took the wounded Arthur to his ship and set sail for the ‘island of apples’ (called Avalon in Geoffrey’s History), guided by Barinthus. Avalon was ruled by nine sisters, skilled in the magic arts, who were to care for Arthur until his wounds healed.10 There are two elements of interest here: Taliesin and Arthur sailing to a distant, unknown land Nine maidens who practised magic. Both elements appear in the poem Preideu Annwfyn from the Book of Taliesin, to be discussed in Chapter 5. For Geoffrey, the distant land is Avalon; in Preideu Annwfyn, the land is Annwfyn. It thus appears that Geoffrey was aware of the poem (or data derived from it) and thought that Avalon and Annwfyn were the same place. It is even possible that he coined Avalon as a smoother equivalent of Annwfyn (in relating it to ‘apples’), both three syllable names beginning with ‘A’ and ending with ‘n’. The Nine Priestesses In Stanza 2 of Preideu Annwfyn the bard is boasting about his poetic prowess and refers to his poetry as coming from a cauldron that is kindled by nine maidens. The exact meaning of this imagery is debatable, but it may indicate that poetic inspiration (awen) could be partly conjured through the arcane arts. An alternative interpretation is that his poetry was so profound that it was as though it were conjured by magic. The casting and lifting of spells, prophesying the future, changing one’s shape to deceive and other magical activities were part of the ‘mental furniture’ of the sixth century and the cauldron was a vehicle in which potions to effect various ends could be mixed. It had long had a value far in 4 Medieval Beliefs in Arthur’s Atlantic Voyages excess of its utilitarian function in food preparation. Cauldrons have been found in lakes as offerings to the gods for hundreds of years before Christ, as discussed by Barry Cunliffe.11 What was the bard’s source for the nine maidens? The most likely source is Pomponius Mela, or stories derived from him, in his Chorographia (Description of the World), written in AD 43-44. In Book 3, Section 48 he describes nine priestesses who reside on the isle of Sena (off Gaul) and practise the magic arts.

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