Isle of Avalon: the story of King Arthur, myths, tales and legends

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Do you know that Avalon existed? It cannot be found on the modern world map. But it is worth looking for old maps in the archives, and a lot of interesting things will be found. Including the flooded island of Avalon.

Where it is (presumably), we will talk below. And now let's touch the mythology.

What is this island?

The island of apples, or Avalon, is mentioned in many legends. This is something between Paradise and purgatory, according to mythology. Heroes who were too good for hell, but fell short of heaven, got here. They all lived on the island of Avalon.

The following facts indicate that this place is connected with the afterlife:

• No time.
• Eternal day.
• Citizens do not need material food.

Disputes about the existence of a beautiful island continue to this day. And people come to the conclusion that he really existed. But still, he was not as magical as in fairy tales.

Suggested location

Where is the island of Avalon, and what's with itbecame? Tireless lovers of British antiquity managed to find it on ancient maps. In their opinion, the paradise island was located between Britain and northern Ireland. Not far from the Isle of Man.

What happened? Why did Avalon disappear from the face of the earth? Everything is simply banal. He was flooded. There is an opinion that the island of Avalon perished. And the inhabitants of the Isle of Man, seeing this, strengthened the dams. Thus, they saved themselves and their home from death under water.

King Arthur

Fans of English fairy tales know how King Arthur is connected with the island of Avalon. According to legend, he was taken there, having received a serious wound in the head. Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are brave heroes fighting in the name of good. Many feats were accomplished by them. And the wife of King Arthur, the beautiful Guinevere, inherited the same wooden Table.

The last battle ended badly for King Arthur. After being injured, he was forced to go to a magical island. And sleep there forever. According to legend, the king will definitely wake up and go out to fight evil. And the island of Avalon will rise from under the water when the time comes for Arthur to awaken.

How was the myth debunked?

People devoutly believed in the legend of King Arthur and his miraculous awakening until 1191 came. At that time, the monks of Glastonbury Abbey said that many years ago a king had arrived at their monastery. He was severely wounded and never recovered from his injury. The king died here and was buried at Glastonbury. The grave was shown as evidence.

People's reactions

Monksdidn't believe. People could not contain the fact that the history of the island of Avalon is so primitive. There was no way Glastonbury could be a beautiful island - a haven for King Arthur.

Why such distrust of the words of the monks? Firstly, because they started talking about the king's grave at the moment when money was needed to repair the monastery. It is possible that it was simply faked.

The second point is the human factor. It is very difficult to believe that a miracle will not happen. And King Arthur will not return with the knights. This means that good will not be restored, the world will be mired in evil and chaos. Therefore, the people refused to believe in the death of the legend.

And then people who pretended to be Arthur began to appear. And the life of the monks became noticeably more complicated because of this.

Morgana

How is the island of Avalon related to Morgana? Let's remember who it is.

According to one version, Morgana is Arthur's half-sister. And his mistress, concurrently, who gave birth to a child from her brother. This baby has become a real monster, which is not surprising, given its origin. The fruit of incest, what could come of it?

Second version, Morgana is Arthur's younger sister. Here everything is already cultural and civilized, there is no mention of incest. It was she, according to the literature, who took the wounded king to the mythical island of Avalon.

Turning to the Celts

The wondrous land is mentioned in Celtic mythology. According to their legends, gods live on the island. And he is realjewel. In the literal sense of the word. According to the Celtic sagas, the whole island is made of precious stones.

The gods live here for their pleasure. Eternal laughter, music and the dazzling brilliance of precious stones - all this stirs the soul of sailors. And some of them, desperately brave, took risks. They were approaching the Isle of Avalon, and no one else saw them. Until now, in the seas and oceans there are ghost ships, like the "Flying Dutchman". Tradition says that these ships are greetings from Avalon. Their team has disappeared, and the ships are proof that you don’t need to poke your nose where they don’t ask. A reminder to unintelligent people that curiosity is punishable.

Other sagas

In all the legends associated with the island of Avalon, its beauty is indicated. And countless riches stored on the lands. There is no grief and sadness, music always plays. But the people who got to the island yearn for their relatives. They want to escape from all this splendor. But it keeps them singing. Charming woman sings a sad song. And there is something intoxicating in this melody. It makes you stay in Avalon for a long time.

Someone managed to escape from the island. But they can hardly be called lucky. No, a beautiful woman did not become a monster who pursued the fugitives. Everything is much more ordinary. Having sailed to their lands, the poor fellows understood that everything had changed. Why? Yes, because they were absent not for several days at all, but for decades.

Once in their native places, they turned into deep old men. An eerie sight: returnedyoung, he althy and handsome. And he set foot on his own land, immediately became old. Naturally, those who returned from Avalon quickly died and turned to dust.

Why did this happen? Perhaps the inhabitants of the island did not want people to know about it. So they used magic so that those who managed to leave Avalon could not spill its secrets.

More opinions

The legend of the woman with the bewitching voice is just one of many. Some accounts of the location of the Isle of Avalon say that its doors could be anywhere. Even underground. These are the inhabitants of the beautiful land hiding from mortals. Because people are very rude. They are able to kill the inhabitants of Avalon with a single touch.

Elves and fairies live on the marvelous island. In our view, these creatures have magic, and are able to harm a person. Here, it's a completely different story. Yes, beautiful inhabitants are magical creatures. But their strength is negligible, they are small, and very fragile. So much so that a human touch can kill them, just like butterflies.

Once upon a time, many years ago, elves and fairies lived next to people. They fluttered from flower to flower, which were the shelter and refuge of fabulous creatures. Their petals reliably hid the crumbs during the day. And at night they found freedom, frolicking and flying through the forests.

Everything was fine until the flowers started to break. People collected them in bouquets, depriving fragile fairies and elves of shelter. And then they got to them. We caught, as now, we catch butterflies. As soon as the fabulous creature was in handman, and immediately melted from his touch. And only a puddle of water remained in the palm of a mortal.

It was then that the surviving inhabitants decided to leave the forests. They went in search of a place where there would be no people. And such a place turned out to be the island of Avalon. To this day, elves and fairies live there.

What did the ancient sailors say?

Avalon existed, and evidence of this is evidence of navigators. They repeatedly encountered a strange phenomenon. As if out of nowhere, an island appeared on the surface of the water. Shrouded in mist, and surrounded on all sides by water, it beckoned with mystery.

Few dared to swim up to this piece of land. Those who dared to take this step were horrified. Try not to be scared when you approach the island and clearly see it. And he - once, and went under the water. And then he showed up again. It's no wonder to be scared out of your mind.

This is interesting

The second name of Avalon, as already mentioned, is “the island of apples”. This is due to the fact that its indispensable attribute was an apple branch. Why is she? Everything is simple. There is an amazing apple on the island. No matter how much they fed the population, it always remained intact.

And one more "highlight" of Avalon is music. Charming, gentle and light, she always plays here. But no one knows where it comes from. By itself, filling the air with its gentle melody. As if someone invisible is playing magical instruments unknown to people.

Conclusion

Believe or not in existenceIsle of Avalon, the business of each of us. But why not touch the magic? Legends exist for that, to listen to them with surprise.

Sometimes you want to believe in a fairy tale. Touch it, open the door to the unknown. Just close your eyes and imagine an island of unearthly beauty, where there is no grief and pain, it is always fun. Magical music plays here, the tart smell of apples. Its inhabitants walk on precious stones, do not know what tears are. And somewhere in the depths of the island, King Arthur sleeps. One day he will wake up and return to our world again to challenge evil.