David and Arthur: A Comparison
I've said this in conversation a few different times, but I've never blogged on it, so here it goes.
No one really knows the origin of the King Arthur legends. I have a theory that the story of King David was morphed and retold throughout the Dark Ages into the legend of the old king of Britain.
Here are some similarities:
David
Maybe the King Arthur stories were actually stories of David that changed through verbal retelling by a people group with no access to the Bible in their language. Just a theory.
The story of David can be found starting in 1 Samuel in the Old Testament in the Bible. As for Arthur, here's his wikipedia page.
No one really knows the origin of the King Arthur legends. I have a theory that the story of King David was morphed and retold throughout the Dark Ages into the legend of the old king of Britain.
Here are some similarities:
David
- slayed the giant, Goliath, in a childhood feat of strength
- anointed by Samuel, a wise prophet
- head of a group of men called David's mighty men
- part of a scandalous romance with Bathsheba and one of his mighty men
- was one with the land; the land thrived/withered when he thrived/withered
- had a rebellious son, Absalom, who wanted to murder him
- pulled the sword from the stone in a childhood feat of strength
- mentored by Merlin, a wise magician
- head of a group of men called the knights of the round table
- part of a scandalous romance with Guinevere and one of his knights
- was one with the land; the land thrived/withered when he thrived/withered
- had a rebellious son, Mordred, who did murder him
Maybe the King Arthur stories were actually stories of David that changed through verbal retelling by a people group with no access to the Bible in their language. Just a theory.
The story of David can be found starting in 1 Samuel in the Old Testament in the Bible. As for Arthur, here's his wikipedia page.
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