Sword and Anvil

by Harton

It is an age of darkness, Prydain is torn by war and invasion, a land without a king. From barbaric Picts in the north, mystical monsters coming out of the west and viscious Saxons from the east, the Isle is being attacked on all fronts. Out of this dark age comes Arthur, raised by knights and destined for kingship. HIC JACET ARTORIUS REX QUONDAM REXQUE FUTURUS.

1. BOOK I: Sword and Anvil

HIC-IACET-ARTORIVS-REX-QVONDAM-REXQVE-FVTVRVS

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pendragon

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—o—

BOOK I

SWORD AND ANVIL

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PENDRAGON: (Pen-Dragon) Taken from the Cymric pen meaning 'Head' and Draig meaning 'Dragon'. It began with the arrival of three brothers, Flavius Aurelius Constantius, Ambrosius Aurelianus and Lucius Auxillius to the island of Prydain, with plans on avenging the slaughter of their family. Constantius would not see it fulfilled, but with help from the native Celts, the Sixth Legion, and the young warlock Merlin Emrys, High-King Vortigern met his justice. His Saxon allies would be driven out and once their dreaded White Dragon was defeated, Ambrosius would be crowned High-King of Prydain. His brother Auxilius would be given the epithet of Pendragon for having slain the beast. Uther Pendragon would be what the Prytani would call him (Uther from 'Ouxselos' in Old Celtic) and would take the role of Dux Bellorum or 'Battlemaster' of Prydain.

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HIC-IACET-ARTORIVS-REX-QVONDAM-REXQVE-FVTVRVS

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Although I do not believe the Arthurian Legends are beyond the reach of copyright claims by this point, it does appear to be a very slippery slope, with tropes and cliches more or less sprouting out from old tales, and more than sixteen-hundred years worth of historical 'FanFiction' seen as hard medieval literature. I do not claim to be a scholar of Arthurian Canon, besides…what exactly is Arthurian Canon? The legends and myths that make up the story of King Arthur and his Knights have undergone centuries of evolution and if you follow the threads back, Arthur ceases to resemble the noble king we recognise, in fact it appears the further back you go, the least there is to know about him.

From Nennius to Chretien de Troyes, Sir Thomas Malory to Bernard Cornwell with his Warlord Chronicles, everyone seeks to add to the legends of Camelot or to put their own spin on the tales; like Cornwell's more realistic, gritty and grounded take on Arthur as told through the eyes of fan-favourite character Derfel, or T.H White's more fantasy-based stories. Not to mention the various depictions in film and television.

We all have our favourite King Arthur movie and show, whether animated or in live-action. My own favourites are the 1998 Merlin miniseries starring Sam Neill and 2004's King Arthur directed by Antoine Fuqua. Heck, I'm even a great fan of Guy Ritchie's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and who could forget Colin Morgan's adventures in mystical Albion. I more or less want to celebrate as much of them as I can here, for they have all had an influence on me and how I see the world, what makes a good hero, a good king, a good man.

This is a work-in-progress and I do hope to do Arthur justice, might even put this on Wattpad at some point. Thus I am torn between calling 5th century Britain, Prydain as the Welsh do or Albion as some of the early Romans attested, trying to retain some of that mystical element so I am rather hesitant to use Britannia for some reason.

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