File:Burne-Jones_Last_Sleep_of_Arthur_in_Avalon_v2.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Avalon
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Avalon () is an island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 Historia Regum Britanniae as a place of magic where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was made and later where Arthur was taken to recover from being gravely wounded at the Battle of Camlann. Since then, the island has become a symbol of Arthurian mythology, similar to Arthur's castle, Camelot.
Key facts
- Fictional location.name
- Avalon
- Fictional location.image
- Burne-Jones Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon v2.jpg
- Fictional location.caption
- The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon by Edward Burne-Jones
- Fictional location.series
- Matter of Britain
- Fictional location.first
- Historia Regum Britanniae
- Fictional location.type
- Fairyland island (typically)
- Fictional location.based_on
- Disputed origins
- Fictional location.ruler
- Morgan (usually)
- Fictional location.people
- King Arthur, Lady of the Lake, the nine sisters, Melusine
- Fictional location.located_in
- Varied or unspecified; sometimes an otherworld
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
Show 1 more fact
- Commons category
- Avalon (legendary island)
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~21 min read
Article
11 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Legend
- Geoffrey of Monmouth
- Later medieval literature
- Escavalon
- Connection to Glastonbury
- Sicily and other locations
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
Avalon () is an island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 Historia Regum Britanniae as a place of magic where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was made and later where Arthur was taken to recover from being gravely wounded at the Battle of Camlann. Since then, the island has become a symbol of Arthurian mythology, similar to Arthur's castle, Camelot.
Avalon was associated from an early date with mystical practices and magical figures such as King Arthur's sorceress sister Morgan, cast as the island's ruler by Geoffrey and many later authors. Certain Cornish and Welsh traditions have maintained that Arthur is an eternal king who had never truly died but would return as the "once and future" king. The particular motif of his rest in Morgan's care in Avalon has become especially popular. It can be found in various versions in many French and other medieval Arthurian and other works written in the wake of Geoffrey, some of them also linking Avalon with the legend of the Holy Grail.