Movie Trailer for "Arthur"

[Hibernicus]

Didn't Dudley Moore make a movie about Arthur?<br>
<br>
Maximus Minimus <p></p><i></i>

[Nathan Ross]

Robert - with your encyclopedic knowledge of this murky period, perhaps you can answer another question for me! A few miles from my home is a standing stone - locally called the Tristram Stone. I used to pass it every day on the way to school, and thought nothing of it (it later became a good place to pause for a cigarette, but that's about it). Anyway, it turns out that this stone once bore an inscription dedicating it to one Drustanus, son of Cynvawr (spelling?), presumed to be Marcus Cynvawr/Cynfawr/Conmor, aka Marcus Cunomarus, a king of Dumnonia, later transformed into the King Mark of the Arthur stories. His son Drustanus likewise became Tristram/Tristan. John/Jan Morris (IIRC) has this Marcus as ruler of a great territory in western Britain and Brittany, which he defended against the Irish. His son had a Pictish name, which raises the possibility of strong links between the Picts and the British nobility. The date for Marcus is usually given as c530AD.<br>
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Is any of this true? Are there other interpretations? <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Good question Nathan,<br>
<br>
I have just read that Marcus Conomorus was booted out of his kingdom by St Armel ( Armel =Artmael=Arthur) of Armorcia together with troops from King Childebert of the Franks and the rightful heir to the throne. This happens in the 540s.<br>
<br>
Robert ... any of this hold water ?<br>
<br>
Conal<br>
<br>
<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[Robert Vermaat]

Hi Conal,<br>
<br>
Nope, I'm afraid not. This is one of the very many (but essentially innocent) books which debate who Arthur could or could not have been.<br>
<br>
These books are very interesting (I have this one, too) because they tend to discuss non-mainstream details, which is always nice.<br>
<br>
The problem however is that no sources of the said period exist, and all stuff which these authors use was only written at least 2, but most often 4 centuries later. Therefore the lot rests of hypothesis and speculation.<br>
Sometimes very ingenious, I must admit.<br>
<br>
But the Artmael story is in breech of all we know about Arthur, alas.<br>
<br>
Valete,<br>
Valerius/Robert <p></p><i></i>

[Robert Vermaat]

Nathan,<br>
<br>
Ah, a resident of the West Country and close to Castle Dore! Lucky you, surrounded by legendary landscapes..<br>
Yes, I know (of) the Drustan stone.<br>
<br>
[url=http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/679" target="top]This is a good link for pictures.[/url]<br>
<br>
The material about King Mark is very confused, and it looks like Marc Cynfawr (Marcus Cunomorus) may have been at least two people. His appearance in later pedigrees is also very vague.<br>
The king Marc or Mark of the Tristan legend is a shadow of this historical person, no doubt. The material which we have seem to point to a ruler with power of lands both in Britain as well as Brittany.<br>
<br>
Tristan indeed goes back to a Pictish name (Drustan, Drust), but the significance of that is unknown. No Pictish legend exists about him, nor any Pictish influences on either the Arthurian or the Tristan material.<br>
My guess is as good as yours, maybe a straggler from a raid, a mercenary, or maybe someone named after a now forgotten Pictish hero.<br>
<br>
John Morris is a nice book, but remeber it was written in the early 1970s, and we know a lot more today (he died in 1975). There has been a lot of criticism about the book, best read it together with Ken Dark or Christopher Snyder, who have both written excellent scientific studies of the period.<br>
<br>
<strong>Suggested bibliography (short):</strong><br>
Alcock, Leslie (1971): Arthur's Britain, History and Archaeology AD 367-634, (Aylesbury repr. 1987).(widely available but best read as a start-off - with care).<br>
Bassett, Steve et al (1989): The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, (Leicester University Press).(indispensable for the understanding how the English got started).<br>
Dark, Ken R. (1994): Civitas to Kingdom, British Political Continuity 300-800, Studies in the Early History of Britain, (Leicester).<br>
Dark, Ken R. (1998 ) : Centuries of Roman survival in the West, in: British Archaeology 32, [url=http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba32/ba32feat.html#dark" target="top]www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba32/ba32feat.html#dark[/url].<br>
Dark, Ken R. (2000): Britain and the End of the Roman Empire, (Tempus, Stroud).<br>
Higham, Nicholas J. (1994): The English Conquest, Gildas and Britain in the Fifth Century, (Manchester).<br>
Jones, Michael E. (1996): The End of Roman Britain, (Cornell).<br>
Myres, J.N.L. (1986): The English Settlements, (Oxford).<br>
Snyder, Christopher A. (1998 ) : An Age of Tyrants, Britain and Britons AD 400-600, (Stroud).<br>
Thomas, Charles (1981): Christianity in Roman Britain to AD 500, (London repr. 1993).<br>
Thomas, Charles (1986): Celtic Britain, (London).<br>
<br>
<br>
Valete,<br>
valerius/Robert <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=vortigernstudies>Vortigern Studies</A> at: 4/14/04 2:24 pm<br></i>

[Nathan Ross]

Thanks Robert - I'll definitely take a look at that Snyder book. Landscapes are very pleasant around here, although the 'legendary' can get a bit tiring - frequency of Arthuriana isn't too high in my neck of the woods, but increases the closer one gets to Tintagel - I am vowed to shun anywhere calling itself 'Olde King Arthur's (teashoppe, giftshop, laundrette etc)' <p></p><i></i>

[Frank Miranda]

Quote:</em></strong><hr>Didn't Dudley Moore make a movie about Arthur?<br>
<hr><br>
<br>
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That's right! Liza played Guinivere and John Gielgud was the Merlin!<br>
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