Hypothetical reconstruction of KING ARTHUR as a late 5th century Sub-Roman Brittonic “Dux Bellorum” (Duke of Battles). The historical basis of king Arthur has long been a matter of debate, and even the dating is uncertain, but if there was ever a real king Arthur, he would have probably lived around the 5th-6th centuries AD, during an obscure period when the Western Roman Empire was collapsing and the Roman legions retreated from Britain to defend the empire from the barbarian hordes, leaving to their fate the Romanized urban Briton population of the island, as the Germanic-speaking Angles, Saxons, and Jutes were invading Roman Britain from their homelands in modern-day Denmark and northern Germany, and Irish pirates and Picts from the north of Hadrian’s Wall were raiding the coasts of Britain. Many Britons fled from the Germanic newcomers to what is now Brittany, in the north-western coast of modern-day France, bringing with them the Celtic language that became modern Breton. Some Britons migrated as far south as modern-day Galicia, in north-western Spain. At that time, many Britons on the edge of Roman Britain still lived in Iron Age hillforts, mostly in parts of Wales.
Much of this reconstruction and the archaeological finds included on it have been based on the research and kit of Benjamin Franckaert of the historical reenactment group Letavia. The description of Arthur in the chronicle “Historia Regum Britanniae” has also been used as a source: “Arthur put on a leather jerkin worthy of so great a king. On his head he placed a golden helmet, with a crest carved in the shape of a dragon; and across his shoulders a circular shield called Pridwen, on which there was painted a likeness of the Blessed Mary, Mother of God, which forced him to be thinking perpetually of her. He girded on his peerless sword, called Caliburn (Excalibur), which was forged in the isle of Avalon. A spear called Ron graced his right hand: long, broad in the blade and thirsty for slaughter.” The Welsh Triads also mention a knife called Carnwennan (“little white hilt”).
The image of Mary on the shield has been recreated from a 5th century original by my friend Melikşah Kaya.
HQ + close-ups: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/BXZ2bk
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