"For while the aforesaid chief lay ill, from Anglia came a faithless people who with sword subdued all the country and the regions across the Humber. Arthur was a boy and on account of his youth he was not able to defeat such a force. Therefore after seeking the advice of clergy and laity he sent to Hoel, king of Brittany, and asked him to come to his aid with a swift fleet, for they were united by ties of blood and friendship, so that each was bound to relieve the distresses of the other. Hoel therefore quickly collected for the war fierce men from every side and came to us with many thousands, and joining with Arthur he attacked the enemy often, and drove them back and made terrible slaughter. With his help Arthur was secure and strong among all the troops when he attacked the enemy whom at length he conquered and forced to return to their own country, and he quieted his own kingdom by the moderation of his laws." - from The Vita Merlini by Geoffrey of Monmouth Translated by John Jay Parry (1925) #arthur #hoel #family #arthurian #avalon #vitamerlini #celtic #avaloniantradition

"Arthur was a boy and on account of his youth he was not able to defeat such a force. Therefore after seeking the advice of..."
- from The Vita Merlini
by Geoffrey of Monmouth
Translated by John Jay Parry (1925)

#arthur #hoel #family #arthurian #avalon #vitamerlini #celtic #avaloniantradition

“After these things had been done, the kingdom and its crown were with the approval of clergy and laity given to Ambrosius, and he ruled justly in all things, but after the space of four [sixteen] years had elapsed he was betrayed by his doctor, and died from drinking poison. His younger brother Uther succeeded him, and at first was unable to maintain his kingdom in peace, for the perfidious people, accustomed by now to return, came and laid waste everything with their usual phalanx. Uther fought them in savage battles and drove them conquered across the water with returning oars. Soon he put aside strife and re-established peace and begat a son who afterwards was so eminent that he was second to none in uprightness. Arthur was his name and he held the kingdom for many years after the death of his father Uther, and this he did with great grief and labour, and with the slaughter of many men in many wars." - from The Vita Merlini by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Translated by John Jay Parry (1925) Photo: Upper mainland courtyard of Tintagel Castle by Kerry Garratt (CC BY-SA 2.0) #arthur #uther #arthurian #avalon #vitamerlini #celtic #avaloniantradition

“Soon he put aside strife and re-established peace and begat a son who afterwards was so eminent that he was second to none in uprightness. Arthur was his name..."
- from The Vita Merlini by Geoffrey of Monmouth, tr. by J.J. Parry (1925)

#arthur #uther #arthurian #avalon #vitamerlini #celtic