James Krause age l0 of Allen Town, PA. for his question:

Was King Arthur a real person?

The story of King Arthur and his noble knights is a legend. Like all legends it began in the far distant past. It has been handed down from parents to children, told and retold in song and story, for countless generations. In this endless retelling, old parts have been changed and new parts added to point up the meanings,

Only the best tales ever get to be legends, Only the best ones have enough meaning to be worth the telling through hundreds of years. The stories of King Arthur and his knights are about courage and courtesy, and every generation has thrilled to their meaning.

Originally, the story of Arthur belonged to the Celtic peoples of ancient Britain. There is no doubt that there was a beloved king possibly named Arthur, There is no doubt that he had ideas of how brave knights should behave and that he gathered around himself a noble following. Maybe he even gaga has ideas form by entertaining his knights at a round table. For, at a round table, no knight could show a higher rank by sitting above his fellow. At the round table, all who had dedicated their lives to courage and courtesy were shown as equals.

When Arthur lived, and where his court of Camelot was held, we are not certain. Some say he lived about a thousand years ego and his Camelot was a city Fm ong the mountains of Wales. Others say that the noble tales of Arthur are much much older than this and that the Age of Chivalry is but a retelling of still older stories,

There is some evidence to show that the real Arthur may have lived thousands of years ago. The island of Sir Tristram is known to have sunk beneath the sea thousands of years ago. Sir Galahad has a name which goes back to a language net used in Europe for many many centuries. And Arthur himself is said to be named for the bright star Arcturus   maybe in the distant past when people believed that the stars controlled the lives of men on earth.

All this makes no difference to the noble meanings within the great legends, In our own time the tales have been retold and made into movies, And the same ideas that thrilled the ancient Celts still thrill us today. We get the same ideas of courtesy and bravery when we see a modern movie version of the ancient stories. Their make us fuel better and want to be better. For courage and courtesy have not changed their meanings throughout the ages.