Using Geomythology to Examine the Claims of the King Arthur Legends

Geomythology is a hybrid discipline combining geology and mythology, invented in 1973 by geologist Dorothy Vitaliano. It aims to glean scientific information from legends and stories. One set of legends that has been fruitfully examined from a geomythological perspective is the Arthurian tales. While most mainstream historians believe that King Arthur never existed, there are facets of truth related to some of these narratives that have to do with natural, often geological, phenomena. This poster explores some of these connections by synthesizing current research on the topic, then offering hypotheses on the subject. Regarding present research, one claim is that the global volcanic winter caused by the eruption of the volcano Ilopango (El Salvador) in 535-536 A.D. may have influenced the Arthurian stories, particularly those of the alleged battles in which the monarch fought. A second claim is that Arthur’s favorite hunting dog, Cavall, who took part in the hunt for the great boar Twrch Trwyth, putatively left a mark in stone during one hunt. This mark may in fact have been caused by erosion or was the print of a large mammal such as a bear, mis-identified as that of a massive canine. A third conjecture pertains to the king’s battle against the monster of Mont Saint Michel, an episode recorded in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of Britain. Originally published in 1136, the History was a best-seller in the middle age and a key source of Arthurian lore. According to Geoffrey, Arthur slew a noxious giant who was terrorizing the island, and the method by which he kills the ogre may owe something to the practice of trepanation, a medieval surgical procedure in which a hole was drilled or bored into a skull. Fourth, the supposed bones of the king, which were unearthed during an 1191 exhumation of his corpse (in Glastonbury, England), may in fact have belonged to that of a large mammal. Summing up, while Arthur’s existence has never been proven, the stories surrounding him may shed light on geological and osteological events.