Sword in the Loch

Jump to nav
Jump to content
Accessibility

Gàidhlig

Find us on

Sword in the Loch

Have you heard the Scottish legends of King Arthur?

Today we think of Arthur as an English King - the ruler of Camelot and head of the Knights of the Round Table. In Scotland, tales are also told of Arthur, not Arthur as king or as a knight in shining armour, but Arthur as warrior, the leader of battles as the Britons fought for survival.

The earliest mention of Arthur appears in a poem called 'Y Gododdin'. It recounts the deeds of a war band that gathered at Din Eidyn (Edinburgh).

It is said that Arthur's Seat is a hollow hill where Merlin watches over Arthur and his sleeping knights. Or maybe Merlin gathers horses at Melrose in his cave in the Eildon Hills.

Merlin himself was a wild prophet of the Scottish Borders. He met the Holy Man Kentigern at Stobo and may lie in a grave at the Powsil Burn near Drumelzier.

Kentigern, now known as Saint Mungo, the founder of Glasgow, was the son of Thanew and nephew of the famous Sir Gawain of Lothian and Orkney. Kentigern was the grandson of King Loth and the lady Anna-Morgause. Anna-Morgause was King Arthur's half sister.

You will find Arthurian placenames across Scotland. There are tales and songs of Arthur in English, Scots and Gaelic.

Here the Scottish storytellers David Campbell and Donald Smith recount legends of Arthur, Merlin and the Sword in the Loch.