Padel, O. J. The idea that a hero/savior will appear one day and drive out the oppressors is a popular one, and understandably so. Here I am talking about The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer-Bradley. These trends are perilous—but not inevitable. Later, Geoffrey himself would introduce a twist to the legend in his Vita Merlini (c. 1151), in which he claimed that Arthur was still alive and could return from Avalon to rule again (Green, 2009). But not only men of the nobility joined it: Arthur appointed knights and included at the Round Table the sons of peasants and artisans, of shepherds … and fairies. In this way, the Round Table grew with warriors coming from half the world. He wrote two versions of the legend. Yet some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, but had by the will of our Lord Jesu into another place... many men say that there is written upon his tomb this verse: Hic jacet Arthurus, Rex quondam, Rexque futurus. Injustice, poverty, ignorance, and violent conflict are widespread and the cause of great suffering. Principle 11a: Secure the human rights of women and girls and end all violence against them. The Way Forward: Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace …. However, the characters, stories and symbols associated with the Arthurian Cycle have clear roots in Celtic mythology (Campbell, 1991). Arthur killed Mordred, but the king was fatally wounded. A Welsh antiquarian Elis Gruffudd, spoke of it at the beginning of the 16th Century. Preamble: To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. Principle 16f: Recognise that peace is the wholeness created by right relationships with oneself, other persons, other cultures, other life, Earth, and the larger whole of which all are a part. This Latin phrase was supposedly carved upon Arthur's tomb at Glastonbury, according to Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur 21:7: Of course, the Glastonbury Cross has a different inscription, usually given as: "HIC IACET SEPULTUS INCLITUS REX ARTURIUS IN INSULA AVALONIA": Here Lies the Tomb of the Famous King Arthur on the Isle of Avalon. | Design ©, Other passages that this story illustrates, The Two Weavers and the Devil’s Grandmother. They say that, on the Isle of Avalon, they healed Arthur of his wounds, and there are many people who are certain that Arthur is still alive there. Radford, C. A. R. & Swanton, M. J. That is, ‘Here lies Arthur, the once and future king’. It is said that it is there the castle of Camelot was, at one time, located. Elijah is said to return; a son of Zoroaster will come; Baldr will be resurrected at Ragnarok; Charlemagne is under Chateau Montsegur2, Francis Drake and Drake's Drum; Holger Danske will rise from his repose (either below Kronborg Castle at Elsinore, or Nonnebakken at Odense) and fight to preserve Denmark in her hour of need1; and so on. This would eventually give rise to female devotion, as expressed in courtly love, and Dante’s Faithfuls of Love. Principle 13e: Eliminate corruption in all public and private institutions. (1975). For they avow that there come be a day when the world will be in grave danger, and then King Arthur will return at the head of his brethrenhood of the Round Table, and his army of warriors, to avert disaster and bring a new golden age to the peoples of the world and the Earth. And, with justice in the lands of Britannia, true peace flourished, that peace which is sustained by the correct relationships between people, and between people and the land from which everyone is sustained. These also include individuals with illnesses, like epilepsy, which were misunderstood in the Middle Ages. The numerical superiority of Mordred’s mighty army was outweighed by the bravery and valour of Arthur’s warriors, but the battle resulted in horrendous carnage. Actually, it is convenient to see King Arthur for what he is, a mythical character, an archetype of the collective unconscious, probably based on an authentic warrior leader who would have lived between the 5th and 6th centuries c.e., and on which different historical figures are proposed. It was when the empire collapsed under a band of inept and corrupt rulers, in cahoots with a few great merchants equally sick with greed, who did not leave the peoples even the crumbs of their misery. Principle 12a: Eliminate discrimination in all its forms, such as that based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, language, and national, ethnic or social origin. An unprecedented rise in human population has overburdened ecological and social systems. Arthur, seeing the shadows of death approaching, gave Bedivere the sword of his royalty, Excalibur, and entrusted him to return it to its true owner, the Lady of the Lake. But such a finding is suspicious since it took place seven years after a fire had destroyed the abbey and all the treasures accumulated by the monks. Actually, the belief in Arthur’s survival was so powerful among the people that the Belgian monk Hériman de Tournai (c. 1146) recounted that, in 1113, there was a violent outbreak in Wales at a religious meeting when a clergyman commented that King Arthur was dead (Green, 2009).