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Resources => Other Cultures [Public] => Topic started by: Ke-ke wan on February 11, 2010, 12:32:30 AM

Title: Avalon
Post by: Ke-ke wan on February 11, 2010, 12:32:30 AM

Avalon --probably from the Welsh word afal, meaning apple--  is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend, famous for its beautiful apples. It is the place where King Arthur's sword Caliburn (Excalibur) was forged and later where Arthur is taken to recover from his wounds after the Battle of Camlann.

As an "Isle of the Blessed" Avalon has parallels elsewhere in Indo-European mythology, in particular the Irish Tír na nÓg and the Greek Hesperides, also noted for its apples. Avalon was associated from an early date with immortal beings such as Morgan le Fay.

Geoffrey of Monmouth called it in Latin Insula Avallonis in the Historia. In the later Vita Merlini he called it Insula Pomorum the "isle of apples". The name is generally considered to be of Welsh origin, derived from Old Welsh abal "apple" or aball "apple tree". 

(http://www.freewebs.com/the_isle_of_avalon_rpg/38506999MyeIEU_ph.jpg)

Title: Re: Avalon
Post by: Ke-ke wan on February 11, 2010, 12:37:51 AM

In Geoffrey of Monmouth

According to Geoffrey in the Historia and much subsequent literature which he inspired, Avalon is the place where King Arthur is taken after fighting Mordred at the Battle of Camlann to recover from his wounds. Welsh, Cornish and Breton tradition claimed that Arthur had never really died, but would inexorably return to lead his people against their enemies as discussed in King Arthur's messianic return.

The Historia also states that Avalon is where his sword Caliburn (Excalibur) was forged. Geoffrey dealt with Avalon in more detail in Vita Merlini, in which he describes for the first time in Arthurian legend the enchantress Morgan le Fay as the chief of nine sisters who live on Avalon. Geoffrey's description of the island indicates a sea voyage was needed to get there. His description of Avalon here, which is heavily indebted to the early medieval Spanish scholar Isidore of Seville , shows the magical nature of the island:

    The island of apples which men call “The Fortunate Isle” (Insula Pomorum que Fortunata uocatur) gets its name from the fact that it produces all things of itself; the fields there have no need of the ploughs of the farmers and all cultivation is lacking except what nature provides. Of its own accord it produces grain and grapes, and apple trees grow in its woods from the close-clipped grass. The ground of its own accord produces everything instead of merely grass, and people live there a hundred years or more. There nine sisters rule by a pleasing set of laws those who come to them from our country.[1]

By comparison, Isidore's description of the Fortunate Isles reads:

    "The name of the Isles of the Fortunate signifies that they bear all good things, as if happy and blessed in the abundance of their fruits. Serviceable by nature, they bring forth fruits of valuable forests (Sua enim aptae natura pretiosarum poma silvarum parturiunt); their hilltops are clothed with vines growing by chance; in place of grasses, there is commonly vegetable and grain. Pagan error and the songs of the secular poets have held that these islands to be Paradise because of the fecundity of the soil. Situated in the Ocean to the left of Mauretania, very near the west, they are separated by the sea flowing between them."


(http://www.john-howe.com/portfolio/gallery/data/media/23/011-Avalon-port.jpg)



In medieval times suggestions for the location of Avalon ranged far beyond Glastonbury. They included on the other side of the Earth at the antipodes, Sicily and other unnamed locations in the Mediterranean.   In more recent times, just like in the quest for Arthur's mythical capital Camelot, a large number of locations have been put forward as being the real 'Avalon'.


These theories include l'Île d'Aval or Daval, on the coast of Brittany, and Burgh by Sands, in Cumberland, which was in Roman times the fort of Aballava on Hadrian's Wall, and near Camboglanna, upwards on the Eden, now Castlesteads. According to Welsh tradition (as first recorded in the 10th century Annales Cambriae, but also found in numerous later sources), Arthur was killed in battle at a site named Camlann, which may be etymologically related to Camboglanna, though this is by no means certain. Other candidates include the Bourgogne town of Avallon, suggested by Geoffrey Ashe, as part of his theory connecting the Romano-British king, Riothamus, to King Arthur, and Bardsey Island in Gwynedd, famous for its apples and also connected with Merlin. Others have claimed the most likely location to be St Michael's Mount in Cornwall, which is near to other locations associated with the Arthurian legends. St Michael's Mount is an island which can be reached by a causeway at low tide. The matter is confused somewhat by similar legends and place names in Brittany.

(http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TNT/Images/i0/mistsofavalon_pg01.jpg)

Avalon also plays a role in non-Arthurian French literature, such as the stories of Holger Danske, who was taken there by Morgan le Fay in a medieval romance, and in the story of Melusine. It also recurs in a number of later works without other connection to King Arthur. During the 17th century, the area surrounding one of North America's first European settlements Ferryland, was named after the legendary isle.

Originally called the Province of Avalon, in modern times it is known as the Avalon Peninsula in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Title: Re: Avalon
Post by: Ke-ke wan on February 11, 2010, 12:49:48 AM

Also written Avallon, Avollon, Avilion and Avelion, in Welsh mythology the kingdom of the dead.


Avalon , in Celtic mythology, the blissful otherworld of the dead.

~~~~~More:

      Glastonbury, as the Isle of Avalon, was the Otherworld home of one of the Celtic Underworld Gods, Afallach. For the Celtic people, the Isle of Avalon was the location where one would go when near to death. Glastonbury is marked as the Isle of Avalon by its numerous ancient names like the 'Isle of Glass.' The Isle of Glass relates to Caer Wydyr or the name 'Fort of Glass,' which is another name for part of the Celtic Otherworld. However, the most direct relations come from the old Celtic legend about Glastonbury Tor.

      The Tor, the hill that dominates the Glastonbury landscape, was thought to be the entrance to Annwfn, the Celtic Otherworld, and the Palace of Gwynn ap Nudd, Afallach's brother and the main Otherworld god. Celtic legend also holds that the hill itself is hollow and that this in turn has led to the legends that it was the entrance to the Otherworld.



      The Celtic Ancestor Gods

      Beli Mawr the Great, God of the Sun

      Beli Mawr was the Celtic God of the Sun and is represented the curative powers of the Sun's heat. The festival of Beltane was held in his honor on the first day of May. Activities of the festival included bonfires to welcome the Summer and to encourage the Sun's warmth. Beli Mawr's symbols were the horse and the wheel. Like the Roman god Apollo, Beli Mawr was thought to drive the Sun in a horse drawn chariot across the sky. Several hills throughout Celtic England were associated with Belie Mawr at Cornwall, Devon and the Glastonbury Tor. Interestingly all these hills lie on a ley line that faces the Rising Sun on the day of Beltane.


      Don, Goddess of Fertility

      Don, Danu or Anu was a Mother-Goddess and the wife of Beli Mawr. Don is represented in the night's sky as Llys Don, better known as Casseopeia. Like Beli Mawr, Don is honored by several hills; in County Kerry's 'Breast of Anu' and in Leicestershire's 'Black Annis.' Don was the patroness of springs and fountains. In the Arthurian legend Don appears as Annowre, a sorceress who imprisoned Arthur in the Perilous Forest.


      Lludd Llaw Ereint the Silver-Handed, God of Health & Healing

      Lludd, also known as Nudd, was the Celtic God of Healing and was the son of Beli Mawr. Lludd had a large shrine at Lydney in Gloucestershire, where offerings of bronze diseased limbs were left. Lludd was identified with the protective and regenerative powers. Lludd's companion and symbol was a dog, a deerhound breed with a lick that could cure the diseased. According to legend, Lludd was once the leader of the gods but was wounded in battle and lost his hand. Gorfannon, the divine-smith god, made Lludd a new hand out of silver. For his defeat, Lludd lost his position to his nephew, Lleu Llaw Gyffes.


      Afallach, God of the Underworld

      Afallach was the son of Lludd Llaw Ereint and was one of the Celtic gods of the Underworld. Afallach ruled Avalon where he lived with his daughter, Modron, and her nine sisters. Avalon was like the Celtic heaven, a peaceful island far away where apples grew (for which it was named.) Afallach is known in the Arthurian legends as King Evelake.

Title: Re: Avalon
Post by: Ke-ke wan on February 11, 2010, 12:52:05 AM

Arthurian Legends

      The Creation of Excalibur

      According to the orginal tale 'Excalibur' was a name first used for King Arthur's sword by the French Romancers. Excalibur was not the famous 'Sword in the Stone', but a second sword that was later acquired by King Arthur after his previous sword broke in battle. Worried that Arthur would fall in battle, Merlin took Arthur to a magical lake near Avalon where a mysterious hand thrust itself up from the water holding Excalibur. It was the Lady of the Lake offering Arthur a magical, unbreakable blade, fashioned by an Avalonian elf smith (at Glastonbury), along with a scabbard which would protect him as long as he wore it.

      Towards the end of Arthur's reign when he was troubled by Medrod's rebellion, Excalibur was stolen by Arthur's wicked half-sister Morgan le Fay. The sword was later recovered but the scabbard was lost. As a result, Arthur was mortally wounded at the Battle of Camlann. Arthur then instructed Bedwyr to return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. Upon his return, Bedwyr told Arthur that he had seen nothing unusual. Realizing that Bedwyr did not return the sword, Arthur instructed him a second time to return the sword. At the waters near the Isle of Avalon, Bedwyr threw the sword into the lake and saw a hand appear to catch Excalibur and draw it below.


      A Site of Queen Guinevere's Prison

      King Melwas had abducted Guinevere to his stronghold at Glastonbury. King Arthur soon arrived to besiege the castle and save his queen. However, through different stories of the same tale either through negotiation or death by Lancelot, Guinevere was freed.


      King Arthur's and Guinevere's burial place

      Arthur was taken to the Isle of Avalon to be healed of his wounds after the Battle of Camlann. Tradition assumes that Arthur died and was buried in Avalon with his queen. However, there are no sources on the location of his grave. With Avalon association with Glastonbury, Arthur is believed to be buried on either the Tor, one of the surrounding cemeteries or on the Abbey grounds. Today, Glastonbury, which lies in the middle of Somerset, England, is miles away from the sea. However there was once a time when the local low farmlands were inidated with marshland. This would have left the Tor and the surrounding hills as islands.

     

In 1190CE, the monks of Glastonbury Abbey claimed to have discovered the bodies of both King Arthur and Queen Guinevere in their ancient cemetery near the Lady Chapel.

Glastonbury, the magical Isle of Avalon, has also been home to an ancient and powerful Goddess of transformation and rebirth. The goddess appears in the myths and legends of this sacred place in the Sisterhood of the Nine Morgens, the most famous of whom is Morgen la Fey, the faerie half-sister to King Arthur.

She is remembered as Brighde, Goddess of healing, poetry and smithcraft, who appears here in the swan-shaped landscape temple of Avalon and in the legends of St. Brigid, who visited Glastonbury in the sixth century. She also can be seen on misty mornings in the form of Rhiannon, the White Mare from the Seas, who rides the Hollow Hills of Avalon.



(http://www.glastonberrygrove.net/reference/history/glstnbry/swanmap.gif)
The Isle of Avalon is itself shaped like a swan.

Title: Re: Avalon
Post by: Jahn on February 11, 2010, 05:41:02 AM

Avalon for me is Roxy Music  ;D

It is a cool song, after the party and a cigarette in the night - style, you know.

ROXY MUSIC - Avalon (with lyrics)
 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzqBttT7PBE)

Title: Re: Avalon
Post by: Firestarter on February 11, 2010, 05:42:04 AM

I love that song too.

Title: Re: Avalon
Post by: Ke-ke wan on February 11, 2010, 11:20:27 AM

(http://www.timelessmyths.com/celtic/gallery/rhiannon.jpg)

Title: Re: Avalon
Post by: Michael on February 11, 2010, 02:34:52 PM

Quote from: Jamir on February 11, 2010, 05:41:02 AM

Avalon for me is Roxy Music  ;D

It is a cool song, after the party and a cigarette in the night - style, you know.

ROXY MUSIC - Avalon (with lyrics)
 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzqBttT7PBE)

Great song - I remember that album from all those druggy parties I used to go to, but never had it myself.
That's Brian singing I expect. Interesting intonations.

Title: Re: Avalon
Post by: Angela on February 14, 2010, 02:50:10 PM

I love this song ... "yes the picture's changing every moment and your destination you don't know it ... Avalon..."

Soma looks great ... nice, design :)

Title: Re: Avalon
Post by: Michael on February 14, 2010, 03:23:03 PM

Hello Angela - nice to see you back here.

Title: Re: Avalon
Post by: Angela on February 14, 2010, 04:33:36 PM

Thanks for having me :)