Is there any truth to the King Arthur legends? - Alan Lupack

Prevoditelj: Katarina Mikjel Recezent: Sanda L

“Here lies Arthur, king who was, and king who will be.”

„Ovdje leži Arthur, negdašnji i budući kralj.”

So reads the inscription on King Arthur’s gravestone

To je sadržaj natpisa na nadgrobnom spomeniku kralja Arthura

in Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur.

u „Arthurovoj smrti” Thomasa Maloryja.

Writing in the 15th century,

Kad ga je u 15. stoljeću pisao,

Malory couldn’t have known how prophetic this inscription would turn out to be.

Malory nije ni slutio koliko će se proročanskim pokazati taj natpis.

King Arthur has risen again and again in our collective imagination,

Kralj Arthur neprestano uskrsava u našoj kolektivnoj mašti,

along with his retinue of knights,

zajedno sa svojom viteškom svitom,

Guinevere,

Guinevere,

the Round Table,

Okruglim stolom,

Camelot,

Camelotom

and of course, Excalibur.

i, naravno, Excaliburom.

But where do these stories come from, and is there any truth to them?

No odakle potječu te priče i ima li u njima istine?

King Arthur as we know him is a creation of the later Middle Ages,

Danas nam znani lik kralja Arthura plod je kasnog srednjeg vijeka,

but his legend actually has its roots in Celtic poetry from an earlier time:

ali legenda o njemu zapravo seže do keltske poezije iz ranijeg doba:

the Saxon invasions of Britain.

doba saksonske invazije Britanije.

After the Romans left Britain in 410 CE,

Nakon što su Rimljani 410. n. Kr. napustili Britaniju,

Saxon invaders from what’s now Germany and Denmark

saksonski osvajači iz današnje Njemačke i Danske

quickly capitalized on the vulnerability of the abandoned territory.

brzo su iskoristili ranjivost napuštenog teritorija.

The inhabitants of Britain fought fiercely against the invaders

Britanski stanovnici žestoko su se borili protiv osvajača

through several centuries of turmoil.

tijekom višestoljetnih previranja.

There are hardly any written records from this time,

Pisanih dokaza iz tog vremena gotovo da nema,

so it’s difficult to reconstruct an accurate history.

pa je teško točno rekonstruirati povijest.

However, surviving poetry from the era gives us some clues.

Ipak, preživjela poezija iz tog doba nudi nam neke tragove.

One of the poems, The Gododdin, contains the very first reference to Arthur,

U jednoj od poema, „Goddodinu”, prvi se put spominje Arthur,

though Arthur himself doesn’t actually appear in it.

iako se on sam u njoj ne pojavljuje.

It says a different warrior, named Gwawrddur,

U njoj se za ratnika po imenu Gwawrddur kaže

was skilled at slaying his enemies, but was no Arthur.

da je vješto ubijao neprijatelje, ali ne tako vješto kao Arthur.

That’s not much to go on,

To nam ne otkriva mnogo,

but whoever this Arthur was,

no tko god da je taj Arthur bio,

he must’ve been the gold standard of warriors.

zacijelo je bio uzor ratnicima.

Whether he ruled anyone, or even lived at all is, unfortunately, less clear.

Nažalost, manje je jasno je li bio vladar i je li uopće postojao.

Despite this uncertainty,

Unatoč toj dvojbenosti,

references to Arthur caught the attention of an aspiring historian

Arthurovo ime privuklo je pozornost nadobudnog povjesničara

hundreds of years later.

stotine godina kasnije.

In 1130, Geoffrey of Monmouth was a lowly cleric with grand ambitions.

Godine 1130. Geoffrey od Monmoutha bio je običan klerik velikih ambicija.

Using Celtic and Latin sources,

Služeći se keltskim i latinskim izvorima,

he spent years creating a lengthy chronicle

godinama je stvarao podužu kroniku

titled, "The History of the Kings of Britain."

pod nazivom „Povijest britanskih kraljeva”.

The centerpiece of this tome was King Arthur.

Središnji lik tog pozamašnog djela bio je kralj Arthur.

History is a generous term for Geoffrey’s account.

Nazvati Geofrreyjevu kroniku poviješću bilo bi suviše velikodušno.

Writing six hundred years after the Saxon invasions,

Pišući šesto godina nakon saksonske invazije,

he cobbled together fragments of myth and poetry

skrpao je fragmente mitova i poezije

to compensate for the almost complete lack of official records.

kako bi nadoknadio gotovo potpuni nedostatak službenih zapisa.

A few of his sources contained mentions of Arthur,

U nekim njegovim izvorima spominjao se Arthur,

and some others were realistic accounts of battles and places.

a u drugima su realistično prikazane bitke i mjesta.

But many featured mythic heroes fighting long odds

No mnogi su govorili o mitskim herojima koji su se borili unatoč lošim izgledima,

with the help of magical swords and sorcery.

uz pomoć čarobnih mačeva i magije.

Geoffrey blended them all:

Geoffrey ih je objedinio.

A magical sword called Caledfwlch

Čarobni mač Caledfwlch

and a Roman fortress called Caerleon appeared in his source material,

i rimska utvrda Caerleon spominju se u njegovim izvorima,

so Geoffrey’s Arthur ruled from Caerleon and wielded Caliburnus,

pa je Geoffreyjev Arthur vladao iz Caerleona i posjedovao Caliburnus,

the Latin translation of Caledfwlch.

što je latinski prijevod naziva Caledfwlch.

Geoffrey even added a wise counselor named Merlin,

Geoffrey je čak dodao mudrog savjetnika Merlina,

based on the Celtic bard Myrrdin, to Arthur’s story.

po uzoru na keltskog barda Myrrdina, Arthurovoj priči.

If Arthur did live, he would likely have been a military leader,

Da je Arthur zaista postojao, vjerojatno bi bio vojskovođa,

but a castle-bound king better fit Geoffrey’s regal history.

no kralj u dvorcu bolje se uklapao u Geoffreyjevu kraljevsku povijest.

Geoffrey’s chronicle got the attention he’d hoped for,

Geoffreyjeva kronika privukla je pozornost kojoj se nadao

and was soon translated from Latin into French

i uskoro ju je s latinskog na francuski preveo

by the poet Wace around 1155 CE.

pjesnik Wace oko 1155. n. Kr.

Wace added another centerpiece of Arthurian lore to Geoffrey’s sword,

Wace je dodao još jedan značajni dio arturijanske predaje Geoffreyjevu maču,

castle,

and wizard:

dvorcu

i čarobnjaku:

the Round Table.

Okrugli stol.

He wrote that Arthur had the table constructed

Napisao je da je Arthur dao napraviti taj stol

so that all guests in his court would be equally placed,

kako bi svi gosti na njegovu dvoru zauzimali jednako mjesto

and none could boast that he had the highest position at the table.

i nitko se ne bi mogao hvalisati kako ima najbolje mjesto za stolom.

After reading Wace’s translation, another French poet, Chrétien de Troyes,

Pročitavši Waceov prijevod, drugi je francuski pjesnik, Chrétien de Troyes,

wrote a series of romances that catapulted Arthur’s story to fame.

napisao niz romansi koje su proslavile priču o Arthuru.

He introduced tales of individual knights like Lancelot and Gawain,

Uveo je pripovijesti o pojedinačnim vitezovima, npr. o Lancelotu i Gawainu,

and mixed elements of romance in with the adventures.

te pomiješao romantične elemente s onim pustolovnima.

He conceived Arthur,

Smislio je Arthurov,

Lancelot,

Lancelotov

and Guinevere’s love triangle.

i Guineverein ljubavni trokut.

In addition to interpersonal intrigue, he also introduced the Holy Grail.

Uz međuljudske intrige, uveo je i Sveti gral.

Chrétien probably based his Grail’s powers on magical objects in Celtic mythology.

Nadahnuće za moći njegova grala vjerojatno su magični predmeti iz keltske mitologije.

He lived in the middle of the Crusades,

Živio je u jeku križarskih ratova

and others imposed the preoccupations of the time on the Grail,

i onodobne preokupacije odrazile su se u priči o gralu,

casting it as a powerful relic from the crucifixion.

koji je tako postao moćna relikvija povezana s raspećem.

Numerous adaptations in French and other languages

Brojne adaptacije na francuskom i drugim jezicima

followed from Chrétien’s work.

proizašle su iz Chrétienova djela.

In the course of these retellings, Caerleon became Camelot,

U tim je prepričavanjima Caerleon postao Camelot,

and Caliburnus was rechristened Excalibur.

a Caliburnus je prekršten u Excalibur.

In the 15th century,

U 15. stoljeću

Sir Thomas Malory synthesized these stories in Le Morte D’arthur,

sir Thomas Malory objedinio je te priče u „Arthurovu smrt”,

the basis of many modern accounts of King Arthur.

koja je temelj mnogih suvremenih prikaza kralja Arthura.

In the thousand years since Arthur first appeared in a Celtic poem,

Tijekom tisuću godina od prve Arthurove pojave u keltskoj poemi

his story has transformed over and over

njegova se priča stalno mijenjala,

to reflect the concerns of his chroniclers and their audiences.

odražavajući interese kroničara i njihove publike.

And we’re still rewriting and adapting the legend today.

I danas preinačujemo i prilagođujemo tu legendu.

Whether or not the man ever lived,

Čak i ako taj čovjek nikad nije postojao,

loved,

reigned,

volio,

vladao

or adventured,

ili doživljavao pustolovine,

it’s undeniable that the character has achieved immortality.

njegov lik neosporno je stekao besmrtnost.