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

翻译人员: Zitong Wang 校对人员: Yifan L

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

“亚瑟葬于此处， 他曾是，也将一直是王。”

So reads the inscription on King Arthur’s gravestone

读一下托马斯 · 马洛里 写于 15 世纪的

in Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur.

《亚瑟王之死》一书中，

Writing in the 15th century,

亚瑟王墓碑上的铭文，

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

马洛里应该不会想到 这份铭文最终竟如此的有预见性。

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

亚瑟王在我们的集体想象中 一次次崛起，

along with his retinue of knights,

还有他的骑士随从、

Guinevere,

妻子桂妮薇儿

the Round Table,

圆桌会议、

Camelot,

宫殿卡米洛特，

and of course, Excalibur.

当然，还有王者之剑。

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

但是，这些故事从哪来， 又有多少可信度呢？

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

我们所知的亚瑟王是 中世纪后期创造出的人物，

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

但是他的传奇实际上 起源于更早期的凯尔特诗歌：

the Saxon invasions of Britain.

撒克逊人入侵不列颠王朝。

After the Romans left Britain in 410 CE,

在公元 410 年，罗马人离开不列颠后

Saxon invaders from what’s now Germany and Denmark

来自于现在的德国和丹麦的撒克逊入侵者

quickly capitalized on the vulnerability of the abandoned territory.

迅速的占领了这片的废弃领地。

The inhabitants of Britain fought fiercely against the invaders

不列颠人激烈抵抗入侵者，

through several centuries of turmoil.

混乱持续了几个世纪。

There are hardly any written records from this time,

现今已很少有书面记载这个了，

so it’s difficult to reconstruct an accurate history.

所以很难去重塑最准确的历史。

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

然而，还是可以在当今现存的 诗歌中找到一些头绪

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

其中一首叫《高多汀》的诗 就第一次提到亚瑟，

though Arthur himself doesn’t actually appear in it.

但亚瑟这个角色并没有出现在里面。

It says a different warrior, named Gwawrddur,

诗中说的是另一个战士，格瓦多尔

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

他善于屠杀敌人，但他并不是亚瑟。

That’s not much to go on,

对于亚瑟没有更多的描述了，

but whoever this Arthur was,

但是不管这个亚瑟是谁，

he must’ve been the gold standard of warriors.

他肯定是战士的黄金典范。

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

他统治过谁，或是否真的存在， 很不幸，我们都无从得知。

Despite this uncertainty,

尽管亚瑟的事情扑朔迷离，

references to Arthur caught the attention of an aspiring historian

几百年后，一位有抱负的历史学家

hundreds of years later.

却对亚瑟的文献颇有兴趣。

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

1130 年，这位野心勃勃的牧师—— 蒙莫斯郡的杰弗里，

Using Celtic and Latin sources,

他借鉴了凯尔特和拉丁文献，

he spent years creating a lengthy chronicle

历时数年创造了一长篇编年史册

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

名字叫《不列颠国王的历史》。

The centerpiece of this tome was King Arthur.

这本书的中心就是亚瑟王。

History is a generous term for Geoffrey’s account.

历史在杰弗里眼里是个很大的词汇，

Writing six hundred years after the Saxon invasions,

写于撒克逊人侵略六百年后，

he cobbled together fragments of myth and poetry

他把神话和诗歌的段落拼凑起来，

to compensate for the almost complete lack of official records.

来填补几乎空白的官方记载。

A few of his sources contained mentions of Arthur,

他所借鉴的书中有几本提及亚瑟，

and some others were realistic accounts of battles and places.

其他的真实地描述了战役和地方。

But many featured mythic heroes fighting long odds

还有更多的提及了神话英雄

with the help of magical swords and sorcery.

在魔法剑和巫术的帮助下以寡敌众。

Geoffrey blended them all:

杰弗里综合了所有的记录：

A magical sword called Caledfwlch

一把叫王者之剑的魔剑

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

和一个叫卡利恩的罗马要塞出现在原著中，

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

杰佛里描述的亚瑟王 统治了从卡利恩到辽阔的卡里布恩斯，

the Latin translation of Caledfwlch.

卡里布恩斯是王者之剑的拉丁语版。

Geoffrey even added a wise counselor named Merlin,

杰佛里还给亚瑟故事 加了一个叫梅林的智者，

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

原型是凯尔特吟游诗人梅尔丁。

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

如果亚瑟确实存在， 他可能是一位军队统帅

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

但是城堡般的国王领袖 更适用于杰弗里德的史诗。

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

他的编史带来了他想要的关注，

and was soon translated from Latin into French

这本书很快就被诗人韦斯在 1155 年

by the poet Wace around 1155 CE.

由拉丁语翻译成法语。

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

韦斯给杰弗里的剑加了其他传说。

castle,

and wizard:

城堡、

男巫、

the Round Table.

和圆桌会议。

He wrote that Arthur had the table constructed

他写道，亚瑟之所以用这个桌子

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

是为了给所有客人平等的坐席，

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

没有任何一人能吹嘘自己地位最高。

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

在读过韦斯翻译后， 另一位法国诗人克雷蒂安 · 德 · 特鲁瓦

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

写了许多传奇， 把亚瑟故事的名声推到顶峰

He introduced tales of individual knights like Lancelot and Gawain,

他讲述了很多骑士的故事， 比如兰斯洛特和高文。

and mixed elements of romance in with the adventures.

他还在历险中加了许多浪漫元素，

He conceived Arthur,

他构造了亚瑟，

Lancelot,

兰斯洛特

and Guinevere’s love triangle.

和桂妮薇儿的三角恋。

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

除了宫廷中的阴谋， 他也写入了圣杯。

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

克雷蒂安写圣杯力量可能是 借鉴了凯尔特神话的魔法物件。

He lived in the middle of the Crusades,

他生活在十字军东征的时代，

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

其他人把当时的事情和圣杯联系起来，

casting it as a powerful relic from the crucifixion.

把它当做耶稣殉难留下的圣遗物。

Numerous adaptations in French and other languages

克雷蒂安的作品在之后

followed from Chrétien’s work.

被翻译成法语和很多其他语言。

In the course of these retellings, Caerleon became Camelot,

重诉这些故事时， 卡利恩被说成了卡米洛特，

and Caliburnus was rechristened Excalibur.

卡里布恩斯改名为王者之剑。

In the 15th century,

在 15 世纪，

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

托马斯 · 马洛里爵士把这些故事 合成为亚瑟王之死，

the basis of many modern accounts of King Arthur.

也就是很多现代亚瑟王故事的前身。

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

从凯尔特诗歌第一次出现亚瑟的几千年来，

his story has transformed over and over

他的故事被一次次改写，

to reflect the concerns of his chroniclers and their audiences.

反映着编年史家和观众他们想看的东西。

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

我们现今仍旧在重写和改编他的传奇，

Whether or not the man ever lived,

不管他到底存不存在，

loved,

reigned,

爱没爱过，

统治过哪，

or adventured,

有过哪些历险，

it’s undeniable that the character has achieved immortality.

不可否认的是，他的角色达到了永生。