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

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Regina Chu

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

「亞瑟長眠於此， 曾經為王，終將成王。」

So reads the inscription on King Arthur’s gravestone

這是亞瑟王墓碑上所刻的碑文，

in Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur.

寫於托馬斯·馬洛禮的小說 《亞瑟之死》中。

Writing in the 15th century,

這本書誕生於十五世紀，

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

馬洛禮當時不可能知道 這段碑文多有預言性。

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

在我們集體的想像中， 亞瑟王一次又一次地復活，

along with his retinue of knights,

還有他身邊的騎士們、

Guinevere,

桂妮薇兒、圓桌、卡美洛，

the Round Table,

Camelot,

and of course, Excalibur.

當然，還有王者之劍。

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

但這些故事是從哪裡來的？ 又有多少真實性？

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

我們所知道的亞瑟王， 是中世紀後期被創造出來的，

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

但他的傳說可以追溯到 更早期的凱爾特詩作：

the Saxon invasions of Britain.

撒克遜人入侵不列顛的時期。

After the Romans left Britain in 410 CE,

在公元 410，羅馬人 離開大不列顛後，

Saxon invaders from what’s now Germany and Denmark

來自現在德國和丹麥 地區的撒克遜入侵者

quickly capitalized on the vulnerability of the abandoned territory.

快速利用了這塊 被拋棄的領土的脆弱。

The inhabitants of Britain fought fiercely against the invaders

不列顛的居民 非常劇烈地抵抗入侵者，

through several centuries of turmoil.

經過了數個世紀的混亂。

There are hardly any written records from this time,

幾乎沒有任何這個時期的 書面記錄留下來，

so it’s difficult to reconstruct an accurate history.

所以很難還原正確的歷史。

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

然而，從那個時代存留下來的詩 還是能夠提供我們一些線索。

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

其中一首名為《高多汀》的詩作， 是最早提及亞瑟的詩作，

though Arthur himself doesn’t actually appear in it.

不過亞瑟本人並沒有 出現在這首詩中。

It says a different warrior, named Gwawrddur,

詩中的是一個不同的戰士， 叫做葛瓦爾達，

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

他殺敵的戰技出色，但他不是亞瑟。

That’s not much to go on,

沒有多少其他的資訊，

but whoever this Arthur was,

但，不論這亞瑟是什麼人，

he must’ve been the gold standard of warriors.

他一定曾經是戰士的黃金標準。

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

不幸的是，不清楚他是否 統治過任何人或是否真的存在過。

Despite this uncertainty,

儘管有這些不確定性，

references to Arthur caught the attention of an aspiring historian

許多地方對亞瑟的提及，

數百年後引起了一位 有抱負的歷史學家的注意。

hundreds of years later.

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

1130 年，蒙茅斯的傑弗里

是位有著大野心的小神職人員。

Using Celtic and Latin sources,

利用凱爾特和拉丁的來源，

he spent years creating a lengthy chronicle

他花了數年的時間， 創作了一本很長的編年史，

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

名為《不列顛諸王史》。

The centerpiece of this tome was King Arthur.

這部鉅作的中心就是亞瑟王。

History is a generous term for Geoffrey’s account.

對傑弗里的記述而言， 「史」是一個很壟統的詞。

Writing six hundred years after the Saxon invasions,

他寫下了撒克遜入侵 之後的六百年，

he cobbled together fragments of myth and poetry

把神話和詩作的片段拼湊在一起，

to compensate for the almost complete lack of official records.

來補足幾乎不存在的官方記錄。

A few of his sources contained mentions of Arthur,

他的來源當中， 只有少數有提及到亞瑟，

and some others were realistic accounts of battles and places.

其他來源都是對於戰役 和地區的真實記述。

But many featured mythic heroes fighting long odds

但當中有許多都有個特色：神話英雄

with the help of magical swords and sorcery.

在魔法寶劍和巫術的 協助之下以寡敵眾。

傑弗里將它們都融合起來：

Geoffrey blended them all:

A magical sword called Caledfwlch

一把魔法寶劍， 名為「卡里德福洛斯」，

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

及出現在他的來源素材中的 一座羅馬堡壘，可爾里昂。

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

所以傑弗里的亞瑟統治可爾里昂， 揮舞著寶劍卡里德布諾斯，

the Latin translation of Caledfwlch.

即卡里德福洛斯的拉丁文。

Geoffrey even added a wise counselor named Merlin,

傑弗里甚至加上了 一位睿智的顧問，梅林，

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

參考依據是凱爾特的 吟遊詩人梅爾丁，

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

如果真的有亞瑟這個人， 他很可能是名軍事領袖，

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

但在城堡中的國王比較符合 傑弗里的帝王歷史。

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

傑弗里的編年史得到了 他期望的矚目，

and was soon translated from Latin into French

很快就從拉丁文譯為法文，

by the poet Wace around 1155 CE.

大約在公元 1155 年， 由詩人華斯翻譯。

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

華斯又加入了亞瑟傳說的 一個核心元素，

搭配傑弗里的寶劍、

castle,

and wizard:

城堡，以及巫師之外，

the Round Table.

這個元素就是圓桌。

He wrote that Arthur had the table constructed

依他所寫的，亞瑟打造了一張桌子，

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

讓他廷中所有的客人 都能坐在平等的座位上，

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

沒有人可以誇耀 他在桌上有最高的位置。

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

另一位法國詩人克雷蒂安·德·特魯瓦 在閱讀過華斯的翻譯版之後，

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

寫下了一系列騎士傳奇， 讓亞瑟的故事紅了起來。

He introduced tales of individual knights like Lancelot and Gawain,

他推出個別騎士的故事， 比如蘭斯洛和高文，

and mixed elements of romance in with the adventures.

並將浪漫元素融入到冒險當中。

He conceived Arthur,

他構想出亞瑟、蘭斯洛，

Lancelot,

and Guinevere’s love triangle.

以及桂妮薇兒的三角戀情。

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

除了人際間的陰謀， 他還加入了聖杯。

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

克雷蒂安創作聖杯神力的靈感來源

很可能是凱爾特神話中的魔法物品。

He lived in the middle of the Crusades,

他生在十字軍東征的時代，

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

其他人把當時流傳的故事 附會到聖杯上，

casting it as a powerful relic from the crucifixion.

把它當作是和耶穌釘上 十字架相關的強大遺物。

Numerous adaptations in French and other languages

許多法文和其他語言的改編版本

followed from Chrétien’s work.

都遵循克雷蒂安的作品。

In the course of these retellings, Caerleon became Camelot,

在這些重述的過程中， 可爾里昂變成了卡美洛，

and Caliburnus was rechristened Excalibur.

卡里德布諾斯被重新命名為 艾斯卡里伯（王者之劍）。

In the 15th century,

在十五世紀，

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

托馬斯·馬洛禮爵士將這些故事 合成了《亞瑟之死》，

the basis of many modern accounts of King Arthur.

現代很多關於亞瑟王的描述 都是根據這本小說。

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

在亞瑟最初在凱爾特詩中 出現之後的一千年，

his story has transformed over and over

他的故事一而再再而三地被改寫，

to reflect the concerns of his chroniclers and their audiences.

反映出其編年史家 及編年史家的讀者想看的是什麼。

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

而至今我們都還在重寫 和改編這個傳說故事。

Whether or not the man ever lived,

不論亞瑟是否真的曾經存在過、

loved,

reigned,

曾經愛過、曾經統治過，

or adventured,

或曾經冒險過，

it’s undeniable that the character has achieved immortality.

都無法否認，這個角色 已經達成了永垂不朽。