er without giving something on the question of origins itself. I
shall therefore conclude it with a brief sketch of the chief opinions
on the subject, and with an indication of those to which many years'
reading have inclined myself.

The theories, not to give them one by one as set forth by individual
writers, are in the main as follows:--

[Sidenote: _Celtic._]

I. That the Legend is, not merely in its first inception, but in main
bulk, Celtic, either (_a_) Welsh or (_b_) Armorican.

[Sidenote: _French._]

II. That it is, except in the mere names and the vaguest outline,
French.

[Sidenote: _English._]

III. That it is English, or at least Anglo-Norman.

[Sidenote: _Literary._]

IV. That it is very mainly a "literary" growth, owing something to the
Greek romances, and not to be regarded without error as a new
development unconnected, or almost unconnected, with traditional
sources of any kind.

[Sidenote: _The Celtic theory._]

The first explanation is the oldest. After being for nearly half a
century discredited, it has again found ardent defenders, and it may
seem at first sight to be the most natural and reasonable. Arthur, if
he existed at all, was undoubtedly a British hero; the British Celts,
especially the Welsh, possess beyond all question strong literary
affinities and a great literary performance, and Geoffrey of Monmouth,
the father of the whole story, expressly declares that he took it from
a book written in the British tongue. It was natural that in
comparatively uncritical ages no quarrel should be made with this
account. There were, even up to the last century, I believe,
enthusiastic antiquaries who affirmed, and perhaps believed, that
they had come across the very documents to which Geoffrey refers, or
at worst later Welsh transcripts of them. But when the study of the
matter grew, and especially when Welsh literature itself began to be
critically examined, uncomfortable doubts began to arise. It was found
impossible to assign to the existing Welsh romances on the subject,
such as those published in the _Mabinogion_, a date even approaching
in antiquity that which can certainly be claimed by the oldest French
texts: and in more than one case the Welsh bore unmistakable
indications of having been directly imitated from the French itself.
Further, in undoubtedly old Welsh literature, though there were (_v.
supra_) references to Arthur, they were few, they were very meagre,
and except as