British tribes in resisting the pagan invaders, and as having been the
champion not only of his people but also of Christianity. He is said to
have lived in the sixth century, and to have maintained a stubborn
contest against the Saxon Cerdic, but the "Saxon Chronicle" is
suspiciously silent as to his warfare and as to his existence. Indeed,
the Welsh bards of the earliest period do not assert that he was a
contemporary, and it is more than doubtful whether he is an historic
personage. It is worthy of remark that the fame of Arthur is widely
spread; he is claimed alike as a prince in Brittany, Cornwall, Wales,
Cumberland, and the lowlands of Scotland; that is to say, his fame is
conterminous with the Brithonic race, and does not extend to the Goidels
or Gaels. As is now well known, Great Britain was twice invaded by races
of Celtic blood and tongue; the first wave was that of the Goidels, and
after a lapse of some considerable time a second Celtic wave, that of
the Brithons, or Britons, from the east, overran Britain, and drove the
Gaels to west and north. Finn and Ossian belong to the mythic heroic
cycle of the Gaels, and Arthur and Merlin to that of the Britons. These
several shadowy forms are probably deities shorn of their divinity and
given historic attributes and position, much as, among the Norsemen,
Odin, when he ceased to be regarded as the All-father, or God, came to
be reckoned as an ancestor of the kings.

In the lays of the Welsh bards, supposed to be as early as the sixth and
seventh centuries (although no MS. is extant of older date than the
twelfth century), Arthur and his brave companions are celebrated, but
modestly and without marvels. It is possible that there may have existed
in the sixth century a prince bearing the already well-known heroic
name; and if so, about him the myths belonging to the remote ancestor or
god have crystallized. The legendary additions begin to gather in the
history of the Britons by Nennius, a writer supposed to have lived at
the beginning of the seventh century; but Mr. Thomas Wright has shown
("Biographia Literaria," Saxon period) that his history is a forgery of
a much later date, probably of the tenth century. Mr. Skene, however
("The Four Ancient Books of Wales"), makes fight to give Arthur an
historic place, and we do not deny that there may have been a prince of
that name. Next in order come the so-called Armoric collections of
Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford (latter par