What is the earliest reference to the Arthurian legend?
The Y Gododdin reference, which describes Arthur as a military superhero (to whom a man who killed 300 cannot compare), may go back to before 638 AD, but this is not certain. The Marwnad Cynddylan mention of Arthur, which seems to have the same concept of Arthur as Y Gododdin, is generally admitted to have its origins in the mid-7th century, if the emendation of artir to artur is correct (as it almost certainly is). The tales of Arthur raiding the Otherworld in Preideu Annwfyn probably go back to before the late 8th century, and the features used to date them thus would also be present in compositions of the 7th century. The folklore in chapter 73 of the Historia Brittonum (which includes a reference to Arthur’s ‘Wild’ hunt of the divine, destructive and enormous boar Twrch Trwyd) has been recently considered ‘already ancient’ by the 9th century. These would seem to be some of the earliest Arthurian references and they are discussed in detail, along with other potential members of the
