Why has the legend of King Arthur survived and why is it still so popular?
Great kings or war leaders with a band of followers appear in a number of tales in different countries. Traditional Irish literature has King Conchobar and Finn mac Cumhal. In Norse literature there is the Danish king Hrólf Kraki, who appears in “Beowful” as Hrothwulf, Hrothgar’s co-king. Medieval Germans told tales of Dietrich von Berne. Turks told tales of Dede Korkut. Persians told of King Kay Kavus. The French told tales of Charlemagne but also tales of Arthur, because Arthur was the hero king of whom Breton minstrels told, and Breton story-tellers were very popular. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Arthurian tales surpassed tales of Charlemagne in popularity among the French, perhaps in part because there was less background information into which new tales must be fitted. Interest in these tales declined as the medieval era came to an end. But in England the substance of many of the later prose romances were re-introduced into the English language by Sir Thomas Malory. Malory was
