Well, it's been quite a few years since I first started investigating King Arthur, and my opinions about several things have changed quite a lot. One such subject is the question of where Arthur engaged in his 12 battles, as recorded by the Historia Brittonum. Years ago, I made a post about the first five battle sites. Following Wilson & Blackett (who I admired greatly at the time), I favoured this theory for the first five:
The River Glein - Glen Water in Ayrshire. Arthur won the battle and the remains of the defeated enemy fled north towards Dumbarton and Loch Lomond.
The River Dubglas in Linnuis - The River Douglas in Lennox, between Loch Lomond and Loch Long (overlooked by Ben Arthur). The remnants of the defeated enemy fled even further north, near Inverness.
The battle of Bassas - Dunipace (Duni-bas, or Bass of the Dun) in Falkirk, with an ancient building nearby called Furnus Arthuri, or Arthur's Oven. All of the enemy were killed.
Arthur travelled south for reinforcements and renewed supplies, and then headed north again to vanquish the rest of the enemy in another part of Scotland.
Cat Coit Celidon - The Caledonian Forest. Arthur won; enemies retreated north to Stow of Weldale.
Battle of Fort Guinnion - Stow of Wedale (thought by some to mean 'Dale of Woe'), where there is a Roman castellum nearby, and where tradition says Arthur fought the battle.
However, more recent research has led me to change my views completely. Here are my current thoughts regarding the first five battle sites:
The River Glein - River Glen in Lincolnshire. The Hanes Gruffydd ap Cynan explicitly places Arthur's first battle in or near Llwytcoed, which medieval scribes identified with Lincoln (even though the name appears to originate with Letocetum, near modern-day Litchfield).
The River Dubglas in Linnuis - The River Witham in Lincolnshire. The region around Lincoln is the only place that is known for a fact to have had a name which matches the Historia Brittonum's 'Linnuis', even though there are plenty of other hypothetical matches around Britain. And although the Witham is not now called the Dubglas, the etymology of 'Dubglas' is a good description for the river. Furthermore, the Historia Regum Britanniae places the Dubglas south of York, in line with this.
The River Bassas - The closest etymological match that I am aware of is Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire. Thus, I believe that this is the most likely site. This is also in line with the fact that the HRB presents Arthur as pursuing the Saxons after defeating them at the previous battle, and the Saxons would logically have fled further into their own territory rather than fleeing into enemy territory.
The Celidon Wood - In my opinion, all my aforementioned suggestions are the most inherently logical identifications in each case. With the Celidon Wood, however, I would say that this is the only suggestion of mine which is not the most inherently logical when taken in isolation. The HRB explains that Arthur pursued the Saxons all the way to the Celidon Wood from the previous battle site. Despite the attractive identification of the Celidon Wood with the Caledonian Forest of Roman records, I find it utterly inexplicable to believe that the Saxon army would have fled into a forest in enemy territory. Fleeing into enemy territory at all would be bizarre, but fleeing into a forest within said enemy territory would basically be suicide. I believe that, if Arthur pursued the Saxon army from the previous battle site, he must have been pursuing them further into the heart of their Anglo-Saxon territory, not the opposite. Therefore, and also in line with the route from the River Witham in Lincolnshire to Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire, I believe that the Celidon Wood was the Weald. Evidence from the HRB itself in a separate section, as well as evidence from the ancient writer Florus, support the idea that the term 'Caledonian forest' was sometimes applied to an area in the south east, which would logically be in reference to the Weald, the most significant forest in that region.
Guinnion Fort - Now I return to what is generally considered to be the most inherently logical site in isolation, on a linguistic basis. From what I've read, most scholars who have discussed this issue agree that this can most probably be identified with Binchester Roman fort, recorded by Ptolemy as Vinovium or Vinnovium. This would naturally evolve into Brythonic 'Guinouion', or 'Guinnouion', which is almost identical to the form 'Guinnion' found in the Historia Brittonum. This also makes sense with the rest of Arthur's activities. After defeating the Saxons at the previous battle, the HRB presents Arthur as engaging in a campaign against the Picts. This would have required him to have travelled north, and the Roman road going north is Dere Street. Vinchester Roman fort is right on Dere Street, making this a logical location for Arthur's next battle.
So, those are my current thoughts. I'm still researching the other battle sites, but I have some tentative thoughts already.
The River Glein - Glen Water in Ayrshire. Arthur won the battle and the remains of the defeated enemy fled north towards Dumbarton and Loch Lomond.
The River Dubglas in Linnuis - The River Douglas in Lennox, between Loch Lomond and Loch Long (overlooked by Ben Arthur). The remnants of the defeated enemy fled even further north, near Inverness.
The battle of Bassas - Dunipace (Duni-bas, or Bass of the Dun) in Falkirk, with an ancient building nearby called Furnus Arthuri, or Arthur's Oven. All of the enemy were killed.
Arthur travelled south for reinforcements and renewed supplies, and then headed north again to vanquish the rest of the enemy in another part of Scotland.
Cat Coit Celidon - The Caledonian Forest. Arthur won; enemies retreated north to Stow of Weldale.
Battle of Fort Guinnion - Stow of Wedale (thought by some to mean 'Dale of Woe'), where there is a Roman castellum nearby, and where tradition says Arthur fought the battle.
However, more recent research has led me to change my views completely. Here are my current thoughts regarding the first five battle sites:
The River Glein - River Glen in Lincolnshire. The Hanes Gruffydd ap Cynan explicitly places Arthur's first battle in or near Llwytcoed, which medieval scribes identified with Lincoln (even though the name appears to originate with Letocetum, near modern-day Litchfield).
The River Dubglas in Linnuis - The River Witham in Lincolnshire. The region around Lincoln is the only place that is known for a fact to have had a name which matches the Historia Brittonum's 'Linnuis', even though there are plenty of other hypothetical matches around Britain. And although the Witham is not now called the Dubglas, the etymology of 'Dubglas' is a good description for the river. Furthermore, the Historia Regum Britanniae places the Dubglas south of York, in line with this.
The River Bassas - The closest etymological match that I am aware of is Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire. Thus, I believe that this is the most likely site. This is also in line with the fact that the HRB presents Arthur as pursuing the Saxons after defeating them at the previous battle, and the Saxons would logically have fled further into their own territory rather than fleeing into enemy territory.
The Celidon Wood - In my opinion, all my aforementioned suggestions are the most inherently logical identifications in each case. With the Celidon Wood, however, I would say that this is the only suggestion of mine which is not the most inherently logical when taken in isolation. The HRB explains that Arthur pursued the Saxons all the way to the Celidon Wood from the previous battle site. Despite the attractive identification of the Celidon Wood with the Caledonian Forest of Roman records, I find it utterly inexplicable to believe that the Saxon army would have fled into a forest in enemy territory. Fleeing into enemy territory at all would be bizarre, but fleeing into a forest within said enemy territory would basically be suicide. I believe that, if Arthur pursued the Saxon army from the previous battle site, he must have been pursuing them further into the heart of their Anglo-Saxon territory, not the opposite. Therefore, and also in line with the route from the River Witham in Lincolnshire to Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire, I believe that the Celidon Wood was the Weald. Evidence from the HRB itself in a separate section, as well as evidence from the ancient writer Florus, support the idea that the term 'Caledonian forest' was sometimes applied to an area in the south east, which would logically be in reference to the Weald, the most significant forest in that region.
Guinnion Fort - Now I return to what is generally considered to be the most inherently logical site in isolation, on a linguistic basis. From what I've read, most scholars who have discussed this issue agree that this can most probably be identified with Binchester Roman fort, recorded by Ptolemy as Vinovium or Vinnovium. This would naturally evolve into Brythonic 'Guinouion', or 'Guinnouion', which is almost identical to the form 'Guinnion' found in the Historia Brittonum. This also makes sense with the rest of Arthur's activities. After defeating the Saxons at the previous battle, the HRB presents Arthur as engaging in a campaign against the Picts. This would have required him to have travelled north, and the Roman road going north is Dere Street. Vinchester Roman fort is right on Dere Street, making this a logical location for Arthur's next battle.
So, those are my current thoughts. I'm still researching the other battle sites, but I have some tentative thoughts already.
