The Search

for King Arthur

Introduction

Task

Process

Resources

Evaluation

Conclusion

Additional
Resources
 Introduction:
King Arthur? Who’s he?

If you get lost on your quest, click on this Camelot icon to be returned to the Home page.
 Introduction:
King Arthur? Who’s he?

King Arthur: you may have heard the name –

but do you know much about him?

Maybe you think of him as…

• an old man with a beard and a crown
• a guy sitting at a round table with a bunch of knights
• a romantic character, always honest and good
• Clive Owen in King Arthur with Keira Knightley
 Introduction:
King Arthur? Who’s he?

Authors and playwrights have written about King Arthur

the “good guy,” who was always wise and fair.

Historians think that – if he did exist – Arthur

was a Celtic chieftain rather than an English king,
and was probably pretty rough around the edges.
 INTRODUCTION:
KING ARTHUR? WHO’S
HE?
But what was King Arthur really like?
Did he even exist?

If he did exist, was he most like the good-guy

image from legend, the action-hero seen in the
movies, or the barely civilized war duke
described by historians?

You’re off on an adventure through literature and

history. When you finish, you and the members of
your group will decide if King Arthur existed and
what he was like – and you’ll explain why!
 Task:
Was King Arthur real?
Why do you think that?

You’re going to break into several small groups.

Each group will consist of five Knights of the Round Table;
one member of every group will be
Lancelot, Gawain, Galahad, Bedevere or Kay..

Each knight will quest for information on the Internet.

Each group will reconvene and write a short report about
why they feel King Arthur was a real person or not.
 Process:
Click on your knight's name
to find out about your quest.

Lancelot Gawain Galahad

Bedevere Kay
 Process:
Sir Lancelot –
Loyal Knight (or Not?)

Your quest is to search out information about the

King Arthur written about by historians in the past.

Be sure to note how detailed

each reference to King Arthur is.
 Process:
Sir Gawain –
Brave and Brash

Your focus is on the King Arthur of legend,

a whole body of literature called (oddly enough)
Arthurian Legend.

See how detailed each story or myth seems to be,

and let that guide you as you decide whether
King Arthur was a real person.
 Process:
Sir Galahad –
Pure of Heart and Mind

There have been a lot of films about King Arthur,

some of which were more connected to either
legend or history than others.

Check out this information and try to think about

what the real King Arthur would have
looked like on film.
 Process:
Sir Bedevere –
Childhood Best Friend

Because so many people believe King Arthur

was a real person, a great deal of archeology
has been done over the years.

Review the information at this site, and use it to

guide you and your group in your quest to decide
whether or not King Arthur was real.
 Process:
Sir Kay –
Foster Brother and Squire

The historicity (or realness) of King Arthur is a hot

topic for some scholars and historians.

Take a look at the information on the Sir Kay site

and decide whether you agree with what people are
saying about King Arthur these days.
 Resources:
Click on your knight's
focus to get started.

Lancelot Gawain Galahad

History Legend On Screen

Bedevere Kay
Archeology
Process New Researc
h

Research done?
Click Here!
 Process:
Knights of the Round Table
report back on findings…

When you finish researching on your own, work as

a group. Submit a short report (nothing fancy, but
keep an eye on spelling and grammar) on whether
your group of knights finds that King Arthur was a
real person or not. Be sure to explain why!

If you feel that King Arthur was real, be sure to

include information about what type of person you
think he was.
 Evaluation:
How you'll be graded.
1 point 2 points 3 points 4 points

Report shows Report shows Report shows Report clearly

that only 1 or 2 that 2 or 3 that 3 or 4 shows that all 5
knights did knights did knights did knights did
research research research research

Unclear whether Information given Relatively well Very well

group felt King about whether or thought-out and thought-out and
Arthur was real not King Arthur researched carefully
or not was real, not decision on researched
convincing whether King decision on
Arthur was real whether King
Arthur was real

No clear Confusing Somewhat clear Reasons for

statement about information about information about decision are
why decision was basis for decision basis for decision explained clearly
reached and with
reference to
sources

Observation Observation Observation Observation

found that only 1 found that only 2 found that found that
or 2knights or 3 knights 3 or 4 knights all 5 knights
contributed to contributed to contributed to contributed to
decision and/or decision and/or decision and/or decision and/or
report report report report
 Conclusion:
Sharing what you found
out with the class.
To wind up our work on this project, each group
will select a speaker to read their report to the class.

We’ll then discuss each group’s decision on

whether King Arthur was real – and what he would
have been like if he was.

Remember, an opinion different than yours is no

less right…and it may even have been better-
researched than yours!

Resources
 Resources Used:
 http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/4186/Arthur/
htmlpages/kingarthurauthors.html
 http://www.ramsdale.org/legend.htm
 http://www.celtic-twilight.com/camelot/hollywood/
index.htm
 http://www.uidaho.edu/student_orgs/arthurian_legend
/england/arch/
 http://www.britannia.com/history/arthur/kaking.html
 http://google.com
 http://images.google.com
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
 http://www.britannia.com/history/arthur
 http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/4186/Arthur/html
pages/kingarthur.html
 Resources Used:
 http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/4186/Arthur/html
pages/kingarthurfaq7.html
 http://www.logoi.com/pastimages/king_arthur.html
 http://www.fire-serpent.com/post/qg&lancelot.jpg
 http://www.timelessmyths.com/arthurian/gallery/came
lot.jpg
 http://us.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0349683/KAC-C213-24.
jpg.html?seq=3
 http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/8991/gawain.
html
 http://www.american-pictures.com/genealogy/descent
/King.Arthur.htm