Sourced record RLM-001 · Medieval Latin Arthurian narrative

Avalon

Avallon in the English edition used here

The island where Arthur’s sword Caliburn was made, and where the wounded king is carried for healing in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s account.

Heroic landsRealm recordNamed island
Primary sourceGeoffrey of Monmouth, British History, IX.4 and XI.2

What is Avalon?

Avalon is a named island in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Arthurian narrative. The selected translation calls it Avallon: it is the place of Caliburn’s manufacture and Arthur’s destination for treatment after his last battle. The text does not say that the treatment succeeds.[1]

Quick facts

Record typeRealm: named island in a medieval narrative
Textual traditionGeoffrey of Monmouth’s Latin account of the kings of Britain
Name in this editionAvallon; Avalon is the record’s display spelling
Source realmHeroic lands: Arthurian Britain and its narrative geography
Source markersBook IX, chapter 4, p. 234; Book XI, chapter 2, p. 271
AssociationsCaliburn’s manufacture; Arthur’s intended healing
Location and inhabitantsNot specified in these passages

What the source says

Caliburn’s island of origin · IX.4

As Arthur arms himself to fight the Saxons, the narrator lists his equipment. His sword is named Caliburn and described as an excellent weapon made on Avallon. No smith is named and no account of its manufacture follows.[1]

A destination after battle · XI.2

Arthur pursues Modred into Cornwall to the river Cambula. Modred falls in the fighting, while Arthur is gravely wounded. The translation calls the wound mortal, yet says Arthur is carried to Avallon to be cured. He hands the crown to his kinsman Constantine, son of Cador. This is a departure for treatment, not a narrated recovery.[1]

Edition and version boundary: This record follows the British History passages only. It does not combine them with another poem, romance, or later adaptation. “Avallon” and “Caliburn” preserve this English edition’s forms; neither is presented here as a quotation of the Latin.

Description and limits

The source identifies an island without describing its size, landscape, buildings, ruler, or inhabitants. It does not specify a boat or companions for Arthur’s journey. Healing is the purpose of the journey; these passages do not explain a healing mechanism or establish that the island itself has a supernatural power.[1]

Source realm: Geoffrey’s Arthurian world

The archive groups this realm under Heroic lands because it belongs to the geography of a heroic narrative about Britain. That browsing label does not classify Geoffrey’s Latin work as a Norse saga, or Avalon as a creature. The account names Cornwall and the river Cambula for the battle, but supplies no route or geographical identification for Avallon.[1]

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Role in this account

Read together, the two notices connect the island with Arthur’s martial equipment and his withdrawal from kingship. That is an editorial reading of its narrative role, not a claim that Avalon universally symbolizes immortality or that Geoffrey promises Arthur’s return.[1]

Primary text and references

  1. 1
    Geoffrey of Monmouth’s British History

    Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia regum Britanniae (twelfth century). English translation by Aaron Thompson (1718), revised by J. A. Giles (1842); consulted in Old English Chronicles, edited by J. A. Giles, London: George Bell & Sons, 1906, reprinted from stereotype plates. Book IX, chapter IV, p. 234 (Caliburn); Book XI, chapter II, p. 271 (Arthur’s removal to Avallon). The editorial preface identifies the translation’s history. Project Gutenberg ebook 37848, released 25 October 2011, preserves the 1906 title page and printed pagination.

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