All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced in any format without written permission from the publisher. Most scholars agree that it was some sort of spiritual center dating from very ancient times. Its tight association with the historical side of the Arthurian legends draws us to Celtic Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries, where clues of Avalon s existence begin to emerge from the mists of antiquity.
Literature provides the first references.
Probably the most popular version was written by the twelfth-century Welshman, Geoffrey of Monmouth. In his History of the Kings of Britain , King Arthur is carried to the Isle of Avalon to rest and heal after his last battle. The magical sword Excalibur was forged there. This is apt, as apples symbolize plenty and magic in Celtic tradition. In the Black Book of Carmarthen , one of the ancient Welsh books on which Geoffrey of Monmouth very likely based much of his History, it is said that Arthur s tomb was secretly located in Avalon.