The Quest for King Arthur

**The Quest for King Arthur** is the 1st episode of Season 2 of Expedition Unknown.

## Plot Synopsis

Gates investigates whether King Arthur was real and if so, who was he? He searches for answers in Arthur's birthplace at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, England, and then in the ruins of Cadbury Castle in Somerset, a 5th-century hill fort that is believed to have once served as the capitol of Camelot.

## Historical Context

"King Arthur is the ultimate knight in shining armour. Raised by the wizard Merlin, he lifted a magical sword from a stone to become king. In his court at Camelot, he formed a society of noble soldiers known as the Knights of the Round Table. Along with the brave Galahad and Lancelot, Arthur united the Britons to defeat an army of invaders. His story is a fairy tale. Or is it? What if everything you think you know about King Arthur is dead wrong? Archaeologists and historians across Great Britain are making discoveries that could prove the existence of a flesh-and-blood king."

- Josh Gates

## Summary

Josh's journey starts at Tintagel Castle where he goes to Merlin's Cave, where King Arthur met Merlin. Josh heads up to castle and meets with Win Scutt, an archaeologist. Win shows him evidence that Arthur was alive during the Dark Ages and was the leader of the Britons when nearby countries started to invade. Josh is also shown a stone inscription with the name Artognou, possibly Arthur's real name.

From Tintagel, Josh goes to Glastonbury Abbey where monks claimed to have King Arthur and Guinevere's bones in the 12th century. However, it's proclaimed to be a hoax because the church had just suffered a fire and would've benefitted from all the donations they received because of it.

Josh heads to Dinas Rock in Wales where Merlin supposedly buried the Knights of the Round Table. He meets with two cavers, Gary Evans and Andy Freem. They head to a cave where they meet up with another caver Antonia. They explain they've found a horse skull and a body from medieval times in the cave but that's all. They explore the cave for seven hours, rappelling down a hole and heading through miles of chambers. They turn around but the cavers have hope there are still many undiscovered parts of the cave system.

Josh goes to Leicester Cathedral where Richard III was recently buried after being missing for 400 years. He then heads to Edinburgh, Scotland where he tries haggis and tries on a kilt. From there he goes to Arthur's Seat and Stirling Castle. At Stirling, he meets Brian Gibson, the steward of the castle. Brian points out the King's Knot which at the centre has an overgrown structure said to to be the Round Table.

Down at the Knot he meets with scientists, Stephen Digney and Richard Jones and Colin Tickle, a GPR Expert, and his wife Jill. They use GPR and find disturbances around the site. They aren't able to dig because it is a Scottish Heritage Site. However, there is a general consensus that it was used for jousting in medieval times to honour Arthur.

Josh goes to Dunadd, Scotland where he meets author, Adam Ardrey. Dunadd was the capital of the Scots kingdom in premedieval times. Adam believes that a Scottish man named Arthur Mac Aedan is the historical basis of the King Arthur legend. Adam thinks Arthur was Celtic instead of Christian, which adds up with other historical clues. Adam shows Josh where the sword in the stone was drawn from and in fact, it's a place where you put your foot in an imprint and hold a sword over the land below.

They then take horses over to where Arthur's fortress may have been. They journey along the River Add and Adam tells Josh that Camelot was a marsh and a description of the area that Arthur lived. They go up a nearby hill to find an unexcavated stone wall and huge stones looking out over a marsh.

## Final Words

"I've searched every corner of Great Britain from ruined castles in England to the deep caves of Wales, and the vast highlands of Scotland and I think I finally understand King Arthur. He isn't elusive as much as omnipresent. It turns out that finding King Arthur is ridiculously easy. He's everywhere. Finding **the** King Arthur - Good luck. It's likely that the story is based on a real man. But time has all but swallowed his true identity. There is evidence hailing from Arthur's time period and excavations that may reveal more clues in the future. The real Arthur may have even hailed from what is now Scotland or Wales, and he may have not been a Christian king but a druid warrior. The legend of the once-and-future king is so potent because it's so pure. The most important thing about Arthur isn't where he's from it's what he stands for - loyalty, honesty, mercy, and valour, values that have endured for over 1,500 years and to which we all aspire."

- Josh Gates

## Notes & Trivia

* *This is where you can put notes and trivia, anything that is interesting or strange can be included here*

## Quotes

* "You might be wondering what I'm doing in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic. Actually right now, I'm wondering the same thing."
* "Please! I want to be king. Okay, somebody get me a saw."
* "I haven't yet found King Arthur but I did find another medieval ruler. Come on! It says medieval and it's a ruler."
* "Here it is the legendary sword Excalibur and it's ancient inscription - Made in China. Potential choking hazard. Not for children under 3. But what does it mean?!"
* "This is Wales. It looks a lot like England except everything is spelled really funny,"
* "If you ever want to know what it's like to drive in England, just pull your car into the street and then drive it in circles. They love roundabouts here. They'll put a roundabout in a roundabout."
* "Based on the real estate, I'd swear that every citizen is required by law to run their own pub."
* "Just as the legend foretold - the old King Arthur ballpoint pen."
* "Every toilet flush in England is a real question mark. You just don't know what's going to happen - it could explode, nothing could happen, every trip to the bathroom in England is a real adventure."

## References

1. ↑ https://static-us-east-2-fastly-a.www.philo.com/gracenote/assets/p12094872\_e\_h8\_ab.jpg