RENNES (France): The legend of Britain’s King Arthur will take hold of the city of Rennes in July for a series of events on the mythical hero once said to have roamed the wild, western French region of Brittany.

A major exhibition on the Arthurian tales, which will run for six months, is to open July 15, translated into English, the same day the International Arthurian Society begins its 22nd annual congress at Rennes university, one of the biggest campuses in France.

The society brings together experts on the Arthurian tales from across the world, mingling eminent academics and amateurs. Formed in the Breton city of Quimper in 1948, it meets every three years.

“These stories deal with universal themes,” said Sarah Toulouse, one of the curators of the exhibition “King Arthur: A Legend in the Making”.

“The earliest fragments of the tales can be traced back to Wales in the seventh century,” she said. “But by the 13th century stories based on the Arthurian legends were being told right across Europe.”

Arthur and his trusty knights of the Round Table have always held a special place in the hearts of “Bretons”, the name for natives of this region of Celtic origin and scene of many of the hero’s adventures.

Sir Lancelot, perhaps the best known of the knights, was said to have been raised in the mysterious Broceliande forest in the heart of Brittany by Viviane, the Lady of the Lake who kidnapped him as a young child.

Arthur’s diabolical half sister, the sorceress Morgan Le Fay, had a secret hideaway on the Brittany coast and some texts even suggest that the mystical Island of Avalon, said to be the monarch’s final resting place, is in fact the Isle of Aval in northern Brittany.

But one thing the exhibition will not seek to claim is that Arthur himself was Breton.

“It was out of the question for us to say that Arthur was an English king who united all of the Britons in the British Isles and in Brittany against the Saxons,” said Toulouse.

As the exhibition shows, Arthur’s mythical kingdom extended across much of what is now France and Britain.

His legendary castle of Camelot is said to be Cadbury castle, an Iron Age hill fort in the south-western English county of Somerset. One of the world’s most famous prehistoric sites, the stone circle of Stonehenge, is said by some to have been built by Merlin the magician, Arthur’s mysterious adviser.

Glastonbury Tor, also in Somerset, is cited as another of the king’s final resting places while the village of Camelon in Scotland is one of several candidates for the site of the terrible battle of Camlann where Arthur and his evil, illegitimate son Mordred fought to the death.

A striking feature at the exhibition is just how quickly the tales of Arthur and his knights spread across Europe to places as far apart as Iceland and Italy, or Spain and Scandinavia.

The oldest known images of the king can be found not in Britain but at the Cathedral of Modena in Italy in a bas-relief dating from around 1120.

“One way the legends have survived until today was resurgence in interest in the tales in the 19th century, particularly in Anglo-Saxon countries,” said Patrick Absolon, Toulouse’s co-curator.

That period saw the publication of a large number of children’s books based on the Arthurian legends, allowing the tales of chivalry, magic and courtly love to enthral new generations.

But like other popular myths, the Arthurian tales have also endured a fair share of ridicule, a key example being British comedy team Monty Python’s 1975 film “The Holy Grail”, which was revived more recently in the musical hit “Spamalot”.

Absalon, an expert on popular myths, says such parodies play an important role in keeping the tales alive.

At this year’s Arthurian congress he is intending to host a debate on comedy and the Arthurian legends called “Mocking Arthur”.

Both curators are adamant the Arthurian legends not be viewed as untouchable stories set in stone.

The myths have evolved over time and if they are to survive, this process must continue.

“We hope people will take the stories away and perhaps add their ideas to them,” said Absalon.

However, when it comes to the critical question if Arthur really existed, Toulouse might disappoint more than a few fans.

“King Arthur is a mythical character who was invented at a certain point in history for essentially political reasons,” she said. “If he had really existed there would be more concrete historical traces of him.”—AFP