Myths and Legends

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We walked up Glastonbury Tor in the warmth of a winters afternoon sunshine, yet at the top we met a fiercely cold wind. The views made up for it for a while, but we finally had to retreat back down the hill.

Tor means hill in Old English. Glastonbury Tor stands out from the surrounding countryside, being one of the few raised areas of land in the region. Many years ago, before drainage was put in, much of the land surrounding Glastonbury was frequently under water, leading to the legend of the Island of Avalon.

In the mythology of the ancient Celts, Avalon was an island where gods and heroes fed on the apples of immortality, and has been woven into the stories surrounding Arthur, Excalibur, Merlin etc. Now the apples that are feasted on are all cider apples! Feasted on or drunk.

There are many stories about the origins of the original chapel on Glastonbury Tor. Was this the site of a chapel built by or for Joseph of Arimathea? Did (or does) the Holy Grail rest here? One legend states that it rests under a spring on the Tor. The folks at Glastonbury Abbey claim that they have the site of his wattle and daub chapel, so I doubt that he would also have built something on the tor.

Nearby are the atmospheric ruins of Britains largest abbey, Glastonbury Abbey. (I say atmospheric partly because of the weather when we were there.) People have worshipped here for nearly 2000 years. One legend states that Joseph of Arimathea was a trader who travelled to Somerset with the young Jesus. This also lead to Blake's poem Jerusalem.

“And did those feet in ancient time, Walk upon England's mountains green? And was the holy Lamb of God, On England's pleasant pastures seen?”

He returned years later and built a simple place of worship from wattle and daub. Historical records show that this was still standing in 600AD and was destroyed when the whole abbey burned down in 1184. This then became known as the 'old church', the site of which later became the abbey's Lady Chapel.

Legends being what they are, and no-one from those times still being around, who knows what to believe. A flyer from Bath Abbey claims that Jesus never left the Middle East.

Another legend associated with Glastonbury Abbey involves someone whose life and adventures has been told many times, and in many ways. Go back through the mists of time and imagine yourself in ancient days gone by, when Glastonbury was still an island, lets call it the Isle of Avalon, and there had been some mighty battles. One day, out of the mist you see some boats coming towards the island, the one in front carrying a fallen warrior, the rest full of his soldiers grieving. You see these soldiers gently pick up their comrade and carry him to the church. All is quiet for a while, apart from the monks rushing about tending to the wounded soldiers. Later there is drunken revelry as the soldiers bury and mourn their leader, celebrating his life, his actions, his battles. Who was this great person? None other than the mighty, the legendary, King Arthur. Who was more a warlord than king, but never mind.

In around 1136, Avalon was named as the final resting place of King Arthur by a Welsh chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth, and the idea caught on.

In 1191, the monks at Glastonbury claimed to have found the remains of King Arthur and Lady Guinevere buried to the south of the Lady Chapel. How they knew whose remains they were, who knows, after all, Arthur was leading the Britons against the Saxon invaders around 490 AD, a few years before 1191. Rumour has it that they (the monks, not Arthur and Guinevere) were broke and this was a good way to bring in the tourists and therefore money. There was also supposed to be a cross inscribed with “Here lies buried the renowned King Arthur in the Isle of Avalon”. Anyway, years later, in 1278, with great ceremony, the bones were re-interred in a black marble tomb in the presence of King Edward I. This tomb remained until the dissolution of the abbey in 1539.

It seems kind of fitting that King Arthur should have been buried in Glastonbury, along with the object of his main quest - the Holy Grail.

But back to the Abbey. St Dunstan was educated at Glastonbury Abbey and was Abbot there until he became Archbishop of Canterbury. He introduced Benedictine Rule to Glastonbury and into England. Another Glastonbury monk, Sigeric, became Archbishop of Canterbury in the 10th century.

Three stone Abbey churches have stood in Glastonbury, the ruins we saw date from 1184 to 1539, when the abbey was seized on the orders of King Henry VIII during the dissolution of the monasteries. It was gradually demolished, the stone being used for other building projects.

Behind St Patricks Chapel (currently being restored, its painted walls almost finished), is the “Glastonbury Holy Thorn Tree”, said to have grown from a cutting of the tree that grew when Joseph of Arimathea plunged his staff into the ground.

Enough history and speculation, we spent a cold couple of hours wandering round the abbey ruins, discussing legends, imagining what life might have been like there hundreds of years ago (walls, windows and a roof would have made a huge difference!)

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