From Scythia To Camelot: A Radical Reassessment Of The Legends Of King Arthur, The Knights Of The Round Table, And The Holy Grail

FROM SCYTHIA TO CAMELOT G a r l a n d R e f e r e n c e L ib r a r y H u m a n it ie s (V o l . 1 7 9 5 ) of the The Golden Man of Issyk. Courtesy of the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography, Alma-ata, Kazakhstan. FROM SCYTHIA TO CAMELOT A Radical Reassessment of the Legends of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table and the Holy Grail C. Scott Littleton Linda A. Malcor Routledge Taylor & Francis Group Published in 2000 by Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 270 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 Published in Great Britain by Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 2 Park Square Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon O X14 4RN © 2000, 1994 by C. Scott Littleton and Linda A.Malcor Routledge is an imprint o f Taylor & Francis Group 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 International Standard Book Number-10: 0-8153-3566-0 (Softcover) International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-8153-3566-5 (Softcover) Library o f Congress Card Number 94-8776 No part o f this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. Tradem ark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. L ib ra ry o f C ongress C ataloging-in-Pu blication D ata Littleton, C. Scott. From Scythia to C am elot: a radical reassessment o f the legends o f King Arthur, the Knights o f the Round Table, and the Holy Grail / C. Scott Littleton, Linda A. Malcor. p. cm. — (Garland reference library o f the humanities ; vol. 1795) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8153-3566-0 I. Arthur, King. 2. Britons— Kings and rulers— Legends— History and criticism. 3. Legends— Great Britain— History and criticism. 4. Grail— Legends— History and criticism. 5. Great Britain— Antiquities, Celtic. 6. Arthurian romances— Sources. 7. Mythology, Iranian. 8. Mythology, Celtic. I. Malcor, Linda A. II. Title. III. Series. DA152.5.A 7L58 1994 936.1— dc20 94-8776 informa Taylor & Francis Group is the Academic Division o f T& F Informa pic. Visit the T aylor & F ra n cis W eb site at http://w w w .taylorandfrancis.com and the Routledge W eb site at http://w w w .routledge-ny.com To the Memory of Georges Dumezil "Thus the H alani [the Alans] . . . are divided betw een the two parts of the earth [Europe and A sia]." Am m ianus M arcellinus 31.2,17 (R olfe 1939:391) Contents Foreword Acknowledgments Preface Introduction xiii xxi xxiii xxv Part I: The Cultural and Historical Background 1. The Northeast Iranians 3 Part II: Figures 2. 3. 4. 5. Arthur and the Sarmatian Connection Lancelot and the "Alan of Lot" The Knights and the Narts Women, Water, and Warriors 61 79 125 153 Part III: Themes and Images 6. 7. The Sword in the Stone The Serpent Image 181 195 Part IV: The Holy Grail 8. 9. 10. The Holy Grail, the Cauldron of Annwfn, and the Nartamongae The Alans and the Grail The Grail Keepers Conclusions Appendix 1. A Note on Sources Appendix 2. Genealogies Appendix 3. A Reinterpretation of Nennius's Battle List References Cited Index vii 209 233 255 281 285 293 327 333 369 Page Intentionally Left Blank Illustrations