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Avalon,
Avalon (Avalon album),
Talk:Avalon (Avalon album),
Avalon Hill,
Avalon, California,
Avalon, Georgia,
Avalon, Pennsylvania,
The Guns of Avalon,
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Frankie Avalon
Avalon (probably from the
Celtic word
abal: apple; see Etymology below) is a
legendary
island somewhere in the
British Isles, famous for its beautiful
apples. The concept of such an "Isle of the Blessed" has parallels in other
Indo-European mythology, in particular
Tír na nÓg and the Greek
Hesperides, the latter also noted for its apples.
Avalon is sometimes referred to as the legendary location where
Jesus visited the British Isles with
Joseph of Arimathea and that it was later the site of the first
church in
Britain. This location of the Isle of Avalon is usually associated with present day
Glastonbury.
It is also said to be the place where the body of
King Arthur is buried. He was supposedly brought there via boat by his half sister,
Morgan le Fay. According to some legends Arthur merely sleeps there, to awaken at some future time.
As early at least as the beginning of the
11th century the tradition that Arthur was buried at
Glastonbury Tor appears to have taken shape. Before the surrounding fenland in the
Somerset Levels was drained, Glastonbury Tor's high round bulk rose out of the water-meadows like an island. In the reign of
Henry II, according to the chronicler
Gerald of Wales and others, the abbot Henry de Blois commissioned a search, apparently discovering at the depth of 5 m (16 feet) a massive oak trunk or coffin with an inscription
Hic jacet sepultus inclitus rex Arthurus in insula Avalonia. ("Here lies King Arthur in the island of Avalon"). The remains were reinterred with great ceremony, attended by King
Edward I and his queen, before the High Altar at
Glastonbury Abbey, where they were the focus of pilgrimages until the
Reformation.
A nearby
valley is named the
Vale of Avalon.
However, the Glastonbury legend has frequently been perceived as a fraud due, among other things, to the perceived anachronistic inscription which would have been more fitting to the 10th century than the 6th, the lack of any mention of said discovery in the 10th century, which would not have gone unheard of, added to possible ulterior motives from the abbey. Other theories point to l'Île d'Aval or Daval, on the coast of
Brittany, and
Burgh by Sands, in Cumberland, which was in Roman times the fort of Aballava on
Hadrian's Wall, and near Camboglanna, upwards on the Eden, now Castlesteads. Coincidentally, the last battle site of Arthur's campaigns is said to have been named
Camlann.
Others have claimed the most likely location to be
St Michael's Mount in Cornwall, which is near to other locations associated with the Arthurian legends. St Michael's Mount is an island which can be reached by a causeway at low tide. The matter is confused somewhat by similar legends and place names in Brittany.
Etymology
According to one theory the word is an
anglicisation of the
Brythonic "
Annwyn", the realm of
fairies, or
netherworld, but this would be a major corruption.
Geoffrey of Monmouth interpreted the name as the "isle of apples". This is more probable, since "apple" is still
aval in
Breton and
Cornish, and
afal in
Welsh, in which the letter
f is pronounced IPA|
Adaptations
Avalon is typically featured in the countless adaptations of
Arthurian legend. Some of the popular fantasy novelist
Marion Zimmer Bradley's books place special emphasis on Avalon:
*
The Mists of Avalon*
Ancestors of Avalon*
The Forest House*
Lady of Avalon*
Priestess of AvalonT.A. Barron's series
The Great Tree of Avalon features a fanciful Avalon, a massive tree, inadvertently created by
Merlin.
See also
*"
And did those feet in ancient time"
*
Fortunate IslesCategory:Ancient BritainCategory:Arthurian legendCategory:Mythical islandsCategory:Locations in Celtic mythologybg:Авалон (митология)da:Avalonde:Avalon (Mythologie)el:Άβαλονeo:Avalon (mitologio)es:Ávalonfi:Avalonfr:Avalonhe:אבלוןit:Avalonja:アヴァロンnl:Avalon (mythologie)pl:Avalon (mitologia)pt:Avalonru:Авалонsv:Avalonzh:阿瓦隆