这是亚瑟王墓碑上所刻的碑文，

in Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur.

写于托马斯·马洛礼的小说 《亚瑟之死》中。

Writing in the 15th century,

这本书诞生于十五世纪，

Malory couldn’t have known how prophetic this inion would turn out to be.

马洛礼当时不可能知道 这段碑文多有预言性。

King Arthur has risen again and again in our collective imagination,

在我们集体的想像中， 亚瑟王一次又一次地复活，

along with his retinue of knights,

还有他身边的骑士们、

Guinevere,

桂妮薇儿、

the Round Table,

圆桌、

Camelot,

卡美洛，

and of course, Excalibur.

当然，还有王者之剑。

But where do these stories come from, and is there any truth to them?

但这些故事是从哪里来的？ 又有多少真实性？

King Arthur as we know him is a creation of the later Middle Ages,

我们所知道的亚瑟王， 是中世纪后期被创造出来的，

but his legend actually has its roots in Celtic poetry from an earlier time:

但他的传说可以追溯到 更早期的凯尔特诗作：

the Saxon invasions of Britain.

撒克逊人入侵不列颠的时期。

After the Romans left Britain in 410 CE,

在公元 410，罗马人 离开大不列颠后，

Saxon invaders from what’s now Germany and Denmark

来自现在德国和丹麦 地区的撒克逊入侵者

quickly capitalized on the vulnerability of the abandoned territory.

快速利用了这块 被抛弃的领土的脆弱。

The inhabitants of Britain fought fiercely against the invaders

不列颠的居民 非常剧烈地抵抗入侵者，

through several centuries of turmoil.

经过了数个世纪的混乱。

There are hardly any written records from this time,

几乎没有任何这个时期的 书面记录留下来，

so it’s difficult to reconstruct an accurate history.

所以很难还原正确的历史。

However, surviving poetry from the era gives us some clues.

然而，从那个时代存留下来的诗 还是能够提供我们一些线索。

One of the poems, The Gododdin, contains the very first reference to Arthur,

其中一首名为《高多汀》的诗作， 是最早提及亚瑟的诗作，

though Arthur himself doesn’t actually appear in it.

不过亚瑟本人并没有 出现在这首诗中。

It says a different warrior, named Gwawrddur,

诗中的是一个不同的战士， 叫做葛瓦尔达，

was skilled at slaying his enemies, but was no Arthur.

他杀敌的战技出色，但他不是亚瑟。

That’s not much to go on,

没有多少其他的资讯，

but whoever this Arthur was,

但，不论这亚瑟是什么人，

he must’ve been the gold standard of warriors.

他一定曾经是战士的黄金标准。

Whether he ruled anyone, or even lived at all is, unfortunately, less clear.

不幸的是，不清楚他是否 统治过任何人或是否真的存在过。

Despite this uncertainty,

尽管有这些不确定性，

references to Arthur caught the attention of an aspiring historian

许多地方对亚瑟的提及，

hundreds of years later.

数百年后引起了一位 有抱负的历史学家的注意。

In 1130, Geoffrey of Monmouth was a lowly cleric with grand ambitions.

1130 年，蒙茅斯的杰弗里是位有着大野心的小神职人员。

Using Celtic and Latin sources,

利用凯尔特和拉丁的来源，

he spent years creating a lengthy chronicle

他花了数年的时间， 创作了一本很长的编年史，

titled, "The History of the Kings of Britain."

名为《不列颠诸王史》。

The centerpiece of this tome was King Arthur.

这部钜作的中心就是亚瑟王。

History is a generous term for Geoffrey’s account.

对杰弗里的记述而言， 「史」是一个很垄统的词。

Writing six hundred years after the Saxon invasions,

他写下了撒克逊入侵 之后的六百年，

he cobbled together fragments of myth and poetry

把神话和诗作的片段拼凑在一起，

to compensate for the almost complete lack of official records.

来补足几乎不存在的官方记录。

A few of his sources contained mentions of Arthur,

他的来源当中， 只有少数有提及到亚瑟，

and some others were realistic accounts of battles and places.

其他来源都是对于战役 和地区的真实记述。

But many featured mythic heroes fighting long odds

但当中有许多都有个特色：神话英雄

with the help of magical swords and sorcery.

在魔法宝剑和巫术的 协助之下以寡敌众。

Geoffrey blended them all:

杰弗里将它们都融合起来：

A magical sword called Caledfwlch

一把魔法宝剑， 名为「卡里德福洛斯」，

and a Roman fortress called Caerleon appeared in his source material,

及出现在他的来源素材中的 一座罗马堡垒，可尔里昂。

so Geoffrey’s Arthur ruled from Caerleon and wielded Caliburnus,

所以杰弗里的亚瑟统治可尔里昂， 挥舞著宝剑卡里德布诺斯，

the Latin translation of Caledfwlch.

即卡里德福洛斯的拉丁文。

Geoffrey even added a wise counselor named Merlin,

杰弗里甚至加上了 一位睿智的顾问，梅林，

based on the Celtic bard Myrrdin, to Arthur’s story.

参考依据是凯尔特的 吟游诗人梅尔丁，

If Arthur did live, he would likely have been a military leader,

如果真的有亚瑟这个人， 他很可能是名军事领袖，

but a castle-bound king better fit Geoffrey’s regal history.

但在城堡中的国王比较符合 杰弗里的帝王历史。

Geoffrey’s chronicle got the attention he’d hoped for,

杰弗里的编年史得到了 他期望的瞩目，

and was soon translated from Latin into French

很快就从拉丁文译为法文，

by the poet Wace around 1155 CE.

大约在公元 1155 年， 由诗人华斯翻译。

Wace added another centerpiece of Arthurian lore to Geoffrey’s sword,

华斯又加入了亚瑟传说的 一个核心元素，

castle,

搭配杰弗里的宝剑、

and wizard:

城堡，以及巫师之外，

the Round Table.

这个元素就是圆桌。

He wrote that Arthur had the table constructed

依他所写的，亚瑟打造了一张桌子，

so that all guests in his court would be equally placed,

让他廷中所有的客人 都能坐在平等的座位上，

and none could boast that he had the highest position at the table.

没有人可以夸耀 他在桌上有最高的位置。

After reading Wace’s translation, another French poet, Chrétien de Troyes,

另一位法国诗人克雷蒂安·德·特鲁瓦 在阅读过华斯的翻译版之后，

wrote a series of romances that catapulted Arthur’s story to fame.

写下了一系列骑士传奇， 让亚瑟的故事红了起来。

He introduced tales of individual knights like Lancelot and Gawain,

他推出个别骑士的故事， 比如兰斯洛和高文，

and mixed elements of romance in with the adventures.

并将浪漫元素融入到冒险当中。

He conceived Arthur,

他构想出亚瑟、兰斯洛，

Lancelot,

以及桂妮薇儿的三角恋情。

and Guinevere’s love triangle.

除了人际间的阴谋， 他还加入了圣杯。

In addition to interpersonal intrigue, he also introduced the Holy Grail.

克雷蒂安创作圣杯神力的灵感来源

Chrétien probably based his Grail’s powers on magical objects in Celtic mythology.

很可能是凯尔特神话中的魔法物品。

He lived in the middle of the Crusades,

他生在十字军东征的时代，

and others imposed the preoccupations of the time on the Grail,

其他人把当时流传的故事 附会到圣杯上，

casting it as a powerful relic from the crucifixion.

把它当作是和耶稣钉上 十字架相关的强大遗物。

Numerous adaptations in French and other languages

许多法文和其他语言的改编版本

followed from Chrétien’s work.

都遵循克雷蒂安的作品。

In the course of these retellings, Caerleon became Camelot,

在这些重述的过程中， 可尔里昂变成了卡美洛，

and Caliburnus was rechristened Excalibur.

卡里德布诺斯被重新命名为 艾斯卡里伯（王者之剑）。

In the 15th century,

在十五世纪，

Sir Thomas Malory synthesized these stories in Le Morte D’arthur,

托马斯·马洛礼爵士将这些故事 合成了《亚瑟之死》，

the basis of many modern accounts of King Arthur.

现代很多关于亚瑟王的描述 都是根据这本小说。

In the thousand years since Arthur first appeared in a Celtic poem,

在亚瑟最初在凯尔特诗中 出现之后的一千年，

his story has transformed over and over

他的故事一而再再而三地被改写，

to reflect the concerns of his chroniclers and their audiences.

反映出其编年史家 及编年史家的读者想看的是什么。

And we’re still rewriting and adapting the legend today.

而至今我们都还在重写 和改编这个传说故事。

Whether or not the man ever lived,

不论亚瑟是否真的曾经存在过、

loved,

曾经爱过、

reigned,

曾经统治过，

or adventured,

或曾经冒险过，

it’s undeniable that the character has achieved immortality.

都无法否认，这个角色 已经达成了永垂不朽。

图文|TED英语演讲课

责编|王晴

审编|王铭玥返回搜狐，查看更多