Editing King Arthur (section)

== Legends concerning the return of Arthur ==
{{Main|King Arthur's messianic return}}
[[File:Edward Burne-Jones.The last sleep of Arthur.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Detail of ''[[The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon]]'' (completed 1898), by [[Edward Burne-Jones]]. Arthur sleeping in [[Avalon]], awaiting his return.]]
That Arthur never died but is awaiting his return in some remote spot, often sleeping, is a central motif connected to the Arthurian legends. Before the twelfth century there are, as in the ''[[Englynion y Beddau]]'', references to the absence of a grave for Arthur suggesting that he was considered immortal and not dead, but in this poem there is no indication that he was expected to return.<ref>A. O. Jarman (ed.), ''Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin'' (University of Wales Press, 1982), p. lix. ''Anoeth bit bed y arthur'': the stanza can be found in poem 18.133-135. {{ISBN|0-7083-0629-2}}.</ref> From the early twelfth century onwards several sources report a popular belief in the return of King Arthur, although most often critically and mockingly presented.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bullock-Davies|1982|pp= 432–40}}; {{Harvnb|Green|2007b|pp= 72–75}}</ref> His future return is first mentioned by [[William of Malmesbury]] in 1125: "But Arthur's grave is nowhere seen, whence antiquity of fables still claims that he will return."<ref>{{Harvnb|Padel|1994|pp= 10}}</ref> The "Miracles of St. Mary of Laon" (''[[De miraculis sanctae Mariae Laudunensis]]''), written by a French cleric and chronicler named [[Hériman of Tournai]] about 1145, but referring to events occurring in 1113, mentions the [[Bretons|Breton]] and [[Cornish people|Cornish]] belief that Arthur still lived.<ref>{{Harvnb|Berard|2016|pp= 91–119}}; {{Harvnb|Coe|Young|1995|pp= 44–47}}.</ref>

In 1191 the alleged tomb of Arthur was identified in an orchestrated discovery at [[Glastonbury Abbey]]. Whereas numerous scholars have argued that this could have been due to the Abbey wanting to stand out with an illustrious tomb,<ref>{{Harvnb|Gransden|1976|pp= 349–52}}; {{Harvnb|Wood|1991|pp= 275–277}}; {{Harvnb|Gilchrist|Green|2015|pp= 60–62}}.</ref> or to a desire of the Plantagenet regime to put an end to a legendary rival figure who inspired tenacious Celtic opposition to their rule,<ref>{{Harvnb|Gransden|1976|pp= 354–55}}; {{Harvnb|Crick|1999|pp= 73}}; {{Harvnb|Carley|2001|pp= 1}}; {{Harvnb|Hutton|2003|pp= 68}}; {{Harvnb|Gilchrist|Green|2015|pp= 123–24}}.</ref> it may also have been motivated by how the Arthurian expectations were highly problematic to contemporary Christianity. The longing of the return of a mighty immortal figure returning before the end of time to re-establish his perfect rule, not only ran against basic Catholic tenets but could even threaten the quintessential focus on the longing for the return of Jesus.<ref>{{Harvnb|Endsjø|2024|pp= 19–25}}.</ref> This was further aggravated by how the stories about Arthur sometimes invoked more emotions than biblical tales.<ref>[[Aelred of Rievaulx]], Speculum caritatis 2.17 (2.51), ed. J-P. Migne (Paris, 1855), p. 565d; [[Peter of Blois]], De confessione 1088D, ed. I.A. Giles (Opera omnia, 2, Oxford, 1847), p. xlviii; [[Caesarius of Heisterbach]], Dialogus miracolorum 4.36, ed. J. Strange (Cologne, 1851), p. 205.</ref> Decades of elite critique of the popular conviction among otherwise pious Catholic Celts in Britain and Brittany had done nothing to suppress these beliefs, whereas the orchestration of Arthur's physical remains effectively eliminated the possibility of his return without overtly criticizing anyone's beliefs.<ref>{{Harvnb|Endsjø|2024|pp= 25–28}}.</ref> After the 1191 discovery of his alleged tomb, Arthur became more of a figure of folk legends, found sleeping in various remote caves all over Britain and some other places, and at times, roaming the night as a spectre, like in the [[Wild Hunt]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Peyton|1973|pp= 61}}.</ref>