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The British Love Affair with a Castle Fictional People Had Sex in 1,500 Years Ago
An entire industry built on a work of fiction
The British love a good story. After all, in a nation littered with castles, ancient burial grounds and standing stones, the novelty of old stuff wears off by the time we hit 10.
So, in order to stay interested in our crumbling castles, we invent stories around them. It’s not hard, we have written histories going back over a thousand years, and an impressive literature-based game of Chinese whispers.
For every commuter who drives past Stonehenge without a second thought, there’s someone with a crystal around their neck and playing a gong in its honour. I’m not criticising, I’m just saying, stories are powerful.
Our mythical history
Loch Ness has an entire tourist industry based on a sea monster, so it’s really not surprising that we should have other mad stories that plenty of people at least half believe in.
The legend of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is one such story. In fact, it’s not so much a story as a labyrinth of stories. If you start looking into the various myths and legends surrounded King Arthur and his somewhat mystical retinue, you’ll be down a rabbit hole that even…
