【精英翻譯】的部落格

King Arthur: History or Legend?

亞瑟王是否真有其人？

精英翻譯社轉自https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0058/348598/web/

Legends surrounding Arthur have been retold in countless books and movies. The British king is famous for leading his Knights of the Round Table in battle against Saxon invaders. Despite his popularity, his historical identity is still uncertain. Was there actually a King Arthur who ruled Britain during the Dark Ages?

關於亞瑟王的傳說在無數的書籍、電影中反覆傳誦。這位不列顛國王率領他的圓桌武士在戰爭中對抗撒克遜的入侵者而赫赫有名。儘管他很有聲望，但他的歷史身分仍不是很確定。真的曾有一位亞瑟王在黑暗時代統治過不列顛嗎？

Writings don’t provide many reliable clues. The only existing early account is from a monk named Gildas, who described the Saxon defeat by British forces in the real-life battle at Badon Hill. However, Gildas mentions nothing about a commander named Arthur. Instead, he credited British victory to a British-Roman leader. Some say this leader’s name could have been Artorius─an uncommon Roman family name and a precursor to “Arthur.”

文獻著作沒有提供許多可靠的線索。唯一現存早期的記述是來自一位名叫吉爾達斯的修道士，他描述撒克遜人在巴頓山之戰這場真實戰役中被不列顛軍擊敗。然而，吉爾達斯完全沒有提到一位叫作亞瑟的指揮官，而是將不列顛的勝利歸功於一位不列顛裔的羅馬領導人。有些人說這名領導人的名字可能是亞托利爾斯（Artorius）——一個不常見的羅馬姓氏以及「亞瑟」（Arthur）的前身。

In the 9th century, Arthur appears for the first time in The History of the Britons, written by the Welsh monk Nennius, who listed 12 battles that Arthur fought in. But it would’ve been impossible for one person to have fought in all of those battles. Still, later writers drew from Nennius’s work, and Arthur’s fame spread across England and into France after the Norman Conquest in 1066.

亞瑟在九世紀首次出現在由威爾斯修道士內尼厄斯所著的《不列顛人的歷史》中，他列出了十二場亞瑟參加過的戰役。但一個人不可能打過那所有的十二場戰役。不過，後來的作者引用內尼厄斯的作品，而亞瑟的名聲傳遍英格蘭各地，並在一○六六年諾曼人征服後傳入了法國。