All language subtitles for Unearthed.2016.S09E08.King.Arthurs.Lost.Castle.1080p.DSCP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-HiNGS_track3_[eng]

[narrator] Tintagel castle
In the west of england,

A mysterious cliff top
Mega structure

And the legendary birthplace
Of king arthur.

[win] It's a really
Extraordinary site,
Everything about it shouts

Prestige, romance,
Fairy tale castle.

[narrator] What can these
Windswept ruins reveal about
This enigmatic ruler?

Is king arthur real
Or just imagination?

He was believed to be a hero.

[narrator] Now, investigators
Use satellite surveys
To unlock the secrets

Of this ancient castle.

And the latest dna technology
To decode the mysteries

Of king arthur's time.

It's a once in a lifetime type
Of find.

[narrator] To reveal the truth
Behind the stories
Of king arthur.

We digitally deconstruct
Layers of history

And unearth the real tintagel.

We uncover magnificent
Treasures hidden
For 1500 years,

And discover the tumultuous
History of arthur
And his mighty kingdom.

Tintagel castle in cornwall,
Western england.

It sits perched on
A rocky island surrounded by

The rough seas
Of the atlantic ocean.

It's a real enigma, tintagel,

We don't understand really
Why people are living in

This extraordinary place.

It's stuck out
In the middle of nowhere.

[narrator] Legends say
That king arthur is conceived

And born at tintagel.

Camelot, where he is said
To hold court is lost
To history.

Do traces of arthur's story
Survive at tintagel castle?

Today, it lies in ruins
On two huge cliffs,

Rising from the seas.

Centuries ago, a narrow
Land bridge connects

The mainland to the island
And links both ends
Of the castle.

To enter it, a single
Paved track leads

To a stone gate house.

Behind a heavy wooden gate,

A triangular courtyard
With lodgings and stables.

Another wooden gate locked
With iron bars guards

The most important building
Here, the great hall.

This is where the lord
Of the castle lives
And entertains his guests.

Is this castle fit for a king?

Archaeologist win scutt
Has spent a decade excavating
At the site.

He investigates if the castle
Could be a royal residence.

You can see the shape
Of his castle, at least
The lower part.

It would've towered above us,
Would have been so impressive.

[narrator] Win heads over
To the island to examine

The ruined walls
Of the great hall.

They're really substantial,

Very well made walls here,
And sometime after
It was built, not that long.

It fell down the cliff
And you can see the stubs
Of the walls here

And over there.

Then they build
This smaller hall,

You can see
The second wall here.

[narrator] The huge great hall
Reveals the wealth

Of tintagel's lord
And master.

He can afford to rebuild it
Again and again.

They've invested incredible
Amounts of labor,

Brought massive amounts
Of stone to this site

To create a castle
That anybody would have been
Really proud of,

Perhaps a king.

[narrator] Could this castle
Be king arthur's birthplace

As the legend states?

According to legend,
Arthur is born
In the sixth century ad.

He extracts the sword
Excalibur from
A magical stone,

And becomes king.

He builds camelot.

His mighty castle and court,

Where he jousts
With his knights
Like the famous lancelot

And galahad.

He sits with all 12 of them
At a magnificent table,

It's round, so no one
Can sit at its head.

The knights follow arthur
On an epic quest
For the holy grail,

A chalice that christ
Is believed to have blessed

At the last supper.

Is the imposing great hall
At tintagel built
In the sixth century ad?

Win investigates
Arthur's legendary birthplace.

He looks for clues
On the eastern side
Of the hall.

Here it borders a steep drop
Down the cliff.

Buttresses had to be added
In order to support
These magnificent walls.

[narrator] Buttresses
Are architectural structures

That reinforce
Heavy stone walls.

They are usually found
On medieval castles
And cathedrals,

Like amiens, in france.

Built long after king arthur.

Win next examines
A vast defensive wall
That surrounds the great hall.

You can see these battlements
Or crenellations
As we call them,

They were introduced
To britain by the normans,

And they were found
On all castles,

Right across the country
From 1066 onwards.

[narrator] The architecture
Of the castle reveals
Its construction date.

[win] This castle was built
In the 1230s,

And this is hundreds of years,
In fact, 700 years after

When king arthur
Was supposed to have lived.

[narrator] The dating
Of this castle at tintagel

Seems to undermine the legend
Of king arthur.

But win suspects there's more
To the story.

He examines a satellite survey
That captures
The entire perimeter

Of tintagel island.

From above, numerous
Rectangular shapes
Become visible.

[win] This satellite image
Is amazing.

If I zoom into this
Particular area here,

I can see one, two, three,
Eight buildings.

Then if I move over
To another part of the island.

Another group of buildings.

[narrator] Win thinks
These buildings may hold
More clues up close,

He marks a spot
On the satellite map
And heads to that location.

This wall is standing
Two or three feet high,

But originally
Would have been substantially
Higher, we think.

[narrator] On close
Inspection.

These structures seem older
Than the castle ruins.

[win] These are just totally
Different in plan,

They're just rectangles,
No flourishes,
No architectural details,

They're much, much earlier
Than the 13th century
Buildings.

[narrator] Dotted around
The island.

Archeologists discovered
The foundations
Of an ancient settlement.

They find as many
As 100 houses
With rectangular footprints.

Near the land bridge,
Under the ruins of
The 13th century great hall,

There's evidence
Of a grand hall
Fit for royalty,

But much older.

It's the heart
Of a vast settlement.

On a scale seldom seen
In this period.

Does this mysterious
Settlement date back
To king arthur's time?

Win and a team
Of archaeologists dig around
The older structures.

They recover many
Priceless artifacts.

Today, they are kept
Under lock and key.

[win] This is some
Joining shards

From a large amphora.

An amphora, usually
That's sort of big,
Carrot shaped vessels,

With two big handles,
Very, very strong.

It's got this
Very distinctive,
Scratched pattern

On the shoulder of the vessel.

This one is again
Very distinctive.

[narrator] The detailed
Decorations are a giveaway.

Potters only use
These patterns
In a specific time period.

And that time is the fifth
And sixth centuries,

So that's gives us
A perfect time span

For the early settlement
At tintagel.

[narrator] But is there
Any specific evidence
Of arthur on site?

Win has permission to examine
An incredible find.

Kept in a place of honor
At tintagel.

It is a large piece of stone
Covered in mysterious writing.

Only two inscriptions
Have ever been found,

This one stunned the world,

It's such an important find.

[narrator] The style
Of the writing dates
From the sixth century,

The time of the legendary
King arthur.

What does it say?

It's pretty clear
That this is latin,

Partly because we have
The word "F-I-c-I-t."

Ficit, which means
"He made it."

And then below it,
We have this really
Intriguing word.

"A" with that very distinctive
V crossbar.

The r with a tail on it.

T, o, this funny
Little character which is a g,

And then n, o, v,
Which you pronounce as a "U."

So, we have the,
The name artognou here.

[narrator] Artognou could be
A latin version of the name,
Arthur.

It's astonishing evidence
Of a possible connection
Between arthur and tintagel.

Another stepping stone
In grounding the legend,
In reality.

We don't know who
This person was,

But what we do know
Is that this stone
Was inscribed by someone

Who was very familiar
With manuscripts,

He was an educated,
Possibly high status person.

[narrator] Can other parts
Of tintagel castle

Shed more light
On king arthur's existence?

The legend also says
That arthur is born inside
An impenetrable citadel.

Does this castle have all
The defenses to protect
An infant king?

[narrator] Tintagel castle
In cornwall.

The remote windswept location
Where king arthur is said

To have been born and live.

Win scutt is on a mission
To find the truth behind

The legend of the famous king
And tintagel's part
In his story.

He examines the account
Written by geoffrey
Of monmouth,

A welsh monk who lives
In the 12th century.

600 years after king arthur.

Geoffrey of monmouth
Was the first person to write

About the story
Of king arthur.

Monmouth describes tintagel
As the impenetrable fortress,

A place that's situated upon
The sea and on every side,
Surrounded by it.

[narrator] If the castle is
As monmouth describes,

Then his account of arthur
May be reliable too.

Win wants to find out
If the story is accurate.

In the days of king arthur,
Tintagel has no massive
Stone walls

Or tall castle keeps.

Instead, archaeologists
Believe there is just
A wooden fence

That runs around
A rocky outcrop to the south

And along the land bridge.

To the north,
More wooden fences,

And a ditch 130 feet long.

There's only one way
Into the castle,

But it's completely open,

With no sign of an iron gate
Or a drawbridge.

Can this castle
Really be impenetrable?

Any invading army
Trying to reach tintagel
By sea,

Only has two possible
Landing options.

A rocky harbor
On the northern side
Of the island.

And a haven,
A water inlet leading
To a beach.

Win heads to the haven.

This whole bay here
Is very tight, very steep,

And there's
A very small beach,

So there's no way
You could bring up
A whole army.

[narrator] And from here,
The invaders journey
Gets much harder.

[win] We're here
On a nice day today,

But many days
On this wild cornish coast.

The weather can get
Quite fearsome

And the rocks here
Will be really slippery,

You can try grabbing
Onto tufts of grass up there,

But you really are vulnerable
To attacks from the defendants
On the top step.

[narrator] Tintagel
Is impenetrable
From this landing spot.

How about the second location
On the north side
Of the island?

Win examines it closely.

This great big wall,
What we call the iron gate

Actually belongs
To the 13th century,

But if there was
A key side here
In the 13th century,

There may well have been
A key side here,

Back in the fifth
And sixth century,

But, it's a suitable place
Where you could pull in ships

And tie them up
And offload goods.

[narrator] A hostile army
Could take advantage
Of the location and land.

But, they soon hit
A huge challenge.

It's so steep here.

Just look at how steep
This slope is,

You'd have a real job
Attacking this.

[narrator] The defenders
Of tintagel castle

Always have the advantage
Of height.

They can decimate
Any landing force

Attacking from the sea.

Is the castle safe
From a land attack too?

Win examines the position
Of the main entrance.

Any landward attack
Would have to come through
This very narrow pathway.

On one side, you've got
This really steep wall

Of rock which is just
Completely unscalable.

And on the other,
They would have to cross
This deep ditch.

Win suspects the entrance
Into the castle
Is also impregnable.

Just like monmouth says.

He looks for clues inside
The great ditch.

The steep sides of this
Show that it's actually
Been deeply cut artificially.

[narrator] At the time
Of king arthur.

The great ditch
Is 15 feet deep,
Trapping the enemy.

The attacking army
Would actually be pelted
By armaments of all sorts,

And then they'd have to cross
This flat bottom,

And, so, they're unlikely
To survive this crossing.

[narrator] The ditch
Provides an incredibly
Effective barrier.

The only option left
For an attacking army

Would be
The narrow pathway on top.

Even if you had
A massive army,

They will be funneled
Into that very narrow slot
And picked off one by one.

That's the art
Of military strategy,

If you're building
A defense to constrain it.

[narrator] In the sixth
Century, tintagel castle
Is impenetrable.

Monmouth's description
Of the birthplace
Of the legendary king

Is extremely accurate.

An exciting hint
That king arthur
Might have existed.

It's a revelation
That can also help explain
The strange story

Of his magical birth.

Monmouth writes
That arthur's father,

Uther pendragon falls in love
With igerna,

The wife of
The duke of cornwall.

To defend her,
The duke locks her

In the remote and impenetrable
Tintagel castle.

Pendragon asks merlin
The sorcerer,

To make him look like
The duke,

So he can enter
Tintagel unchallenged,

And seduce his wife.

The deception works
And pendragon spends a night
With igerna.

-nine months later,
Arthur is born.
-[baby crying]

Monmouth's descriptions
Of tintagel match the legend

And stand up to scrutiny.

But, the stories also say
That arthur's kingdom

Is attacked by
A fierce invader.

What can new evidence
Reveal about his life
And times?

Is there really a warrior
King arthur

Defending his land
From a formidable enemy?

[narrator] The legendary
King arthur is said to be born
In tintagel castle.

A tightly defended stronghold.

Medieval writers depict him
As a king attacked
On all sides.

Forced to protect
His lands
From a terrifying enemy.

Can new archaeological
Evidence add more truth
To the legend?

In staffordshire,
200 miles north of tintagel.

Archaeologists unearth
A unique treasure trove.

Beautifully decorated
Gold pieces make up

A magnificent
Warrior's helmet.

A gem encrusted gold cross
Is a sign of the warriors'
Christian faith.

And an engraved
Silver ornament,

The pommel of a deadly sword.

These incredible items
Date to king arthur's time.

Is this extraordinary
Golden horde his?

Joe perry has special access
To examine the artifacts,

He investigates
Who they belong to,

And what they can reveal
About the life and times
Of the legendary king.

We have a suite of objects
Down here.

These are from
A very high status hilt

From a type of long knife
Or dagger

Called a seax.

We have a pommel cap
With this wonderful
Cloisonne decoration.

Below that, we have
A small hilt guard.

Almost every object
In the staffordshire hoard
Relates to military gear.

[narrator] Who are
The formidable warriors

Who own these weapons?

Could arthur be one of them?

Joe finds another clue
Which links this horde

To an iconic part
Of the arthur legend.

There are probably around
100 swords represented
In the hoard.

They're all quite different
To each other.

We have a pommel cap here
With two fighting horses,

And further here, we have
These snarling wolf like faces

Peering out the patterns
And the motifs

And the symbols displayed
On each sword

Are probably unique
To that sword and its owner,

And even some of these swords
Might have even had
Their own names.

[narrator] King arthur's
Famous sword has its own place
In the legend.

Arthur draws it from a stone.

One of these swords
Might even be excalibur.

Joe needs more evidence,
He singles out an object,

One of the oldest
In the hoard.

We have two boars
Depicted on this side,

And the boar is, of course,
Quite an aggressive
And strong creature.

And actually on
The opposite side
Of his pommel cap.

You also have a humanoid head,
We believe this might be
Depicting woden

Or perhaps, odin,
Who would be
His scandinavian equivalent.

[narrator] Woden is the king
Of the anglo-saxon gods

And the protector
Of fallen warriors
And soldiers.

The anglo-saxons worship him
Before they turn christian.

His image here reveals
That the astonishing hoard

Does not belong
To king arthur,
But to his enemy.

In the fifth century ad,
The roman empire crumbles

And withdraws its army
From britain.

Anglo-saxon tribes
From northern europe
Seize the opportunity,

And invade from the east,

Their warriors sailed
The north sea
And rode deep inland.

They slowly push
Into all corners of britain,

Fighting the native
Romano-british kingdoms
For land.

The invading anglo-saxons
Could be the deadly foe

In the legend of king arthur.

And more evidence
That it is grounded in truth,

Is the staffordshire hoard,
A silent witness
To the story as well.

Joe suspects that clues
Can be found in the condition
Of the objects.

If you look at something
Like this pommel cap,

With a nice big dent in it,
It's like this,

We take this one here,
For example,

You have these bent pins
Extruding from it.

This is some plow damage.

This isn't damaged
Due to time, this because
These swords

Have been taken apart
Quite violently.

[narrator] The damage
To the weapons is a clue

To how they come
To be buried here.

It's very likely
That the objects
In the hoard

Come from the weapons
Of defeated warriors,

We think it's been accumulated
From one or more battles.

[narrator] This stunning hoard
Could be evidence

Of british successes against
An army of anglo-saxons.

A king like arthur
Might have been
The triumphant victor.

[soldiers yelling]

Can a recent discovery
Reveal proof

Of one of arthur's
Legendary battles?

And of the king behind
The legends?

In legend,
King arthur is conceived

In the stronghold of tintagel.

And born into a world
Of violence during

The anglo-saxon invasions
Of britain.

Medieval historian
Geoffrey of monmouth records

That one of arthur's
Most vicious battles

Takes place in the city
Of the legion.

Arthur comes out victorious.

Is there
Any archaeological evidence
Of this brutal battle?

-[soldiers yelling]
-[swords clashing]

David mason suspects
Chester in northwest england

Might be the location.

It is once a roman city,

And has a legion based
On site.

It could be the city
Of the legion

That monmouth writes about.

And only two miles south
At heronbridge.

There is important evidence.

Traces of a fierce conflict.

Here, archaeologists uncover
Almost 200 skeletons buried
In a field.

The bones show signs
Of violent trauma.

Deep gashes that look like
Cuts from a blade

And gaping holes
From axe or hammer blows.

They are buried at the time
Of the legendary king arthur

And their careful arrangement
Reveals they are the war dead
Of the winning side.

Could these remains
Be evidence

Of the famous
Arthurian victory, geoffrey
Of monmouth describes?

David wants to find out
If the battle site
Is also here,

Next to the cemetery.

He investigates a mysterious
Structure found nearby.

As you look across
The open fields
From the modern road,

You can see in the surface,
A slight mound,

Just a bump in the field,
Which is quite prominent
At its southern end.

[narrator] The mound might be
A manmade defensive position,

Evidence of
The missing battlefield.

To find out, david examines
A similar construction.

Just 20 miles west.

[david] There's a large stitch
Besides me here.

And on the far side,
Some elevated ground

Which is formed by
The material that was
Excavated from the ditch.

[narrator] David investigates
What military advantage
These structures might offer.

[david] So, any attacking
Forces making its way down
Into the ditch,

Which is quite slimy
And wet and boggy.

Meanwhile, the chaps
Are standing up here
On top of this bank,

Meters above them
Have great advantage.

Oh, they can chuck
Things down, missiles down
At the attacking force,

And they have the advantage
Of about seven,

Eight meters height
Above those who are
Struggling away

In the bottom of the ditch.

It's a pretty formidable
Defensive system.

[narrator] The defensive
Earthworks here

Tower over 25 feet tall.

There are wooden
Revetments on top

And a deep depression
At the base.

In battle, soldiers
Stand guard behind
The wooden walls.

They pick off
The enemies below,

Trapped like flies
In the muddy dike.

David is convinced
That the mount at heronbridge

Is also manmade
And is conclusive evidence
Of the battle site.

But is this battle,
The one that monmouth
Describes?

In his account, king arthur
Is the clear winner.

David investigates another
Historical report written
In the eighth century ad.

[david] We know
From the writings
Of the chronicler bede

That the battle occurs
Somewhere near chester

And heronbridge
Is, in fact, two miles
South of chester,

But as a resounding
Anglo-saxon victory.

Bede tells us the name
Of the anglo-saxon king,

Which is ethelfrid.

He tells us the names
Of some of the british kings
And princes.

But nowhere does he mention
The name arthur.

[narrator] Bede's account
Suggests this battle

Is not the one arthur leads,

But it is proof of unrest
In the area.

Offa's dyke.

The huge defensive earthwork
West of heronbridge

Could provide important clues
To where arthur's battle
Might be.

Offa's dyke,
This massive structure
Is also a boundary,

It sets the limit
To the anglo-saxon lands
On one side

And the british territory
On the other.

[narrator] This solid man made
Structure stretches

For over 150 miles
From north to south.

And it is built by
The anglo-saxons
To protect themselves

From british attacks.

This vast boundary is evidence
Of numerous battles,

Many of which are won
By the britons.

In the fifth
And sixth centuries ad,

The native britons
Of the west stand strong

Against the anglo-saxon
Invaders.

Separated into small kingdoms,

They fight again and again
To protect their land.

Later, historians named
The heroic british
Warrior chiefs.

The most famous
Of which is king arthur.

But, the legend also says
That king arthur

Unites these british kingdoms
And pushes
The invading armies out.

What can cutting edge dna
Research reveal about

The truth behind this part
Of the legend?

Does arthur manage to protect
His kingdom from invasion?

[narrator] Legends say
King arthur is born
In the stronghold of tintagel.

In the sixth century ad.

Investigators discovered
That the stories are rooted
In historical reality.

But, king arthur is also said
To rule over a prosperous
British kingdom,

Free of anglo-saxons.

Is there evidence
Of this prosperity
At tintagel?

Archaeologists on unearth
Astounding objects

Near tintagel castle's
Great hall.

An amphora for wine
From greece.

A red bowl
From western anatolia

And glassware
From southern france.

They date back
To the sixth century,

And are evidence
That tintagel is an incredibly
Wealthy place.

With a population bigger
Than london at the time.

This seaside stronghold
Is an important hub
Of commerce

That trades with distant
Corners of the world.

What does tintagel reveal
About the legend
Of king arthur?

Win scutt investigates
Tintagel and its many finds.

[win] The artifacts we get
From tintagel are just

Many and varied
And very rich.

We think that this was
Probably the home

Or one of the homes
Of royalty.

[narrator] Tintagel
Is a powerful town

During king arthur's time.

A possible royal residence,

And one of the centers
Of a bustling british kingdom.

We do know that there was
A kingdom of dumnonia.

Covering cornwall
And devon,

In other words,
That southern peninsula
Of britain.

Tintagel may have been
Like the royal capital
Of that kingdom.

[narrator] Do tintagel
And the kingdom of dumnonia

Remain free
From invasion, like
Arthur's legend describes?

Duncan sayer believes clues
May lie in ancient dna.

He examines skeletons
Recovered from

A small sixth century
Burial ground in oakington
In the east of england.

This is a zone that culturally
We would describe as
The early anglo-saxon host.

[narrator] Duncan and his team
Extract dna from the bones.

The extraordinary preservation
Of the bodies leads
To a remarkable breakthrough.

We're able to get
Full genomic sequencing
For the first time

From anglo-saxon material,
Nobody's ever managed
That before.

[narrator] Duncan compares
This anglo-saxon genetic
Fingerprint

To the dna of modern day
People from across britain.

This can help reveal
If the anglo-saxons pushed
Into the west of britain,

Or whether it remains free
From invasion

As the legend
Of arthur states.

He translates the results
Into a heat map of britain,

That shows anglo-saxon
Genetic heritage in red.

You see a most significant
Contribution in the south
Of britain,

And then a significant
Contribution into the sort
Of midlands

And the east coast
Of britain across here.

[narrator] Anglo-saxon
Genetic heritage is strongest

In the east and the center
Of britain.

In the west,
A different story emerges.

The blue to the west,
Shows much less
Of a contribution.

[narrator] Modern day people
In the west of britain have

Much less anglo-saxon dna
Than those in the east.

This suggests the anglo-saxons
Only managed to push

Into these lands much later.

During the early centuries
Of the invasions

When king arthur
Is said to live.

The british kingdoms
Remained free.

They are protected
By powerful military leaders

Who could be the inspiration
For the legend of king arthur.

The romano-british commander
Lucius artorius castus

Fights foreign invaders.

He may have inspired
The naming of arthur.

The british prince
Athrwys ap meurig

Also shares the arthur name.

He rules over
The british kingdom gwent
In the seventh century ad.

Another british king
Of the era.

Owain ddantgwyn rules
Gwynedd and fights off
The anglo-saxons.

Riothamus, a fifth century
Britain king

Leads his army into gaul.

Geoffrey of monmouth writes
King arthur led just
Such an invasion.

The real arthur is lost
To history,

But he might be a combination
Of these and other formidable
Warriors.

As the british kingdoms face
Final defeat

In the ninth century.

The legend of an earlier hero
Inspires the britons
To keep on fighting.

There are many stories,
But I think the most common
Theme of all of these

Is that king arthur
Was a warlord who lived
In the fifth, sixth century.

[narrator] But if there
Isn't one identifiable
King arthur.

Why are the legends
So enduring?

How does tintagel castle
Contribute to arthur's
Continued popularity?

[narrator] The legendary
King arthur is described
As a mighty warrior,

A fearsome king who spends
His life protecting his lands.

Modern research reveals
That the legend is rooted
Surprisingly deep

In historic reality.

King arthur may be one
Of many real warriors

Who defend the british
Kingdoms from

The invading anglo-saxons.

[soldiers yelling]

But why is this ancient legend
Still so appealing?

He was believed to be a hero
And now he's become

The national hero,
The world hero.

[narrator] Win scutt
Investigates how the legend
Takes such a strong hold

In later centuries,
Surviving until today.

He looks for clues
In tintagel,

Arthur's legendary birthplace.

He examines the great hall.

It's built 700 years after
Arthur's lifetime,

And 100 years
After monmouth's account.

By richard,
The earl of cornwall.

It's made of this
Very wonderful, local stone,

The shillot or slate,
It's a metamorphic rock,

And we think that
They actually probably used

The stone from
The earlier buildings
On the site.

[narrator] Slate is a type
Of layered rock

That is found
On the cornish coast.

It's been used as
A building material
Since roman times.

But, by the 13th century,
Builders have swapped slate
For stone blocks.

Why does earl richard
Use old fashioned slate?

It seems really likely
That richard, earl of cornwall

Was trying to connect himself
With the arthurian legend.

[narrator] Richard,
Centuries later,

Is inspired by the tales
Of arthur to build

A magnificent castle fit
For a legendary king.

Other parts of tintagel
Reveal similar evidence.

This is clearly
An artificial tunnel.

And it's been chiseled.

These are metal chisels,
Iron chisels that cut this.

[narrator] A similar structure
Features in another branch
Of the arthur legend,

Involving one
Of his knights, tristan.

It might be to do
With the tristan
And iseult myth,

We know they met in the cave.

[narrator] This intriguing
Manmade construction

Reveals that king arthur
And his knights are already
Famous in medieval times.

The legend of arthur
Was absolutely ingrained
In everybody.

They wanted to create
A kind of theme park here
Back in the 13th century.

[narrator] Win discovers
That the popularity
Of king arthur begins

Soon after monmouth's account.

Over later centuries,
The stories grow and develop.

Transforming king arthur
Into a literary
And movie superstar.

But, surprisingly,
The stories start with truth.

[win] We have to see arthur
As a product of imaginative
Storytelling.

But, he, or a number of people
That fed the story

Probably existed somewhere.

[narrator] Today,
Investigators are untangling
The threads of the legends.

Their new discoveries expose
The historical truth

At the root of
The many stories
Of king arthur.

The truth behind the legends
Reveals that tintagel.

Arthur's legendary birthplace
Is an impenetrable citadel
By the sea.

A rich city fit for a king.

In arthur's sixth century,
Heroic british kings fight
A formidable enemy,

The anglo-saxons.

And wield extraordinary
Personalized weapons

Like excalibur.

By piecing together
These clues.

King arthur emerges
From legend and myth
To take his place in history.