Original subtitles

Gates: From The Dark Ages Comes

One Of The Greatest Stories In History.

Arthur Was The Leader Of The Britons.

Gates: His Tale Is The Cornerstone

Of British Mythology.

The Question Is Is He Actually Down There Somewhere?

Gates: But Was The Legendary King Arthur A Real Man?

[ Horse Neighs ]

Gates: This Is Incredible.

It Almost Looks Like A Structure Beneath There.

Gates: Really Slick In Here.

Oh. Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.

This Is Where The Actual Event Happened.

We're Talking About A Very Different King Arthur.

♪♪

King Arthur Is The Ultimate Knight In Shining Armor.

Raised By The Wizard Merlin,

He Lifted A Magical Sword From A Stone To Become King.

In His Court At Camelot,

He Formed A Society Of Noble Soldiers

Known As The Knights Of The Round Table.

Along With The Brave Galahad And Lancelot,

Arthur United The Britons To Defeat An Army Of Invaders.

His Story Is A Fairy Tale.

Or Is It?

What If Everything You Think You Know About King Arthur

Is Dead Wrong?

Archaeologists And Historians Across Great Britain

Are Making Discoveries That Could Prove The Existence

Of A Flesh-And-Blood King.

In A Ruined Castle On The Coast Of England,

A Mysterious Inscription Could Verify Arthur's Birthplace.

In Pitch-Black Caves In The Country Of Wales,

Explorers May Be Closing In On His Long-Lost Remains.

And To The North, One Historian Believes

That Arthur Wasn't A King At All But Something Else Entirely.

My Mission Is To Examine The Newest Evidence

Across Great Britain And To Lift The Veil

On One Of The Greatest Mysteries Of All Time --

Was King Arthur Real?

And If So, Who Was He?

My Name Is Josh Gates.

With A Degree In Archaeology And A Passion For Exploration,

I Have A Tendency To End Up In Some Very Strange Situations.

Good Lord!

Aah! [ Laughs ]

My Travels Have Taken Me To The Ends Of The Earth

As I Investigate The Greatest Legends In History.

We're Good To Fly. Let's Go.

This Is...

--Captions By Vitac-- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions Paid For By Discovery Communications

[ Bird Cries ]

♪♪

Welcome To England.

You Might Be Wondering What I'm Doing In The Freezing Waters

Of The North Atlantic.

Actually, Right About Now, I'm Wondering The Same Thing.

I'm Here To Begin My Quest

For The Truth Behind The Legend Of King Arthur.

Along These Cliffs Is A Place Known As Tintagel Castle.

This Is The Birthplace Of The King Arthur Legend.

♪♪

♪♪

So This Is What's Known As Merlin's Cave.

It's A Sea Cave.

And In The Next Few Hours, It'll Be Mostly Underwater.

It Connects The Ocean To Tintagel Castle Above.

This Is Where The Baby King Arthur

First Meets The Wizard Merlin.

But The Question Has Always Been Is This Story True,

Or Is It A Fairy Tale?

Well, There's Been An Archaeological Discovery

In The Castle Above That May Settle The Question

Once And For All.

The Fortress Is Too New To Be Arthur's.

It Was Built By The Earl Of Cornwall

In The 13Th Century.

But There May Be Evidence Here That Predates The Castle.

Archaeologist Win Scutt Has Been Studying These Ruins For Years.

First Of All, This Is A Dramatic Place.

It Is. It's Just I Think The Most Spectacular Place

In The Whole Of Britain, Actually, To Put A Castle.

This Site Is Strongly Associated With The Arthur Legend.

Yeah, This Is Where He Was Supposed To Be Conceived.

It's Probably Because Of That That Richard, Earl Of Cornwall,

Decides To Build This Castle.

So In A Way, It's A Commemoration Of That Legend.

Gates: But To Understand That Legend,

We Need To Place It In History.

Today, The Island Of Great Britain Is Comprised

Of England, Scotland, And Wales.

2,000 Years Ago, However, This Was Britannia,

The Far-Flung Edge Of The Roman Empire.

But By The 5Th Century A.D., The Romans Abandoned The Island.

Almost Overnight, Civilization Crashes,

And The Dark Ages Begin.

Invaders From All Sides Seize The Opportunity To Conquer --

Irish From The West, Picts From The North

And, From The East, The Most Dangerous Of All...

The Saxons.

According To Legend,

A Warrior King Named Arthur Emerges From Amidst The Chaos

To Defend The Britons Against The Invading Horde.

So The Story Of Arthur Is Really

Arthur Was The Leader Of The Britons.

Right.

And So He Galvanized All These People To Fight

These Pesky Saxons Coming In. -Right.

So If Arthur Was A Real Man, We're Talking About Someone

Who Would've Been Alive In The 6Th Century?

Well, In The 6Th Century. Yeah, Yeah.

Somewhere 5Th, 6Th Century. Something Like That.

Gates: If That's The Case, Though,

Arthur's Home Is In The Dark Ages.

Forget Images Of A Stately King And An Imposing Stone Castle

Or Knights In Shining Armor

Or The Crusades Or The Quest For The Holy Grail.

None Of That Stuff Shows Up Until Hundreds Of Years Later

In The Medieval Era, Which Is When Romantic Writers

Started Spinning Tales About Arthur.

Really 5Th, 6Th Century,

We're Talking About A Very Different King Arthur.

Very, Very Different.

They Aren't What We Imagine To Be Medieval Knights,

Unfortunately. -Right.

He Wouldn't Have All That Age Of Chivalry,

Medieval Armor, Looking Absolutely Fantastic

On His Horse And Everything.

I Think He Would've Looked Much More Like A Roman Soldier.

So The Question Is, If The Castle Is From The 13Th Century

But Arthur Was Back In The 5Th, 6Th Century,

Was There Something Here Before This Castle?

Could There Be Anything To The Legend That, Originally,

This Was The Place He Was Born?

Well, Yes, Some Amazing Things Seem To Have Been Happening Here

In The 6Th Century.

Gates: Beneath The 13Th Century Ruins,

There Is Evidence Of Older Structures,

Most Of Which Still Remain Totally Unexcavated.

In Fact, There Are Tens, Possibly Hundreds Of These

Covering The Island.

So, At Some Stage, There Was Some Kind

Of Major Settlement Here.

And Recently, We've Made A Really Special Find,

Really Rare -- An Inscription.

Really?

Well, That's Incredible.

But Here Is The Most Important Bit.

A-R-T-O-G-N-O-V --

Or U -- So, Artognou --

This Known As The Artognou Inscription.

And That Got Everybody Really Excited

When They Saw The "Art." -Yeah.

"Is This Arthur?"

So, If This Is A Personal Name, It May Well Refer To Him.

And It's At The Right Period.

And To Potentially Be Linked To Arthur Himself --

I Mean, Everybody Was Really Excited.

Now, We Got Writing Actually Connecting Us To That Period.

So The Dark Ages Aren't Quite So Dark As They Were.

Right.

Gates: The Discovery Is Far From Conclusive,

But It Does Show That A Historical King Arthur

Could Have Been Born Here In Tintagel.

And Today, The Tiny Village

Isn't Exactly Shy About Making The Connection.

[ Bicycle Bell Rings ]

In The Legend, Arthur Becomes King

By Pulling The Famous Sword From The Stone.

Here's My Chance To Finally Get The Respect I Deserve.

[ Grunts ]

I Was Meant To Be King. I Got To It.

Just Got To Get Under It, I Think.

[ Grunting ] Come On! Please, Please!

Come On, You Son Of A --

Please! I Want To Be King.

[ Grunts, Sighs ]

Okay, Somebody Get Me A Saw.

And Of Course, The Locals Are Happy To Make A Pound Or Two

Off Their Hometown Hero.

[ Fanfare Plays ]

♪♪

I Haven't Yet Found King Arthur,

But I Did Find Another Medieval Ruler.

Come On.

It Says "Medieval," And It's A Ruler.

That's --

Nobody?

Here It Is, The Legendary Sword Excalibur.

And Its Ancient Inscription --

"Made In China.

Potential Choking Hazard. Not For Children Under 3."

But What Does It Mean?

It's Clear Arthur Is Alive And Well In The Retail Sector.

But In Order To Get To The Bottom

Of Whether He Was A Flesh-And-Blood Hero,

I Need To Hit The Road.

I'm Very Proud Of The Fact That I'm Half English.

My Mother Was Born Here.

My Parents Met Here.

My Grandmother Still Lives Here.

This Is A Place That I Have A Real Attachment To.

My Mom Would Read Me The Arthur Stories When I Was A Kid.

And I Always Loved That Story.

And I Always Saw Arthur In The Way I Guess We All Do,

Which Is That Kind Of Medieval,

Chivalrous Knight In Shining Armor.

But I'm Quickly Realizing That All Of That Bears

Little Resemblance To Who Arthur Would've Been.

From Cornwall In Southwest England,

I'm Driving 120 Miles To Glastonbury Abbey,

Or What's Left Of It.

♪♪

This Is Glastonbury Abbey.

Today, It's Really Just A Skeleton

Of What Was One Of The Richest And Most Powerful Monasteries

In All Of England.

And In The Very Late 12Th Century,

The Monks Here Claimed To Make An Incredible Discovery.

They Claimed To Find The Bones

Of King Arthur And His Wife, Guinevere.

In The 12Th Century, King Arthur Was Already A Celebrity.

So The Discovery Of His Grave

Turned Glastonbury Into A Medieval Tourist Attraction.

The Monks Claimed To Discover Two Skeletons In A Coffin

And A Cross Identifying Them As Arthur And Guinevere.

There's Just One Problem --

It's Almost Certainly A Hoax.

After All, The Monastery Had Just Suffered A Major Fire

And Was On Hard Times.

The Monks' Suspiciously Well-Timed Discovery

Of Arthur's Bones Ensured They'd Have All The Donations

They Needed To Rebuild.

And As For The So-Called Glastonbury Cross,

It Was Lost To History.

Okay, So The Grave Might Be A Bust.

But I've Got A Recent Lead On A Place

Where The Real King Arthur Might Actually Be Buried.

It Almost Looks Like A Structure Beneath It.

[ Radar Beeping Rapidly ]Ooh, What Is That Right There?

-Oh, My God. Look At This. -That's Amazing.

Gates: In England, My Search For A Flesh-And-Blood King Arthur

Has Taken Me From His Legendary Birthplace In Tintagel

To A Historic Dead End

At His Supposed Grave In Glastonbury.

However, To The West,

There's A Group Of Explorers Who Might Be On The Verge

Of Discovering Where The Real King Arthur Was Laid To Rest.

To Join Them, I'm Back In The Car

And Driving Across The Border Into The Country Of Wales

To A Spot Known As Dinas Rock.

Man: One, Two, Three, Four!

[ Rock Music Plays ]

Gates: Welcome To Wales,

The Wild, Untamed Edge Of Britain.

This Is Wales.

It Looks A Lot Like England,

Except Everything Is Spelled Really Funny.

Mer-- Mert-- Merthor--

Merthyr Tyfdil.

Headed Over To Merthyr Tyfdil.

Sure, That's Where I'm Supposed To Be Headed.

The Welsh People Have Always Had An Uneasy Relationship

With Their English Neighbors

Since Being Conquered By Them In The 11Th Century.

But In Arthur's Time, There Was No England.

This Was All Part Of Britannia.

Today, The Welsh People Are The Closest Genetic Link

To The Original Settlers Of Britain.

A Welsh Monk Named Nennius Also Provided

The Earliest Written Account Of Arthur's Story,

And Many Of The Names From Those Tales Are Welsh In Origin.

All Versions Of The Arthur Legend Have Him Mortally Wounded

In Battle At The Hands Of The Villainous Mordred.

But Then, Things Get Murky.

In English Lore, Arthur Goes To The Mysterious Island Of Avalon.

But In Wales, It's Believed The Wizard Merlin Preserved

The Knights Of The Round Table In A Cave Under A Mountain,

And Those Caves May Well Have Been Found.

I Pull Off The Road To Meet With Cavers Gary Evans

And Andy Freem,

Who Spend More Time Underground Than Anyone You'd Want To Meet.

Gates: You Guys Look Like You Mean Business.

-We're Ready. -Afraid So.

We're Ready To Go.

Gates: Gary And Andy Have Been Exploring

The Underside Of Wales For Years,

And They May Be Closing In On The Legendary Location

Of Arthur's Remains.

It Says That Arthur And His Knights Are

Still Sleeping Underground Below A Place Called

Craig Y Ddinas, Dinas Rock,

And Arthur Remains There Waiting To Be Called.

-In Theory. -In Theory.

The Question Is Is He Actually Down There Somewhere?

There Is An Enormous Amount Of Hidden World Underneath Us.

I Can't Wait To See It. Let's Get Suited Up.

-Okay, Good. -Let's Do It. Come On.

Lead On. -We're Gonna Go This Way.

Gates: My Companions And I Get Ready For The Adventure Ahead.

-Let's Cave. -Let's Cave.

Gates: We Trek To The Cave Entrance Near Dinas Rock,

Where The Knights Are Said To Lie Sleeping.

In Realistic Terms, What We're Looking For Is A Tomb.

So This Is The Entrance To The Cave.

-And Another Caver. -And Another Caver,

Which Is Antonia, My Wife. -Hi. Very Nice To Meet You.

She's Gonna Join Us Today. -So This Is The Entrance

To The Cave -- Very Discreet Entrance.

Yes, It Is. It's A Man-Made Entrance.

It Was Framed From The Inside. -Wow.

Originally, It Took About Eight Hours

To Get To The Cave Passage, Which Is Behind The Entrance.

Gates: This Doorway Was Dug Out By Cavers.

It's A Massive Shortcut That Bypasses Miles Of Tunnels

And Gets Us Closer To Unexplored Sections Of The Cave.

Freem: Enter The Dark.

So What Is Down There?

That's What We're Gonna Find Out If You Like.

Andy, Is This A Bad Time To Tell You That I'm Claustrophobic?

-Yes, Likely. -[ Laughs ]

I Guess I'm Committed Now. -Yeah, I Think You Could Be.

Gates: Okay, Here We Go.

The Caves Are Pitch-Black And, To The Untrained Eye,

Look Like A Subterranean Temple.

This Is Absolutely Amazing.

-It's A Fantastic Passage. -Wow.

Loads And Loads Of Beautiful Formations.

Gates: In Terms Of The Legend Of Arthur's Resting Place,

Does It Tell Us Specifically What The Cave Looks Like

Or What The Conditions Are? Are There Any Clues?

Evans: Well, It's Interesting 'Cause This Is

Where Merlin Comes Back Into The Legend,

And The Legend Says That, You Know,

He Put The Knights And Arthur To Sleep,

And Then He Obscured The Entrance So No One Would Find It.

So, You Know, That Means That We Really Know Nothing

About Where Exactly It Is, What It Looks Like.

Archaeologically, What's Been Discovered Down Here So Far?

Well, Near The Entrances, There Are Some Enticing Finds --

The Body Of Man Curled Up In The Corner.

We Don't Know His Age. And It Was Certain --

Probably Something In The Region Of Medieval.

At Another Entrance Was The Skull Of A Horse.

Now, It's Very Unusual To See That.

No Indication It Was Arthur Down Here.

-Not At All. -Still Looking For That.

-It'd Be Nice If We Could. -All Right, Well...

On We Go. -Indeed.

Gates: We Carry On Into The Darkness.

-Tight Fit. -That's It.

Gates: One Hour Turns To Two,

And Two Turns To Four.

I'm Totally Unsure How Deep We Are.

But The Really Unnerving Part Is That There's More

Than 50 Miles Of Tunnels Down Here.

-You All Right There, Josh? -Yeah.

Gates: I'm Doing -- Doing Great.

-Chest Up. -All Right.

-Ah, Fit In There. -That's A Good One.

-Whoa, Hang On There A Sec. -Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.

Stay There.

-Hole In The Floor. -Holy [Bleep].

-That Just Drops Straight Down. -[ Laughs ]

Gates: How Deep Is That?

I Don't Know.

I Really Don't Know How Far Down That Is.

Okay, So, What's The Move Now?

So, We Have A Choice.

And We Could Descend This By Rope.

Or We Can Go To The Pub.

We Can Go To The Surface And Get A Drink.

Or We Can Go Back, Exactly. -Tough Choice.

Okay, Let's Do It.

Gates: We Prepare To Rappel Down The Cliff,

Which Means Lots Of Clips And Harnesses

To Make Sure That I Don't Make The Trip At Terminal Velocity.

All Right, Andy, You Ready? -Yeah, I'm Gonna Go.

Let Me Know If You Find King Arthur Down There.

♪♪

Freem: Okay, Josh, Ready For You To Come Down.

Hoo-Hoo-Hoo, Hoo-Hoo.

Okay, So, Swinging Around Here.

Okay. I'm Headed Down.

♪♪

Whew! Slippery.

Very Slippery.

Looks Like Kind Of A Free Hang Under Here, Andy.

Yeah. Very Slippery.

That's It. Keep Coming Down.

Down, Down, Down, Down, Down. -Whoa.

[ Rocks Clattering ] Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.

Gates: In A Cavern Deep Beneath Wales,

I'm On The Hunt For The Real-Life Resting Place

Of The Legendary King Arthur.

-Whoa, Hang On There A Sec. -Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.

Stay There.

And From The Looks Of It, It Might Be A One-Way Trip.

-Down, Down, Down, Down, Down. -Whoa.

[ Rocks Clattering ] Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.

Really Slick In Here. Whoa. Got It?

Very Slippery.

Freem: That's It, Yeah, Good As That.

There You Are.

Okay. I'm Down.

Evans: Okay. Slack Now.

Back On Solid Footing,

We Resume Our Search For The Burial Site.

Okay, Let's See What's Down Here.

We Climb And Crawl Through Chamber After Chamber,

Hoping For Any Sign Of Human Presence.

Gates: Look At This Place. This Is Crazy.

Oops.

Gates: Oh, It's Wet.

I'm Sure This Water Is Going To Be Warm.

Oh, Come On. [ Winces ]

[ Grunting ] Good Lord.

Oh, There It Is. Oh, God.

Okay. Okay, This Is Horrible.

Freem: Okay, This Is A Crawl Through.

This Is Crazy. This Is Crazy.

♪♪

A Long Way Up, Josh.

Whew. You're Not Kidding.

Finally, The Tight Passages Open Up,

And We Push Into A Cavern So Massive

Our Lights Are Unable To Illuminate The Other Side.

This Is Incredible.

Look At The Size Of This Room.

How Cool Is This? -This Is Big, Isn't It?

Gates: Whew!

Freem: And It's Just A Chaos Of Boulders On The Floor.

It's Just An Incredible Hallway.

Passages Going Off In That Direction, That Way,

That Way, And Behind Us, As Well.

Yeah, There's One Down Here.

All Told, There's How Many Miles Of Tunnels Down Here?

-50 Miles. -50 Miles That's Been Mapped?

Yep, That's All Been Mapped, And That's --

You Know, At Least That. It's Around That.

Imagine, In The U.K., Finding And Walking Into A Passage

Where It Is Absolutely Certain That Nobody Knew It Was There.

And You Find Places Like This.

It's Possible That A Chamber Which Has Got

Important Archaeological Deposits Could Be Found.

We Know That There Are Undiscovered Caves.

We Can Tell That They're There From Where The Water Goes

And Where It Reappears.

And That's Why The Myth Can Be There.

That's Amazing Stuff.

So, No Sign Of King Arthur Down Here Yet.

-We Had A Good Look, Though. -But We Had A Good Look.

We've Done A Lot Today,

And I Think We Can't Go Any Further Than We've Been Today.

We've Got A Long Journey Back Now.

-Here We Go. -This Way.

Gates: After Seven Hours Underground,

I've Come Face To Face With A Seldom-Seem World,

But There's Been No Sign Of Arthur.

However, With Hundreds Of Miles Of Unexplored Caves In Wales,

I Leave Knowing There's Much More To Discover Here.

Fortunately, This Isn't My Last Stop

On The Hunt For King Arthur.

♪ ♪

I Cross Back Into England, Where The Countryside Is Vast,

Yet The Roads Are Never Straight.

If You Ever Want To Know What It's Like To Drive In England,

Just Pull Your Car Into The Street

And Then Drive It In Circles.

They Love Roundabouts Here.

They'll Put A Roundabout In A Roundabout.

They're Just -- That's Just [Bleep] With You.

They Love It. They Love To Have You Drive In Circles.

Oh, Look. Another Roundabout.

Dizzy But Determined,

I Spin Off The Roundabouts Into The City Of Leicester

To Get A Glimpse Of Another Inspiring Archaeological Find.

Just Recently, Another Of England's

Most Illustrious Kings Was Laid To Rest.

This Is Richard Iii's New Crypt In Leicester Cathedral.

After Being Missing For 400 Years,

The Body Of This Real-Life Shakespearean Villain Was

Discovered Under A Parking Lot About 50 Yards From Here --

Richard Iii, A Legendary English King

Who Doubled As A Literary Figure

And Was Thought To Be Lost Forever.

Sound Familiar?

If Richard Could Be Found After Hundreds Of Years,

Then Why Not King Arthur?

And, As It Turns Out,

There's A Hot, New Lead In The Case.

Ardrey: The First Thing Almost Anyone Thinks About

When They Think About King Arthur Is

The Story Of The Sword In The Stone.

This Is Where The Actual Event Happened.

Gates: My Hunt For A Flesh-And-Blood King Arthur

Has Taken Me Through English Ruins

And Deep Beneath The Surface Of Wales.

But There's A Third Place Where Evidence

Of The World's Most Celebrated King Might Be Hiding.

I Hop A Train North To Explore A Radical New Theory

In The Most Unlikely Of Places.

My Train Rumbles Across The Great Plains Of England.

Along The Way, We Pass Hadrian's Wall,

The Former Northern Frontier Of The Roman Empire.

Beyond This Point Is A Land That Was Once Thought

To Be Too Wild To Be Tamed By Civilization...

♪ ♪

Scotland, The Most Fiercely Independent Region

Of Great Britain,

A Rugged Landscape For A Rugged People.

Having Made The Long Trip Across England,

I Cross The Border

And Pull Into The Scottish Capital Of Edinburgh.

I'm Here To Explore New Findings That May Completely Change

How We Think Of King Arthur.

And Lucky For Me, I Get To Do It

In One Of My Absolute Favorite Places.

[ Bagpipes Play ]

I Am Unabashedly Head-Over-Heels In Love With Edinburgh.

Why Wouldn't You Be?

From Its Maze Of Cobblestone Streets

To Its Soaring Castle, This City Has A Mythic Quality.

This Is The Place That Gave Birth To The Authors

Of "Harry Potter" And "Peter Pan."

So Perhaps It Is No Surprise

That The Legendary King Arthur Is

Also Alive And Well In Scotland.

This City Is The Perfect Combination Of Smart And Boozy.

Based On The Real Estate,

I'd Swear That Every Citizen Is Required By Law

To Run Their Own Pub.

And Where There's Pubs, There's Grub.

-How Are You? -How Are You?

I'm From Out Of Town. You Might Have Guessed.

You'd Probably Be Looking For A Haggis.

Haggis Me. Let's Do It.

And Walk Me Through The Ingredients Here Again.

-The Ingredients? -We Are Looking At --

9 Times Out Of 10, Haggis Will Be Made Through Sheepskin.

So, It's Sheep's Guts. It's Blood.

There's Wheat And Oats All Sort Of Mixed In It.

-You Are Selling It Now. -I'm Selling It, Yes.

And Do I Hit It With The Gravy?

That's Our Whiskey Sauce.

Here We Go.

It's Actually Really Good.

-Yeah. -It's Great.

This Is Now My Home.

I'm Gonna Have My Mail Delivered Here.

And I'm Never Leaving This Bar.

I Love This Country.

[ Coughs ]

[ Grunting ] Smooth.

That's Smooth.

Now That I've Had My Fill Of Sheep Lung,

I'm Starting To Feel Like A Local.

But There's One Thing Left To Do

If I Truly Want To Understand The Scottish Experience,

And I've Got Just Enough Whiskey In Me To Try It.

-Looks Good. -What Do You Think?

Yeah, It Looks Fantastic.

And What Am I Supposed

To Be Wearing Under The Kilt? -Nothing.

Oh, Well, Then I'm Doing It Right.

Gates: Time To Take This Thing For Example Test-Drive

And See How She Handles.

That's A Dangerous Angle.

This Is Very Weird.

I Got To Tell You -- Below The Waist, Right Now,

I Feel Liberated.

Things Are Breathing And Moving. This Is Incredible.

I Am Never Wearing Underwear Again.

Okay, Time To Put My Skirt Away And Get Back To Work.

Scotland And King Arthur Don't Seem Like They Go Together,

But This Legend Is Everywhere Here.

Above Edinburgh, There's Even A Craggy Rock

Known As Arthur's Seat, A Commanding Vantage Point

That Looks Down Over The Sprawling Capital.

But The Newest Developments In The Search For Arthur

Are Unfolding To The West.

New Country, New Car --

I'm Driving West, Bound For One Of Scotland's Mightiest Castles.

So This Is Stirling Castle, A Pretty Dramatic Spot.

You've Got This Fortress That's Perched

Hundreds Of Feet Up Off The Ground Here In Scotland.

And It Might Seem Like A Strange Place To Look For King Arthur,

But A Recent Discovery Here

Might Actually Prove His Existence.

This Valley Has A Long History That's Soaked With Blood.

Nearby, "Braveheart" William Wallace Made

His Heroic Stand For Independence,

And Stirling Was Once The Most Powerful Fortress

In The Country.

It Was Said That Whoever Controlled Stirling

Controlled Scotland.

As The Steward Of This Castle,

Brian Gibson Has A Unique Grasp Of The History Here.

Gates: The Structure That's Here Right Now Is From What Year?

Well, Most Of The Buildings Are 15Th, 16Th Century.

But There's Been A Castle Here On The Rock For Sure

For Thousands Of Years.

To Me, It Seems Amazing To Be Up Here In Scotland

And Be Talking About King Arthur,

But There Is Some Connection To King Arthur

At This Castle, Right?

Yes, Directly Below Us Here,

We Have A King's Knot, As It's Known.

It Almost Looks Like A Structure Beneath It.

-Yes, Sir. -And So What Exactly Is It?

I Mean, What Makes Up That Structure?

Well, It Was Laid Out As This Very Ornate Garden

But Around Something That Was Already Existing On The Site.

The Centerpiece Of The King's Knot Is Regarded

In Legend As Being The Table Round,

The Round Table Of King Arthur And His Knights.

Gates: Something Here Is Clearly Round.

But Whether It's A Table Or Not, We Don't Know.

Scientists Stephen Digney And Richard Jones

Have Been Trying To Get A Look Under The Grass Here For Years.

And Colin Tickle And His Partner Jill

Have Brought Along The Key To Making That Happen.

Gates: So You're Mowing The Lawn?

Yeah, And Expensively.

[ Laughter ] -What Is This Thing?

It's A Ground-Penetrating Radar.

Gates: Ground-Penetrating Radar Is A Cutting-Edge Way

Of Peering Beneath The Earth

Without Ever Picking Up A Shovel.

Using Radar Pulses, The Machine Detects

If The Soil Below Has Been Disturbed At Any Point

In The Last 10,000 Years,

Which In Turn Can Lead To Hidden Archaeological Relics.

Can We See The Device In Action?

You Can Push It. By All Means.

-Oh, Really? -Absolutely.

You've Made A Terrible Mistake, Sir.

I Promise You I'll Break This.

I've Been Pushing It All Day, So It's Your Turn.

[ Radar Beeping Steadily ]

-About This Speed? -Yep, That's Good.

Digney: Yeah. Nice And Straight.

[ Steady Beeping Continues ]

It Really Is Giving Us A Sort Of Cross-Section View?

Correct, Yes.

So, The Transmitted Signals Are Going Down

Into The Ground Below Us.

[ Steady Beeping Continues ]

With Each Pass Over The King's Knot,

The Radar Begins To Paint A Subterranean Picture.

But What Will It Show? [ Radar Beeping Rapidly ]

Oh, What Is That Right There?

-Oh, My God. Look At This. -Look At That!

That's Very Good. Very Good.

That's Amazing.

Gates: My Quest To Uncover The Historical King Arthur

Has Taken A Surprising Turn North To Scotland

And The Royal Gardens Of Stirling Castle.

Here, A Team Of Scientists

Is Hoping To Use Ground-Penetrating Radar

To Uncover King Arthur's Round Table.

[ Radar Beeping Steadily ]

[ Radar Beeping Rapidly ]Oh, What Is That Right There?

-Oh, My God. Look At This. -Look At That!

That's Amazing.

That's Very Cool. -That's Really Good.

Digney: It's Very, Very Clear, Very Strong.

This Machine Is Sort Of A Tease, Though, Right?

Because You Find These Amazing Things On It,

And Now You Want To Know -- So, How Deep Down Is That?

That's About 1.2 Meters.

Four Feet Down.

But It Is Possible That It Is An Object Of Some Kind.

Yes -- No, It Is An Object Of Some Description.

It's An Object Or A Ground Disturbance.

So, There's Been Something Laid There At Some Position.

The Gpr Display Tells Us There's A Clear Ground Disturbance

Right Below Our Feet.

But This Site Is Protected By Scottish Heritage.

Could It Be Evidence Of Arthur?

The Current Thinking

Is That The Grounds Were Used For Jousting Tournaments

Designed To Honor King Arthur In Medieval Times.

But Why Were They Built Here?

Was This A Place Where A Real Arthur Once Sat?

It'll Take Time To Get Answers,

But Something Is Here.

Well, It's Just So Amazing To Know That There Is History

And There's Archaeology Four Feet Underneath Us.

That's Right.I Mean, It's Exciting Stuff.

Thank You, Guys, So Much For Your Help.

I Really Appreciate It. Thank You, Guys, So Much.

-Good Luck On Your Travels. -Great To Meet You.

Cheers. Thanks.

With The Gpr Image From Stirling Fresh In My Mind,

The Once-Laughable Idea That King Arthur

Could Have Been Scottish Is Suddenly Very Tangible.

It's Up Here In One Of The More Remote Areas Of Scotland

At The Ruins Of A Premedieval Fort Called Dunadd

That I'm Meeting Adam Ardrey.

-Good To See You. -Yeah.

All Right. I'm Ready. Lead On.

Ardrey: Let's Go.

Gates: Adam Is A Scottish Lawyer,

Judge, And Author Devoted To Studying

The King Arthur Legend.

He Has A New Theory That Is Turning

The Prevailing Scholarship About The King On Its Ear.

Gates: Oh, My Lord.

Ardrey: No Matter How Many Times I Come Up Here,

I Never Cease To Be Amazed At Just How Beautiful The View

From Almost The Top Of Dunadd Is.

Orient Me A Little Bit.

What Are We Standing On Here?

You're Standing On The Hill Fort Of Dunadd.

It's Been The Capital Of The Scots' Kingdom

For 1,500 Years.

So How Do We Link This Site To The Legend Of King Arthur?

The One Thing That This Area Has

That No Other Place Has Is An Arthur.

There Was A Scot Man, An Historical Character,

Called Arthur Mac Aedan.

And So You Think That He Is The Basis

For What We've Come To Know As The Legend Of King Arthur?

Yes, I Think He's The Historical Foundation

Upon Which The Legend Was Built.

So We're Talking About The 6Th Century?

-Late 6Th Century, Yes. -Late 6Th Century.

And This Fortress That's Here,

Was This A Christian Fortress?

No, This Was Most Certainly Not A Christian Fortress.

This Would Be What You Would Call,

Well, Pre-Christian, Or I Would Call It

The Old Way Of The Druids.

Are You Saying That Arthur Was Celtic?

Oh, Yes, Arthur Was Most Certainly Celtic.

-And Not Christian? -He Was Not A Christian Man.

He Was A Follower Of The Old Way Of The Druids.

Gates: To Me, This Is Mind-Melting.

This King, Virtually Synonymous With The Holy Grail

And The Crusades, Was A Pagan Warrior.

Since Christianity Wasn't Widespread In Arthur's Time,

It Actually Makes A Lot Of Sense.

And He Did Have A Very Un-Christian Wizard

As An Adviser.

But Adam Has Even More Of Arthur's Myth To Deconstruct.

The First Thing Almost Anyone Thinks About

When They Think About King Arthur Is

The Story Of The Sword In The Stone.

In Arthurian Legend, The Magical Sword Placed In The Stone

Could Not Be Removed By Any Man Save The True King,

Until A Teenaged Arthur Drew The Sword

And Claimed His Destiny.

This Is Where The Actual Event Happened.

No Magic Sword, No Magic Stone,

No Legend, No Myth, Just The History.

Lead On.

This Is The Inauguration Stone.

And What Happened Here Was A Man Would Put His Foot

Into The Footprint.

He Would Be Given A Sword To Hold.

And When He Stepped Out Of The Footprint

Holding The Sword, He Literally Took

A Sword From A Stone.

I Brought A Sword Up, And You Might Want

To Just Do That For Yourself.

-So Put My Foot In It? -Put Your Foot In It.

Okay. And Your Brought A Sword Here?

-Yes, I've Got One. -I Like That You're Traveling

With A Sword.

I Rarely Go Anywhere Without One, Josh.

-That's Scottish People For You. -[ Laughs ]

Okay, Here We Go. Ready?

So I Just Put My Right Foot Into The Footprint.

You Put Your Right Foot Into The Footprint.

You Take The Sword.

Okay.

This Is What Arthur Would Have Done.

And The Very Fact That You're Able To Put Your Foot

Into This Footprint Means That You Have De Facto Control

Of This Area.

So, Wait, Are You Saying That I Now Control All Of This?

No, Josh, I'm Afraid Not. It Doesn't Quite Work Like That.

That's How I Heard It.

You Told Me That I Was The King Of This Area Now.

Remember, What I Was Saying To You Was That You're Carrying

A Small Part Of The Ceremony.

Listen -- Who's The One Holding The Sword Here, Adam?

Josh, You're The Real King Of This Area.

Good, There We Go. I Like That. You Changed Your Tune Very Quickly.

Ardrey: You've Just Taken A Sword From A Stone.

-I Can Feel This. -Yeah?

I Could Get Used To This.

This Is One Fortress. This Is The Ceremonial Capital.

There Was Another Fortress Not Very Far From Here,

And I Believe There Is Evidence For That Just Over There.

At The Peak Over There?

About A Mile And A Half That Direction, Yes.

And You Think That Arthur's Fortress Was There?

Yes, I Do.

All Right, Well, Let's Go Check It Out.

It Does Look Like It's Quite A Ways Away.

So, How Are We Getting Over There?

Same Way Arthur Did.

[ Horse Neighs ]

Gates: Now That I've Been Unofficially Crowned

The King Of The Britons, We Ride Toward

What Adam Hopes Was Once The Headquarters

Of King Arthur Himself.

Our Journey Across The Scottish Highlands

Allows Adam To Acquaint Me With Other Arthurian Landmarks,

For Example, The Royal Court Of Camelot.

Adam, This Is The River Add? -Yes.

Gates: And So How Does That Fit Into Camelot?

Ardrey: "Cam" Means "Twisted" In Gaelic.

"Loth" Means "A Marsh."

So Camelot Is A Marsh?

Camelot Was A Description Of Where Arthur Lived.

It Funny -- When We Think Of Camelot,

We Think Of -- -You Think Of Turrets.

You Think Of Castles. -Absolutely.

You Think Of Women With Pointy Hats And Chiffon

And Men In Plate Armor. -[ Laughs ] Yes.

All Anachronisms, All Things Made Up Later, Josh,

Simply For Commercial Reasons...

-Wow. -...By People Who Were Living

700 Years After Arthur Existed.

Amazing.

Gates: What Has Adam All Worked Up Is

An Old Royal Air Force Survey Of This Area From The 1940S.

While Reviewing The Photos For His Research,

Adam Found A Small Fragment Of Stonework Peeking Out

From The Foliage.

To His Knowledge, No One Has Excavated

Or Explained These Ruins, And He Thinks

They Could Be Of Major Significance

In The Search For The Historic King Arthur.

Well, I Don't Think The Horses Are Going Up That.

Okay.

All Right. On Foot From Here.

Here We Go.

Looks Like It Opens Up Here.

Yes, And I Think That's The Summit Up There.

So, You've Got This Sort Of Stacked Stone Here.

See This, Adam?

Well, It's An Unusual Place To Have Field Stones --

High Up In A Hill.

It Does Look Sort Of Stacked, Doesn't It?

-Yes, Indeed. -Look At That.

It's All Grown Over, But, You Know...

Gates: ...It Looks Like All Under Here --

It Might Be A Piece Of A Wall.

Let's Follow It Up And See Where It Goes.

-Let's See Where It Goes. -That Is So Cool.

Look At That.

See, The Shape Of It Is Still Right There.

It Might Run Right Up Here Too.

More Of It. -More Of It.

More Of It. Every Piece Of Moss Underneath It --

It Seems To Be A Wide Feature Running Uphill...

-This Whole Thing, Yeah. -...Towards The Summit.

Yes, For Some Reason. The Questions Is What Is It?

Let's Walk On, See What Else We Can Find.

-That's Exciting, Adam. -It's Always Exciting.

Ardrey: Just Around Here.

Gates: Oh, My God! Huge Stones!

Gates: After A Day Of Climbing, Riding And Hiking,

Researcher Adam Ardrey And I Have Found

What Might Be The Ruins Of A Fort

That Once Belonged To King Arthur Himself.

It Seems To Be A Wide Feature Running Uphill...

-This Whole Thing, Yeah. -...Towards The Summit.

Yes, For Some Reason. The Question Is What Is It?

Let's Walk On And See What Else We Can Find.

Gates: Oh, My God. Huge Stones!

Look At That.

Perfectly Flat. The Very Peak Here --

These Look Totally Worked.

They're Squared Off On The Edges, Totally Flat,

What Might Be A Foundation Stone Or Something Up Here At The Top

Looking Out Over The Whole Marsh.

That Is So Cool.

So Anything That Would've Been Really Built Up Here In That Era

Would Probably Have Been Wooden, Right?

Most Likely, On The Top, It Would've Been Wooden,

Probably With A Stone Foundation, Yeah.

That's Right, So What We May Be Seeing Here Is

Just The Underside Of Something.

It Certainly Looks Like Someone Made

An Awful Lot Of Effort To Make Something

Of Real Substance Up On The Top Of This Hill.

You Know, It's Funny -- Everywhere That I've Looked,

So Many People Have Said To Me, "Oh, It's Just A Legend."

But What's Really Amazing To Me Is The More

That We Investigate It, The More That There Seems

To Be Real History Here.

Well, I Think There Was Real History Here, Josh.

I Think What Happened Was That Arthur Moved

From History Into Legend.

And If One Looks At The Evidence,

You Can See That He Can Move From Legend Back Into History.

Someone Once Said, "If You Know The Truth

And You Know The Legend, Print The Legend."

Why Do That?

Especially When The History Is Even More Wonderful

Than Perhaps The Most Wonderful Story Ever Told.

Ah, It's Amazing. It Really Is.

To Be Able To Come Up Here And See This Is Just So Incredible.

Now, We Got To Get Home In The Dark, Though.

Now, We Have To Get Home In The Dark, Yes.

[ Laughs ]

Gates: I've Searched Every Corner Of Great Britain,

From Ruined Castles In England To The Deep Caves Of Wales,

And The Vast Wilderness Of Scotland.

And I Think I Finally Understand King Arthur.

He Isn't Elusive As Much As Omnipresent.

It Turns Out That Finding King Arthur Is

Ridiculously Easy.

He's Everywhere.

Finding Theking Arthur --

Good Luck.

It's Likely That The Story Is Based On A Real Man.

But Time Has All But Swallowed His True Identity.

There Is Evidence Hailing From Arthur's Time Period

And Excavations That May Reveal More Clues In The Future.

The Real Arthur May Have Even Hailed

From What Is Now Scotland Or Wales,

And He May Not Have Been A Christian King

But A Druid Warrior.

The Legend Of The Once-And-Future King

Is So Potent Because It's So Pure.

The Most Important Thing About Arthur Isn't Where He's From.

It's What He Stands For --

Loyalty, Honesty, Mercy, And Valor,

Values That Have Endured For Over 1,500 Years

And To Which We All Aspire.