DARK MIST RISING: AVALON UNVEILED

  By ArchaiOptix - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=88625666 Rage. The great bard, Homer, employed wrath as the driving force behind the events of his  Iliad , including the deaths of his leading man, Achilles – the warrior-hero of the Greeks – and the Amazon Wonder Woman, Penthesilea. For, had the warrior woman not first killed one of her own, she would not have been compelled to find redemption in battle against the Greeks. Perhaps, she would instead have died somewhere on her native steppes, unremembered. Such a death – our loss, as well as that of Penthesilea and her people – would have been sad, indeed. Her name would have then been forever lost to time and anonymity. That ancient name conveyed some connotation of sadness:  penthos  meant “sorrow” in Ancient Greek. The second syllable of the warrior queen’s name is not so easy to decipher. Maybe, it came from the Latin verb for “silence”:  sileo . Or perhaps it was som...

  By Simon Burchell - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7405285 Pictish Hunting Parties vs. War Parties :             I would like to start with the standing stones at Meigle, where Queen Guinevere is rumored to have been buried. At the top of one of the most prominent stones prances a large, mounted rider, cloaked and using a bridle bit, with what appears to be a small cavalry brigade, or at least a company of mounted hunters, below him. The fact that this is the largest figure, depicted above all the others and virtually alone (more on that in a minute), indicates a figure of paramount importance: a chieftain or king. While Norma Lorre Goodrich believes this leader is King Arthur, I think it is the queen’s loyal champion: Lancelot, a great king in his own right. The riders below the leader may be anonymous loyalists, queen’s men, or else the king’s right hand and heir apparent, Gawai...