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From the Dark Ages comes one of the greatest stories in history.

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Arthur was the leader of the Britons.

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His tale is the cornerstone of British mythology.

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The question is, is he actually down there somewhere?

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But was the legendary King Arthur a real man?

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This is incredible.

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It almost looks like a structure beneath.

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It's really slick in here.

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This is where the actual event happened.

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We're talking about a very different King Arthur.

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King Arthur is the ultimate knight in shining armor.

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Raised by the wizard Merlin, he lifted a magical sword from a stone to become king.

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In his court at Camelot, he formed a society of noble soldiers known as the Knights of the Round Table.

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Along with the brave Galahad and Lancelot, Arthur united the Britons to defeat an army of invaders.

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His story is a fairy tale. Or is it?

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What if everything you think you know about King Arthur is dead wrong?

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Archaeologists and historians across Great Britain are making discoveries that could prove the existence of a flesh and blood king.

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In a ruined castle on the coast of England, a mysterious inscription could verify Arthur's birthplace.

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In pitch black caves in the country of Wales, explorers may be closing in on his long lost remains.

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And to the north, one historian believes that Arthur wasn't a king at all, but something else entirely.

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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.

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Was King Arthur real? And if so, who was he?

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My name is Josh Gates.

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To the degree in archaeology and a passion for exploration.

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I have a tendency to end up in some very strange situations.

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God, Lord!

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My travels have taken me to the ends of the earth as I investigate the greatest legends in history.

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We're good to try, let's go.

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This is Expedition Unknown.

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Welcome to England.

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You might be wondering what I'm doing in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic.

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Actually, right about now I'm wondering the same thing.

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I'm here to begin my quest for the truth behind the legend of King Arthur.

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Along these cliffs is a place known as Tintagel Castle.

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This is the birthplace of the King Arthur legend.

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So this is what's known as Merlin's Cave.

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It's a sea cave and in the next few hours it'll be mostly underwater.

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The ocean to Tintagel Castle above.

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This is where the baby King Arthur first meets the wizard Merlin.

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The question has always been is this story true or is it a fairy tale?

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Well, there's been an archaeological discovery in the castle above that may settle the question once and for all.

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The fortress is too new to be Arthur's.

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It was built by the Earl of Cornwall in the 13th century.

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But there may be evidence here that predates the castle.

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Archaeologist Wynne Scud has been studying these ruins for years.

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First of all, this is a dramatic place.

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It is. It's just I think the most spectacular place in the whole of Britain actually to put a castle.

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This site is strongly associated with the Arthur legend.

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Yeah, this is where he was supposed to be conceived.

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It's probably because of that that Richard Earl of Cornwall decides to build this castle.

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So in a way, it's a commemoration of that legend.

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But to understand that legend, we need to place it in history.

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Today, the island of Great Britain is comprised of England, Scotland and Wales.

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2000 years ago, however.

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This was Britannia, the far flung edge of the Roman Empire.

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But by the 5th century AD, the Romans abandoned the island.

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Almost overnight, civilization crashes and the Dark Ages begin.

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Invaders from all sides seize the opportunity to conquer.

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Irish from the west, Picts from the north, and from the east, the most dangerous of all, the Saxons.

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According to legend, a warrior king named Arthur emerges from amidst the chaos

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to defend the Britons against the invading horde.

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So the story of Arthur is really, Arthur was the leader of the Britons.

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And so he galvanized all these people to fight these pesky Saxons coming in.

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So if Arthur was a real man, we're talking about someone who would have been alive in the 6th century?

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Well, in the 6th century. Yeah, yeah, somewhere 5th, 6th century, something like that.

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If that's the case though, Arthur's home is in the Dark Ages.

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Forget images of a stately king and an imposing stone castle, or knights in shining armor,

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or the crusades or the quest for the holy grail.

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None of that stuff shows up until hundreds of years later in the medieval era,

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which is when romantic writers started spinning tales about Arthur.

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In the 5th, 6th century, we're talking about a very different king, Arthur.

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Very, very different. They aren't what we imagine to be medieval knights, unfortunately.

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He wouldn't have all that age of chivalry, medieval armor, looking absolutely fantastic on his horse and everything.

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I think he would have looked much more like a Roman soldier.

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So the question is, if the castle is from the 13th century, but Arthur was back in the 5th, 6th century,

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was there something here before this castle? Could there be anything to the legend that originally this was the place he was born?

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Well, yes. Amazing things seem to have been happening here in the 6th century.

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Beneath the 13th century ruins, there is evidence of older structures,

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most of which still remain totally unexcavated.

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In fact, there are tens, possibly hundreds of these covering the island.

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So at some stage, there was some kind of major settlement here.

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And recently, we've made a really special find, really rare, an inscription.

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Really?

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Well, that's incredible, but here is the most important bit.

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

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So, Artognu, this is known as the Artognu inscription.

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And that got everybody really excited when they saw the art.

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Is this Arthur? So this is a personal name.

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It may well refer to him. And it's at the right period.

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And to potentially be linked to Arthur himself.

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I mean, everybody was really excited.

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Now we've got writing actually connecting us to that period.

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So the dark-aided aren't quite so dark as they were.

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Right.

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The discovery is far from conclusive, but it does show that a historical King Arthur could have been born here in Tintagel.

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And today, the tiny village isn't exactly shy about making the connection.

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In the legend, Arthur becomes King by pulling the famous sword from the stone.

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Here's my chance to finally get the respect I deserve.

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It was meant to be King.

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I got it. Just gotta get under it, I think.

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Come on. Please, please.

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Come on, you son of a... Please, I want to be King.

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Okay, somebody give me a saw.

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And of course, the locals are happy to make a pound or two off their hometown hero.

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I haven't yet found King Arthur, but I did find another medieval ruler.

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Come on.

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It's his medieval and it's a ruler.

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That's... nobody?

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Here it is, the legendary sword Excalibur, and its ancient inscription,

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made in China, potential choking hazard not for children under three.

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What does it mean?

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It's clear Arthur is alive and well in the retail sector,

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but in order to get to the bottom of whether he was a flesh-and-blood hero, I need to hit the road.

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I'm very proud of the fact that I'm half-English.

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My mother was born here, my parents met here, my grandmother still lives here.

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This is a place that I have a real attachment to.

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My mom would read me the Arthur stories when I was a kid, and I always loved that story,

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and I always saw Arthur in the way I guess we all do,

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which is that kind of medieval, chivalrous knight in shining armor.

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But quickly realizing that all of that, there's little resemblance to Arthur.

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From Cornwall in southwest England, I'm driving 120 miles to Glastonbury Abbey,

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or what's left of it.

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This is Glastonbury Abbey.

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Today it's really just a skeleton of what was one of the richest and most powerful monasteries in all of England.

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And in the very late 12th century, the monks here claimed to make an incredible discovery.

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They claimed to find the bones of King Arthur and his wife, one of you.

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In the 12th century, King Arthur was already a celebrity,

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so the discovery of his grave turned Glastonbury into a medieval tourist attraction.

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The monks claimed to discover two skeletons in a coffin,

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and a cross identifying them as Arthur and Gwyneth.

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There's just one problem.

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It's almost certainly a hoax.

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After all, the monastery had just suffered a major fire and was on hard times.

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The monks suspiciously well timed discovery of Arthur's bones

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ensured they'd have all the donations they needed to rebuild.

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And as for the so-called Glastonbury Cross, it was lost to history.

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Okay, so the monastery was a very important place to be.

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Okay, so the grave might be a bust,

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but I've got a recent lead on a place where the real King Arthur might actually be buried.

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It almost looks like a structure beneath him.

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Oh, what is that right there?

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Oh my God, look at this.

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That's amazing!

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In England, my search for a flesh and blood King Arthur has taken me from his legendary birthplace in Tintagel

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to a historic dead end at his supposed grave in Glastonbury.

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However, to the west, there's a group of explorers who might be on the verge of discovering

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where the real King Arthur was laid to rest.

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To join them, I'm back in the car and driving across the border

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into the cemetery of the King Arthur.

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Welcome to Wales.

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The wild, untamed edge of Britain.

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This is Wales.

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It looks a lot like England except everything is spelled really funny.

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Mrr, mrr, mrr.

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This is the place where the King Arthur was laid to rest.

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I'm back in the car and driving across the border into the country of Wales

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to a spot known as Denus Rock.

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One, two, three, four.

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Mrr, mrr, mrr, mrr.

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Mrr, tiff, tiff, tiff.

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Headed over to Mrr, tiff, tiff, tiff.

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Sure, that's where I'm supposed to be headed.

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The Welsh people have always had an uneasy relationship with their English neighbors

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since being conquered by them in the 11th century.

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But in Arthur's time, there was no England.

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This was all part of Britannia.

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Today, the Welsh people are the closest genetic link to the original settlers of Britain.

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A Welsh monk named Neneus also provided the earliest written account of Arthur's story

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and many of the names from those tales are Welsh in origin.

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All versions of the Arthur legend have him mortally wounded in battle

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at the hands of the villainous mortuary.

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But then things get murky.

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In English lore, Arthur goes to the mysterious island of Avalon.

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But in Wales, it's believed the wizard Merlin preserved the knights of the round table

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in a cave under a mountain,

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and those caves may well have been found.

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I pull off the road to meet with cavers Gary Evans and Andy Freem,

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who spend more time underground than anyone you'd want to meet.

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You guys look like you mean business.

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We're ready.

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We're ready to go.

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Gary and Andy have been exploring the underside of Wales for years,

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and they may be closing in on the legendary location of Arthur's remains.

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It says that Arthur and his knights are still sleeping underground

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below a place called Cragadinos, Dinos Rock,

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and Arthur remains there waiting to be called...

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In theory.

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In theory.

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The question is, is he actually down there somewhere?

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There is an enormous amount of hidden world underneath us.

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I can't wait to see it.

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Let's get suited up.

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Okay, good. Let's do it.

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Let's do that.

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I'm going to go this way.

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My companions and I get ready for the adventure ahead.

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That's cave.

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That's cave.

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We trek to the cave entrance near Dinos Rock,

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where the knights are said to lie sleeping.

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In realistic terms, what we're looking for is a tomb.

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So this is the entrance to the cave.

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And another caver.

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And another caver, which is Antonia, my wife.

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Very nice to meet you.

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She's going to join us today.

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So this is the entrance to the cave.

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Very discreet entrance.

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Yes, it is.

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It's a man-made entrance.

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It was frowned from the inside.

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Originally, it took about eight hours to get to the cave passage,

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which is behind the entrance.

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This doorway was dug out by cavers.

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It's a massive shortcut that bypasses miles of tunnels

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and gets us closer to unexplored sections of the cave.

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Enter the dark.

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So what is down there?

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That's what we're going to find out, if you like.

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Andy, is this a bad time to tell you that I'm claustrophobic?

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Yeah, slightly.

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I guess I'm committed now.

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Yeah, I think you could be.

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OK, here we go.

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The caves are pitch black and to the untrained eye

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look like a subterranean temple.

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This is absolutely amazing.

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It's a fantastic passage.

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Loads and loads of beautiful formations.

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In terms of the legend of Arthur's resting place,

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does it tell us specifically what the cave looks like

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or what the conditions are?

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Are there any clues?

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Well, it's interesting, because this is where Merlin comes back

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into the legend, and the legend says that he put the knight's

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and Arthur to sleep, and then he obscured the entrance

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and no one would find it.

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So that means that we really know nothing about where exactly

239
00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:13,600
it is, what it looks like.

240
00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,600
Archaeologically, what's been discovered down here so far?

241
00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:20,600
Near the entrances, there are some enticing finds

242
00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:23,600
with the body of a man curled up in the corner.

243
00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:28,600
We don't know its age, and it was certainly

244
00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:30,600
probably something in the region that led to evil.

245
00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,600
At another entrance was the skull of a horse.

246
00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:38,600
Now, it's very unusual to see that.

247
00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:40,600
No indication it was Arthur down here.

248
00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:41,600
None at all.

249
00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:42,600
Still looking for that?

250
00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:43,600
It would be nice if we could.

251
00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:45,600
All right, well, on we go.

252
00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:46,600
Indeed.

253
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,600
We carry on into the darkness.

254
00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:56,600
It's like this.

255
00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:57,600
That's it.

256
00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:05,600
One hour turns to two, and two turns to four.

257
00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:07,600
I'm totally unsure how deep we are,

258
00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,600
but the really unnerving part is that there's more than 50 miles

259
00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:12,600
of tunnels down here.

260
00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:14,600
You all right there, Josh?

261
00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:16,600
Yeah, doing great.

262
00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:26,600
Whoa, hang on there.

263
00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:27,600
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

264
00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:28,600
What do you say to that?

265
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:31,600
Holy shit.

266
00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,600
That just drops straight down.

267
00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:38,600
How deep is that?

268
00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:39,600
I don't know.

269
00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:41,600
I really don't know how far down that is.

270
00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:43,600
OK, so what's the move now?

271
00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:47,600
So we have a choice, and we could descend this by rope.

272
00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:48,600
Or we can go to the pub.

273
00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:49,600
We can go to the surface and get a drink.

274
00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:50,600
Or we can go back, exactly.

275
00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:51,600
Tough choice.

276
00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:52,600
OK.

277
00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:53,600
Let's do it.

278
00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:56,600
We prepare to repel down the cliff,

279
00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:58,600
which means lots of clips and harnesses

280
00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:02,600
to make sure that I don't make the trip at terminal velocity.

281
00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:03,600
All right, Andy, you ready?

282
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:04,600
Yeah, I'm going to go.

283
00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:07,600
Let me know if you find King Arthur down there.

284
00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:17,600
OK, Josh, ready for you to come down.

285
00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:26,600
OK, so it's turning around here.

286
00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:28,600
OK, I'm headed down.

287
00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:29,600
OK.

288
00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:37,600
Whoo, slippery.

289
00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:39,600
Very slippery.

290
00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:42,600
Looks like kind of a free hang under here, Andy.

291
00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:44,600
Yeah, very slippery.

292
00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:45,600
That's it.

293
00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:46,600
Keep coming down.

294
00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:47,600
Down, down, down.

295
00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:48,600
Whoa.

296
00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:50,600
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

297
00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,600
In a cavern deep beneath Wales, I'm on the hunt

298
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,600
for the real-life resting place of the legendary King Arthur.

299
00:17:57,600 --> 00:17:58,600
Whoo-hoo.

300
00:17:58,600 --> 00:17:59,600
Hang on there, sir.

301
00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:00,600
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

302
00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:01,600
Do you see it there?

303
00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,600
And from the looks of it, it might be a one-way trip.

304
00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:06,600
Down, down, down, down.

305
00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:08,600
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

306
00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:10,600
Really slick in here.

307
00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:11,600
Got it.

308
00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:13,600
Very slippery.

309
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:14,600
That's it.

310
00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:15,600
Get going as I.

311
00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:16,600
There you are.

312
00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:23,600
OK, I'm down.

313
00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:25,600
OK, slack now.

314
00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:28,600
Back on solid footing, we resume our search for the burial site.

315
00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:30,600
Six of us have been killed.

316
00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:31,600
We're going to go down.

317
00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:32,600
OK, I'm down.

318
00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:33,600
OK, I'm down.

319
00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:34,600
OK, slack now.

320
00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:37,600
Back on solid footing, we resume our search for the burial site.

321
00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:39,600
See what's down here.

322
00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:45,600
We climb and crawl through chamber after chamber, hoping for any sign of human presence.

323
00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:46,600
Look at this place.

324
00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:47,600
This is crazy.

325
00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:48,600
Oops.

326
00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:49,600
Oh, it's wet.

327
00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:51,600
I'm sure this water is going to be warm.

328
00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:53,600
Oh, come on.

329
00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:55,600
I'm going to get some water.

330
00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:57,600
I'm going to get some water.

331
00:18:57,600 --> 00:18:59,600
I'm going to get some water.

332
00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:01,600
I'm going to get some water.

333
00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:03,600
I'm going to get some water.

334
00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:05,600
I'm going to get some water.

335
00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:07,600
Oh, come on.

336
00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:09,600
Good lord.

337
00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:11,600
Oh, there it is.

338
00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:16,600
This is terrible.

339
00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:21,600
OK, this is a crawl through.

340
00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:25,600
This is crazy.

341
00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:26,600
This is crazy.

342
00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:34,600
A long way up, Josh.

343
00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:36,600
Oh, you're not kidding.

344
00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:43,600
Finally, the tight passages open up and we push into a cavern so massive,

345
00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:46,600
our lights are unable to illuminate the other side.

346
00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:48,600
This is incredible.

347
00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:50,600
Look at the size of this room.

348
00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:52,600
How cool is this?

349
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:53,600
This is big, isn't it?

350
00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:54,600
Woo.

351
00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:58,600
And it's just a chaos of boulders on the floor.

352
00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:01,600
It's just an incredible hallway.

353
00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:03,600
Passages going off in that direction.

354
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,600
That way, that way, and behind us as well.

355
00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:08,600
Yeah, there's one down here.

356
00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:11,600
All told, there's how many miles of tunnels down here?

357
00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:12,600
50 miles.

358
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:14,600
50 miles, that's been mapped.

359
00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:17,600
Yeah, that's all been mapped, and that's, you know, at least that's been.

360
00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:18,600
Surrounding.

361
00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:25,600
Imagine in the UK finding and walking into a passage where it is absolutely certain

362
00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:29,600
that nobody knew it was there and you find places like this.

363
00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:34,600
It's possible that a chamber which has got important archaeological deposits

364
00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:38,600
could be found, we know that there are undiscovered caves.

365
00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:41,600
We can tell that they're there from where the water goes and where it reappears.

366
00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,600
And that's why the myth can be there.

367
00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:45,600
That's amazing stuff.

368
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:47,600
So no sign of King Arthur down here yet.

369
00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:49,600
We had a good look though, but we had a good look.

370
00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:53,600
We've done a lot today, and I think we can't go any further than we've been today.

371
00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:55,600
We've got a long journey back now.

372
00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:56,600
Here we go.

373
00:20:56,600 --> 00:20:57,600
This way.

374
00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:02,600
After seven hours underground, I've come face to face with a seldom seen world,

375
00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:04,600
but there's been no sign of Arthur.

376
00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:08,600
However, with hundreds of miles of unexplored caves in Wales,

377
00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,600
I leave knowing there's much more to discover here.

378
00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,600
Fortunately, this isn't my last stop on the hunt for King Arthur.

379
00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,600
I cross back into England where the countryside is vast,

380
00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:24,600
yet the roads are never straight.

381
00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:29,600
If you ever want to know what it's like to drive in England,

382
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,600
just pull your car into the street and then drive it in circles.

383
00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:34,600
They love roundabouts here.

384
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:36,600
They'll put a roundabout in a roundabout.

385
00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:40,600
They're just, that's just f***ing with you.

386
00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:41,600
They love it.

387
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:43,600
They love to have you drive in circles.

388
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:47,600
Oh look, another roundabout.

389
00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:52,600
Dizzy but determined, I spin off the roundabouts into the city of Leicester

390
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:56,600
to get a glimpse of another inspiring archaeological find.

391
00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:03,600
Just recently, another of England's most illustrious kings was laid to rest.

392
00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:07,600
This is Richard III's new crypt in Leicester Cathedral.

393
00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:13,600
After being missing for 400 years, the body of this real life Shakespearean villain

394
00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:17,600
was discovered under a parking lot about 50 yards from here.

395
00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,600
Richard III, a legendary English king who doubled as a literary figure

396
00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:23,600
and was thought to be lost forever.

397
00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:26,600
Sound familiar?

398
00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:31,600
If Richard could be found after hundreds of years, then why not King Arthur?

399
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:35,600
And as it turns out, there's a hot new lead in the case.

400
00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:39,600
The first thing almost anyone thinks about when they think about King Arthur

401
00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:41,600
is the story of the sword and the stone.

402
00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,600
This is where the actual event happened.

403
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:55,600
My hunt for a flesh and blood King Arthur has taken me through English ruins

404
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:57,600
and deep beneath the surface of Wales.

405
00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:02,600
But there's a third place where evidence of the world's most celebrated king might be hiding.

406
00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:09,600
I hop a train north to explore a radical new theory in the most unlikely of places.

407
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,600
My train rumbles across the Great Plains of England.

408
00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:19,600
Along the way, we pass Hadrian's Wall, the former northern frontier of the Roman Empire.

409
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:25,600
Beyond this point is a land that was once thought to be too wild to be tamed by civilization.

410
00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:31,600
Scotland, the most fiercely independent region of Great Britain.

411
00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:34,600
A rugged landscape for a rugged people.

412
00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:40,600
Having made the long trip across England, I cross the border and pull into the Scottish capital of Edinburgh.

413
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:44,600
I'm here to explore new findings that may completely change how we think of King Arthur.

414
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:48,600
And lucky for me, I get to do it in one of my absolute favorite places.

415
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:56,600
I am unabashedly head over heels in love with Edinburgh.

416
00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:57,600
Why wouldn't you be?

417
00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:03,600
From its maze of cobblestone streets to its soaring castle, this city has a mythic quality.

418
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:08,600
This is the place that gave birth to the authors of Harry Potter and Peter Pan.

419
00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:12,600
So perhaps it is no surprise that the legendary King Arthur is also alive and well in Scotland.

420
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:18,600
This city is the perfect combination of smart and boozy.

421
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:23,600
Based on the real estate, I'd swear that every citizen is required by law to run their own pub.

422
00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:25,600
And where there's pubs, there's grub.

423
00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:26,600
How are ya?

424
00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:27,600
Hiya.

425
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:28,600
From out of town, you might have guessed.

426
00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:30,600
You're probably looking for a haggis.

427
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:31,600
Haggis mate, let's do it.

428
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:36,600
And walk me through the ingredients here.

429
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:37,600
And what are the ingredients?

430
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,600
We are looking at nine times out of ten haggis we've been made through sheepskin.

431
00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,600
So it's sheepskirts, it's blood.

432
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,600
There's wheat and oats, all sort of mixed in it.

433
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:49,600
You are selling it now, it is.

434
00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:50,600
You're selling it.

435
00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:51,600
And do I hit it with a gravy?

436
00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:53,600
It's awaski sauce.

437
00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:55,600
Here we go.

438
00:24:58,600 --> 00:24:59,600
It's actually really good.

439
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:00,600
Yeah.

440
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:01,600
It's great.

441
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:02,600
This is now my home.

442
00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:04,600
I'm gonna have my mail delivered here.

443
00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:06,600
And I'm never leaving this bar.

444
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:09,600
I love this country.

445
00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:15,600
It's good.

446
00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:17,600
It's really good.

447
00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,600
Now that I've had my fill of sheep lung, I'm starting to feel like a local.

448
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:26,600
But there's one thing left to do if I truly want to understand the Scottish experience.

449
00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,600
And I've got just enough whiskey in me to try it.

450
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:33,600
Looks good.

451
00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:34,600
What do you think?

452
00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:35,600
Yeah, it looks fantastic.

453
00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:36,600
And what am I supposed to be wearing under the kilt?

454
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:37,600
Nothing.

455
00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:38,600
Oh, well then I'm doing it right.

456
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,600
Time to take this thing for a test drive and see how she handles.

457
00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:43,600
That's a dangerous angle.

458
00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:56,600
This is very weird.

459
00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:03,600
I gotta tell you, the whole of the waste right now, I feel liberated.

460
00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:05,600
Things are breathing and moving.

461
00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:07,600
This is incredible.

462
00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:09,600
I'm never wearing underwear again.

463
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:13,600
I'm never wearing underwear again.

464
00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:21,600
Okay, time to put my skirt away and get back to work.

465
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:24,600
Scotland and King Arthur don't seem like they go together.

466
00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:26,600
But this legend is everywhere here.

467
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:30,600
Above Edinburgh, there's even a craggy rock known as Arthur's Seat.

468
00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:34,600
A commanding vantage point that looks down over the sprawling capital.

469
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:38,600
But the newest developments in the search for Arthur are unfolding to the west.

470
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:40,600
New country, new car.

471
00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:44,600
I'm driving west, bound for one of Scotland's mightiest castles.

472
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:49,600
So this is Stirling Castle, a pretty dramatic spot.

473
00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:55,600
You've got this fortress that's perched hundreds of feet up off the ground here in Scotland.

474
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,600
And it might seem like a strange place to look for King Arthur.

475
00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,600
But a recent discovery here might actually prove his existence.

476
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,600
This valley has a long history that's soaked with blood.

477
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,600
Nearby, Braveheart William Wallace made his heroic stand for independence.

478
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:14,600
And Stirling was once the most powerful fortress in the country.

479
00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,600
It was said that whoever controlled Stirling, controlled Scotland.

480
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:22,600
As the steward of this castle, Brian Gibson has a unique grasp of the history here.

481
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,600
The structure that's here right now is from what year?

482
00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:29,600
Well, most of the buildings are 15th, 16th century.

483
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:33,600
But there's been a castle here on the rock for sure for thousands of years.

484
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,600
To me, it seems amazing to be up here in Scotland and be talking about King Arthur.

485
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:39,600
But there is some connection to King Arthur at this castle, right?

486
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:43,600
Yes, directly below us here, we have the King's Knot as it's known.

487
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:45,600
It almost looks like a structure beneath it.

488
00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:46,600
Yes, ah.

489
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:49,600
And so what exactly is it? I mean, what makes up that structure?

490
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:51,600
But it was laid out as this very ordinate garden,

491
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:54,600
but around something was already existing on the site.

492
00:27:54,600 --> 00:28:01,600
The centrepiece of the King's Knot is regarded in legend as being the Table Round.

493
00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,600
The round table of King Arthur is nice.

494
00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:09,600
Something here is clearly round, but whether it's a table or not, we don't know.

495
00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:14,600
Scientists Stephen Digny and Richard Jones have been trying to get a look under the grass here for years,

496
00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:19,600
and Colin Tickle and his partner Jill have brought along the key to making that happen.

497
00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:21,600
So you're going along?

498
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:23,600
Yeah, and expensively.

499
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:25,600
Expensively? What is this thing?

500
00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:27,600
It's a ground penetrating radar.

501
00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:32,600
Ground penetrating radar is a cutting-edge way of peering beneath the earth without ever picking up a shovel.

502
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:39,600
Using radar pulses, the machine detects if the soil below has been disturbed at any point in the last 10,000 years,

503
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,600
which in turn can lead to hidden archaeological relics.

504
00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:45,600
Can we see the device in action?

505
00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:47,600
You can push it by all means.

506
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:48,600
Oh really? Absolutely.

507
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,600
You've made a terrible mistake, sir. I promise you I'll break this.

508
00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:54,600
I've been pushing it all day, sir. It's your turn.

509
00:28:57,600 --> 00:28:59,600
About this speed?

510
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:01,600
Perfect.

511
00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:03,600
That's nice and straight.

512
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:11,600
It really is giving us a cross-section view?

513
00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:13,600
Correct, yes.

514
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:16,600
The transmissive signals are going down into the ground.

515
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:25,600
With each pass over the King's Knot, the radar begins to paint a subterranean picture.

516
00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:27,600
But what will it show?

517
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:29,600
What is that, right there?

518
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:33,600
Look at this. That's amazing.

519
00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:46,600
My quest to uncover the historical King Arthur has taken a surprising turn north to Scotland in the Royal Gardens of Sterling Castle.

520
00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:52,600
Here, a team of scientists is hoping to use ground penetrating radar to uncover King Arthur's round table.

521
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,600
What is that, right there?

522
00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:00,600
Look at that! That's amazing.

523
00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:02,600
That's very cool.

524
00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:05,600
That's really good. It's very clear. Very strong.

525
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:12,600
This machine is sort of a tease though, right? Because you find these amazing things on it and now you want to know how deep down is that?

526
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:14,600
That's about 1.2 metres.

527
00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:18,600
Four feet down. But it is possible that it is an object or something?

528
00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:23,600
Yes, no it is an object or something. It's an object or a ground disturbance.

529
00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:26,600
There's been something laid there at some position.

530
00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:31,600
The GPR display tells us there's a clear ground disturbance right below our feet.

531
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:36,600
But this site is protected by Scottish heritage. Could it be evidence of Arthur?

532
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:43,600
The current thinking is that the grounds were used for jousting tournaments designed to honour King Arthur in medieval times.

533
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:47,600
But why were they built here? Was this a place where a real Arthur once sat?

534
00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:52,600
It'll take time to get answers, but something is here.

535
00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:59,600
It's just so amazing to know that there is history and there's archaeology four feet underneath us.

536
00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:00,600
That's right.

537
00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,600
I mean, it's exciting stuff really. Thank you guys so much for your help.

538
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:06,600
Richard, we appreciate it. Thank you guys so much.

539
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:07,600
Good luck on your travel.

540
00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:08,600
Cheers, thank you.

541
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:20,600
With the GPR image from Sterling fresh in my mind, the once laughable idea that King Arthur could have been Scottish is suddenly very tangible.

542
00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:40,600
I steer west into the Highlands. As the ground rises, the cities I pass become villages and the villages come farther and farther apart.

543
00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:49,600
It's up here in one of the more remote areas of Scotland at the ruins of a pre-medieval fort called Denad that I'm meeting Adam Ardrey.

544
00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:58,600
Adam is a Scottish lawyer, judge and author devoted to studying the King Arthur legend.

545
00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:03,600
He has a new theory that is turning the prevailing scholarship about the King on its ear.

546
00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:04,600
Oh my Lord.

547
00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:12,600
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 Denad is.

548
00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,600
Orient me a little bit. What are we standing on here?

549
00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:23,600
We are standing on the hillfort of Denad. It's been the capital of the Scots kingdom for 1500 years.

550
00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:26,600
So how do we link this site to the legend of King Arthur?

551
00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:30,600
The one thing that this area has, that no other place has, is an Arthur.

552
00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:35,600
There was a Scots man, an historical character called Arthur MacAden.

553
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:40,600
And so you think that he is the basis for what we've come to know as the legend of King Arthur?

554
00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:41,600
Yes.

555
00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:45,600
I think he's the historical foundation upon which the legend was built.

556
00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:47,600
So we're talking about the 6th century?

557
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:48,600
Late 6th century, yes.

558
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:53,600
Late 6th century. And this fortress that's here, was this a Christian fortress?

559
00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:55,600
No, this was most certainly not a Christian fortress.

560
00:32:55,600 --> 00:33:00,600
This would be what you would call, what, pre-Christian or I would call it the Old Way of the Druids.

561
00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:02,600
Are you saying that Arthur was Celtic?

562
00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:04,600
Oh yes, Arthur was most certainly Celtic.

563
00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:05,600
And not Christian?

564
00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,600
He was not a Christian man. He was a follower of the Old Way of the Druids.

565
00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,600
To me, this is mind-melting.

566
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:18,600
This king, virtually synonymous with the Holy Grail and the Crusades, was a pagan warrior.

567
00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:23,600
Since Christianity wasn't widespread in Arthur's time, it actually makes a lot of sense.

568
00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:26,600
And he did have a very un-Christian wizard as an advisor.

569
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,600
But Adam has even more of Arthur's myth to deconstruct.

570
00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:35,600
The first thing almost anyone thinks about when they think about King Arthur is the story of the sword and the stone.

571
00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:43,600
In Arthurian legend, the magical sword placed in the stone could not be removed by any man save the true king,

572
00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:47,600
until a teenage Arthur drew the sword and claimed his destiny.

573
00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,600
This is where the actual event happened.

574
00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:03,600
No magic sword, no magic stone, no legend, no myth, just the history.

575
00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:04,600
Where are you?

576
00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:10,600
This is the inauguration stone.

577
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:15,600
And what happened here was a man would put his foot into the footprint,

578
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:21,600
he would be given a sword to hold, and when he stepped out of the footprint holding the sword,

579
00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:24,600
he literally took a sword from a stone.

580
00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:28,600
I brought a sword up and you might want to just do that for yourself.

581
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:29,600
To put my foot in it?

582
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:30,600
Put your foot in it.

583
00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:31,600
Okay.

584
00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:32,600
And you brought a sword here?

585
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:33,600
Yes.

586
00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:35,600
I like that you're travelling with a sword.

587
00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:37,600
Very rarely go anywhere without one, Josh.

588
00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:39,600
That's what Scottish people for you.

589
00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:40,600
Okay, here we go. Ready?

590
00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:43,600
So I just put my right foot into the footprint.

591
00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:46,600
You put your right foot into the footprint, you take the sword.

592
00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:51,600
So this is what Arthur would have done.

593
00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:55,600
And the very fact that you're able to put your foot into this footprint

594
00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:59,600
means that you have de facto control of this area.

595
00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:06,600
So wait, are you saying that I now control all of this?

596
00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:07,600
No, Josh, I'm afraid not.

597
00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:08,600
It doesn't quite work like that.

598
00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:09,600
That's how I heard it.

599
00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:10,600
That's how I heard it.

600
00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:12,600
You told me that I was the king of this area now.

601
00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:15,600
Remember what I was saying to you was that you're carrying a small part of the ceremony.

602
00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:17,600
Listen, who's the one holding the sword here, Adam?

603
00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:20,600
Josh, you're the real king of this area.

604
00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:21,600
Good, there we go.

605
00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:22,600
I like that.

606
00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:24,600
You changed your tune very quickly.

607
00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:35,600
You've just taken a sword from a stone.

608
00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:38,600
How do you feel of this?

609
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:39,600
Yeah.

610
00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:40,600
I can get used to this.

611
00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:41,600
This is one fortress.

612
00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:43,600
This is the ceremonial capital.

613
00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:45,600
There was another fortress not very far from here.

614
00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:48,600
And I believe there is evidence for that just over there.

615
00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:52,600
The peak over there.

616
00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:54,600
About a mile and a half in that direction, yes.

617
00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:57,600
And you think that Arthur's fortress was there?

618
00:35:57,600 --> 00:35:58,600
Yes, I do.

619
00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:00,600
All right, well, let's go check it out.

620
00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:02,600
It does look like it's quite a ways away.

621
00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:05,600
So how are we getting over there?

622
00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:07,600
Same way Arthur did.

623
00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:16,600
Now that I've been unofficially crowned the king of the Britons,

624
00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:21,600
we ride toward what Adam hopes was once the headquarters of King Arthur himself.

625
00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:27,600
Our journey across the Scottish Highlands allows Adam to acquaint me with other Arthurian landmarks.

626
00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:30,600
For example, the Royal Court of Camelot.

627
00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:32,600
Adam, this is the River Ad?

628
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:33,600
Yes.

629
00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:35,600
And so how does that fit into Camelot?

630
00:36:35,600 --> 00:36:37,600
Cam means twisted and gallic.

631
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:39,600
Loth means a marsh.

632
00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:40,600
So Camelot is a marsh?

633
00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:44,600
Camelot was a description of where Arthur lived.

634
00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:47,600
It's funny when we think of Camelot, we think of...

635
00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:48,600
You think of turrets, you think of castles.

636
00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:49,600
Absolutely.

637
00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:52,600
You think of women with pointy hats and chiffon and men in the bait armor.

638
00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:53,600
Yes.

639
00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:56,600
All anachronisms, all things made up later, Josh.

640
00:36:56,600 --> 00:36:58,600
Simply for commercial reasons.

641
00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:02,600
People who were living 700 years after Arthur existed.

642
00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:03,600
Amazing.

643
00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:10,600
What has Adam all worked up is an old Royal Air Force survey of this area from the 1940s.

644
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:12,600
While reviewing the photos for his research,

645
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:17,600
Adam found a small fragment of stonework peeking out from the foliage.

646
00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:21,600
To his knowledge, no one has excavated or explained these ruins,

647
00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:26,600
and he thinks they could be of major significance in the search for the historic King Arthur.

648
00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:29,600
Well, I don't think the horses are going up that.

649
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:32,600
Okay.

650
00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:35,600
All right, on foot from here. Here we go.

651
00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:46,600
Looks like it opens up here.

652
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:47,600
Yes.

653
00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:50,600
And I think that's the summit up there.

654
00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:54,600
So we've got this sort of stacked stone here.

655
00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:55,600
See this, Adam?

656
00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:56,600
Yeah.

657
00:37:56,600 --> 00:37:59,600
It's an unusual place to have field stones high up in a hill.

658
00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:01,600
It does look sort of stacked, doesn't it?

659
00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:02,600
Yes, indeed.

660
00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:03,600
Look at that.

661
00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:07,600
It's all grown over, but it looks like all under here.

662
00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:08,600
It might be a piece of a wall.

663
00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:09,600
Let's follow it up, see where it goes.

664
00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:10,600
Let's see where it goes.

665
00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:11,600
That is so cool.

666
00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:17,600
Looks like it runs under here.

667
00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:21,600
You can see the shape of it still right there.

668
00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:22,600
Yeah.

669
00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:23,600
It might run right up here, too.

670
00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:24,600
More of it.

671
00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:25,600
More of it.

672
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:26,600
More of it.

673
00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:31,600
Every piece of moss underneath it seems to be a wide feature running uphill.

674
00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:32,600
This whole thing, yeah.

675
00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:34,600
Yes, for some reason.

676
00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:35,600
The question is, what is it?

677
00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:38,600
Let's walk on, see what else we can find.

678
00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:39,600
It's exciting, Adam.

679
00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:40,600
It's always exciting.

680
00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:43,600
Just around here.

681
00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:45,600
Oh, my God.

682
00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:46,600
Huge stones.

683
00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:53,600
Running uphill.

684
00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:54,600
This whole thing, yeah.

685
00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:55,600
Yes, for some reason.

686
00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:56,600
The question is, what is it?

687
00:38:56,600 --> 00:38:59,600
Let's walk on, see what else we can find.

688
00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:05,600
Oh, my God.

689
00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:07,600
Huge stones.

690
00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:08,600
Oh, my God.

691
00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:09,600
Huge stones.

692
00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:16,600
Look at that.

693
00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:17,600
Perfectly flat.

694
00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:20,600
The very peak here.

695
00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:21,600
These look totally worked.

696
00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:23,600
They're squared off on the edges.

697
00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:24,600
Totally flat.

698
00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:28,600
It might be a foundation stone or something up here at the top.

699
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:30,600
Looking out over the whole marsh.

700
00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:32,600
That is so cool.

701
00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:36,600
So anything that would have been really built up here in that era would probably have been

702
00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:37,600
wooden, right?

703
00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:40,600
Most likely on the top it would have been wooden probably with a stone foundation.

704
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:41,600
That's right.

705
00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:43,600
So what we're maybe seeing here is just the underside of something.

706
00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:47,600
It certainly looks like someone's made an awful lot of effort to make something of

707
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:50,600
real substance up on the top of this hill.

708
00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:51,600
You know, it's funny.

709
00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:54,600
Everywhere that I've looked, so many people have said to me, oh, it's just a legend.

710
00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:59,600
But what's really amazing to me is the more that we investigated, the more that there seems

711
00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:00,600
to be real history here.

712
00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:02,600
Well, I think there was real history here, Josh.

713
00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:06,600
I think what happened was that Arthur moved from history into legend.

714
00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:11,600
And if one looks at the evidence, you can see that he can move from legend back into history.

715
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:15,600
Someone once said, if you know the truth and you know the legend, print the legend.

716
00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:16,600
Why do that?

717
00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:22,600
Especially when the history is even more wonderful than perhaps the most wonderful story ever told.

718
00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:23,600
That's amazing.

719
00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:24,600
It really is.

720
00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:27,600
To be able to come up here and see this is just so incredible.

721
00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:28,600
Now we've got to get home in the dark, though.

722
00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:30,600
Now we have to get home in the dark, yes.

723
00:40:33,600 --> 00:40:38,600
I've searched every corner of Great Britain, from ruined castles in England, to the deep

724
00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:42,600
caves of Wales, and the vast wilderness of Scotland.

725
00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:45,600
And I think I finally understand King Arthur.

726
00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:48,600
He isn't elusive as much as omnipresent.

727
00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:52,600
It turns out that finding King Arthur is ridiculously easy.

728
00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:53,600
He's everywhere.

729
00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:55,600
Finding the King Arthur?

730
00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:57,600
Good luck.

731
00:40:57,600 --> 00:41:03,600
It's likely that the story is based on a real man, but time has all but swallowed his true identity.

732
00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:10,600
There is evidence hailing from Arthur's time period and excavations that may reveal more clues in the future.

733
00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:17,600
The real Arthur may have even hailed from what is now Scotland or Wales, and he may not have been a Christian king,

734
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:18,600
but a druid warrior.

735
00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:24,600
The legend of the once and future king is so potent because it's so pure.

736
00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:27,600
The most important thing about Arthur isn't where he's from.

737
00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:29,600
It's what he stands for.

738
00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:34,600
Loyalty, honesty, mercy and valor.

739
00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:40,600
Values that have endured for over 1500 years and to which we all aspire.