What's all this about King Arthur being a Russian

A. Aha. You've read the latest twist in a long saga. Arthur, King of the Britons, is often claimed by the Welsh and Scottish as their own. Some say he was Roman. Many say he never existed. But the latest theory is that he was from a band of nomadic tribes whose descendants now live in southern Russia.

Q. Who's making this claim

A. Historian Howard Reid, in his book Arthur the Dragon King: the Barbarian Roots of Britain's Greatest Legend. He claims the legend of Arthur is similar to the stories of the ancient nomads who moved into Europe from Central Asia. Reid believes there may be a link between the Sarmatians and their close cousins the Alans, ancient nomads who rampaged through Europe. Their horse skills and sword worship are similar to King Arthur's knights.

Q. Remind me of the conventional view of Arthur
A. Certainly. Arthur led the Knights of the Round Table, married Guinevere, inspired the whole of Britain etc etc. Buried at Glastonbury. Only sleeping. Awaiting the call to help Britain at a time of need. He lived in the Sixth Century.

Q. And that's when the legends were written
A. Oh no. The tales of Merlin, Sir Lancelot and Guinevere and the sword in the stone appeared centuries later in a series of medieval romances. In the legends, Arthur, inspired by the Merlin, was guided in battle by the magic sword Excalibur, which he received from the Lady of the Lake. The adventures tell of Arthur and his knights, including their search for the Holy Grail, the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper.

Q. So what's this new theory
A. Howard Reid believes the stories of chivalry, magic swords, fire rituals and dragons, came from invaders, rather than Britain. The nomads were both sophisticated and great myth-tellers. The incomers, in this case the Sarmatians, might have reached Britain after being defeated by the Romans in the Second Century, when many captured soldiers were sent to Britain to guard Hadrian's Wall.

Q. Does anybody else go along with this
A.Two Arthurian historians, C Scott Littleton and Linda Malcor, have claimed that a Roman general Lucius Artorius Castus, who commanded a group of Sarmatian cavalrymen, was the real King Arthur. The Ossetian people - from the Caucasus in southern Russia - are descended from the Sarmatians and the Alans. And the Ossetians' ancient tales, known as the Nart Sagas, tell of a king called Batraz who had a magic sword.

Q. Anything else in common
A.The Ossentian stories, written down in the 19th Century, include a 'chalice of truth' that hovers in the air like the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. Reid also says the word Excalibur is derived from the Latin for steel, chalybs, which itself comes from the Greek word for a group of famous blacksmiths, the Kalybes. The Kalybes once lived in the same area where Ossetians now live, on the borders of Russia and Georgia.

Q. Has this new theory been welcomed
A. No. One book reviewer thundered: 'It is so dispiriting to see this kind of hogwash disseminated among scholarly circles. There are dragon symbols everywhere, from Welsh mythology and Beowulf to the Old Testament.'

Q. Ouch. Anybody in favour
A. Oh yes. Alexander Dzasokhov, president of the North Ossetian republic. He told The Moscow Times: 'Without a doubt, this evokes the warmest feelings. I'm sure that this news will resound throughout the population. There is much in common with King Arthur and the Ossetian war hero of the Batraz era.'

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By Steve Cunningham