Avalon

/av"euh lon'/, n. Celtic Legend.

an island, represented as an earthly paradise in the western seas, to which King Arthur and other heroes were carried at death.

Also, Avallon.

[ < ML (insula) avallonis (Geoffrey of Monmouth) (island) of Avallon, lit., apple tree (island) < a British Celt s. for apple tree, c. Welsh afall (pl. collective), Middle Breton avallenn (sing.), OIr aball (fem.) < *obol-n-, c. Slavic *(j)ablani; see APPLE]

* * *

Island to which Britain's legendary King Arthur was taken after he was mortally wounded in his last battle.

First described by Geoffrey of Monmouth, it was said to be ruled by Morgan le Fay and her eight sisters, all of whom were skilled in the healing arts. Legend held that when Arthur was healed he would return to rule Britain. The tale may have originated in Celtic myths of an elysium for fallen heros. Avalon has sometimes been identified with Glastonbury in Somerset.

* * *

▪ legendary island

      island to which Britain's legendary king Arthur (Arthurian legend) was conveyed for the healing of his wounds after his final battle. It is first mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth's (Geoffrey Of Monmouth) Historia regum Britanniae (c. 1136), while the same author's Vita Merlini (c. 1150) described it as “the island of apples [‘Insula pomorum'], called fortunate.” It was ruled by the enchantress Morgan le Fay and her eight sisters, all of them skilled in the healing arts.

      Geoffrey may have been attempting to connect his “island of apples” with Celtic mythology's traditions of an elysium; and the name Avalon is certainly close to the Welsh word for apple, afal. Sir John Rhys, however (Studies in the Arthurian Legend, 1891), preferred to link the name Avalon with that of Aballach, a (hypothetical) dark Celtic divinity. Avalon has been identified with Glastonbury in Somerset, and this may be connected with Celtic legends about an “isle of glass” inhabited by deceased heroes. It is equally likely to have been an attempt by the monks of Glastonbury to exploit the Arthurian legend for the benefit of their own community.

* * *