The Destruction of the Druid Culture at Stonehenge

I have finished my first read through of The Mythology and Rites of the British Druids by Edward Davies. I was absolutely stunned by the thought that Eidol, Earl of Gloucester, the lone survivor of the massacre of the long knives at Stonehenge could possibly be King Arthur, Knight of the Round Table. Intuitively I sensed that the Round Table meant the Beltaine Feast at Stonehenge where Vortigern and Hengist met for a truce meeting. I decided to look for independent verification of this in Wikipedia. Here is what I found:

The Story of the massacre of the long knives did take place in 472 AD. It did take place on Salisbury Plain and it did take place on Beltaine or May Day. It is mentioned in several historical chronicles which I will list. It is commonly thought to have occurred elsewhere.

In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the final entry of 473 AD mentions that Hengist is mentioned as having taken “immense booty” and the Britons as having “fled from them like fire”.

In the History of the Britons it records that three vessels of exiles from Germany arrived in Britain and they were commanded by Hengist and Horsa, two brothers. Vortigern was the King of Britain and in 447 AD received them as friends and gave the brothers the island of Thanet. Vortigern offered them more supplies if they would help him against his enemies. They were allowed to send for more of their countrymen and the messengers returned with sixteen ships and Hengist’s beautiful daughter. Vortigern fell in love with her and promised Hengist whatever he liked to be able to marry her. Hengist demanded Kent in exchange and without consulting the true owner Vortigern agreed.

As father-in-law Hengist demanded the right of being his advisor and suggested more Saxon troops were needed to fight off the Scots and Picts. 40 more ships came with troops and they battled the Picts with Hengist sending for even more reinforcements.

Meanwhile Vortimer had made an enemy of Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, and had gone into hiding at the advice of his council. [Here Wikipedia doesn’t mention it, and it doesn’t seem recorded but Vortimer, son of Vortigern is elected King of Britain and his father forced to step down] Vortimer engages the Saxons and drives them back four times until the Saxons fled to their ships. After a short time Vortimer died and Hengist sent Vortigern an offer of peace. Vortigern, who had once more been elected King of Britain accepted and they agreed to meet on Beltaine at an appointed location where the massacre took place.

In Book 6 Geoffrey records much the same thing. Hengist stayed at Vortigern’s court and assisted him in battle against the Picts. The Saxons fought so bravely that the enemy was speedily put to flight. Hengist kept inviting over more ships and seeing this the Britons tried to get Vortigern to banish the Saxon’s but on account of his wife Vortigern refused. His subjects turned against him and took his son Vortimer as their king. Vortimer drove the Saxons back, but was later poisoned by Rowena, his mother-in-law. Vortigern returned to the throne and Hengist returned with an army of 300,000 men. Vortigern resolved to fight them. Rowena told her father this and he changed his plans and offered a truce that led to the feast of the long knives.

In Book 8 Merlin prophesied to Vortigern that the brothers Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther Pendragon would return to have their revenge and defeat the Saxons. Vortigern had earlier killed their brother and father. [This must have happened immediately after the Feast of the Long Knives and is the first mention of Merlin the Druid] They arrived the next day and after rallying the disbursed Britons Aurelius was proclaimed King. Eidol, Duke of Gloucester, told Aurelius that he greatly wished to meet Hengist in combat, and explained that he had been at the treachery of the long knives.

So the important facts of the story bear out historically. The Feast of the Long Knives actually took place as described. Eidol, Duke of Gloucester, [High Priest, President of the Circle, Knight of the Inclosure] was one of the three that survived.

Forensic evidence also proves that Stonehenge was a massive place of death. I read up on Stonehenge and that checks out as well. Something really bad happened at Stonehenge and it never recovered.

It is safe to say that Eidol, Duke of Gloucester, was the Knight of the Round Table and that the Round Table was the Feast at Stonehenge where the massacre of the Long Knives actually took place. The heroes or champions dressed in purple so that they could be identified and killed more easily were the celebrated Knights of the Round Table who were unarmed and perished in the massacre. Merlin the Druid is also said to prophesize to King Vortigern and be alive at this time. To me this is definitive proof that Eidol is the mythical King Arthur.

It can also be definitively concluded that this slaughter of 360 [460 British Barons and consuls in Book 6] British nobles and an unnamed number of Druids at Stonehenge during the largest and most sacred feast of the year broke the back of the Druid culture. The massive “booty” reported in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was undoubtedly the treasure of the temple at Stonehenge that was taken.

The only difficulty with the historical proofs seems to be that the Bard Aneurin was not alive during this time and the Song of Gododin not attributed to the Feast of the Long Knives but some other battle.

However, it is only after this massacre at Stonehenge that the Druids seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth leaving only the Bards to tell their story in the Legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.