One of them most well known stories to come out of the British Isles is that of an ancient king named Arthur. In 1136, Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote the chronicles of the Kings of Britain, and included the story of King Arthur. It was said that he was the greatest king in British history, and that when England needed him most, he would return. However, there was little else written about him. In recent years, though, evidence has come about that leads scholars to believe that these stories were based on a real person. There are a few references to a 5th or 6th century general by the name of Ambrosius, who helped the Britons fight against the Anglo-Saxons. Also, according to the story, King Arthur was born at Tintagel castle in what is now Cornwall. Among the ruins of this castle, an engraved slate was found bearing the name, "Arthnou", leaving many thinking that this could be a reference to King Arthur.

  We take it for granted that most of what we read about our ancient ancestors, was purely mythical. We read about the ancient gods and goddesses of various societies, and laugh at the prospect that people actually believed that these deities were real. Is it possible that much of what we think to be mythic, could be based on real facts. For example, most of us know the story of the Greeks’ great hero, Heracles. Could he have been an actual person? Though no archaeological evidence has ever said otherwise, it is possible that there was a real person on whom Heracles was based. Was that his real name? Who knows. The point is that we don’t know all there is to know about the past. What is fiction today, could be fact tomorrow.

One of Shakespeare’s greatest works was the story of MacBeth, a tyrannical king of Scotland. However, the real King MacBeth was born in 1005 AD, grandson of Malcolm II. His father was murdered in 1020 AD and in 1034 AD, his cousin Duncan was crowned king of Scotland. Duncan was a power hungry leader who spent most of the next 6 years in battle. In 1040 AD, Duncan died in battle and MacBeth was crowned high king. He was seen as a peaceful and benevolent king, and ruled for 17 years. He died in 1057 AD when Duncan’s son, Malcolm MacDuncan, claimed his right to the throne. He was crowned kind in 1058 AD as Malcolm III. The death of MacBeth is seen as the end of the Celtic way of life in Scotland.

  When we think of the term "Boy King", most people instantly think of King Tut. However, there are many "boy kings" throughout the history of the world. King Tut wasn’t the only boy king of the ancient Egyptians. Pharaoh Pepe II ruled Egypt for more than 60 years, after ascending to the throne at the age of 6. In ancient Rome, Gordian III was named Emperor in 238 AD, at the age of 13. King Joash ruled the kingdom of Judah for 37 years, after taking his rightful place as ruler at the tender age of 7. King Alexander III of Scotland was born in 1241 AD and became king only 8 years later. Though they were only figureheads until they were old enough to rule on their own, many of histories great civilizations were ruled by boy kings.

There are many theories as to the origins of mythical beasts such as the Hydra and the Cyclops, however the best theory I’ve heard on this so far is that these beasts were based on actual animals, or rather their bones. It is believed that the tales that ancient Europeans told of fierce dragons came from them finding dinosaur bones, and not knowing what they really were. They had no idea that the bones had been in the ground for millions of years, they assumed that something had died in that spot more recently, and that others may still be around. Scholars also believe that the Cyclops was based on Mammoth skulls. This is due to the fact that the hole where the trunk and tusks would have met, looks similar to a one-eyed monster.