Avalon: A Real Island Obscured by Legend, or Just a Legendary Island?

Like many mythical paradise isles, Avalon has captured the imagination of generations of writers since the island was first mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae or History of the Kings of Britain, written in 1136 AD. Many explorers and thinkers have tried to find the actual location of the legendary island, suggesting places in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and even places in the southern hemisphere. Some of the most popular suggestions for the location of Avalon include the Isle of Man and Glastonbury. Despite the popularity of the idea, there does not seem to be much evidence that Avalon was based on a real place and it may have been little more than a myth derived from earlier Celtic myths about otherworldly paradise islands.

An artist’s interpretation of Avalon. (Timflanaganauthor)