The Round Table

Although now known to have been constructed in the late 13th century, and painted in its present form for King Henry VIII, the table has for centuries been venerated by generations of tourists as the mysterious table of the 'Once and Future King' Arthur.

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The table is 5.5 metres in diameter, weighing 1200kg and is constructed from English oak.

The first written accounts of the Arthurian story appeared in 1130 in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 'History of the Kings of Britain', which maintains that Merlin had the 15-year-old Arthur crowned at nearby Silchester.

However, the first mention of the Round Table is Robert Wace's Roman de Brut (1155), which says that Arthur seated his knights at a round table so that all should be equal. In Thomas Malory's Morte D'Arthur, the table is a wedding gift to Arthur from Guinevere's father, Leodegrance.

The Inscription and names of the knights

The inscription round the centre of the Table and the names of the knights round the margin appear as follow:

This is the rownde table of kyng Arthur w(ith) xxiiii of his namyde knyattes.

S(ir) galahallt Sir Galahad
S(ir) launcelot deulake Sir Lancelot
S(ir) gauen Sir Gawaine
S(ir) p(er)cyvale Sir Percival
S(ir) Iyonell Sir Lionel
S(ir) trystram delyens Sir Tristan
S(ir) garethe Sir Gareth
S(ir) bedwere Sir Bedivere
S(ir) blubrys Sir Blioberis
S(ir) lacotemale tayle Sir La cotemal tail
S(ir) lucane Sir Lucan
S(ir) plomyd Sir Palamedes
S(ir) lamorak Sir Lamorak
S(ir) born de ganys Sir Bors
S(ir) safer Sir Saphar
S(ir) pelleus Sir Pellinore
S(ir) kay Sir Kay
S(ir) Ectorde marys Sir Ector
S(ir) dagonet Sir Dagonet
S(ir) degore Sir Degore
S(ir) brumear Sir Brunar
S(ir) lybyus dyscovy(us) Sir Guinglain
S(ir) Alynore Sir Alymore
S(ir) mordrede Sir Modred

The Great Hall and Round Table, Winchester

The Round Table

The Inscription and names of the knights