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Camelot
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== Etymology == The name's derivation is uncertain. It has numerous different spellings in medieval French Arthurian romances, including ''Camaalot'', ''Camalot'', ''Chamalot'', ''Camehelot'' (sometimes read as ''Camchilot''), ''Camaaloth'', ''Caamalot'', ''Camahaloth'', ''Camaelot'', ''Kamaalot'', ''Kamaaloth'', ''Kaamalot'', ''Kamahaloth'', ''Kameloth'', ''Kamaelot'', ''Kamelot'', ''Kaamelot'', ''Cameloth'', and ''Gamalaot''.<ref name="Loomis, Roger Sherman 1961, p. 480">Loomis, Roger Sherman, Arthurian tradition & Chrétien de Troyes, Columbia University Press, 1961, p. 480. {{ISBN|0-2318-7865-6}}</ref><ref>Sommer, Heinrich Oskar, The Vulgate Version of the Arthurian Romances: Lestoire de Merlin, Carnegie Institution, 1916, p. 19.{{ISBN missing}}</ref><ref name="Brugger, Ernst 1905, pp. 1-71">Brugger, Ernst, "Beiträge zur Erklärung der arthurischen Geographie", in: Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur, Volume 28, 1905, pp. 1–71.{{ISBN missing}}</ref> Arthurian scholar Ernst Brugger suggested that it was a corruption of the site of Arthur's final battle, the [[Battle of Camlann]], in Welsh tradition.<ref name="Brugger, Ernst 1905, pp. 1-71"/> [[Roger Sherman Loomis]] believed it was derived from ''Cavalon'', a place name that he suggested was a corruption of [[Avalon]] (under the influence of the Breton place name ''Cavallon''). He further suggested that Cavalon became Arthur's capital due to confusion with Arthur's other traditional court at [[Caerleon]] (''Caer Lleon'' in Welsh).<ref name="Loomis, Roger Sherman 1961, p. 480"/> Others have suggested a derivation from the [[British Iron Age]] and [[Roman Britain|Romano-British]] place name [[Camulodunum]], one of the first capitals of [[Roman Britain]] and which would have significance in [[Romano-British culture]]. Indeed, [[John Morris (historian)|John Morris]], the English historian who specialized in the study of the institutions of the [[Roman Empire]] and the history of [[Sub-Roman Britain]], suggested in his book ''The Age of Arthur'' that as the descendants of Romanized Britons looked back to a golden age of peace and prosperity under Rome, the name "Camelot" of Arthurian legend may have referred to the capital of [[Britannia]] (Camulodunum) in Roman times. It is unclear, however, where [[Chrétien de Troyes]] would have encountered the name Camulodunum, or why he would render it as ''Camaalot'', though [[Urban T. Holmes Jr.|Urban T. Holmes]] argued Chrétien could have had access to Book 2 of [[Natural History (Pliny)|Pliny's ''Natural History'']], where it is rendered as ''Camaloduno''.<ref>Nitze, William A. et al. ''Le Haut Livre del Graal: Perlesvaus – Volume 2: Commentary and Notes'', p. 196. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1937.</ref>
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