After decades of study on the Celtic place-names of Britain, and of reading the oldest texts for British history, which have given him world-wide fame as a scholar, Dr Andrew Breeze, who has taught for many years in the University's School of Humanities and Social Sciences, has set out a dramatic new thesis on the historical Arthur and the legends about him.

As is well known, the medieval traditions of Arthur have caused immense debate and confusion about his origins. Now this lecturer in English has written a paper arguing that Arthur really existed, causing a stir in the Scottish national press.

The adventures of Arthur have enchanted readers and poets, above all in the fifteenth-century writings of Sir Thomas Malory on the death of Arthur, but also in film versions from Hollywood and beyond. But it has never been certain whether he ever existed, or where he fought his battles if he did actually exist. The oldest sources on him have posed many problems.

Now, however, Dr Breeze argues that Arthur really existed, as a sixth-century warrior and general, and that he fought all his battles in what are now southern Scotland and the far north of England.

He states that 'People have thought Arthur more of a myth than a historical person.' Nearly a thousand years after he appeared as the hero of saga, proof can now be put forward, not merely that he lived in what is now Scotland, but specifically in the region of Strathclyde, around the modern city of Glasgow.

Through linguistic analysis and many years of studying the original documents, Dr Breeze maintains that Arthur was not a king, but a warlord and heroic leader of the ancient kingdom of Strathlyde. Three of his victories were fairly easy to locate. According to his interpretation, one of them would have been on the River Glen in the modern county of Northumberland.

'The men and women of Scotland can now feel proud in knowing that Arthur came from their land, that he was a brave fighting man, and that after his death his name was given to Scottish princes.' He feel certain that, 'Fifteen centuries after his death, Arthur can be recognized as as a Northern hero of the early sixth century.'

Andrew Breeze has an international reputation as a philologist and medievalist, with a special interest in Celtic Studies. Beside four books, he has published nearly seven hundred reviews and learned papers, and is a Fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Royal Historical Society. He has given conference papers in the USA, Germany, Russia, China, Japan, and many other countries.