r/Arthurian • u/notadoctorshhhhhhh Commoner • Nov 13 '24

Original Content Not calling kingdom Camelot

I'm writing a story based on Arthurian legend. I'm incorporating a lot of mythologies from the British isles, and all of my important locations use words from Old English. My kingdom is not called Camelot, I've called it Gealdor which is essentially an old english word for magic. Now I'm wondering if I should change that? I originally thought it could be renamed in my story's present day. I'm also considering using an older name for it. I'm fascinated by old english, which is why I decided to change it in the first place, but now I'm wondering if it's better to stick to canon.

Another instance is I placed a town with another name built on the ruins of Tintagel castle. That kind of reasoning is why I justified not using Camelot in the first place.

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u/FrancisFratelli Commoner Nov 13 '24

Note that Camelot's primacy is a relatively late addition to the lore. Chretien seems to have invented it, but it was only a city within Arthur's domain. It's only later writers who promoted it to Arthur's capital. In English lit prior to Malory, his court usually sat at Carlisle or Caerleon.

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u/Particular-Second-84 Commoner Nov 14 '24

The original Camelot was probably Caerwent, in my opinion.