GLASTONBURY is a small town in Somerset; the town is particularly notable for the myths and legends surrounding a nearby hill, rising up from the otherwise flat landscape of the Somerset Levels, which looks man-made (but isn't), Glastonbury Tor. These myths concern Joseph of Arimathea and the Holy Grail, and also King Arthur. The Joseph of Arimathea legend relates to the idea that Glastonbury was the birthplace of Christianity in the British Isles, and that the first British church was built there at Joseph's behest to house the Holy Grail, 30 or so years after the death of Jesus. The legend also says that earlier Joseph had visited Glastonbury along with Jesus as a Child. Joseph is said to have arrived in Glastonbury by boat over the flooded Somerset Levels. On disembarking he stuck his staff into the ground, which flowered miraculously into the Glastonbury Thorn (or Holy Thorn). This is the explanation behind the existence of a hybrid hawthorn tree that only grows within a few miles of Glastonbury. In some versions of the Arthurian myth, Glastonbury is conceived of as the legendary island of Avalon.
- Abbots of Glastonbury Abbey.
- St. Albans,
- High Ham parish,
- North Cheriton parish,
- Abbey of Cleve,
- the Downs,
- Dorchester,
- Yeovil,
- Winchester,
- the Old Saxon southwest,
- The Vendel era (550-793) of the Constantinian Shift
The Avalon Peninsula is a large peninsula that makes up the southeast portion of the island of Newfoundland.
Avalon (probably from the Celtic word abal: apple) is a legendary island somewhere in the British Isles, famous for its beautiful apples. The concept of such an "Isle of the Blessed" has parallels in other Indo-European mythology, in particular Tír na nÓg and the Greek Hesperides, the latter also noted for its apples. Avalon is sometimes referred to as the legendary location where Jesus visited the British Isles with Joseph of Arimathea and that it was later the site of the first church in Britain. This location of the Isle of Avalon is usually associated with present day Glastonbury. It is also said to be the place where the body of King Arthur is buried. He was supposedly brought there via boat by his half sister, Morgan le Fay. According to some legends Arthur merely sleeps there, to awaken at some future time.
At the Council of Constance in 1417, the legend maintained that Joseph of Arimathea was sent by St. Philip to Britain in 63 AD as a head of a band of missionaries, it was there that he established a curch at Glastonbury and it was first recorded in the twelfth century. William of Malmesbury in local monastic sources, discovered the unnamed author of the Joseph story. Without regarding Joseph as the founder, Malmesbury was convinced that the church at Glastonbury was the earliest to be planted in Britain. Features of it are the story of the Holy Grail, the identification of Glastonbury as Arthur's Avalon, the flowering thornbush, and the residence of abbot Saint Patrick there.
