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We could start with
Geoffrey
of Monmouth, who
names Glastonbury the "isle of apples." It is Geoffrey who
gives us the mystical Isle of Avalon (Insula Avallonis),
ruled by Morgan,
head of the nine maidens. Welsh tradition speaks of
Avallach, a mystical island; and the Spoils of Annwn
features Annwn,
a mystical place across the water referred to at one point
as the "fort of glass." One opportunistic translator took
this to mean Glastonbury, and the legend was off and
running. Indeed, some researchers think that Glastonbury Tor
was once an island, possibly in the 5th and 6th centuries.
However, William
of Malmesbury,
who wrote just before Geoffrey, stayed in Glastonbury in
1129 but did not mention the Avalon story in his History
of the British Kings.
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