Camelot, a city of shadowy palaces
And stately, rich in emblem and the work
Of ancient kings who did their days in stone.
—Tennyson
If King Arthur ever existed, he was hardly the Lerner & Loewe hero who ruled so romantically over the fabled Camelot. He was more likely a quarrelsome and ruthless local chieftain who badgered monks, stole their cattle, and led a hardy band of early English Christians in clobbering barbarian invaders at the battle of Mount Badon in A.D. 517. Still, avid Arthurians yearn to prove either version—and it now looks...