Early References to a Real Arthur: there are only three early sources that mention Arthur. The earliest, by date of composition, is a British poem, "Gododdin", which was probably composed around the year 600. The next reference comes from the Historia Brittonum, usually attributed to Nennius, a Welsh ecclesiastic who was probably active in the early ninth century. The third sources is the Annales Cambriae a series of annals that give the date of Mons Badonicus as 516, and Arthur's death as occurring in 537.

Origins of the Round Table

From: Arthurian Chronicles, Excursus II.-- The Round Table

Our earliest authority for the story of the Round Table is Wace. He and Layamon agree in calling it a tale of the Britons, and in saying that Arthur had it made to prevent rivalry as to place among his vassals when they sat at meat. Layamon, however, expands the few lines that Wace devotes to the subject into one of his longest additions to his source, by introducing the story of a savage fight for precedence at a court feast, which was the immediate cause for fashioning the Round Table, a magical object.

Ancient sources prove that the Celts had a grievous habit of quarrelling about precedence at banquets, probably because it was their custom to bestow the largest portion of meat upon the bravest warrior. It was also their practice to banquet seated in a circle with the most valiant chieftain of the company placed in the middle, possibly owing to the circular form of their huts, possibly for the sake of avoiding the disputes that so commonly disturbed their feastings. The Round Table, accordingly, is to be regarded as a Pan-Celtic institution of early date, and as one of the belongings that would naturally be attributed by popular tradition to any peculiarly distinguished leader.

Layamon's version so closely parallels early Celtic stories of banquet fights, and has so barbaric a tone, as to make it evident that he is here recounting a folk-tale of pure Celtic origin, which must have been connected with Arthur before his time, and probably before that of Wace; for this story was undoubtedly one of those "many fables" which Wace says the Britons told about the Round Table, but which he does not incorporate into his narrative.

The Knights

1. Sir Accolon of Gaul Accolon of Gaul, the paramour of Morgan la Fée
2. Sir Aglovale, the first son of King Pellinore of Listinoise to be begotten in wedlock. Brother of Lamorak, Dornar and Percivale. Half brother of Sir Tor, which was King Pellinore’s first son and begotten of Aryes, wife of the cowherd. Aglovale appears prominently in The Romance of Morien. The Life Of Sir Aglovale De Galis By Clemence Housman
3. Sir Agravaine, a nephew of King Arthur and the second son of King Lot of Orkney and Lothian and Morgause. Brother to Gawain, Gaheris and Gareth. His half-brother is Mordred. Sir Agravaine had ill-will to Queen Guenevere, and professed to believed Mordred's tales. So the two went to King Arthur with their stories.
4. Sir Alisaunder or Alisander, son of the good prince Boudwine and his wife Anglides. Sir Mark, king of Cornwall, murdered Sir Boudwine, who was his brother, while Alisaunder was a mere child. Le Morte d'Arthur
5. King Arthur
6. King Bagdemagus, the elder brother of Donadix and Tarsan, nephews of King Uriens of Gore. He attempted to take the adventurous shield reserved for Galahad, and as punishment was struck down by a knight in white armour outside the abbey. Morte d’Arthur Book XIII Chapter IX
7. Sir Anton. Tennyson, in Idylls of the King, says that Merlin gave Arthur, when an infant, to sir Anton and his lady to bring up, and they brought him up as their own son. This does not correspond with Malory, who states in Le Morte d'Arthur that Arthur made Sir Kay his seneschal because he was his foster-brother.
8. Sir Balan
9. Sir Balin, or "Balin le Savage," knight of the two swords. He was a Northumberland knight, and being taken captive, was imprisoned six months by king Arthur.
10. King Ban, king of Benwick [Brittany], father of Sir Launcelot, and brother of Bors, king of Gaul. This "shadowy king of a still more shadowy kingdom" came over with his royal brother to the aid of Arthur, when, at the beginning of his reign, the eleven kings leagued against him. Le Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory. Book IV Chapter I
11. Beaumains, ("big hands"), a nickname which sir Kay, Arthur's steward, gave to Gareth when he was kitchen drudge in the palace. "He had the largest hands that ever man saw." What Beaumains Asked Of The King
12. Sir Bedivere (Bedwyr), the cup bearer of King Arthur and one of the knights that appears earliest in the Arthurian chronicles.
13. Sir Bors de Ganis, son of King of Gannes nephew of Sir Launcelot. Defeated Sir Pedivere of the Straight Marches
14. King Bors of Gaul, brother of king Ban of Benwicke [Brittany]. They went to the aid of Arthur when he was first established on the British throne, and Arthur promised in return to aid them against king Claudas, "a mighty man of men," who warred against them.
15. Sir Borre, natural son of king Arthur. His mother was Lyonors, an earl's daughter, who came to do homage to the young king. Le Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory. Book I
16. Sir Breunor le Noire, also known as "La Cote Male Taile". Wore the ill-fitting coat of his slain father as a token of the vow he made for vengeance.
17. Sir Cador the Earl of Cornwall. Married a mysterious maiden of unearthly beauty who is cast off by her unnatural father and drifts to the shores of Wales, where she wins Sir Cador’s love. Sir Cador goes abroad, and the young wife is once more turned adrift by an intriguing mother-in-law. She reaches Rome and there, in due course, she is happily discovered by the griefstricken Cador.
18. Sir Caradoc, aka Caradoc Vreichvras (more correctly in Welsh, Caradog Freichfras, meaning Caradoc Strong (or Stout) Arm) was a semi-legendary ancestor to the kings of Gwent living during the 5th or 6th century. He is remembered in Arthurian legend as a Knight of the Round Table as Caradoc Briefbras (French 'Caradog Short Arm'). Was Caradoc King Arthur? A sixth century Welsh king, Caradoc Vreichvras, is identified as Cerdic of Wessex, and the origin of the Arthurian legend is explained.
19. Sir Colgrevance aka Calogrenant, a cousin of Sir Ywain, he first appears in Chrétien de Troyes' Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, where he finds a magic spring in the woods which could create a huge storm.
20. Sir Constantine, son of Cador, who became king after Arthur's death. Arthur gave him and Sir Baudwin the joint-regency of Britain when he left to fight against Emperor Lucius of Rome.
21. Sir Dagonet, of the long asses’ ears, the court jester. In Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" Dagonet appears in "The Last Tournament" he is the only one of the court who could foresee the coming doom of the kingdom.
22. Sir Dinadan, the son of Sir Breunor Senior and brother of Sir Breunor le Noir 'La Cote Male Taile'. Lancelot puts him in a dress after defeating him in a joust.
23. Sir Ector, Arthur's foster father and Sir Kay's father. "a lord of fair livelihood in many parts in England and Wales....he made fiaunce to the king for to nourish the child like as the king desired; and there the king granted Sir Ector great rewards." Le Morte d'Arthur Book I, Chapter I
    
24. Sir Ector de Marys. Arthur always called father. He spent seven years looking for Sir Lancelot through all the land.
25. Sir Elyan the White, the son of Sir Bors. Elyan helps his cousin Lancelot rescue Guinevere after their affair is exposed. He eventually became Emperor of Constantinople.
26. Sir Epinogris, son of the king of Northumberland. He loved an earl's daughter, but slew the earl in a knightly combat.
27. Sir Erec, in Erec et Enide he undertakes a long, arduous trip with his wife where she is forbidden to speak to him.
28. Sir Gaheris, a son of Morgause and King Lot of Orkney and Lothian. Brothers to Gawain, Agravaine, Gareth and a half-brother to Mordred. Gaheris beheads his mother and hunts down Lamorak.
29. Sir Galahad, a knight of pure heart and great courage, the son of Sir Lancelot and Elaine of Carbonek, Merlin prophesies that Galahad would surpass his father in valor and be successful in his search for the Holy Grail. No sooner does he find it than he is taken up to heaven. How Sir Galahad Found The Graal And Died Of That Finding
30. Sir Galahaut, Lord of the Distant Isles, he challenges King Arthur for possession of his realm but surrenders after falling in love with Lancelot
31. Sir Galeshin, a son of Elaine of Tintagil and King Nentres of Garlot and a nephew of Arthur.
32. Sir Gareth, the son of Lot and of Morgause, King Arthur's sister. Brother to Gawain, Gaheris, Agravaine, and half brother of Mordred. Book VII in Le Morte d'Arthur tells how he became a knight. Gareth and Lynette and Gareth and Enid in the Idylls of the King.
33. Sir Gawain, called the Golden–Tongued, because he was the most courteous knight in Arthur’s court. Aka Gawaine, Walganus, Balbhuaidh and Gwalchmai, he appears in the Mabinogion in Kilhwch and Olwen and Sir Gawayne and The Green Knight
34. Sir Geraint, son of King Erbin of Dumnonia, a Knight of Devon. The Adventures Of Geraint. Marriage of Geraint and Geraint and Enid in Idylls of the King
35. Sir Gilbert, noted for the sanative virtue of his sword and cere-cloth.
36. Sir Gingalain, Gawain's son. Had a fierce loyalty to his king and was a defender of the poor. Also known as Gwalltafwyn, he rescued a queen and later married her. Also known as Le Bel Inconnu "The "Fair Unknown", Guinglain, Gingalin, Gliglois, Wigalois
37. Sir Griflet le Fise de Dieu, the cousin of Sir Lucan and Sir Bedivere and one of Arthur's chief advisors.
38. King Hoel, the son of Arthur's sister by Dubricius, king of the Armorican Britons, who sent fifteen thousand men to Arthur's assistance.
39. Sir Ironside, Red Knight of the Red Lands. “He had the strength of seven men, and every day his strength went on increasing till noon.”
40. Sir Kay le Seneschal (Cai, Caius), Arthur's stepbrother, son of Sir Hector, made knight at All Hallowmass. In Chretien DeTroyes' The Knight with the Lion he is admonished by the queen.
41. Sir Lamoracke du Galis, the son of King Pellinore and the brother of Tor, Aglovale, Percival, the Grail maiden Dindrane. He has an affair with Lot's widow Morgause. Gaheris catches the lovers at it and he beheads her.
42. Sir Lancelot, Launcelot du Lac, the flower of bravery and the father of Sir Galahad. The downfall of Arthur lies in the adultury of Queen Guinevere and Lancelot. An Adventure of Sir Lancelot
43. Sir Lavaine, brother of Elaine, and son of the lord of Astolat.
44. King Leodegraunce of the land of Cameliard, Guinevere's father and keeper of the Round Table. When Ryence, King of North Wales, was making war upon King Leodegrance Arthur, with Kings Ban and Bors and twenty thousand men came to Camelgard and rescued Leodegrance, and slew ten thousand of Ryence’s men and put him to flight.
45. Sir Lionel, the younger son of King Bors of Gaunnes, found by Sir Bors, his brother naked and bound with thorns. When their father dies in battle against King Claudas, Lionel and Bors are rescued by the Lady of the Lake and raised in her underwater kingdom alongside her stepson Lancelot.
46. Sir Lucan, the Butler of King Arthur, one of the last knights at the king's side at the Battle of Camlann. He died foaming at the mouth, and speechless. The End Of It All
47. Sir Mador de la Porte, a Scottish knight who accused queen Guinever of having poisoned his brother.
48. Sir Maleagant, the son of good King Bagdemagus. He abducted Guinevere who was later rescued by Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart
49. Sir Mark, was a wily, treacherous coward, hated and despised by all true knights.
50. Sir Meliant de Lis, the seventh of the excellent knights mentioned in Erec Et Enide
51. Modred, always called “the traitor.” While King Arthur was absent, warring with the Romans, Modred was left regent, but usurped the crown, and married his aunt, the queen
52. Sir Mordred, Arthur's illegitimate son by his half-sister Morgause and destroyer of the kingdom. In the Annales Cambriae he is called Medraut and fell in the year 537.
53. Sir Morholt, an Irish knight killed by Tristan. He appears in the Tristan and Iseult and Erec Et Enide
54. Sir Palomides son and heir of Sir Astlabor. His brothers were Sir Safire and Sir Segwaridês. He is always called the Saracen, meaning “unchristened.”
55. Sir Parzival, was brought up by a widowed mother, in solitude, but when grown to manhood, two wandering knights persuaded him to go to the court of King Arthur.
56. Sir Pelleas, the stammering knights who falls in love with, but is spurned by, Ettarre. Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, enchants Pelleas to fall out of love with her. Ettarre dies of grief and Pelleas falls in love with the Lady of the Lake and joins her in her underwater realm. Idylls of the King. Chapter IX: Pelleas and Ettarre
57. Sir Pelles, of Corbin Castle, “king of the foragn land and nigh cousin of Joseph of Arimathy.” He was father of Sir Eliazar, and of the Lady Elaine, who fell in love with Sir Launcelot
58. King Pellinore of The Isles. king of Listenoise, son of King Pellam and brother of Kings Pelles and Alain. Famous for his hunting of the Questing Beast
59. Sir Percival of Gales, who was considered to be one of the three great knights of the Round Table. The father of Sir Percival was king Pellinore who fought a terrible a battle with King Arthur. The Book of Sir Percival
60. Sir Pereard, the Black Knight of the Black Lands, one of the four brothers who kept the passages to Castle Perilous.
61. Sir Peredur, son of Evrawe, called “Sir Peredur of the Long Spear”. He was for many years called “The Dumb Youth,” from a vow he made to speak to no Christian till Angharad of the Golden Hand loved him better than she loved any other man.
62. Sir Perimones, one of the four brothers who kept the passages of Castle Perilous.
63. Sir Pertolope, the Green Knight. One of the four brothers who kept the passages to Castle Perilous.
64. Sir Persaunt of Inde. One of the four brothers who kept the passages to Castle Perilous
65. Sir Pinel le Savage, he hated Sir Gawaine because he had slain Sir Lamorak du Galis, his cousin. He put poison into some apples but Sir Patrise took a poisoned apple, and in a few moments he lay dead and stark in his seat.
66. Sir Priamus, possessed a phial, full of four waters that came from paradise. These waters instantly healed any wounds which were touched by them.
67. Sir Ryence, king of Wales, Ireland, and many of the isles. King Ryence, in scorn, sent a messenger to Arthur to say “he had purfled a mantel with the beards of kings; but the mantel lacked one more beard to complete the lining.
68. Sir Sagramore le De Sirous. Knighted at the age of fifteen after helping to defeat Arthur's Saxon enemies
69. Sir Safir, son of King Esclabor and brother of Sirs Palomides and Segwarides
70. Sir Segwarides, a son of the Saracen king Esclabor and brother to Palamedes and Safir. He is killed trying to repel Sir Launcelot's rescue of Guinevere
71. Sir Suppinabiles
72. Sir Turquine, had sixty-four of king Arth ur’s knights in prison, all of whom he had vanquished by his own hand.
73. Sir Torre and his brother Aglovale are among the knights charged with defending the execution of Guinevere; they both die when Lancelot and his men rescue the queen
74. Sir Tristram the son of Blancheflor and Rivale and the nephew of King Mark of Cornwall, sent to fetch Iseult back from Ireland to wed the king. However, he and Iseult accidentally consume a love potion while en route and fall helplessly in love. Tristan in The Myth of the Birth of the Hero by Otto Rank. Romance of Tristan And Iseult
75. King Uriens of Gore, married Arthur’s sister, Morgan le Fay. He initially opposed Arthur’s ascendance to the throne after Uther’s death, but upon defeat, he become Arthur’s ally.
76. Sir Urre. Being wounded, the king and his chief knights tried on him the effect of “handling the wounds” but failed.
77. Sir Vanoc, son of Merlin.
78. Sir Ywain (Owain) the Knight of the Lion, son of King Uriens of Gore. Urien is Morgan le Fay's husband in the continental romances, while Owain mab Urien is the historical figure behind their son Ywain.
79. Sir Ywain the Bastard, also son of Uriens and Morgause, the older Ywain is the child of Urien and his wife Morgan le Fay, King Urien sired Ywain the Bastard with the wife of his seneschal

The Knights of the Round Table from Book XIX of Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte D'Arthur". These are the Knights who attempted to help in the healing of Sir Urre of Hungary:

1. King Arthur
2. King Clarence of Northumberland
3. Sir Barant le Apres, King of the Hundred Knights
4. King Uriens of Gore
5. King Anguish of Ireland
6. King Nentres of Garloth
7. King Carados of Scotland
8. Duke Galahad the Haut Prince
9. Sir Constantine of Cornwall
10. Duke Chaleins of Clarence
11. Earl Ulbause
12. Earl Lambaile
13. Earl Aristause
14. Sir Gawaine
15. Sir Gingalin
16. Sir Florence
17. Sir Lovel
18. Sir Agravaine
19. Sir Gaheris
20. Sir Mordred
21. Sir Gareth
22. Sir Launcelot
23. Sir Lionel
24. Sir Ector de Maris
25. Sir Bors de Ganis
26. Sir Blamore de Ganis
27. Sir Bleoberis de Ganis
28. Sir Gahalantine
29. Sir Galihodin
30. Sir Menaduke
31. Sir Villiars the Valiant
32. Sir Hebes le Renoumes
33. Sir Sagramore le De
34. Sirous
35. Sir Dodinas le Savage
36. Sir Dinadan
37. Sir Bruin le Noire, La Cote Male Taile
38. Sir Kay the Seneschal
39. Sir Kay de Stranges
40. Sir Meliot de Logris
41. Sir Petipase of Winchelsea
42. Sir Galleron of Galway
43. Sir Melion of the Mountain
44. Sir Cardok
45. Sir Uwaine les Avoutres
46. Sir Ozanna le Cure Hardy
47. Sir Astomar
48. Sir Gromere
49. Sir Cosselm
50. Sir Servause le Breuse
51. Sir Aglovale
52. Sir Durnore
53. Sir Tor
54. Sir Lamorak
55. Sir Percivale
56. Sir Galahad
57. Sir Griflet le Fise de Dieu
58. Sir Lucan the Butler
59. Sir Bedevere
60. Sir Brandiles
61. Sir Clegis
62. Sir Sadok
63. Sir Dinas le Seneschal of Cornwall
64. Sir Fergus
65. Sir Driant
66. Sir Lambegus
67. Sir Clarrus of Cleremont
68. Sir Cloddrus
69. Sir Hectimere
70. Sir Edward of Carnarvon
71. Sir Dinas
72. Sir Priamus
73. Sir Tristram
74. Sir Hellaine le Blank
75. Sir Brian de Listinoise
76. Sir Gautere
77. Sir Reynold
78. Sir Gillemere
79. Sir Guyart le Petite
80. Sir Bellangere le Beuse
81. Sir Alisander le Ophelin
82. Sir Andred
83. Sir Morganore
84. Sir Sentraile
85. Sir Suppinabilis
86. Sir Bellangere le Orgulous
87. Sir Nerovens
88. Sir Plenorius
89. Sir Darras
90. Sir Harry le Fise Lake
91. Sir Erminide
92. Sir Palomides
93. Sir Selises of the Dolorous Tower
94. Sir Edward of Orkney
95. Sir Ironside of the Red Lands
96. Sir Arrok de Grevaunt
97. Sir Degrane Sunace Velany
98. Sir Epinogris of Northumberland
99. Sir Pelleas
100. Sir Lamiel of Cardiff
101. Sir Plaine de Force
102. Sir Melleausde Lile
103. Sir Bohart le Cure Hardy
104. Sir Mador de la Porte
105. Sir Colgrevance
106. Sir Hervise de la Forest Savage
107. Sir Marrok
108. Sir Persaunt
109. Sir Pedivere of the Straight Marches
110. Sir Pertilope the Green Knight
111. Sir Perimones the Red Knight

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Twelve Knights of the Round Table

Dryden says there were twelve paladins and twelve knights of the Round Table. The table was made for 150, but as twelve is the orthodox number, the following n ames hold the most conspicuous places:
(1) Launcelot,
(2) Tristram,
(3) Lamoracke, the three bravest;
(4) Tor, the first made;
(5) Galahad, the chaste;
(6) Gaw Ain, the courteous;
(7) Gareth, the big-handed;
(8) Palomides, the Saracen or unbaptized;
(9) Kay, the rude and boastful;
(10) Mark, the dastard;
(11) Mordred, the traitor; and the twelfth, as in the case of the paladins, must be selected from one of the following names, all of which are seated with the prince in the frontispiece attached to the History of Prince Arthur, compiled by sir T. Malory in 1470: Sirs Acolon, Ballamore, Beleobus, Belvoure, Bersunt, Bors, Ector de Maris, Ewain, Floll, Gaheris, Galohalt, Grislet, Lionell, Marhaus, Paginet, Pelleas, Percival, Sagris, Superabilis, and Turquine.

Or we may take from the Mabinogion the three “battle knights,” Cadwr, Launcelot, and Owain; the three “counselling knights,” Kynon, Aron, and Llywarch Hên; the three “diademed knights,” Kai, Trystan, and Gwevyl; and the three “golden-tongued,” Gwalchmai, Drudwas, and Eliwlod, many of which are unknown in modern story.

Sir Walter Scott names sixteen of renown, seated round the king—
There Galaad sat with manly grace,
Yet maiden meekness in his face;
There Morolt of the iron mace;
And lovelorn Tristrem there;
And Dinadam, with lively glance;
And Lanval, with the fairy lance;
And Mordred, with his looks askance;
Brxnor and Belvidere.
Why should I tell of numbers more?
Sir Cay, sir Banier, and sir Bore,
Sir Caradoc the keen,
And gentle Gawain’s courteous lore,
Hector de Mares, and Pellinore,
And Lancelot, that evermore
Looked stol’n-wise on the queen.
Scott: Bridal of Triermain, ii. 13 (1813).

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