Sarmatians

A barbarian people who inhabited Russia in Roman times.

One of their tribes was the Alans, whose descendants, the Ossetes, still live in the Caucasus today. The Ossetes have a story very similar to that of the passing of Arthur.

It tells how the hero Batradz received his death wound and told two others to throw his sword into the water. Twice they pretended to have done so but the third time the sword was actually thrown in and the water became turbulent and blood-red.

If this story was a current among the ancient Sarmatians, they could have brought it to Britain, for Sarmatian soldiers served there in the Roman army under the command of Lucius Artorius Castus. The tale of Batradz may have been transferred to this Artorius and he may have been subsequently confused with Arthur.