My first week in Cornwall has been interesting. The beaches and whitewashed cottages recalls Cape Cod quite a bit for me, but the surprisingly excellent fish and chips at the takeout remind me this is England. Many of the most distinctive aspects about England, such as rolling countrysides with stately castles dotted about, seem magnified in Cornwall.

However, the region’s significance to Britain clearly goes beyond being a quaint holiday resort. Reading Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of England communicated the strong role of Cornwall in British mythology. Per his account, Cornwall’s name is derived from Corineus, whose defeat of the giant Gogamagog on the Cornish coast opened Britain to Trojan settlement. Our visit to Tintagel, the mythical place of conception of Arthur, reinforced the deep sense of history extant in Cornwall. The castle built subsequently on account of the legend provides an interesting manifestation of the effect history has on people (this reminds me of Constantine’s consideration of Troy for his new capital, given the legend of the Aeneid, before he settled on Byzantium). The cave which Tennyson attributed Merlin’s reception of Arthur from the sea to was satisfying to see, but I was much too afraid of scaling the rocks to see the entire interior. Nevertheless, it seems clear to me that Cornwall is a place steeped in history and legend and I look forward to exploring it more (especially when it involves involves Cornish clotted cream ice cream!).