Magic

I'm currently in the middle of "Art and Physics" by Leonard Shlain and it has got me thinking about history. I've also started watching the tv series "Merlin" and it has got me thinking about legend. What is legend or myth but folklore, folk storytelling, folktale, oral literature before the printing press, morality through art.
I generally hated history because I really can't ever remember dates (ever) and to me that seemed a very important thing. But with "Art and Physics", for some reason I started to finally make the connections between artistic movements and certain history (specifically of the sciences in the book) and it has become more about flow than dates. Sure dates become useful in grounding information but everything effects the next and you need to keep that in mind. If you can figure out that connection, that transition, you don't need to remember the dates. What and exhilarating feeling! Discovering I like history and, in fact, that I find it fascinating.
In any case, "Merlin" got me thinking about legend when I looked up King Arthur online. It has become such a massive part of our collective history that I couldn't recall what was based on fact and what was false. Its tricky because that's exactly when things started going to bits, the "Dark Ages", not many records of things, little art, destruction of classicism. And so why would there be much information about it? But then I got to thinking, what a wonderful morality tale. A saviour prince believing in equality and saving a kingdom. I'm no expert on the details but everything I recall seems to continually have good wining over evil. If this is folklore, if myth and legend are realms of folk culture as folktales, I want more. It shows the best in people; ideals unconnected to media, just pure thought spread by mouth. Storytelling. Magic.