The Battle of Camlann, also spelled Camlan (PROSE: The Creation of Camelot) or Camalan, (PROSE: The Door We Forgot) was the final conflict between the forces of King Arthur and those of the would-be usurper, Mordred.
History[]
Mordred's birth to King Arthur's villainous half-sister Morgan was arranged by the Master in the knowledge that he would one day bring about Arthur's death at the battle of Camlan. (PROSE: The Creation of Camelot)
The battle was fought near the rural English village of Carbury, not far from Lake Vortigern. The site was rediscovered in the 20th century and excavated by archaeologist Peter Warmsly.
Arthur was mortally wounded at the battle, (TV: Battlefield) stabbed by Mordred's own blade. (PROSE: The Creation of Camelot) Merlin, the king's enchanter — an incarnation of the Doctor — placed his body and the sword Excalibur in an interdimensional spaceship and hid it at the bottom of Lake Vortigern.
After the battle, rumours and legends spread that Arthur had not died at the battle, but was being kept in stasis until England needed him again. These stories may have originated with Merlin himself who, in a note to his past self left with Arthur's body, dismissed them as "propaganda".
Mordred later accused his foe Ancelyn, one of Arthur's knights, of fleeing the battle. (TV: Battlefield)
The battle passed into legend, being notably documented in La Mort d'Arthur. (PROSE: The Creation of Camelot)
Behind the scenes[]
Most Arthurian traditions have Mordred also dying at the battle of Camlann, though some have him survive the battle to die later at Sir Lancelot's hand.