New Light On Dark Age
By Roger Highfield
Science Editor
The Telegraph - UK
2-4-4
A monk's apocalyptic book and Arthurian legend are united by a study that shows how a comet plunged Britain into a dark age in the sixth century.
Studies of tree rings showed the Earth underwent a series of very cold summers around 536-540 AD, a Cardiff University team reports in the journal Astronomy and Geophysics. They believe the chill was caused by a comet exploding in the Earth's upper atmosphere.
Historical references from the Dark Ages are sparse, but what records there are tell of crop failures and summer frosts. Gildas Bandonicus, a Celtic monk, in his book Concerning the Ruin of Britain (De Excidio Britanniae) recorded that "the Sun gave forth its light without brightness".
Folklore also suggests that the death of King Arthur - in either 539 or 542 depending on your source - plunged Britain into a dark age. Merlin, Arthur's magician, is depicted in mythology as a "red fiery whooshing dragon flying in the sky" - an account consistent with a comet impact.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.
(I think the Angel Gabriel was a comet or asteriod that fell into southern Iraq in 2200-2300BC, a fragment from this impact was given to Mohammad by Abraham and is the stone the Islamists presently worship in Mecca)
Many centuries separate those two entities.
Ummm.......seeing as how a few thousand years separate Abraham and Mohammed......ummm........... I don't think so.