Home › Glossary › Letter A

Avalon

Historical Location
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A legendary island associated with King Arthur, enchantment, and his final resting place.

Detailed Definition
Avalon appears in medieval Arthurian tradition as a remote, fertile island where the wounded king is carried after his last battle. It is a place of mist, healing, golden orchards, and uncertain borders between history and romance. Poets use Avalon as an image of lost sovereignty, death transformed into sleep, or a promised realm that can be glimpsed only when ordinary geography gives way to myth.
Example
Example in poetry:
A romantic poem may present “Avalon” as an island of healing beyond ordinary time; A poet can use Avalon to suggest the mysterious destination of King Arthur after his final battle; “Across the mist to Avalon” creates an atmosphere of legend and departure; A contemporary poem might call a lost childhood “my private Avalon,” turning the mythical place into a metaphor for memory.
Additional Notes
Avalon is a legendary island from Arthurian tradition, often imagined as a place of enchantment, healing, or passage beyond ordinary life. Poets may use it as a symbol of paradise, mystery, death, or return. Related Arthurian terms include Arthur, Excalibur, Camelot, and the Isle of the Blessed.
Other Meanings of “Avalon”
Also Known As
Isle of Avalon
Skip to main content