Mordred
Mordred or
Modred (
Welsh:
Medrawd,
Latin:
Medraut) is a legendary figure of
Britain, known in
Arthurian legend as a notorious
traitor who fought
King Arthur at the
Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's
illegitimate son by his half-sister
Morgause. In earlier literature, he was considered Morgause (Anna)'s legitimate son with her husband
King Lot of
Orkney. His brothers or half-brothers are
Gawain,
Agravain,
Gaheris, and
Gareth.
The illegitimacy angle started with the
Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate) Cycle, and has been taken up in most later versions. In those versions, the incest is usually accidental; the participants don't know they were related at the time (Arthur didn't know anything about his birth mother). In one version Morgause mistakes Arthur for her husband visiting her in the night. In another Arthur rapes his sister after falling in love with her. In any case the discovery of the incest is usually disastrous; after hearing a prophecy that a child born on
May Day (as Mordred was) will destroy him and his kingdom, Arthur rounds up all the noble babies born during May and sends them away on a rickety ship. The ship sinks, and the only child to survive is Mordred, who is rescued and eventually returned to his parents.
Mordred appears very early in Arthurian literature. The first mention of him, as Medraut, occurs in the
Annales Cambriae entry for the year
537:
The strife of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut fell.The
Annales themselves were completed around A.D.
970. Mordred was associated with Camlann even at that early date, but the
Annales' brief line gives no information as to whether he killed or was killed by Arthur, or even if he was fighting against him. But even if he wasn't yet the notorious villain he would later become, his appearances in the
Welsh Triads and
genealogies show he was at least a well known personage.
The earliest full account of Mordred is found in
Geoffrey of Monmouth's
Historia Regum Britanniae, where he debuts already in his traitorous role. Geoffrey introduced the figure of Mordred to the world beyond
Wales, detailing that Arthur left Mordred in charge of his throne as he crossed the
English Channel to wage war on
Emperor Lucius of
Rome. During Arthur's absence Mordred crowns himself king and marries
Guinevere, forcing Arthur to return to Britain. The Battle of Camlann is fought, and Mordred dies while Arthur is taken to
Avalon. Arthur's successor,
Constantine III of Britain, has to deal with the remainder of Mordred's army, led by his sons (see
sons of Mordred).
A number of Welsh sources also refer to Medraut, usually in relation to Camlann. One triad, based on Geoffrey's
Historia, provides an account of his betrayal of Arthur; in another, he is described as the author of one of the "Three Unrestrained Ravagings of the Isle of Britain" – he came to Arthur's court at
Kelliwic in
Cornwall, devoured all of the food and drink, and even dragged
Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere) from her throne and beat her. Medraut is never considered Arthur's son in Welsh texts, only his nephew, though
The Dream of Rhonabwy mentions that the king had been his foster father. However, Mordred's later characterization as the king's villainous son has a precedent in the figure of
Amr, a son of Arthur's known from only two references. The more important of these, found in an appendix to the
Historia Britonum, describes his marvelous grave beside the
Herefordshire spring where he had been slain by his own father in some unchronicled tragedy. [
1] What connection exists between the stories of Amr and Mordred, if there is one, has never been satisfactorily explained.
In Geoffrey and certain other sources such as the
Alliterative Morte Arthure, Mordred marries Guinevere, seemingly consentually, after he steals the throne. However, in later writings like
Lancelot-Grail Cycle and
Thomas Malory's
Le Morte d'Arthur Guinevere is not treated as a traitor and she flees Mordred's proposal and hides in the
Tower of London. Adultery is still tied to her role in these later romances, however, but Mordred has been replaced with
Lancelot.
Geoffrey and the Lancelot-Grail Cycle have Mordred being succeeded by his two sons. In Geoffrey, Arthur's successor Constantine tracks them down and kills them in their sanctuaries; in the Lancelot-Grail, the elder son, Melehan, is killed by
Bors, while Lancelot slays his brother.
Virtually everywhere Mordred appears, his name is synonymous with treachery, a fate shared by
Ganelon from the
Song of Roland. In
The Divine Comedy, Mordred is condemned to the ninth circle of
Hell, the region of
Cocytus, reserved for traitors to family. A few works of the Middle Ages and today, however, portray Mordred as less a traitor and more a conflicted opportunist, or even a victim of fate. The
14th century Scottish chronicler
John of Fordun even claimed that Mordred was the rightful heir to the throne of Britain, as Arthur was illegitimate (in his account, Mordred was the legitimate son of Lot and Anna.) This sentiment was elaborated upon by
Walter Bower and by
Hector Boece, who in his
Historia Gentis Scotorum goes so far as to say Arthur and Gawain were traitors and villains who stole the throne from Mordred.
Some modern Arthurian works such as
Marion Zimmer Bradley's
Mists of Avalon have
Morgan le Fay as Mordred's mother; this comes from conflating her character with her sister Morgause's. Mordred remains a major villain in many modern takes on the legend, including
John Boorman's film
Excalibur,
T.H. White's novel
The Once and Future King and
Hal Foster's popular
comic strip Prince Valiant (and the
animated television series based on it,
The Legend of Prince Valiant). Other works treat the character differently.
Mary Stewart's
The Wicked Day is told from his perspective and portrays him more sympathetically than usual.
Catherine Christian's
The Pendragon makes him a halfâ€"
Saxon bastard. In
Bernard Cornwell's
The Warlord Chronicles, Mordred is the legitimate grandson and heir of
Uther Pendragon, and Arthur serves as the kingdom's
regent during his minority. In
Stephen R. Lawhead's
Pendragon Cycle, Medraut is even half-Atlantean (as is
Myrddin), since Lawhead makes his mother Morgian (here Myrddin's aunt) a refugee from
Atlantis.
*
Profile of Mordred from Early British Kingdoms*
Mordred in literature from Early British Kingdoms*
Several accounts of Mordred's death
