Mordred | |
---|---|
Matter of Britain character | |
Sir Mordred (1902) by H. J. Ford
|
|
First appearance | Historia Regum Britanniae |
Created by | Geoffrey of Monmouth |
Information | |
Occupation | Knight of the Round Table, usurper king |
Title | Sir, King |
Spouse(s) | Guinevere or others |
Children | Two sons including Melehan |
Relatives | Arthur/Lot, Morgause, Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth |
Nationality | Briton |
Mordred or Modred (/ˈmoʊdrɛd/; Welsh: Medrawt) is a character in the Arthurian legend, known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur was fatally wounded.
The name Mordred (found as Modredus in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae) comes from Old Welsh Medraut (comparable to Old Cornish Modred and Old Breton Modrot) and is ultimately derived from Latin Moderātus meaning "within bounds, observing moderation, moderate".
The earliest surviving mention of Mordred (referred to as Medraut) occurs in the Annales Cambriae entry for the year 537, which references his name in association with the Battle of Camlann.
Gueith Camlann in qua Arthur et Medraut corruerunt.
"The strife of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut fell."
This brief entry gives no information as to whether Mordred killed or was killed by Arthur, or even if he was fighting against him. As Leslie Alcock has noted, the reader assumes this in the light of later tradition.
The Annales themselves were completed between 960 and 970, meaning that although their authors likely drew from older material they cannot be considered as a contemporary source having been compiled 400 years after the events they describe.