Sons of Mordred

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 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.

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 in particular 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.

Meilyr Brydydd, writing at the same time as Geoffrey of Monmouth, mentions Mordred in his lament for the death of Gruffudd ap Cyan (d. 1137). As O.J. Padel notes, he describes Gruffudd as having "eissor Medrawd" ('the nature of Medrawd') as to have valour in battle. Similarly, Padel notes that Gwalchmai ap Meilyr praised Madog ap Maredudd, king of Powys (d.1160) as having "Arthur gerdernyd, menwyd Medrawd" ('Arthur's strength, the good nature of Medrawd'). This would support the idea that early perceptions of Mordred were largely positive.

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