Mordred
This entry is on the King Arthur character. For other meanings, go to Mordred (disambiguation).
Mordred's background
The illegitimacy angle started with the Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate) Cycle, and has been repeated 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 virtually rapes his sister after falling in love with her. In any case the discovery of the incest is usually disasterous. After hearing a prophesy 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 in Arthurian legend
Mordred also known as Dylan, Medraut and Modred is in almost every variation of arthurian legend arthur's son and murderer.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. Even if he wasn't yet the famous villain he would later become, his appearances in Welsh Genealogies and Triads show he was at least a well known personage.
The earliest known 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 with his account of Arthur's leaving Mordred in charge of his throne as he crosses the English Channel to wage war on Emperor Lucius of Rome. During the 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 Melehan and Melou).
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 Arthur had been his foster father.
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, however, but Mordred has been replaced with Lancelot.
Geoffrey and the Lancelot-Grail Cycle have Mordred being succeeded by his two sons, called in the Lancelot-Grail Melehan and Melou. In Geoffrey, Arthur's successor Constantine tracks them down and kills them in their sanctuaries; in the Lancelot-Grail, Melehan is killed by Bors and Melou by Lancelot.
Also in other variations of the legend such as in Nancy Springer's "I am Mordred" mordred is simply mis-understood and is tricked into killing his father. Also there is the famous story that on the day of his birth "May Day" his father takes forty male babies and puts them on a small raft and pushes them out into the Lyre river where all of the children die except mordred who is found by a fisherman along with the other dead children. He brings Mordred to his wife and they adopt him and give him the name "tad" after a tadpole. He is then raised untill his sixth birthday when he is taken by Nyneave to live with his mother morgause and her husband Lot.
Mordred in later works
Virtually everywhere Mordred appears, his name is synonomous with treachery, a fate also 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. 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 have Morgan le Fay as Mordred's mother; this comes from conflating her character with her sister Morgause's.
The animated television series The Legend of Prince Valiant featured Mordred as the Champion of Camelot and one of King Arthur's oldest friends and supporters. He was seduced by Lady Morgana into killing a Viking peace delegation that was pledged with the task of ending hostilities with Camelot. Sir Mordred's crime was uncovered by the titular hero; once exposed as a traitor to the ideals of Camelot, he was banished by King Arthur. Later, he would return as the main villain of the second season as the leader of an army out to dethrone Arthur.