View source for Mordred

{{short description|Character in Arthurian legend}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox character
| series             = [[Matter of Britain]]
| image              = Sir Mordred by H. J. Ford.png
| caption            = ''Sir Mordred'' by [[Henry Justice Ford|H. J. Ford]] (1902)
| first              = ''[[Annales Cambriae]]'' (Medraut) <br /> ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' (Mo[r]dred) 
| occupation         = Usurper [[King of the Britons]] (a prince of Orkney and a knight of the [[Round Table]] in later tradition)
| title              = Sir, Prince, King
| nationality        = [[Celtic Britons|Briton]]
| children           = [[#Spouses and offspring|Two sons]]
| spouse             = Either [[Guinevere]] or others (including [[Gwenhwyfach]] and [[Cwyllog]])
| family             = Parents: [[King Arthur|Arthur]] or [[King Lot|Lot]], [[Morgause|Anna / Morgause]] <br /> Brothers: [[Gawain]]; often also [[Agravain]], [[Gaheris]] and [[Gareth]]
|relatives = [[King Arthur's family]]
| home = [[Lothian]] / [[Orkney]], [[Camelot]]
}}

'''Mordred''' or '''Modred''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɔːr|d|r|ɛ|d}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|oʊ|d|r|ɛ|d}}; Welsh: '''''Medraut''''' or '''''Medrawt''''') is a major figure in the legend of [[King Arthur]]. The earliest known mention of a possibly historical Medraut is in the Welsh chronicle ''[[Annales Cambriae]]'', wherein he and Arthur are ambiguously associated with the [[Battle of Camlann]] in a brief entry for the year 537. Medraut's figure seemed to have been regarded positively in the early Welsh tradition and may have been related to that of [[King Arthur's family|Arthur's son]]. As '''Modredus''', Mordred was depicted as Arthur's traitorous nephew and a legitimate son of [[King Lot]] in the pseudo-historical work ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'', which then served as the basis for the subsequent evolution of the legend from the 12th century. Later variants most often characterised Mordred as Arthur's villainous bastard son, born of an incestuous relationship with [[Morgause|his half-sister]], the queen of [[Lothian]] or [[Orkney]] named either Anna, Orcades, or Morgause. The accounts presented in the ''Historia'' and most other versions include Mordred's death at Camlann, typically in a final duel, during which he manages to mortally wound his own slayer, Arthur. Mordred is usually a brother or half-brother to [[Gawain]]; however, his other family relations, as well as his relationships with Arthur's wife [[Guinevere]], vary greatly.

In a popular telling, originating from the French chivalric romances of the 13th century and made prominent today through its inclusion in ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'', Mordred is a power-hungry son of Arthur from the incest with Morgause, prophesied by [[Merlin]] and destined to bring Britain to ruin. He survives Arthur's attempt to get rid of him soon after his birth and, years later, joins his half-brothers Gawain, [[Agravain]], [[Gaheris]] and [[Gareth]] in Arthur's fellowship of the [[Round Table]] as a young and immoral knight. Eventually, Mordred learns of his true parentage and becomes the main actor in Arthur's downfall. He helps Agravain to expose the illicit love affair between Guinevere and [[Lancelot]] and then takes advantage of the resulting civil war to make himself the [[high king]] of Britain, ultimately leading to both his own and Arthur's deaths in their battle. Today, he remains an iconic character in many modern adaptations of Arthurian legend, in which he usually appears as a villain and the archenemy of Arthur.

==Name==
The name ''Mordred'', found as the [[Latinisation of names|Latinised]] ''Modredus'' in [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'', comes from [[Old Welsh]] ''Medraut'' (comparable to [[Old Cornish]] ''Modred'' and [[Old Breton]] ''Modrot'').<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MyWvBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA146|title=Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance|last=Loomis|first=Roger Sherman|date=2005|publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=9781613732106|language=en|author-link=Roger Sherman Loomis}}</ref> It may be ultimately derived from Latin ''Moderātus'', meaning "within bounds, observing moderation, moderate" with some influence from Latin ''mors'', "death".<ref>{{cite web|first=James|last=Harbeck|url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/03/phonesthemes-the-mor-syllable-as-in-voldemort-mordor-morlocks-and-morbius-is-associated-with-darkness-and-death.html|title=Why Is the Mor in Voldemort (and Mordor and Dr. Moreau) So Evil-Sounding?|website=[[Slate (website)|Slate]]|publisher=[[The Slate Group]]|location=Lubbock, Texas|date=March 21, 2014|access-date=May 27, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Charlton T.|last=Lewis|title=An Elementary Latin Dictionary|publisher=[[American Book Company (1890)|American Book Company]]|location=Woodstock, Georgia|orig-year=1890|year=2013|isbn=978-1614274933|page=511}}</ref>

==Early Welsh sources==
The earliest surviving mention of Mordred (referred to as Medraut) is found in an entry for the year 537 in the chronicle ''[[Annales Cambriae]]'' (''The Annals of Wales''), which references his name in an association with the [[Battle of Camlann]].<ref>{{cite web|translator-first=Alan|translator-last=Lupack|url=http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/cambrian.htm|title=Arthurian References in the 'Annales Cambriae'|website=Camelot Project at the University of Rochester|publisher=[[University of Rochester]]|location=Rochester, New York|date=2002|access-date=1 December 2006}}</ref>

{{blockquote|''Gueith Camlann in qua Arthur et Medraut corruerunt.''<br />"The strife of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut fell."}}

This brief entry gives no information as to whether Mordred killed Arthur or was killed by Arthur, if they were fighting against one another at all, if they were fighting on the same side, or even if they died in the battle or were just defeated. As noted by [[Leslie Alcock]], the reader assumes conflict between the two in the light of later tradition.<ref>{{cite book|first=Leslie|last=Alcock|author-link=Leslie Alcock|title=Arthur's Britain: History and Archaeology A.D. 367–634|publisher=[[Penguin Publishing]]|location=New York City|date=1970|isbn=978-0140213966|page=[https://archive.org/details/arthursbritainhi00alco_0/page/88 88]|url=https://archive.org/details/arthursbritainhi00alco_0/page/88}}</ref> The ''Annales'' themselves were completed between 960 and 970, meaning that (although their authors likely drew from older material<ref>{{cite book|first=Geoffrey|last=Ashe|author-link=Geoffrey Ashe|chapter=Annales Cambriae|title=The New Arthurian Encyclopedia|publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=London, England|date=1991|isbn=978-1138147133|pages=8–9}}</ref>) they cannot be considered a contemporary source, having been compiled 400 years after the events they describe.<ref>{{cite book|first=Thomas|last=Green|title=Concepts of Arthur|publisher=Tempus Publishing|location=Chalford, England|date=2007|isbn=978-0752444611|page=27}}</ref>

[[Meilyr Brydydd]], writing at the same time as Geoffrey of Monmouth, mentions Mordred in his lament for the death of [[Gruffudd ap Cynan]] (d. 1137). He describes Gruffudd as having ''eissor Medrawd'' ("the nature of Medrawd"), as to have valour in battle. Similarly, [[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").<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RMkmDAAAQBAJ|title=Arthur in Medieval Welsh Literature|last=Padel|first=Oliver James|author-link=Oliver Padel|date=May 15, 2013|publisher=[[University of Wales Press]]|location=Cardiff, Wales|isbn=9781783165698|language=en}}</ref> This would support the idea that early perceptions of Mordred were largely positive.

However, Mordred's later characterisation as the king's villainous son has a precedent in the figure of [[Amhar|Amr (or Amhar)]], a son of Arthur's known from only two references. The more important of these, found in an appendix to the 9th-century chronicle ''[[Historia Brittonum]]'' (''The History of the Britons''), describes his marvelous grave beside the [[Herefordshire]] spring where he had been slain by his own father in some unchronicled tragedy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/nennius.htm|author=Nennius|translator-first=Alan|translator-last=Lupack|title=''Historia Brittonum'' ("From the 'History of the Britons")|website=The Camelot Project at the University of Rochester|publisher=[[University of Rochester]]|location=Rochester, New York|access-date=1 December 2006|archive-date=17 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317042932/http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/nennius.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>''The Arthurian Handbook'', p. 15; p. 277.</ref> What connection exists between the stories of Amr and Mordred, if there is one, has never been satisfactorily explained.

[[File:Ambito di wiligelmo, porta della pescheria, 02 ciclo di artù 03,2.jpg|thumb|left|"Winlogee" (presumed Guinevere) and "Mardoc" (possible Mordred) on the [[Modena Archivolt]] (c. 1120-1240)]]

An early 12th-century Italian high relief known as the [[Modena Archivolt]] seems to show a scene of abduction of [[Guinevere]] inspired by an original Welsh Arthurian tradition, perhaps as retold by Breton and other continental bards in their otherwise unrecorded oral stories. While often interpreted as that of [[Melwas]], a mysterious figure identified as Mardoc may instead represent Mordred.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZDRACwAAQBAJ&pg=PT22 | title=Arthurian Women: A Casebook | isbn=9781134817535 | last1=Fenster | first1=Thelma S. | last2=Lacy | first2=Norris J. | date=22 December 2015 | publisher=Routledge }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vhgSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT166 | title=Romance of the Grail: The Magic and Mystery of Arthurian Myth | isbn=9781611780253 | last1=Campbell | first1=Joseph | date=26 December 2020 | publisher=Joseph Campbell Foundation }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x14oDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT19 | title=Sir Gawain: Knight of the Goddess | isbn=9781620550588 | last1=Matthews | first1=John | date=25 March 2003 | publisher=Simon and Schuster }}</ref>

==Depictions in legend==
[[File:The Death of Arthur by G.H. Thomas.png|thumb|''The Death of Arthur'', [[George Housman Thomas]]'s illustration for [[Thomas Malory]]'s ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'' in an 1862 edition by [[James Thomas Knowles (1831–1908)|James Thomas Knowles]]|alt=]]

=== Geoffrey and Welsh tradition ===
In Geoffrey's influential ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), written around 1136, Modredus (Mordred) is portrayed as the nephew of and traitor to King Arthur. Geoffrey might have based his Modredus on the early 6th-century "[[high king]]" of [[Gwynedd]], [[Maelgwn Gwynedd|Maelgwn]], whom the 6th-century writer [[Gildas]] had described as a [[usurper]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mVkoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT255|title = The Lost Tomb of King Arthur: The Search for Camelot and the Isle of Avalon|isbn = 9781591437581|last1 = Phillips|first1 = Graham|date = 11 April 2016| publisher=Simon and Schuster }}</ref> or on [[Mandubracius]], a 1st-century BC king of the [[Trinovantes]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/king-arthur-facts-real-round-table-holy-grail-death-buried-lancelot-guinevere/ | title=King Arthur: 6 things you need to know about the warrior king and his legend}}</ref> The unhistorical account presented by Geoffrey narrates Arthur leaving Modredus in charge of his throne as he crosses the [[English Channel]] to wage war on [[Lucius Tiberius]] of Rome. During Arthur's absence, Modredus crowns himself as [[King of the Britons]] and lives in an adulterous union with Arthur's wife, Guenhuvara (Guinevere). Geoffrey does not make it clear how complicit Guenhuvara is with his actions, simply stating that the Queen had "broken her vows" and "about this matter... [he] prefers to say nothing."<ref>Geoffrey of Monmouth, ''The History of the Kings of Britain'', XI.I.</ref> Arthur returns to Britain and they fight at the Battle of Camlann, where Modredus is ultimately slain. Arthur, having been gravely wounded in battle, is sent off to be healed by [[Morgan le Fay|Morgen]] in [[Avalon]].

A number of other Welsh sources also refer to Medraut, usually in relation to Camlann. One [[Welsh Triads|Welsh Triad]], based on Geoffrey's ''Historia'', provides an account of his betrayal of Arthur;<ref>Triad 51. In Bromwich, Rachel (2006). ''Trioedd Ynys Prydein''.</ref> 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.<ref>Triad 54. In Bromwich, Rachel (2006). ''Trioedd Ynys Prydein''.</ref> In another Triad, however, he is described as one of "men of such gentle, kindly, and fair words that anyone would be sorry to refuse them anything."<ref name=":0" /> The ''[[Mabinogion]]'' also describes him in terms of courtliness, calmness, and purity.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aLx7w5IzCDMC&pg=PA49|title=King Arthur's Children: A Study in Fiction and Tradition|last=Tichelaar|first=Tyler R.|date=2010|publisher=Loving Healing Press|isbn=9781615990665|language=en}}</ref>

===Life in romances===
The 12th-century poems of the emerging [[chivalric romance]] genre such as those by [[Chrétien de Troyes]], dealing with the adventures of various knights during Arthur's reign, would typically not mention Mordred at all. This changed through the 13th century, as the [[Old French]] cyclical prose romance literature greatly expanded on the history of Mordred prior to the war against Arthur. In the Prose ''Merlin'' part of the [[Vulgate Cycle]] (in which his name is sometimes written as '''Mordret'''), Mordred's elder half-brother [[Gawain]] saves the infant Mordred and their mother [[Morgause]] from being taken away as prisoners by the [[Saxons|Saxon]] king Taurus. In the revision known as the [[Post-Vulgate Cycle]], and consequently in [[Thomas Malory]]'s English compilation ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'' (''The Death of Arthur''), Arthur is told a cryptic (and, apparently, [[self-fulfilling prophecy|self-fulfilling]]) prophecy by [[Merlin]] about a newly-born child that is to be his undoing, and so he tries to avert his fate by ordering to get rid of all [[May Day]] newborns. Whether they were intended to be killed or merely sent off to a distant land (the texts are vague about this), the ship on which the children were placed sinks and they drown. This episode, sometimes dubbed the "May Day massacre",{{#tag:ref|It has been noted that the date of Mordred's birth would better fit a hero rather than a villain, as do the other circumstances such as the motif of a newborn baby at the sea and Arthur's act being reminiscent of the Biblical [[Massacre of the Innocents]].<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1259595 | jstor=1259595 | title=Mordred, King Arthur's Son | last1=Varin | first1=Amy | journal=Folklore | year=1979 | volume=90 | issue=2 | pages=167–177 | doi=10.1080/0015587X.1979.9716139 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>|group="note"}} leads to a war between Arthur and the furious [[King Lot]], acting on his belief that he is the biological father of Mordred. Lot dies in a battle at the hands of Arthur's vassal king [[Pellinore]], beginning a long and deadly blood feud between the two royal families. Meanwhile, however, and unknown to both Lot and Arthur, the baby miraculously survives. It turns out Mordred was found and rescued by a fisherman and his wife, who then raise him as their own son until he is 14.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/frequently-asked-questions|title=Frequently Asked Questions about the Arthurian Legends {{!}} Robbins Library Digital Projects|website=d.lib.rochester.edu|access-date=2019-06-27|archive-date=28 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128200322/https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/frequently-asked-questions|url-status=dead}}</ref> In this branch of the legend, following his early life as a commoner, the young Mordred is later reunited with his mother, which happens long after Merlin's downfall caused by the [[Lady of the Lake]].

The grown-up Mordred becomes involved in the adventures of his brothers, first as a [[squire]] and then as a [[knight]], as well as others such as [[Brunor]], eventually joining King Arthur's elite fellowship of the [[Knights of the Round Table]]. Especially since the Post-Vulgate, Mordred tends to be depicted as murderously violent and known for his un-[[Chivalry|chivalrous]] and lustful habits, including engaging in rape (as in an incident in the Post-Vulgate ''Queste'', when he brutally kills a maiden and is injured for his actions by King [[Bagdemagus]], who is then in turn mortally wounded by Gawain; there is also an attempted rape in the standalone romance ''Claris et Laris'').<ref name=":1" /> Notably, it is Mordred who fatally stabs in the back one of the best Knights of the Round Table, [[Lamorak]], in an unfair fight involving most of his brothers ([[Gaheris|one of whom]] had even murdered their own mother for being Lamorak's lover). Mordred displays stronger knightly values in the earlier Vulgate Cycle (as does Gawain too in comparison to his later Post-Vulgate portrayal), where he is also shown as womanising and murderous, but to a significantly lesser degree. The Prose ''Lancelot'' describes Mordred, at the age of 20, as "a large, tall knight; he had curly, blond hair and would have had a very handsome face if his demeanour had not been so wicked."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lacy |first=Norris J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aQSkzRstpJYC&pg=PA392 |title=Lancelot-Grail: Lancelot, pt. III |date=2010 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |isbn=978-1-84384-235-4 |language=en}}</ref> He becomes a protege and companion of the eponymous great knight [[Lancelot]]. The older knight comes to the young Mordred's rescue on multiple occasions, such as helping to save his life at the Castle of the White Thorn (''Castel de la Blanche Espine''), and Mordred in turn treats the much older Lancelot as his personal hero. In this version, his turning point toward villainy happens after they meet an old hermit monk who begins to tell his own prophecy for the two "most unfortunate knights", revealing Mordred's true parentage by Arthur and predicting Mordred's and Lancelot's respective roles in the coming ruin of Arthur's kingdom.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X_deDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA74|title=Mythology of King Arthur and His Knights|last=Wolfson|first=Evelyn|date=2014|publisher=Enslow Publishing, LLC|isbn=9780766061859|language=en}}</ref> However, the angry Mordred kills the monk before he can finish. While Lancelot tells his secret lover Guinevere (but not Arthur), she refuses to believe in the story of the prophecy and does not banish Mordred. The young knight, on his part, tries to get himself killed before accepting his destiny. The Prose ''Lancelot'' indicates Mordred was about 22 years old at the time, as well as just two years into his knighthood.

Mordred overthrows Arthur's rule when the latter is engaged in, depending on the version, either the war against Lancelot (as in Malory) or the second Roman War that followed it immediately afterwards. In the Vulgate ''Mort Artu'', Mordred achieves his coup with the help of a letter supposedly sent by the dying Arthur but actually forged by Mordred. The ''Mort Artu'' narration adds that "there was much good in Mordred, and as soon as he made himself elevated to the throne, he made himself well beloved by all," and so they were "ready to die to defend [his] honor" once Arthur did return with his army.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ufgmo5uY14C&pg=PA398|title=Lancelot-Grail: The post-Vulgate Quest for the Holy Grail & the post-Vulgate Death of Arthur|first=Norris J.|last=Lacy|date=19 January 2010|publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd|isbn=9781843842330 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Mordred's few opponents during his brief rule included [[Sir Kay|Kay]], who was gravely wounded by Mordred's supporters and died after fleeing to [[Brittany]]. In the Vulgate ''Mort Artu'', Arthur himself proposes him as a regent, while in the French-influenced English poem [[Stanzaic Morte Arthur|Stanzaic ''Morte Arthur'']], the council of Britain's knights first elects Mordred for the position in Arthur's absence as the most worthy candidate. The [[Alliterative Morte Arthure|Alliterative ''Morte Arthure'']] is a unique text in which Mordred is presented as not only a possibly better ruler than Arthur<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24643470 | jstor=24643470 | last1=Bruso | first1=Steven P. W. | title=The Sword and the Scepter: Mordred, Arthur, and the Dual Roles of Kingship in the Alliterative "Morte Arthure" | journal=Arthuriana | date=2015 | volume=25 | issue=2 | pages=44–66 | doi=10.1353/art.2015.0018 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> but also as reluctant to be left by Arthur in charge of Britain.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7M6vuneJGSEC&pg=PA35|title=The Alliterative Morte Arthure: A Reassessment of the Poem|first=Karl Heinz|last=Göller|date=19 January 1981|publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd|isbn=9780859910750 |via=Google Books}}</ref> In the later romances, as in the chronicles, the returning Arthur's veteran army is ambushed and nearly destroyed by Mordred's supporters and foreign allies during their sea landing at [[Dover]], where Gawain is mortally wounded while fighting as Arthur's loyalist. Afterwards, a series of inconclusive engagements follows, until both sides agree to all meet each other at the [[Battle of Camlann|one final battle]], in which Mordred typically fights exceptionally well while commanding the loyalty of thousands of men willing to lay down their lives for him against Arthur. In some versions, including [[Elis Gruffydd]]'s <ref>{{Cite book |last=Gruffydd |first=Elis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B8SUEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |title=Tales of Merlin, Arthur, and the Magic Arts: From the Welsh Chronicle of the Six Ages of the World |date=2023-02-21 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-39025-6 |language=en}}</ref> and Malory's, the fighting begins accidentally during the last-moment negotiations between Arthur and Mordred.

===Death===
In [[Henry of Huntingdon]]'s retelling of Geoffrey's ''Historia'', Mordred is beheaded at Camlann in a lone charge against him and his entire host by King Arthur himself, who suffers many injuries in the process. In the Alliterative ''Morte Arthure'', Mordred first kills Gawain by his own hand in an early battle against Arthur's landing forces and then deeply grieves after him. In the Vulgate ''Mort Artu'' (and consequently in Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur''), the terrible final battle begins by accident during a last-effort peace meeting between him and Arthur. In the ensuing fighting, Mordred personally slays his cousin [[Ywain]] after the latter's rescue of the unhorsed Arthur, and decapitates the already badly wounded [[Sagramore]]. He also kills Sagramore in addition to six other Round Table knights loyal to Arthur in the Post-Vulgate depiction of the battle, which presents this as an incredible and unprecedented feat. These and many other versions of the legend feature the motif of Arthur and Mordred striking down each other in a duel after most of the others on both sides have died. Furthermore, the Post-Vulgate says it was only the death of Sagramore, here depicted as Mordred's own foster brother, that finally motivates Arthur to kill his son immediately afterwards.

[[File:Boys King Arthur - N. C. Wyeth - p306.jpg|thumb|[[N. C. Wyeth]] illustration for [[Sidney Lanier]]'s ''[[The Boy's King Arthur]]'' (1922) <br /><small> "Then the king ran towards Sir Mordred, crying, 'Traitor, now is thy death day come.'"</small>|alt=]]

''Le Morte d'Arthur'' features the now-iconic scene where the two meet on foot as Arthur charges Mordred and runs a spear through him. With the last of his strength, Mordred impales himself even further to come within striking distance, and lands a mortal blow with his sword to Arthur's head. Malory's telling is a variant of the original account from the Vulgate ''Mort Artu'', in which Arthur and Mordred both charge at each other on horses three times until Arthur drives his lance through Mordred's body, but then fully withdraws it (a ray of sunlight even shines through the hole) before Mordred's sword powerfully strikes his head and they both fall from their saddles.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-jFvu5lp8EC&pg=PA126|title = Lancelot-Grail: The death of Arthur|isbn = 9781843842309|last1 = Lacy|first1 = Norris J.|year = 2010| publisher=Boydell & Brewer }}</ref> The Alliterative ''Morte Arthure'' has Mordred grievously wound Arthur with the ceremonial sword [[Clarent]], stolen for him from Arthur by his co-conspirator Guinevere, but then Arthur slashes off Mordred's sword arm and brutally skewers him up on the sword Caliburn ([[Excalibur]]). One copy of the Welsh text ''Ymddiddan Arthur a'r Eryr'' has the dying Arthur tell Guinevere how he struck Mordred nine times with Caledfwlch (another name variant of Excalibur).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.heroicage.org/issues/1/habcg.htm |title=Brigantia, Cartimandua and Gwenhwyfar |publisher=The Heroic Age |date= |accessdate=2022-08-21}}</ref>

The Post-Vulgate retelling of ''Mort Artu'' deals with the aftermath of Mordred's death in more detail than the earlier works. In it, Arthur says before being taken away: "Mordred, in an evil hour did I beget you. You have ruined me and the kingdom of [[Logres]], and you have died for it. Cursed be the hour in which you were born."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ufgmo5uY14C&pg=PA400|title = Lancelot-Grail: The post-Vulgate Quest for the Holy Grail & the post-Vulgate Death of Arthur|isbn = 9781843842330|last1 = Lacy|first1 = Norris J.|last2 = Asher|first2 = Martha|year = 2010| publisher=Boydell & Brewer }}</ref> One of the few survivors of Arthur's army, [[Bleoberis]], then drags Mordred's corpse behind a horse around the battlefield of [[Salisbury Plain]] until it is torn to pieces. Later, as it had been commanded by the dying Arthur, the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] constructs the Tower of the Dead tomb memorial, from which Bleoberis hangs Mordred's head as a warning against treason. It remains there for centuries until it is removed by the visiting [[Ganelon]]. Conversely, [[Margam Abbey]]'s chronicle ''Annales de Margan'' claims Arthur is buried alongside Mordred, here described as his nephew, in another tomb purportedly exhumed in the "real Avalon" at [[Glastonbury Abbey]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannia.com/history/docs/margam.html|title=Discovery of King Arthur's Grave: Margam Abbey Chronicle|website=britannia.com|access-date=31 January 2019}}</ref>

There have also been alternative stories of Mordred's demise. [[Thomas Grey (chronicler)|Thomas Grey]]'s ''[[Scalacronica]]'' attributes the killing of Mordred to Ywan (Ywain) at Camlann.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUJ7Q2_0nEcC&pg=PA58|title=Before Malory: Reading Arthur in Later Medieval England|first=Richard James|last=Moll|date=1 January 2003|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=9780802037220 |via=Google Books}}</ref> In ''[[La Tavola Ritonda]]'', it is Lancelot who kills Mordred at the castle of Urbano where Mordred has besieged Guinevere after Arthur's death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WaoqAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA189|title=The Arthurian Legend in Italian Literature|first=Edmund G.|last=Gardner|date=15 January 1930|publisher=J.M. Dent & Sons Limited|via=Google Books}}</ref> In [[Jean d'Outremeuse]]'s ''Ly Myreur des Histors'', Mordred survives the great battle and rules with the traitorous Guinevere until they are defeated and captured by Lancelot and [[Caradoc|King Carados]] in London; Guinevere is then executed by Lancelot, and Mordred is entombed alive with her body, which he [[Human cannibalism|consumes]] before dying of starvation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tichelaar |first=Tyler R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aLx7w5IzCDMC&newbks=1&pg=PA80 |title=King Arthur's Children: A Study in Fiction and Tradition |date=2010-01-31 |publisher=Loving Healing Press |isbn=978-1-61599-066-5 |language=en}}</ref>

==Family relations==

=== Parents and siblings ===
{{Further|King Arthur's family}}

[[File:Blason Mordret.svg|thumb|upright|left|Mordred's attributed arms featuring the symbol of the Orkney clan according to chivalric romance heraldry]]

Traditions vary regarding Mordred's relationship to Arthur. 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. In early literature derived from Geoffrey's ''Historia'', Mordred was considered the legitimate son of Arthur's sister or half-sister queen named [[Morgause|Anna or Gwyar]] and her husband [[King Lot|Lot]], the king of either [[Lothian]] or [[Orkney]]. Today, however, he is best known as Arthur's own illegitimate son by his beautiful half-sister and Lot's wife, known as Morgause (Orcades / Morcades / Morgawse / Margawse), [[Morgause|the Queen of Orkney]]. This motif was introduced in the Vulgate Cycle, in which their union happens at the time when neither of them have yet known of their blood relation and she was not married yet. Accounts of Mordred's incestuous origin story (including two different variants in just the different parts of the main version of the Vulgate Cycle) present the circumstances of it variably, attributing various degrees of blame or innocence to either party of the teenage (usually aged 15) Arthur's tryst with his much older (mother to children almost his age) half-sister.{{#tag:ref|[[Richard Cavendish (occult writer)|Richard Cavendish]] writes in ''King Arthur and the Grail: The Arthurian Legends and Their Meaning'': "On the contrary, in the ''Suite'' (though not in Malory), it is implied that she knew he was her half-brother. This makes Mordred the child, on his mother’s side, of a perverse passion which could well be felt to imbue him with sinister force."|group="note"}}

[[File:The Fight in the Queen's Ante-Chamber.png|thumb|Lancelot fighting Mordred and Agravain in Guinevere's chambers, [[Walter Crane]]'s illustration for [[Henry Gilbert (author)|Henry Gilbert]]'s ''King Arthur's Knights'' (1911)|alt=]]

Her eldest son Gawain has been Mordred's brother already in the ''Historia'' as well as in [[Layamon]]'s [[Layamon's Brut|''Brut'']]. Besides him, Mordred's other brothers or half-brothers often appearing in literature include [[Agravain]] and [[Gaheris]] in the tradition derived from the French romances, beginning with the prose versions of [[Robert de Boron]]'s poems ''[[Merlin (Robert de Boron poem)|Merlin]]'' and ''Perceval''. Another of the brothers, [[Gareth]], joined them in the later versions. In the Vulgate ''Lancelot'', Mordred is the youngest of the siblings who begins his knightly career as Agravain's own squire, and the two of them later conspire to reveal Lancelot's affair with Guinevere, resulting in Agravain's death and consequently the civil war between Arthur's and Lancelot's factions. In stark contrast to many modern works, Mordred's only interaction with Arthur's other sister [[Morgan le Fay|Morgan]] in any medieval text occurs in the Post-Vulgate ''Queste'', when all the Orkney brothers visit Morgan's castle and are informed by her about Guinevere's infidelity.

The 14th-century Scottish chronicler [[John of Fordun]] claimed that Mordred was the rightful heir to the throne of Britain, as Arthur was an illegitimate child (in his account, Mordred was the legitimate son of Lot and Anna, who here is [[Uther Pendragon|Uther]]'s sister). 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 Mordred's brother Gawain were traitors and villains, and Arthur usurped the throne from Mordred.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UXoqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1380|title=The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain, 4 Volume Set|last1=Echard|first1=Sian|last2=Rouse|first2=Robert|last3=Fay|first3=Jacqueline A.|last4=Fulton|first4=Helen|last5=Rector|first5=Geoff|date=2017|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|location=Hoboken, New Jersey|isbn=9781118396988|language=en}}</ref> According to Boece, Arthur agreed to make Mordred his heir, but on the advice of the Britons who did not want Mordred to rule, he later made [[Constantine (Briton)|Constantine]] his heir; this led to the war in which Arthur and Mordred died. In [[John Major (philosopher)|John Mair]]'s Scottish ''Historia Maioris Britanniae'', Arthurus, Modred and Valvanus (Gawain) were all said to be underage and thus unfit to rule, with Arthur himself described as a bastard. However, Mordred is also not depicted heroically, using mercenaries to seize both the throne and Guanora (Guinevere).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jDooDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT134|title=Premodern Scotland: Literature and Governance 1420-1587|first1=Joanna|last1=Martin|first2=Emily|last2=Wingfield|date=16 June 2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-109148-3 |via=Google Books}}</ref> 

=== Spouses and offspring ===
In Geoffrey's ''Historia'' and certain other texts (such as the Alliterative ''Morte Arthure'' reimagination of the ''Historia'', where he is portrayed sympathetically), Mordred marries his aunt Guinevere consensually after taking over the throne. However, in later writings like the Vulgate Cycle (''Lancelot-Grail'') and ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', Guinevere (now the wife of Mordred's real father) is not treated as a traitor and instead flees Mordred's proposal and hides in the [[Tower of London]]. Willing adultery is still tied to her role in these later romances, but Mordred has been replaced as her lover by Lancelot. Related to this motif, a version of the Galician-Portuguese Post-Vulgate ''Demanda'' makes Mordred hate Lancelot due to his own, unrequited love for Guinevere.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Rosemary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tznkwnb6VaMC&pg=PA133 |title=The Character of King Arthur in Medieval Literature |date=1982 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |isbn=978-0-85991-088-0 |language=en}}</ref>

The 18th-century Welsh antiquarian [[Lewis Morris (1701–1765)|Lewis Morris]], based on statements made by Boece, suggested that Medrawd had a wife named [[Cwyllog]], daughter of Caw.<ref name="Bartrum, Peter 1993, p. 180">{{cite book|first=Peter|last=Bartrum|author-link=Peter Bartrum|title=A Welsh Classical Dictionary|publisher=[[National Library of Wales]]|location=Aberystwyth, Wales|date=1993|asin=B01K3M0ZE0|page=180}}</ref> Another late Welsh tradition tells of Medrawd's marriage with Guinevere's sister, [[Gwenhwyfach|Gwenhwy(f)ach]].<ref name="Bartrum, Peter 1993, p. 180" />

Mordred has been often said to be succeeded by his sons. They are always being numbered as two, though they are usually not named, nor is their mother. In Geoffrey's version, after the Battle of Camlann, Constantine is appointed Arthur's successor. However, Mordred's young sons and their Saxon allies rise against him.<ref>[[s:History of the Kings of Britain/Book 11|''Historia Regum Britanniae'', Book 11, ch. 3]].</ref> After they are defeated, one of them flees to sanctuary in the Church of [[Amphibalus]] in [[Winchester]] while the other hides in a London [[Monastery|friary]]. Constantine tracks them down and kills them before the altars of their respective hiding places. This act invokes the vengeance of God, and three years later Constantine is killed by his nephew [[Aurelius Conanus]].<ref name=Historia4>[[s:History of the Kings of Britain/Book 11|''Historia Regum Britanniae'', Book 11, ch. 4]].</ref> Geoffrey's account of the episode may be based on Constantine's murder of two "royal youths" as mentioned by Gildas.<ref name=Gildas>[[s:The Ruin of Britain#28|''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', ch. 28–29]].</ref> In the Alliterative ''Morte Arthure'', the dying Arthur personally orders Constantine to kill Mordred's infant sons. Guinevere had been asked by Mordred to flee with them to Ireland, but she instead returns to Arthur's [[Caerleon]] without care or concern for the safety of their children,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Göller |first=Karl Heinz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7M6vuneJGSEC&pg=PA40 |title=The Alliterative Morte Arthure: A Reassessment of the Poem |date=1981 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |isbn=9780859910750 |language=en}}</ref> who are then consequently drowned.

The elder of Mordred's sons is named Melehan or Melian (possibly the same as Melou from Layamon's ''Brut''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bruce |first=Christopher W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XZFbczeMtYcC&pg=PA355 |title=The Arthurian Name Dictionary |date=19 January 1999 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780815328650 |via=Google Books}}</ref>), but he is the younger one in the ''Lancelot-Grail'' and the Post-Vulgate Cycle. In the Vulgate telling, in a battle near [[Winchester]]<nowiki/>years later (just after Guinevere's death), Melehan mortally wounds [[Sir Lionel|Lionel]], brother to [[Bors]] the Younger and a cousin of Lancelot. Bors then splits Melehan's head, avenging his brother's death, while the angry Lancelot chases after and decapitates the unnamed other brother who tried to escape deep into a forest.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ashley |first=Mike |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0yeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT345 |title=The Mammoth Book of King Arthur |date=2011-09-01 |publisher=Little, Brown Book Group |isbn=978-1-78033-355-7 |language=en}}</ref> The perhaps 15th-century Spanish chivalric romance ''Florambel de Lucea'' tells of the surviving Arthur having been saved by his sister Morgaina (i.e. Morgan) in a later battle against the grown-up sons of '''Morderec'''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BcAmDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT184|title=The Arthur of the Iberians: The Arthurian Legends in the Spanish and Portuguese Worlds|last=Hook|first=David|date=2015|publisher=University of Wales Press|isbn=9781783162437|language=en}}</ref> In the post-medieval Portuguese romance ''Memorial das Proezas da Segunda Távola Redonda'' (''Memorial of the Deeds of the Second Round Table''), the adult sons of '''Morderete''', named Godifert and Dagobert, oppose Arthur's successor King Sagramor Constantino following the almost complete Saxon occupation of Britain. They are described as half-Saxon children of the daughter of the Duke of [[Old Saxony|Saxony]], Arnalda, aided by their cousin Briantes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Monteiro |first=Pedro |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=syU7EQAAQBAJ&newbks=1&pg=PT139 |title=Ficção e memória na literatura cavaleiresca ibérica: O "Memorial das Proezas da Segunda Távola Redonda" (1567) |date=2024-12-16 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-143588-6 |language=en}}</ref>

==Modern portrayals==
[[File:Roddy McDowall Mordred Camelot.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Roddy McDowall]] as Mordred in the Broadway musical ''[[Camelot (musical)|Camelot]]'' (1960)]]

Mordred is especially prominent in popular modern era Arthurian literature, as well as in other media such as film, television, and comics.<ref>Torregrossa, Michael A., "Will the 'Reel' Mordred Please Stand Up? Strategies for Representing Mordred in American and British Arthurian Film" in ''Cinema Arthuriana: Twenty Essays'' (Rev. edn.), ed. Kevin J. Harty. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2002 (pb. 2009), pp. 199–210.</ref> He has been played on screen by [[Leonard Penn]] (''The [[Adventures of Sir Galahad]]'', 1949), [[Brian Worth]] (''[[The Adventures of Sir Lancelot]]'', 1956–1957), [[David Hemmings]] (''[[Camelot (film)|Camelot]]'', 1967), [[Robert Addie]] (''[[Excalibur (film)|Excalibur]]'', 1981), [[Nickolas Grace]] (''Morte d'Arthur'', 1984), [[Simon Templeman]] (voice in ''[[The Legend of Prince Valiant]]'', 1991–1993), [[Jason Done]] (''[[Merlin (miniseries)|Merlin]]'', 1998), [[Craig Sheffer]]&nbsp;(''[[Merlin: The Return]]'', 2000), [[Hans Matheson]] (''[[The Mists of Avalon (miniseries)|The Mists of Avalon]]'', 2001), [[Asa Butterfield]] and [[Alexander Vlahos]] (''[[Merlin (2008 TV series)|Merlin]]'', 2008–2012), [[Rob Knighton]] (''[[King Arthur: Legend of the Sword]]'', 2017), and [[Miyuki Sawashiro]] (voice in ''[[Fate/Apocrypha]]'', 2017), among others. In modern adaptations, the character of Morgause is usually conflated with that of [[Morgan le Fay in modern culture|Morgan]], typically cast as Mordred's villainous mother (or alternatively his lover or wife), often manipulative and sometimes abusive. Some modern books and other media even feature Mordred as protagonist.

Virtually everywhere Mordred appears, his name is synonymous with [[treason]]. In [[Inferno (Dante)|Dante's ''Inferno'']], he is found in the first round of the lowest circle of Hell, set apart for traitors: "him who, at one blow, had chest and shadow / shattered by Arthur's hand" (Canto XXXII).<ref>''Inferno'', Canto XXXII, lines 61–62 (Mandelbaum translation).</ref> A few works from the Middle Ages and today, however, portray Mordred as less a traitor and more a conflicted opportunist, or even a victim of fate.<ref>''The New Arthurian Encyclopedia'', p. 394.</ref> Even Malory, who depicts Mordred as a villain, notes that the people rallied to him because, "with Arthur was none other life but war and strife, and with Sir Mordred was great joy and bliss."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://artifactsjournal.missouri.edu/2015/08/king-arthur-and-his-part-in-the-breaking-of-the-round-table/ | title=King Arthur and His Part in the Breaking of the Round Table // Artifacts Journal| year=2023}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Illegitimacy in fiction]] 
*[[Incest in literature]] 

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="note"}} {{clear}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

===Bibliography===
*[[Rachel Bromwich|Bromwich, Rachel]] (2006). ''Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain''. University of Wales Press. {{ISBN|0-7083-1386-8}}
*[[Norris J. Lacy|Lacy, Norris J.]] (Ed.), ''The New Arthurian Encyclopedia'', pp.&nbsp;8–9. New York: Garland. {{ISBN|0-8240-4377-4}}.
*Lacy, Norris J.; [[Geoffrey Ashe|Ashe, Geoffrey]]; and Mancroff, Debra N. (1997). ''The Arthurian Handbook''. New York: Garland. {{ISBN|0-8153-2081-7}}.

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[http://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/theme/mordred.html Mordred] at The Camelot Project
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120524060612/https://clas.ufl.edu/users/jshoaf/Arthmort.html The different accounts of Mordred's death at Camlann (Salisbury Plain)]

{{Arthurian Legend}}
{{Geoffrey of Monmouth}}

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