King Arthur's family
Encyclopedia
King Arthur's family grew throughout the centuries with King Arthur
's legend. Several of the legendary members of this mythical king's family became leading characters of mythical tales in their own right.
's Historia Regum Britanniae
(History of the Kings of Britain), Arthur was granted numerous relations and family members. Several early Welsh sources are usually taken as indicative of Uther Pendragon
being known as Arthur's father before Geoffrey wrote, with Arthur also being granted a brother (Madog
) and a nephew (Eliwlod
) in these texts. Arthur also appears to have been assigned a sister in this material – Gwalchmei
is named as his sister-son (nephew) in Culhwch, his mother being one Gwyar. Rachel Bromwich
and D. Simon Evans have observed that Culhwch and Olwen
, the Vita Iltuti and the Brut Dingestow combine to suggest that Arthur had a mother too, named Eigyr
.
In addition to this immediate family, Arthur was said to have had a great variety of more distant relatives, including maternal aunts, uncles, cousins and a grandfather named Anlawd (or Amlawdd) Wledig ("Prince Anlawd"). The latter is the common link between many of these figures and Arthur: thus the relationship of first cousins that is implied or stated between Arthur, Culhwch
, Illtud
, and Goreu mab Custenhin depends upon all of their mothers being daughters of this Anlawd, who appears to be ultimately a genealogical construct designed to allow such inter-relationships between characters to be postulated by medieval Welsh authors. Arthur's maternal uncles in Culhwch and Olwen
, including Llygatrud Emys, Gwrbothu Hen, Gweir Gwrhyt Ennwir and Gweir Baladir Hir, similarly appear to derive from this relationship.
The genealogies from the thirteenth century Mostyn MS. 117 claim that Arthur is the son of Uthyr
, the son of Custennin, the son of Cynfawr, the son of Tudwal, the son of Morfawr, the son of Eudaf, the son of Cadwr the son of Cynan, the son of Caradoc
, the son of Bran
, the son of Llŷr
.
Turning to Arthur's own family, his wife is consistently stated to be Gwenhwyfar
, usually the daughter of King Ogrfan Gawr
(variation: 'Gogrfan Gawr', "[G]Ogrfan the Giant") and sister to Gwenhwyach, although Culhwch and Bonedd yr Arwyr do indicate that Arthur also had some sort of relationship with Eleirch daughter of Iaen, which produced a son named Kyduan (Cydfan). Kyduan was not the only child of Arthur according to Welsh Arthurian tradition – he is also ascribed sons called Amr (Anir), Gwydre, Llacheu and Duran.
), his father Uther, his mother (Igerna) and his sister-son Gwalchmei (Gawain
). As Roberts has noted, Gwalchmei's mother – Arthur's sister – failed to make the journey, Gwyar's place being taken by Anna, the wife of Loth
, in Geoffrey's account, whilst Medraut (Mordred
) is made into a second sister-son for Arthur (a status he does not have in the Welsh material). In addition, new family members enter the Arthurian tradition from this point onwards. Uther is given a new family, including two brothers and a father, while Arthur gains a sister, Morgan le Fay
(first named as Arthur's sister by Chrétien de Troyes
), and a new son, Loholt, in Chrétien's Eric and Enide, the Perlesvaus
and the Vulgate Cycle
.
Another significant new family-member is Arthur's half-sister Morgause
, the daughter of Gorlois and Igerna and mother of Gawain and Mordred in the French romances (replacing Geoffrey of Monmouth's Anna in this role). In the Vulgate
Mort Artu we find Mordred
's relationship with Arthur once more reinterpreted, as he is made the issue of an unwitting incestuous liaison between Arthur and this Morgause, with Arthur dreaming that Mordred would grow up to kill him. This tale is preserved in all the romances based on the Mort Artu, and by the time we reach Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur
Arthur has started to plot, Herod
-like, to kill all children born on the same day as Mordred in order to save himself from this fate. A third half-sister, Elaine, is also added at this time. Through his sisters, Arthur is given further nephews (Gareth
, Gaheris
, Agravain
, Ywain
, and Galeschin
) who become Knights of the Round Table
.
Why Arthur chose to kill his son is never made clear. The only other reference to Amr comes in the post-Galfridian Welsh romance Geraint, where "Amhar son of Arthur" is one of Arthur’s four chamberlains along with Bedwyr’s son, Amhren. Gwydre is similarly unlucky, being slaughtered by the giant boar Twrch Trwyth
in Culhwch and Olwen
, along with two of Arthur's maternal uncles – no other references to either Gwydre or Arthur's uncles survive. More is known of Arthur's son Llacheu. He is one of the "Three Well-Endowed Men of the Island of Britain", according to Triad number 4, and he fights alongside Cei
in the early Arthurian poem Pa gur yv y porthaur?. Like his father is in Y Gododdin
, Llacheu appears in 12th century and later Welsh poetry as a standard of heroic comparison and he also seems to have been similarly a figure of local topographic folklore too. Taken together, it is generally agreed that all these references indicate that Llacheu was a figure of considerable importance in the early Arthurian cycle. Nonetheless, Llacheu too dies, with the speaker in the pre-Galfridian poem Ymddiddan Gwayddno Garanhir ac Gwyn fab Nudd remembering that he had "been where Llacheu was slain / the son of Arthur, awful in songs / when ravens croaked over blood". Finally, Loholt is treacherously killed by Sir Kay so that the latter can take credit for the defeat of the giant Logrin in the Perlesvaus
, while another son, known only from a possibly 15th century Welsh text, is said to have died on the field of Camlann
:
Medraut/Mordred is an exception to this tradition of a childless death for Arthur's sons. Mordred, like Amr, is killed by Arthur – at Camlann
– according to Geoffrey of Monmouth and the post-Galfridian tradition but, unlike the others, he is ascribed two
sons, both of whom rose against Arthur's successor and cousin Constantine
with the help of the Saxons. However, in Geoffrey's Historia (when Arthur's killing of Mordred and Mordred's sons first appear), Mordred was not yet actually Arthur's son.
Later literature has expanded Arthur's family further. Richard Johnson
's 16th century romance
Tom a Lincoln adds another illegitimate son, the eponymous Tom. Through Tom, Arthur is also given grandsons referred to only as the Black Knight
and Faerie Knight
. Other works, such as Henry Fielding
's Tom Thumb
and modern film and television adaptations of Arthurian legend, have occasionally given Arthur daughters, diverging from the earlier legends.
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
's legend. Several of the legendary members of this mythical king's family became leading characters of mythical tales in their own right.
Welsh literature
In Welsh Arthurian literature from before the time of Geoffrey of MonmouthGeoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
's Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia Regum Britanniae
The Historia Regum Britanniae is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written c. 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons in a chronological narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the British nation...
(History of the Kings of Britain), Arthur was granted numerous relations and family members. Several early Welsh sources are usually taken as indicative of Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon is a legendary king of sub-Roman Britain and the father of King Arthur.A few minor references to Uther appear in Old Welsh poems, but his biography was first written down by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae , and Geoffrey's account of the character was used in...
being known as Arthur's father before Geoffrey wrote, with Arthur also being granted a brother (Madog
Madoc ap Uthyr
In early Arthurian literature, Madoc ap Uthyr is the son of Uther Pendragon, brother to Arthur and father of Eliwlod...
) and a nephew (Eliwlod
Eliwlod
In some old Welsh texts, Eliwlod is a nephew of King Arthur. His father is Madoc, son of Uther Pendragon, an obscure brother of Arthur's mentioned a very few times in Welsh literature. Eliwlod appears in the Welsh Triads, where he is called one of the three "Golden-Tongued Knights of Britain,"...
) in these texts. Arthur also appears to have been assigned a sister in this material – Gwalchmei
Gawain
Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...
is named as his sister-son (nephew) in Culhwch, his mother being one Gwyar. Rachel Bromwich
Rachel Bromwich
Rachel Bromwich was a British scholar. Her focus was on medieval Welsh literature, and was Emeritus Reader in Celtic Languages and Literature at the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at Cambridge until her death...
and D. Simon Evans have observed that Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh tale about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors that survives in only two manuscripts: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, ca. 1400, and a fragmented version in the White Book of Rhydderch, ca. 1325. It is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose...
, the Vita Iltuti and the Brut Dingestow combine to suggest that Arthur had a mother too, named Eigyr
Igraine
Igraine , in Arthurian legend, is the mother of King Arthur. She is also known in Latin as Igerna, in Welsh as Eigyr, in French as Igerne, in Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as Ygrayne— often modernized as Igraine—and in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival as Arnive...
.
In addition to this immediate family, Arthur was said to have had a great variety of more distant relatives, including maternal aunts, uncles, cousins and a grandfather named Anlawd (or Amlawdd) Wledig ("Prince Anlawd"). The latter is the common link between many of these figures and Arthur: thus the relationship of first cousins that is implied or stated between Arthur, Culhwch
Culhwch
Culhwch , in Welsh mythology, is the son of Cilydd son of Celyddon and Goleuddydd, a cousin of Arthur and the protagonist of the story Culhwch and Olwen...
, Illtud
Illtud
Illtyd , was a Welsh saint, founder and abbot of Llanilltud Fawr in the Welsh county of Glamorgan...
, and Goreu mab Custenhin depends upon all of their mothers being daughters of this Anlawd, who appears to be ultimately a genealogical construct designed to allow such inter-relationships between characters to be postulated by medieval Welsh authors. Arthur's maternal uncles in Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh tale about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors that survives in only two manuscripts: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, ca. 1400, and a fragmented version in the White Book of Rhydderch, ca. 1325. It is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose...
, including Llygatrud Emys, Gwrbothu Hen, Gweir Gwrhyt Ennwir and Gweir Baladir Hir, similarly appear to derive from this relationship.
The genealogies from the thirteenth century Mostyn MS. 117 claim that Arthur is the son of Uthyr
Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon is a legendary king of sub-Roman Britain and the father of King Arthur.A few minor references to Uther appear in Old Welsh poems, but his biography was first written down by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae , and Geoffrey's account of the character was used in...
, the son of Custennin, the son of Cynfawr, the son of Tudwal, the son of Morfawr, the son of Eudaf, the son of Cadwr the son of Cynan, the son of Caradoc
Caradog ap Bran
Caradog ap Bran is the son of the British king Bran the Blessed in Welsh mythology and literature, who appears most prominently in the second branch of the Mabinogi, the tale of Branwen ferch Llŷr. He is further mentioned in the Welsh Triads and in certain medieval Welsh genealogies...
, the son of Bran
Bran the Blessed
Brân the Blessed is a giant and king of Britain in Welsh mythology. He appears in several of the Welsh Triads, but his most significant role is in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, Branwen ferch Llŷr. He is a son of Llŷr and Penarddun, and the brother of Brânwen, Manawydan, Nisien and Efnysien...
, the son of Llŷr
Llyr
Llŷr is a figure in Welsh mythology, the father of Brân, Brânwen and Manawydan by Penarddun. The Welsh Triads mention he was imprisoned by Euroswydd; the Second Branch of the Mabinogi names Euroswydd as the father of Penarddun's younger two sons, Nisien and Efnisien. Llŷr corresponds to Lir in...
.
Turning to Arthur's own family, his wife is consistently stated to be Gwenhwyfar
Guinevere
Guinevere was the legendary queen consort of King Arthur. In tales and folklore, she was said to have had a love affair with Arthur's chief knight Sir Lancelot...
, usually the daughter of King Ogrfan Gawr
Leodegrance
King Leodegrance is the father of Queen Guinevere in Arthurian legend. His kingdom of Carmelide is sometimes identified with a location somewhere in the southwest of England, but may be located in Breton Cornouaille near the town of Carhaix, which is the Carhaise of L'Histoire de Merlin King...
(variation: 'Gogrfan Gawr', "[G]Ogrfan the Giant") and sister to Gwenhwyach, although Culhwch and Bonedd yr Arwyr do indicate that Arthur also had some sort of relationship with Eleirch daughter of Iaen, which produced a son named Kyduan (Cydfan). Kyduan was not the only child of Arthur according to Welsh Arthurian tradition – he is also ascribed sons called Amr (Anir), Gwydre, Llacheu and Duran.
Geoffrey of Monmouth era
Relatively few members of Arthur's family in the Welsh materials are carried over to the works of Geoffrey and the romancers. His grandfather Anlawd Wledic and his maternal uncles, aunts and cousins do not appear there, and neither do any of his sons or his paternal relatives. Only the core family seem to have made the journey: his wife Gwenhwyfar (who became GuinevereGuinevere
Guinevere was the legendary queen consort of King Arthur. In tales and folklore, she was said to have had a love affair with Arthur's chief knight Sir Lancelot...
), his father Uther, his mother (Igerna) and his sister-son Gwalchmei (Gawain
Gawain
Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...
). As Roberts has noted, Gwalchmei's mother – Arthur's sister – failed to make the journey, Gwyar's place being taken by Anna, the wife of Loth
King Lot
Lot or Loth is the eponymous king of Lothian in the Arthurian legend. He is best known as the father of Sir Gawain. Such a ruler evidently first appeared in hagiographical material concerning Saint Kentigern , which feature a Leudonus, king of Leudonia, a Latin name for Lothian...
, in Geoffrey's account, whilst Medraut (Mordred
Mordred
Mordred or Modred 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. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his...
) is made into a second sister-son for Arthur (a status he does not have in the Welsh material). In addition, new family members enter the Arthurian tradition from this point onwards. Uther is given a new family, including two brothers and a father, while Arthur gains a sister, Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay , alternatively known as Morgane, Morgaine, Morgana and other variants, is a powerful sorceress in the Arthurian legend. Early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay or magician...
(first named as Arthur's sister by Chrétien de Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and trouvère who flourished in the late 12th century. Perhaps he named himself Christian of Troyes in contrast to the illustrious Rashi, also of Troyes...
), and a new son, Loholt, in Chrétien's Eric and Enide, the Perlesvaus
Perlesvaus
Perlesvaus, also called Li Hauz Livres du Graal , is an Old French Arthurian romance dating to the first decade of the 13th century...
and the Vulgate Cycle
Lancelot-Grail
The Lancelot–Grail, also known as the Prose Lancelot, the Vulgate Cycle, or the Pseudo-Map Cycle, is a major source of Arthurian legend written in French. It is a series of five prose volumes that tell the story of the quest for the Holy Grail and the romance of Lancelot and Guinevere...
.
Another significant new family-member is Arthur's half-sister Morgause
Morgause
Morgause , known in earlier works as Gwyar or Anna, is the sister or half-sister of King Arthur in the Arthurian legend. In her earliest appearance she is Arthur's full sister by Uther Pendragon and Igraine; Gwyar is her name and she is the mother of Gwalchmei...
, the daughter of Gorlois and Igerna and mother of Gawain and Mordred in the French romances (replacing Geoffrey of Monmouth's Anna in this role). In the Vulgate
Lancelot-Grail
The Lancelot–Grail, also known as the Prose Lancelot, the Vulgate Cycle, or the Pseudo-Map Cycle, is a major source of Arthurian legend written in French. It is a series of five prose volumes that tell the story of the quest for the Holy Grail and the romance of Lancelot and Guinevere...
Mort Artu we find Mordred
Mordred
Mordred or Modred 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. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his...
's relationship with Arthur once more reinterpreted, as he is made the issue of an unwitting incestuous liaison between Arthur and this Morgause, with Arthur dreaming that Mordred would grow up to kill him. This tale is preserved in all the romances based on the Mort Artu, and by the time we reach Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur
Le Morte d'Arthur
Le Morte d'Arthur is a compilation by Sir Thomas Malory of Romance tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table...
Arthur has started to plot, Herod
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
-like, to kill all children born on the same day as Mordred in order to save himself from this fate. A third half-sister, Elaine, is also added at this time. Through his sisters, Arthur is given further nephews (Gareth
Gareth
Sir Gareth was a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian Legend. He was the youngest son of Lot and of Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother to Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, and half brother of Mordred...
, Gaheris
Gaheris
Gaheris is a figure of Arthurian legend, a knight of the Round Table, and a son of Morgause and King Lot of Orkney and Lothian. His brothers are Gawain, Agravaine, Gareth and Mordred, a half-brother. His mother is a daughter of Gorlois and Igraine, and a sister of Elaine and Morgan le Fay...
, Agravain
Agravain
Sir Agravain or Sir Agravaine is a nephew of King Arthur and a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is the second son of King Lot of Orkney and Lothian and Morgause , full brother to Gawain, Gaheris and Gareth. His half-brother and most frequent associate in the Post-Vulgate Cycle is...
, Ywain
Ywain
Sir Ywain is a Knight of the Round Table and the son of King Urien in Arthurian legend...
, and Galeschin
Galeschin
Galeschin is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is a nephew of King Arthur, son of the king's half-sister Elaine and King Nentres of Garlot....
) who become Knights of the Round Table
Round Table
The Round Table is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his Knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status. The table was first described in 1155 by Wace, who relied on previous depictions of...
.
Children and grandchildren
Although Arthur is given sons in both early and late Arthurian tales, he is rarely granted significant further generations of descendants; this is at least partly because of the premature deaths of his sons in these legends. Amr is the first to be mentioned in Arthurian literature, appearing in the 9th century Historia Brittonum:- There is another wonder in the region which is called Ercing. A tomb is located there next to a spring which is called Licat Amr; and the name of the man who is buried in the tomb was called thus: Amr. He was the son of Arthur the soldier, and Arthur himself killed and buried him in that very place. And men come to measure the grave and find it sometimes six feet in length, sometimes nine, sometimes twelve, sometimes fifteen. At whatever length you might measure it at one time, a second time you will not find it to have the same length – and I myself have put this to the test.
Why Arthur chose to kill his son is never made clear. The only other reference to Amr comes in the post-Galfridian Welsh romance Geraint, where "Amhar son of Arthur" is one of Arthur’s four chamberlains along with Bedwyr’s son, Amhren. Gwydre is similarly unlucky, being slaughtered by the giant boar Twrch Trwyth
Twrch Trwyth
Twrch Trwyth is an enchanted wild boar in the Arthurian legend. The hunt for Twrch Trwyth by King Arthur was the subject of a popular stock narrative in medieval Welsh literature...
in Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh tale about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors that survives in only two manuscripts: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, ca. 1400, and a fragmented version in the White Book of Rhydderch, ca. 1325. It is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose...
, along with two of Arthur's maternal uncles – no other references to either Gwydre or Arthur's uncles survive. More is known of Arthur's son Llacheu. He is one of the "Three Well-Endowed Men of the Island of Britain", according to Triad number 4, and he fights alongside Cei
Sir Kay
In Arthurian legend, Sir Kay is Sir Ector's son and King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of the Round Table. In later literature he is known for his acid tongue and bullying, boorish behavior, but in earlier accounts he was one of Arthur's premier...
in the early Arthurian poem Pa gur yv y porthaur?. Like his father is in Y Gododdin
Y Gododdin
Y Gododdin is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Britonnic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia at a place named Catraeth...
, Llacheu appears in 12th century and later Welsh poetry as a standard of heroic comparison and he also seems to have been similarly a figure of local topographic folklore too. Taken together, it is generally agreed that all these references indicate that Llacheu was a figure of considerable importance in the early Arthurian cycle. Nonetheless, Llacheu too dies, with the speaker in the pre-Galfridian poem Ymddiddan Gwayddno Garanhir ac Gwyn fab Nudd remembering that he had "been where Llacheu was slain / the son of Arthur, awful in songs / when ravens croaked over blood". Finally, Loholt is treacherously killed by Sir Kay so that the latter can take credit for the defeat of the giant Logrin in the Perlesvaus
Perlesvaus
Perlesvaus, also called Li Hauz Livres du Graal , is an Old French Arthurian romance dating to the first decade of the 13th century...
, while another son, known only from a possibly 15th century Welsh text, is said to have died on the field of Camlann
Battle of Camlann
The Battle of Camlann is best known as the final battle of King Arthur, where he either died in battle, or was fatally wounded fighting his enemy Mordred.-Historicity:...
:
- Sandde Bryd Angel drive the crow
- off the face of ?Duran [son of Arthur].
- Dearly and belovedly his mother raised him.
- Arthur sang it
Medraut/Mordred is an exception to this tradition of a childless death for Arthur's sons. Mordred, like Amr, is killed by Arthur – at Camlann
Battle of Camlann
The Battle of Camlann is best known as the final battle of King Arthur, where he either died in battle, or was fatally wounded fighting his enemy Mordred.-Historicity:...
– according to Geoffrey of Monmouth and the post-Galfridian tradition but, unlike the others, he is ascribed two
Sons of Mordred
The sons of Mordred appear in several works of Arthurian literature. The stories always number them as two, though they are usually not named. They generally figure as the heirs to their father's traitorous aims and enemies of King Arthur's successors...
sons, both of whom rose against Arthur's successor and cousin Constantine
Constantine III of Britain
Constantine was a minor king in 6th-century sub-Roman Britain, who was remembered in later British tradition as a legendary King of Britain. The only contemporary information about him comes from Gildas, who calls him king of Damnonia and castigates him for his various sins, including the murder...
with the help of the Saxons. However, in Geoffrey's Historia (when Arthur's killing of Mordred and Mordred's sons first appear), Mordred was not yet actually Arthur's son.
Later literature has expanded Arthur's family further. Richard Johnson
Richard Johnson (16th century)
Richard Johnson was an English romance writer. He was baptized in London on May 4, 1573. His most famous work is The Famous Historie of the Seaven Champions of Christendom . The success of this book was so great that the author added a second and a third part in 1608 and 1616...
's 16th century romance
Romance (genre)
As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...
Tom a Lincoln adds another illegitimate son, the eponymous Tom. Through Tom, Arthur is also given grandsons referred to only as the Black Knight
Black Knight (Arthurian legend)
The Black Knight is the title given to several characters in Western literature. In Arthurian legend he is a knight who tied his wife to a tree after hearing she had exchanged rings with Perceval...
and Faerie Knight
Faerie Knight
The Faerie Knight was, in the Matter of Britain, a bastard son of Tom a'Lincoln and Caelia, the Faerie Queen. His proper name is never given. He appears in Richard Johnson's romance Tom a' Lincoln....
. Other works, such as Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
's Tom Thumb
Tom Thumb (play)
Tom Thumb is a play written by Henry Fielding as an addition to The Author's Farce. It was added on 24 April 1730 at Haymarket. It is a low tragedy about a character who is small in both size and status who is granted the hand of a princess in marriage...
and modern film and television adaptations of Arthurian legend, have occasionally given Arthur daughters, diverging from the earlier legends.
External links
- Arthurian Resources: King Arthur, History and the Welsh Arthurian Legends - detailed and comprehensive academic site, includes numerous scholarly articles, from Thomas Green of Oxford University
- Arthuriana - the only academic journal solely concerned with the Arthurian Legend, see the site for a good selection of resources and links
- The Camelot Project at the University of Rochester - provides valuable bibliographies and freely downloadable versions of Arthurian texts
- Arthurian Folklore - an excellent site detailing Welsh Arthurian folklore
- Celtic Literature Collective - provides texts and translations (of varying quality) of Welsh medieval sources, many of which mention Arthur
- Vortigern Studies - an interesting collection of articles on King Arthur by various Arthurian enthusiasts
- The Heroic Age An online peer-reviewed journal which includes regular Arthurian articles, see especially the first issue
- The Medieval Development of Arthurian Literature - from H2G2