Morvidus was a legendary king of the Britons from 341

341 BC

Year 341 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Venno and Privernas...

 to 336

336 BC

Year 336 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crassus and Duillius...

 B.C., as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey 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...

. He was the illegitimate son of Danius

Danius

Danius was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was son of Sisillius II and brother of Kinarius. He was succeeded by Morvidus....

 by his mistress Tanguesteaia.

Geoffrey portrays him as being an ill-tempered yet kind ruler most of the time. Most of the time he gave out gifts handsomely. During his reign, the king of the Moriani invaded Northumberland

Northumberland

Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

 and laid waste to the countryside. Morvidus met the king of Moriani in battle and defeated the invaders. After the battle, he had every captive soldier brought before him and personally killed each one, feeding his lust for blood. When he became tired, he skinned and burned the remaining soldiers.

He fought and killed a giant using an uprooted tree stripped of bark and branches. For this reason, he is associated with the symbol of a ragged staff, which appears in the crest of the Earl of Warwick

Earl of Warwick

Earl of Warwick is a title that has been created four times in British history and is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the British Isles.-1088 creation:...

 who are believed to be descended from Morvidus.

Later in his reign, a dragon or monster appeared from the Irish Sea

Irish Sea

The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...

 and began devouring the inhabitants of the western shores. In an attempt to stop this, Morvidus met the beast in single-combat and used every weapon he could against her, but to no avail. The monster lunged at Morvidus and consumed him. Morvidus had five sons: Gorbonianus

Gorbonianus

Gorbonianus was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the eldest son of King Morvidus, and the brother of Archgallo, Elidurus, Ingenius, and Peredurus, and...

, Archgallo

Archgallo

Archgallo was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the second son of King Morvidus and brother of Gorbonianus....

, Elidurus

Elidurus

Elidurus the Dutiful was a legendary king of the Britons as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the third son of King Morvidus and brother of Gorbonianus, Archgallo, Ingenius, and Peredurus....

, Ingenius, and Peredurus

Peredurus

Peredurus is a legendary king of the Britons in Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudohistorical chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae. According to Geoffrey he was the youngest son of King Morvidus and brother of Gorbonianus, Archgallo, Elidurus, and Ingenius....

, all of which became kings of the Britons. Of these five sons, Gorbonianus, the eldest, was his direct successor.

Sources

• http://www.ldolphin.org/cooper/ch5.html
• http://www.army.mod.uk/royalsignals/30sigregt/258sigsqn/