Hi folks! I’m finally back and ready to go with the article I’ve been promising about a major character in The Retreat to Avalon. As you can see, we’re going to talk about Modred. For people even slightly familiar with Arthurian legend, his name, later spelled more ominously as “Mordred”, evokes visions of malice, betrayal, and outright evil. But is it deserved? That is one of the questions addressed in my telling of the story of King Arthur. And it’s a big one, because it is central to the story of the end of Arthur’s Golden Age and the fall of “Camelot”.
With a few other Arthurian characters, Modred seems to have been an actual person. The earliest mention of Modred (Medraut in Old Welsh) comes from a manuscript called The Annals of Wales, first written down by monks in the 900’s. The Annals are a list of dates and events from about AD 445 to 954. The entry for the year 537 reports:
The Strife of Camlann in which Arthur and Medraut fell and there was death in Britain and in Ireland.
(You may note how I came up with the title of Book 2 of The Arthurian Age.)
That’s it. Just a name. Not even a mention of whether Arthur and Medraut were enemies or allies, or why the battle occurred. Intriguing! Investigating stuff like this is what makes writing historical fiction so much fun.
Back to the Future
Let’s jump forward to 700 years after Arthur’s life, when French and Norman-influenced writers began penning the Arthurian Romances that most people are familiar with. Unfortunately, we don’t get history from the Romances. These were the equivalent of fan-fiction novels based loosely, at best, on the ancient legends of King Arthur that came from the Welsh, Cornish, and Bretons descended from the Britons of Arthur’s era.
The “loosely based” part is where we find clues to what Camlann was about, and why Modred and Arthur are both said to have died there. There are variations to the story in the Romances, but they all revolve around the theme that Mordred tried to usurp the crown from Arthur.
There are more ancient hints about the deaths of Arthur and Modred at Camlann, but the oldest (surviving) complete story comes from The History of the Kings of Britain, written by Geoffrey of Monmouth around 1136. According to this version, when Arthur leaves Britain to fight the Romans in Gaul, he leaves Modred and Guinevere in charge of running the kingdom. Arthur is busy giving the uppity Romans a good lesson in manners when news comes that Modred has taken the crown of Britain for himself, and that Guinevere has broken her vows and married Modred. Arthur returns to Britain and after a series of battles, kills Mordred, but is mortally wounded. Guinevere becomes a nun and Arthur goes to the Isle of Avalon to be cured of his wounds after giving up the crown to his cousin, Constantine.
Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History is the basis for the surge of interest in King Arthur across Europe in the middle ages and set the overall theme that lives on through today. Changes occur with different writers. For instance, Geoffrey says that Modred is Arthur’s nephew, by his sister, Anna, and Lot, the king of Lothian. Gawain is Modred’s brother. The Welsh legends never describe Modred as Arthur’s son.
About a century after Geoffrey’s book, the Lancelot and Grail stories develop, and Mordred becomes the incestuous offspring of Arthur and his half-sister, Morganna. His character takes on a more sinister aspect than even in Geoffrey’s History.
Mordred in The Arthurian Age
If you’ve read The Retreat to Avalon, you’ll recognize some of the details about Modred, like being the son of Lot, king of the Gododdin (an area that later becomes Lothian, a region of Scotland to this day). However, he is only second-cousin to Gawain, and not related to Arthur at all. Medieval writers seemed to believe that anyone famous must be related to their other famous contemporaries. You might also notice that Modred is extremely likeable. Charismatic, handsome, brave, and kind. He has some baggage, but who doesn’t? I didn’t just make up these details, like the story of his sister, myself.
In Welsh legend, Modred is by no means described as evil. In fact, some elegies favorably compare later Welsh warlords to the valor and good-nature of Modred. The Mabinogion describes his courtliness, calmness and purity. In the Welsh Triads poem entitled The Twenty-Four Knights of Arthur’s Court, Modred is called one of the “Three Royal Knights” of Arthur’s Court because:
There was neither king nor emperor of the world who could refuse them, on account of their beauty and wisdom in peace; while in war no warrior or champion could withstand them, despite the excellence of his arms. And therefore they were called Royal Knights.
http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/triads4.html
Some legends suggest Modred acted justly, or that the deadly battle may have been avoided. There are other details, such as who he marries, which I won’t share now because of major spoilers. So why would Modred try to dethrone Arthur and end Britain’s Golden Age? History and legend suggests the motives behind Arthur’s final battle may have been more complex. Read The Strife of Camlann, out this year, to find out.
My late father was an avid fan of the Arthurian legend & my younger sister & I were enthralled by the subject as well. I remember Dad telling us that there was a novel about the subject wherein Mordred & Arthur weren’t in conflict with each other. Dad told me that Arthur & Mordred came up with the idea that in order to be remembered down through the ages, they decided to put forth the story that they were bitter enemies & thus stories of their conflict passed down through the centuries. Try as I might, I have not been able to find this version of the legend. I wish I’d been wise enough to have written this information down in detail; but, being young with other things on my mind taking precedence, I never did. Does anyone have any idea of what novel, short story or whatever form this might exist? (I’m not sure why below asked or a website & am definitely not sure I should have put the one in I did – please excuse my ignorance.)
Hi Martha, I’ve never heard of a story with that story line. You could post the question on the Facebook group for King Arthur. There are a lot of people there and someone may know of it.
Thanks for coming by and telling us about this!
Sean
Appreciate your words. Big Mordred/Medraut fan here. I have all the books I can find on Mordred and seek more. I posted a short history note something similar to what you wrote a few years ago. I have never seen Mordred as a villain and in most of the historical stories, he’s seen as the people’s hero. Having stood up and challenged the court who ran it as one rule for the nobilities and one rule for people, he stood for equality and fairness. And you may see I have adapted his name for my own public name.
I’m glad you enjoyed this. It makes for a much more nuanced character, which I hope came through in my portrayal in The Retreat to Avalon and The Strife of Camlann. Especially in the second book, which uses some of the more interesting references from the Welsh Triads.
Looking forward to reading it. Quite appropriate as tomorrow and Sunday Margaret and I will be once again on the site of the Battle of Camlann with our a display and a bit of archery.
I look forward to your thoughts, and some pictures from the field.
Wow! This was an absolutely amazing read! Thank you very much for this wonderful article. Previously, while clinging only to the rather Romanticized Arthurian legend(s), I thought Mordred was the usurper incestuous son of Arthur Pendragon and his witch sister Morgana. I also watched the film ‘Excalibur’ from 1981 way back when I was still in high school (2014 to be more specific; and at that time I haven’t had enough time or tremendous interest to search for the historical truth behind King Arthur… it was one year later that I started digging deep into the Welsh origin of the whole myth/legend).
Anyway, according to the most valuable information that I read and learnt from your website, I came to the conclusion that the, shall we say, real (or historical accurate) Mordred was far from a villain, but rather one of the most loyal knights of King Arthur himself. A hero, in a nutshell, in stark contrast to what I perceived him based on a Hollywood film. Amazing! Thank you so much, sir!
P.S.: As I mentioned above, years later I tried to search for the truth myself and draw parallels between the fact and fiction shrouding the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the round table. A solid proof to this is one brief article on my website: https://www.thedockyards.com/king-arthur-knights-round-table-fact-fiction/.
Really glad you enjoyed the article! I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that Modred was definitely a hero, though. Like today, there can be a lot of grey area and someone might be heroic in some ways, villainous in others. Using the clues from history and legend, I tried using some logical guesses as to what happened at Camlann, why, and how Modred gained his reputation.
I’ll check out your blog, thanks!
You are very right indeed! Thank you for your balanced viewpoints and for your interest in my blog as well! Cheers, all the best, much success, health, wealth, and keep up the good work! 🙂
P.S.: I’m a more of a Viking Age enthusiast but for some time I have seriously delving into various Celtic myths, other than that of King Arthur, and I’ve been tremendously fascinated by them, I have to admit. I will be writing more on them and publish a brand new series of articles strictly on the Celts as soon as possible. Also, let us not forget Enya’s brilliant ‘The Celts’ (a 1992 re-issue of her eponymous 1987 studio album). Sláinte! 🙂