Elen, Sister of King Arthur

Elen the sister of King Arthur is a figure who appears in just a single Arthurian source. Nonetheless, she can almost certainly be identified with a very prominent figure from non-Arthurian sources. In this article, we will examine her appearance as the sister of Arthur and investigate her likely origin from outside the Arthurian legends. 

Who Was Elen, Sister of King Arthur?

In the Arthurian legends, Elen is described as the sister of King Arthur, but she appears in only one source. This is the Welsh Triads. The Welsh Triads is a large collection of various traditions from medieval Wales that have been grouped into sets of threes. 

One of these triads has the title: ‘The Three Elens Who Went from Ynys Prydain’. This is found in the Peniarth MS 126. This triad lists Elen the sister of Arthur as one of these three Elens. The full text reads: 

“Three Elen’s who went from Ynys Prydain: Elen ferch Coel, Elen ferch Eudaf, and Elen sister of Arthur, who is said to have gone with Arthur when he went to fight Frollo, and she did not return.”

When did Elen leave Ynys Prydain (that is, Britain)? The triad says that she went with Arthur when he went to fight Frollo. He appears as Arthur’s enemy in the Historia Regum Britanniae, the work written by Geoffrey of Monmouth in c. 1137. 

In that work, Frollo is depicted as the Roman tribune who rules over Gaul in Arthur’s time. Arthur fights against him, kills him, and conquers Gaul. Thus, it was during this event that Elen allegedly accompanied Arthur from Britain to Gaul.

Nothing more is known about this Elen. 

Identifying Her With Elaine

It is tempting to try to identify Elen with Elaine. This is the name of one of Arthur’s sisters in Le Morte d’Arthur, written by Sir Thomas Malory in the fifteenth century. Since the name ‘Elaine’ is clearly close enough to the Welsh ‘Elen’ to be understood as Malory’s English approximation of it, the fact that they are both described as Arthur’s sister could easily lead us to believe that they are one and the same. 

The problem with this conclusion is that we can actually trace Malory’s Elaine back through earlier sources and see that she originally had a different name. 

She is presented as the wife of Nentres of Garlot. In earlier sources, the name of the wife of this figure is Blasine. She appears as such in the Vulgate Merlin, for example. There, she is the daughter of Gorlois and Igerna and thus the half sister of Arthur. Other texts spell her name ‘Blaasine’ and ‘Basyne’. 

It is only later, such as in Malory’s Arthurian tale, that we see her name written as ‘Elaine’. Therefore, it is evident that this character did not originally come from the figure of Elen sister of Arthur in Welsh tradition. 

However, it is not impossible that Malory got the name of this sister from Elen. After all, the text in which she appears is roughly contemporary with Malory, so he may have heard of her. 

The True Identity of Elen, Sister of King Arthur

A comparison of several Welsh sources points towards the true identity of Elen the sister of Arthur. Recall that she appears in conjunction with two other Elens in the triad which mentions her. 

Furthermore, recall that Elen the sister of Arthur was said to have left Britain on a campaign into Gaul. This was when Arthur conquered much of Europe and waged war against the Romans, as described in full by Geoffrey of Monmouth. 

The Two Other Elens

With these two facts in mind, we do well to consider who the other two Elens in this triad were. One of them was the daughter of Coel Hen. She was the wife of Emperor Constantius and the mother of Constantine the Great. The idea that she was the daughter of King Coel of Britain is not supported by the more contemporary records. 

Furthermore, there is no firm evidence that she was ever in Britain. She was already divorced from Constantius long before he campaigned in Britain, and she did not receive a position of prominence again until 312, which was after Constantine the Great had already left Britain. 

The other Elen is far more significant to our discussion. She was the daughter of a king recorded as ‘Eudaf Hen’ in Welsh sources, and ‘Octavius’ by Geoffrey of Monmouth. She was the wife of Magnus Maximus according to firm Welsh tradition. 

While there are no contemporary records which confirm this, Maximus’ son Victor is frequently described as an ‘infant’ at the time of his elevation to the position of Augustus in 384.

Since Maximus had been in Britain for at least several years prior to his usurpation against Gratian in 383, he must logically have been with his wife and fathered his son while he was in Britain. 

With no evidence that Maximus was already married to his wife prior to his being stationed in Britain in c. 380, this strongly supports the conclusion that his wife was from Britain. Scholar Peter Bartrum, a respected authority on this period, stated that there “is no reason to doubt this tradition”. 

When Elen ferch Eudaf Left Britain

Why is this so significant? Well, it means that the information concerning this Elen in Welsh tradition has a fair chance of being accurate, unlike in the case of Elen ferch Coel Hen. 

More significant than this are the circumstances of Elen the wife of Maximus leaving Britain. The triad that was quoted above did not explain the circumstances of her departure. However, this is not the only triad which mentions her leaving Britain. 

Another one is the triad entitled ‘Three Levies that departed from this island, and not one of them came back’. The first entry reads: 

“The first went with Elen of the Hosts and Cynan her brother.”

The reference here is obviously to a military force. Cynan appears elsewhere in Welsh texts as the companion of Magnus Maximus on his expedition to Gaul. 

The significance of this is that it means that Elen ferch Eudaf is associated with very similar circumstances as Elen the sister of King Arthur. Just as Elen the sister of Arthur is associated with a military expedition to Gaul to fight against the Romans, Elen the wife of Maximus was also associated with a military expedition to Gaul to fight against the Romans. 

Furthermore, just as Elen the sister of Arthur is said to have never returned to Britain, the same statement is made concerning Elen the wife of Maximus. It is fascinating that two women of the same name are both associated with such a similar set of circumstances. Could there be some greater significance to this? 

Evidence that Elen the Sister of Arthur Was Elen ferch Eudaf

These similarities suggest that these two Elens (the sister of Arthur and the daughter of Eudaf) were actually the same original person. However, while similar, the set of circumstances with which they are both associated are not so similar as to demand such a conclusion. It could just be a coincidence. 

The argument that they were the same person is substantially reinforced by the strong similarities between King Arthur’s legendary invasion of Gaul and Magnus Maximus’ historical usurpation of the Western Roman Empire. 

Renowned scholar David Dumville noted these obvious similarities and argued that the legend of Arthur’s European campaign was derived from Maximus’ invasion. A comparison of the two events reveals similarities which are very unlikely to be attributable to coincidence. 

Comparing Arthur’s and Maximus’ Invasions

Both Maximus and Arthur start their campaign by leaving Britain and arriving in Gaul with a large army. They both encounter the Roman ruler of Gaul (Gratian in Maximus’ case, Frollo in Arthur’s case). Without any major battle, after the majority of the Gallic army switches sides, the Roman leader flees. 

The Roman leader is then caught and killed in a one-to-one setting. In the Arthurian legend, it is King Arthur who kills Frollo, while Gratian was killed by Andragathius, the cavalry commander of Maximus’ army. It is Andragathius who seems to occupy the Arthur figure in these events. 

In both the Arthurian legend and the historical reality of the fourth century, several years went by without any overt conflict between the two sides. This then ended when Arthur decided to attack Rome, just as Maximus sent his army against Italy in 387. 

During this event, Arthur’s men have a conflict with a Roman senator named Petreius, just as a prominent opponent of Maximus at the time of his invasion of Italy was a senator named Petronius. 

After this, Arthur fought his climactic battle against the Romans and a large army composed of other nations at a valley called Siesia. Andragathius, for his part, fought against Theodosius’ large army of Romans and numerous non-Roman allies at Siscia in Croatia. 

What This Means for Elen

Based on this evidence, what can we conclude concerning Elen the sister of Arthur? 

The above comparison indicates that Arthur’s legendary invasion of Gaul really does come from Magnus Maximus’ usurpation. This would make King Arthur a composite figure, as many scholars have suggested over the years. 

As well as the sixth century figure who fought the Saxons in Britain, the legendary King Arthur would be partially identifiable as Andragathius, the cavalry commander of Magnus Maximus. 

Therefore, the record of Arthur having a sister named Elen who accompanied him on this European conquest is evidently derived from traditions that were originally about Elen the wife of Maximus. 

While this satisfactorily explains her association with Arthur, it does not obviously explain why Elen was specifically made into Arthur’s sister. Is there something about Elen ferch Eudaf that would lead to the mistaken conclusion that she was the sister of this British king? 

How Elen Became King Arthur’s Sister

Recall that the historical figure whose activities appear to correspond to those of King Arthur in the legend is Andragathius. This fact may well be the key in understanding how Elen the wife of Maximus came to be remembered through one line of transmission as the sister of King Arthur. 

A good case can be made that Andragathius himself came to be remembered as the son of Maximus. In Welsh records, we find that Maximus is given a son named Anthun. He is called the King of Greece and heads a genealogical list in which many of his close descendants have clearly Germanic names. 

Both of these aspects of the figure of Anthun can be explained if we identify him as Andragathius. While Andragathius never got as far as Greece itself, the idea that someone closely associated with Maximus conquered as far as Greece is clearly rooted in his historical campaigns across Europe. 

Since Andragathius had the most prominent role in those conquests aside from Maximus himself, it thus makes sense to identify Anthun with Andragathius. The fact that Anthun is closely followed by clearly Germanic names (arguably Gothic in particular) firmly supports this, inasmuch as ‘Andragathius’ is a Gothic name. 

With Andragathius being remembered as the son of Maximus, this would mean that Elen should have been remembered as the mother of ‘Arthur’ (that is, Andragathius). How is this consistent with her being called Arthur’s sister? 

From Mother to Sister

There are at least two ways that this corruption could have occurred. One way is that it resulted from a general confusion that sometimes occurred in the records among close family members. 

For instance, Eudaf was the father-in-law of Maximus, yet there is at least one record that describes him as his son. Another example is Aedan and his father Gabran, kings of Dal Riada who sometimes appear in Welsh records with their relationship inverted. 

Likewise, there are many instances of generations being skipped. For instance, Brychan is made a direct son of Tewdrig in the Life of St Cadoc, whereas other records clarify that he was Tewdrig’s grandson through his daughter Marchell. 

Perhaps the most relevant example is directly related to Elen herself. As we saw earlier, the triad in which she appears calls Cynan her brother. However, other records call Cynan her cousin. 

Therefore, perhaps the mere fact that Andragathius and Elen were believed to be closely related led to the erroneous description of her as ‘Arthur’s’ sister. 

A More Specific Explanation

On the other hand, there may be a more specific reason for this error. As already mentioned, individual generations are occasionally skipped. Another example, in addition to the one provided earlier, is that a certain Athrwys of Glywysing and Gwent is presented as the son of Tewdrig in the Harleian MS 3859, despite the fact that other records make it clear that he was Tewdrig’s grandson.

Therefore, since Andragathius was apparently remembered as the son of Maximus (as ‘Anthun’, evidently a corrupted form of the first part of his name), he would therefore have been considered the son of Elen, naturally. However, this would also make him the grandson of Eudaf, Elen’s father.

Perhaps this sometimes led to him being described as the direct son of Eudaf. If so, this would give the impression that he was actually the brother of Elen rather than her son.

Somewhat similarly, some records skip generations because they record lines of succession. We see plenty of examples of this in the Harleian MS 3859.

Anthun appears elsewhere in Welsh genealogies with the alternative name ‘Dynod’. Geoffrey of Monmouth used ‘Dionotus’ as a Latin form of this name. Geoffrey’s Dionotus was an associate of Magnus Maximus whom the latter appointed as the king of Britain after Eudaf (or ‘Octavius’, as Geoffrey calls him).

Therefore, assuming the identification of Dionotus with Anthun/Dynod of the genealogies, this would mean that he would naturally have been recorded as the successor of Eudaf.

In fact, evidence that this did happen is seen from Le Petit Bruit. This record from 1309 demonstrably preserves some accurate information from the Dark Ages. It refers to a figure named Edbright as one of the predecessors of King Arthur. Based on the information about him, he can almost certainly be identified with Andragathius.

Significantly, he is called the son of ‘Edgar’. It is very likely that this is a loose English approximation of ‘Eudaf’. This would thus support the idea that Andragathius (Anthun/Dynod) was sometimes remembered as the son of Eudaf.

Furthermore, since Andragathius was an adult cavalry commander at the time that Maximus had his infant son with his evidently British wife, it is obvious that Andragathius cannot have actually been Elen’s son. He would have probably been about the same age as her.

This would have encouraged the identification of them as siblings rather than mother and son.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the appearance of Elen the sister of Arthur in Welsh tradition is almost certainly the result of King Arthur being a composite figure. She only appears in the context of Arthur’s invasion of Gaul to fight against the Romans. The evidence strongly suggests that this account comes from Magnus Maximus’ conquest of the Western Roman Empire, with his cavalry commander Andragathius being the figure whose activities were combined with those of the sixth century Arthur.

In line with this, Maximus is associated in Welsh tradition with his wife Elen in the context of his European campaign. The references to Elen the daughter of Eudaf are so similar to that of Elen the sister of Arthur that they are evidently the same figure.

The reason why Elen daughter of Eudaf came to be remembered as the sister of Arthur is probably because Andragathius was remembered within some traditions as the son of Eudaf. This may be because he allegedly succeeded Eudaf as king of Britain, although other possibilities exist.

Sources

Bartrum, Peter, A Welsh Classical Dictionary, 1993

Howells, Caleb, King Arthur: The Man Who Conquered Europe, 2019