Uther Pendragon, Father of King Arthur

Uther Pendragon is one of the key figures in the Arthurian legends, by virtue of the fact that he was the father of King Arthur himself. He was the high king of Britain before Arthur, so he has a very prominent role in the legends. While he is sometimes claimed to be an invention of Geoffrey of Monmouth, the evidence is clear that he existed in Welsh tradition prior to Geoffrey. What do we really know about him?

Who Was Uther Pendragon?

Uther Pendragon was the father of King Arthur. He was a powerful monarch who ruled as the high king of Britain during the early sixth century. As such, he is one of the most important and prominent characters of the Arthurian legends.

At the same time, he is only prominent in legends concerning the early part of Arthur’s life, and especially the stories set before Arthur was even born. The reason is that Uther was said to have died when Arthur was quite young, meaning that he was not present for the majority of Arthur’s life.

Uther Pendragon was a powerful war leader who fought many battles against the Saxons, driving them back from much of the territory that they had gained. He also fought powerfully against the Irish in Dyfed. Furthermore, he was said to have been responsible for bringing Stonehenge over from Ireland to Britain.

One of the most famous events in Uther’s life was the attack against Gorlois, duke of Cornwall. He sent an army to fight against Gorlois, killing him, and in the process took Gorlois’ wife, Igerna, for himself. This was the union that resulted in Arthur’s birth.

Finally, Uther retired from the kingship, leaving it in the hands of his son-in-law. However, when the latter was having trouble fighting against the Saxons, Uther returned for one final battle. The Britons were victorious, but Uther then died several days later after being poisoned at a well.

Name

One of the most intriguing things about Uther Pendragon is his name. There is good reason to believe that this was not actually this king’s real name at all. This is very important to establish, because it would mean that if he was based on a historical figure, that figure may have had a completely different name in the available records.

Pendragon

The second part of the name, ‘Pendragon’, is explicitly a title. This is widely recognised. Even in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae, the narrative directly tells us that this is a title. It is an epithet given to Uther based on the fact that a dragon appeared in the sky at the time of his accession to the throne.

Geoffrey wrote the following about this matter:

“From this time, therefore, he was called Uther Pendragon, which in the British tongue signifies the dragon's head; the occasion of this appellation being Merlin's predicting, from the appearance of a dragon, that he should be king.”

Therefore, according to this account, the epithet ‘Pendragon’ is in reference to the dragon which was seen in the sky and which represented Uther.

The Real Meaning

In reality, modern scholars understand the epithet ‘Pendragon’ slightly differently. While it is clear that Geoffrey was right to associate it with the words ‘dragon’ and ‘head’, his interpretation of it as meaning ‘dragon’s head’ is not quite right.

The truth is that it clearly means ‘head dragon’. This conveys the idea of the chief warrior or even chief leader.

We see the term ‘dragon’ (which is a Welsh word) being used in Welsh poetry as a poetic description of warriors. This is seen, among other places, in Y Gododdin, written in c. 600.

The Welsh word ‘pen’ means ‘head’, although often in the sense of ‘chief’. Hence, ‘Pendragon’ simply means ‘head warrior’ or ‘chief warrior’. This makes a lot of sense for someone who was said to have been the high king of Britain.

This same epithet is used in the twelfth century by the poet Gwalchmai in reference to Rhodri ap Owain.

Uther

Although it is widely recognised that ‘Pendragon’ is just an epithet, it is not so widely recognised that the same can likely be said for ‘Uther’. In fact, it would appear that ‘Uther’ is actually part of the same epithet, rather than it being something separate from ‘Pendragon’.

In Welsh documents, this appears as ‘Uthyr’, ‘Uthir’, ‘Uthur’, and ‘Uthr’. This is easily understood as the Welsh word ‘uthr’. This means ‘wonderful’, or ‘terrible’, or perhaps more correctly, ‘fearsome’. The comments of scholar Rachel Bromwich on this issue are very noteworthy. She wrote:

“The fact that uthr occurs frequently as an adjective in early poetry... has obscured the argument as to the independent Welsh origin of the character of Uthyr Pendragon, since in the controversy all the references to Uthyr in early poetry have at one time or another been taken to be the adjective uthr... But it must be conceded that in the occurrences of uthyr in the early poetry, it is by no means easy to distinguish whether the adjective or the personal name is intended.”

This is very interesting indeed. It shows that ‘Uthyr’ could easily be a misinterpretation of the adjective ‘uthr’, meaning ‘fearsome’. However, rather that it being a case of this word being used as either a personal name or the adjective in any given instance, these facts equally lend themselves to the conclusion that the adjective was being used in reference to an individual, as an epithet.

When we put ‘uthr’ together with ‘Pendragon’, this makes perfect sense as an epithet. It would mean ‘Fearsome Chief Warrior’. This is a very logical title.

Evidence That Uther Pendragon Was a Title

Although the linguistic evidence obviously lends itself to this possibility, is there any evidence actively supporting it? As it happens, there is some strong evidence from Welsh tradition.

Evidence from Pa Gur

Consider what we see in the early Welsh poem Pa Gur. This appears to date from about the year 900. In this poem, which is a dialogue between Arthur and a doorkeeper, Arthur refers to several of his servants. He says:

“If Wythnaint were to go,

The three would be unlucky

Mabon, the son of Modron,

The servant of Uthyr Pendragon;

Cysgaint, the son of Banon;

And Gwyn Godybrion.

Terrible were my servants

Defending their rights.”

Notice that Arthur refers three servants, all of whom he sums up as ‘my servants’ in the penultimate line. However, when he introduces the first of these, Mabon, he describes him as ‘the servant of Uthyr Pendragon’.

This strongly indicates that ‘Uthyr Pendragon’ is an alternative name for Arthur himself.

Evidence from the Elegy of Uther Pendragon

More evidence supporting this conclusion is seen from a Welsh poem entitled Marwnat vthyr pen. This can be translated as Elegy of Uther Pendragon.

Incidentally, it is notable that the epithet ‘Pendragon’ has been shortened to just ‘Pen’ in the title of this poem, demonstrating the same principle involved in the suggestion that the references to ‘Uthyr’ are short-hand references to a man who was known by the entire epithet ‘Uthyr Pendragon’ (‘Fearsome Chief Warrior’).

In any case, in this poem, which is presented from the point of view of Uther himself, the poet declares:

“I shared my shelter,

a ninth share in Arthur's valour.”

These two lines employ poetic parallelism. In other words, both lines say essentially the same thing, just with different words. The line ‘I shared my shelter’ is paralleled with ‘a ninth share in Arthur’s valour’.

This would logically mean that the ‘I’ speaking in the first line is equivalent to the ‘Arthur’ of the second line. In other words, Arthur is the one speaking. This would make Arthur identical to Uther Pendragon.

What This Means for Uther Pendragon

This does not mean that the stories about Uther Pendragon are actually stories about Arthur. What it does mean, however, is that the name ‘Uther Pendragon’ was sometimes applied to Arthur. This demonstrates that it is a title in its entirety, rather than just ‘Pendragon’ being a title.

Welsh tradition also makes Uther Pendragon the father of King Arthur, just like Geoffrey of Monmouth does. What this evidence means, then, is that ‘Uther’ was not the real personal name of Arthur’s father, any more than ‘Pendragon’ was.

Let us now go on to examine what the sources say about him.

Family

What do we know about the family of Uther Pendragon? In this context, of course, we are talking about Uther Pendragon the father of Arthur, not ‘Uther Pendragon’ as the alternative name for Arthur himself.

Sons

The most obvious family connection is that Uther’s son was King Arthur. He was the High King of Britain after Uther and is the core figure of the Arthurian legends.

Another son of Uther was Madoc. He does not appear in many sources, being known primarily from Welsh tradition. It appears that he can be identified as Morfryn, the father of Myrddin Wyllt, who appears in some records as Madog Morfryn.

Another son may have been Ricca. This figure, or possibly his son Gormant, is presented as being the half-brother of Arthur in Culhwch and Olwen, a Welsh tale written in c. 1100.

Daughters

Uther is recorded as having several daughters. One of these was Anna. She appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s account as the wife of Lot of Lothian. In reality, the evidence suggests that she was actually identical to Anna the wife of Amon, whose child was the famous Samson of Dol.

If this identification is correct, then it would mean that the attested sisters of that historical Anna would also have been daughters of Uther Pendragon. This would include Afrella and, in a late record, Gwenonwy.

The daughter who married Lot and became the mother of Mordred and Gawain, in contrast, was Gwyar. It would appear that she first married Geraint of Dumnonia when she was young, with her marriage to Lot occurring later in her life.

Another daughter of Uther was an unnamed daughter who married Budic of Brittany and became the mother of Hoel.

Geoffrey of Monmouth also presents Uther as having a daughter who would apparently go to Ireland, and whose descendants would rule over Britain.

For reasons that we will see in more detail later, this unnamed daughter is likely identifiable as Marchell ferch Tewdrig. She was sent to Ireland, where she married Anlach, and her descendants through Brychan included many of the most prominent kings of Britain throughout the sixth century.

Wife

The wife of Uther Pendragon was Igerna. She appears in later medieval romance tales as Igraine, by which name she is famous today. However, in Welsh tradition, her name is spelt ‘Eigr’.

She was remembered as the daughter of Amlawdd Wledig. In reality, the evidence regarding Amlawdd Wledig and his many recorded daughters reveals that many of them were not actually his direct daughters, but were actually his later descendants.

Amlawdd Wledig can be identified as Aldwr, the king of Brittany in the early fifth century. As such, it is very unlikely that Eigr was his direct daughter, although it is not impossible. It is more likely, though, that she was his granddaughter.

Interestingly, a version of her pedigree from the sixteenth century actually makes her the granddaughter of Amlawdd through his son Cynyr Goch.

According to the tradition first seen in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s account, Igerna was first married to Gorlois, the duke of Cornwall. She married Uther after the latter killed her husband. Whether this traditional is historically accurate or not is highly questionable.

Parentage

Geoffrey of Monmouth’s narrative makes Uther Pendragon the youngest son of Constantine, the high king of Britain. This Constantine is the brother of Aldroen, or Aldwr, the king of Brittany. As mentioned earlier, Aldwr can be identified as Amlawdd Wledig.

In the Historia Regum Britanniae, Aldroen sends his brother Constantine over to Britain when the Britons request help from Brittany. Constantine rules as king for over ten years, and then he is treacherously murdered by a Pict in his service.

The general consensus is that the Constantine of this account is the historical Roman Emperor Constantine III, the usurper who ruled Britain between 407 and 409. However, there is reason for doubting this identification.

As scholar Peter Bartrum noted:

“Nothing, however, that Geoffrey says about Constantine himself is drawn from the history of the emperor.”

 On this basis, some researchers have rejected the notion that Geoffrey’s Constantine, the legendary father of Uther Pendragon, has anything to do with Emperor Constantine III. What does appear to be the case is that he can be connected to Constantius, a figure who appears in the Historia Brittonum as the last emperor of Britain. He is said to have been treacherously murdered after a reign of sixteen years.

The details about this figure are broadly consistent with those that Geoffrey provided about Constantine the father of Uther Pendragon.

Brothers

According to Geoffrey of Monmouth’s account, Uther Pendragon was the youngest of three brothers. His two older brothers were Constans and Aurelius Ambrosius.

Constans

This legendary brother appears to be based on the historical Constans son of Emperor Constantine III. Geoffrey describes him as a monk, which fits the historical profile of Constans. Bartrum stated that ‘the story told by Geoffrey about Constans son of Constantine is clearly based on that of Constans son of the usurping emperor of A.D.407.’

However, other information about this legendary figure makes such an identification impossible. As noted above, Geoffrey’s Constantine bears no real resemblance to Emperor Constantine III.

The legendary Constans succeeds his father as king of Britain, yet he, like his father, is treacherously murdered by the Picts. This seems to be a duplicate of what Geoffrey wrote about Constantine.

Based on this evidence, it would appear that Constans is a phantom – a mistake arising from Geoffrey (or his source) confusing Constantine king of Britain for Emperor Constantine III, who did have a son named Constans.

In reality, though, there was probably just the Constantius of the Historia Brittonum, an unrelated figure whom Geoffrey split into two figures due to influence from Constantine III and his son Constans.

Ambrosius

Another brother of Uther Pendragon was Aurelius Ambrosius. He is a legendary version of Ambrosius Aurelianus, a figure mentioned by Gildas in the sixth century. He was a historical war leader and allegedly the high king of the Britons.

He fought powerfully against the Anglo-Saxons. Based on Gildas’ description, it would appear that he was the first British leader to lead a truly effective resistance against the Germanic invaders.

However, the notion that he was the brother of Uther Pendragon is not viable. Gildas specifically tells us that Ambrosius was ‘alone’ in his wars against the Saxons, and he suggests that he was the last Roman left in Britain.

This does not leave any room for a warrior brother who fought alongside him and succeeded him. Nevertheless, Gildas does tell us that Ambrosius had descendants, so it would seem likely that Ambrosius was actually the father of Uther.

Uther Pendragon’s Life

The earliest source text that describes the life of Uther Pendragon is Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae, written in c. 1137. As we have seen, there are earlier references to Uther (such as from Pa Gur), but these are apparently references to Arthur, not his father.

In contrast, Geoffrey of Monmouth’s account is explicitly supposed to be about Arthur’s father. Therefore, let us examine what Geoffrey wrote.

Childhood

As a child, Uther was raised alongside his brothers in the court of King Constantine, their father. During this time, Ambrosius and Uther were placed in the care of Guithelin for their education. Guithelin was the archbishop of London.

Constantine’s rule ended when he was assassinated by a Pict. His eldest son, Constans, succeeded him to the throne of Britain.

Constans’ advisor was a man named Vortigern. He plotted to become king, arranging for Constans’ death at the hands of the Picts. As a result of this, Vortigern seized the throne, since Ambrosius and Uther were still children. He would have killed them as well, but they were hurried away to Brittany, where they came under the protection of King Budic I.

Historical Considerations

In reality, as we have already seen, it appears that Geoffrey’s Constans is merely a duplicate of Constantine, himself a version of the Historia Brittonum’s Constantius. Hence, we can remove that brother from whatever historical origin this legend may have.

Furthermore, we have also seen that Ambrosius definitely did not have a warrior brother alongside him. Uther was far more likely to have been his son. Hence, this legend probably does not accurately describe the childhood of Uther.

Most likely, this legend actually comes from stories about Ambrosius alone. The chronological information about him fits with him being a child when Vortigern came to power. It would appear that Uther was added to the story due to the mistaken belief that he was Ambrosius’ brother.

Life in Brittany

Geoffrey does not tell us much about what happened to Uther while he was in Brittany. What he says is that King Budic provided them with an education worthy of their royal heritage.

Later, when describing Vortigern’s reign over Britain, he mentions that Vortigern was in fear of Ambrosius and his brother Uther. Geoffrey explains that they were growing powerful and had built a fleet, with the intention of one day returning to Britain to claim the kingdom for themselves.

Historical Considerations

This description of Vortigern’s rule appears to be related to the statement seen in the Historia Brittonum regarding his rule. After describing the end of Roman rule over Britain (which ended, according to the Historia Brittonum, with the death of Constantius), the text says:

“They [the Britons] were in alarm forty years. Vortigern then reigned in Britain. In his time, the natives had cause of dread, not only from the inroads of the Scots and Picts, but also from the Romans, and their apprehensions of Ambrosius.”

According to this, the Britons were ‘in alarm forty years’, corresponding to the era of Vortigern’s reign. The text specifically notes their ‘apprehensions of Ambrosius’. This appears to correspond to Geoffrey’s mention of Vortigern being in fear of Ambrosius and Uther during his reign.

The fact that Uther is not mentioned here provides yet more evidence that Uther was not present during the majority of Vortigern’s reign, and that he was therefore probably Ambrosius’ son, not brother.

Uther’s Return to Britain

While Uther and Ambrosius were in Brittany, Vortigern formed an alliance with the Anglo-Saxons. This alliance quickly backfired on the Britons, with the Anglo-Saxons conquering much of Britain for themselves. Eventually, a peace conference was conveyed, but then the Germanics treacherously murdered hundreds of British leaders.

As a result of this, Ambrosius decided that it was time to return to Britain and set matters straight. He, along with Uther, arrived back in Britain and fought against Vortigern.

Aside from the initial reference to Uther coming back with Ambrosius, he does not feature in the account of the war against Vortigern. This, again, suggests that he did not have a particularly prominent position at this point, making it unlikely that he was Ambrosius’ brother.

Eventually, Ambrosius is said to have killed Vortigern. Although Geoffrey does not tell us how long this war lasted, a comparison between the Historia Brittonum and Bede’s chronology shows that it must have covered about ten years.

After this, Ambrosius became the unchallenged king of the Britons.

The Giants’ Dance

After becoming king, Ambrosius decided to set up a stone monument as a memorial to the British leaders who had been slain at the peace conference. He sent Uther, along with Merlin, on a campaign to Ireland to seize an existing monument from that country.

It was called the Giants’ Dance, and it was a monument made up of large upright stones positioned in a circle. It is heavily implied to be Stonehenge.

Uther travelled to Ireland with 15,000 men and waged war against the king there, Gillomanius. The Britons defeated the Irish, and then Uther continued on his journey up to a mountain named Killaraus.

There, he found the monument, the Giants’ Dance. They were too big for Uther and his men to move, but Merlin used his magic to transport them back to Britain. There, he set them up over the bodies of the slain British leaders.

Historical Considerations

The idea that Uther really travelled to Ireland and took Stonehenge from there is obviously unhistorical. However, this does not mean that the expedition to Ireland never happened. Notably, Geoffrey’s account elsewhere implies that Uther had a daughter who went to Ireland.

He never expanded on this claim. However, it appears likely that it has something to do with Uther’s alleged journey to Ireland.

Furthermore, in the account of Merlin telling Ambrosius about the existence of the stone monument in Ireland, the only thing that convinces Ambrosius to bring it to Britain is Merlin’s statement that it had healing powers.

Perhaps the historical origin of this part of the legend is related to a journey to Ireland, in which Uther’s daughter took part, for the purpose of finding or providing relief from a plague.

War Against the Irish in Dyfed

Some time after this, Ambrosius fell sick, nearing the end of his life. Uther became the leader of the army from that time on. A situation occurred in which Pascent, a son of Vortigern, sought assistance from Ireland to fight against Uther.

The army from Ireland, led by Pascent and the Irish king Gillomanius, arrived in southwest Wales, the kingdom of Dyfed. They came to the city of Menevia in particular, which was a very important city in that region.

Upon hearing news of the Irish army plundering the area, Ambrosius sent Uther to deal with them. He marched there with his army, met Pascent and Gillomanius in battle, and defeated them both, driving the Irish out of Dyfed. At about this time, Ambrosius died.

Historical Considerations

The idea of a war between the Britons and the Irish in Dyfed at this time is entirely consistent with the historical facts. The Irish king lists of Dyfed present Irish names throughout the period covering the late-fourth century and the entire fifth century.

This is consistent with the Historia Brittonum, which describes the Irish as settling and taking over that region in that era. However, the Irish lists show a complete change from Irish names to thoroughly Roman and Romano-British names in about the year 500.

The obvious conclusion is that there was a war between the Irish and the Britons, in which the Britons drove out the Irish dynasty from Dyfed.

Placing Uther’s war against the Irish in Dyfed in c. 500 is consistent with the historical facts. This allegedly happened when Ambrosius was near his death. Since Ambrosius was a child at the time of Vortigern’s accession to power in 425, and his campaign against the Saxons occurred in the time of Emperor Zeno according to Bede, a death date of c. 500 is logical.

Appearance of Uther’s Comet

Just as Uther was about to engage in battle against the army of Pascent and Gillomanius, a portent appeared in the sky. It was like a star with a ray extending forth from it, at the end of which was what looked like a dragon.

Two additional rays shone forth from the dragon, one towards Gaul, and the other towards Ireland. The latter ray terminated in seven lesser ones.

Merlin explained to Uther that this signified him, Uther, and the two rays signified a son and a daughter. The son would extend his power towards Gaul, while the daughter would have sons and grandsons who would rule over Britain.

Historical Considerations

Bearing in mind the likely date of c. 500 for this event, it is notable that at least two medieval documents record the presence of a notable comet in the sky in the final years of the fifth century. One of these is a sixth century Byzantine document.

Uther’s Accession to the Throne of Britain

As mentioned already, Ambrosius died at about the same time as the defeat of Pascent and Gillomanius in Dyfed. After this, Uther returned to the royal court at Winchester. There, he was crowned king.

On the basis of the portent that had appeared in the sky, Uther decided to make two gold dragon statues. One of them was placed at the main church in Winchester, while the other one was kept to be used as a battle standard.

Uther’s Wars in the North

After becoming king of Britain, Uther set out on a campaign to restore peace in the north of Britain. The reason is that Octa, a Saxon leader, had been ravaging the region between York and Scotland.

Uther led a massive army against the Saxons, who at that point were besieging the city of York. A fierce engagement occurred, but the Britons were driven back. They retreated. However, Uther and his men formed a plan to attack the Saxons at night.

This attack was successful, throwing the Saxons into confusion. Octa and his ally, Eosa, were defeated and taken as prisoners.

After this, Uther is said to have restored peace in that land, and to have ‘tamed the fierceness’ of the Scots in Scotland. He then returned south, taking Octa and Eosa to London, where they were kept as prisoners.

Historical Considerations

It is difficult to discern the presence of any independent corroboration of these events in the available records. However, the Historia Brittonum does mention Octa and Ebusa (possibly an alternative spelling of ‘Eosa’) as arriving in the north of Britain and ravaging the territory there.

The Historia Brittonum places this near the start of the Anglo-Saxon settlement, long before the account described by Geoffrey here. However, this is not necessarily inconsistent. Geoffrey presents Octa as having a conflict with Ambrosius at York, leading Octa to surrender.

It is only after Ambrosius’ death that Geoffrey describes Octa as fighting once more against the Britons, which is when Uther fought him. Hence, since Geoffrey explicitly does not present Octa as only recently arriving there, this is consistent with the Historia Brittonum.

It is also consistent with the fact that archaeology shows that the Anglo-Saxons had already settled the area of York from a very early date, as early as the fifth century.

Uther’s War Against Gorlois

After his victory against Octa, Geoffrey describes how Uther held a great feast at London. Many of his allies attended this event. One of them was Gorlois, the duke of Cornwall. He attended the event with his beautiful wife, Igerna.

Uther was enamoured with Igerna, so he waged war against Gorlois in an effort to take her for himself. Gorlois placed his wife at Tintagel to try to keep her safe from Uther, while Gorlois himself took refuge in the castle of Dimilioc.

Uther sent some troops to besiege Gorlois’ castle, while he used Merlin’s magic to give himself the appearance of Gorlois. Having done this, Uther gains easy access to Tintagel and sleeps with Igerna, the queen thinking that it was her husband.

While this was going on, Gorlois was killed by Uther’s men. Uther then took Igerna for himself as a wife, and they got married. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, they both loved each other very much.

Uther’s Final Battle

Quite a few years after this, Uther had become unable to lead the kingdom himself. He became sick and bedbound. Hence, he left the kingdom in the hands of his son-in-law, Lot, the husband of Uther’s daughter Anna.

At about this time, Octa and Eosa are said to have escaped from their prison in London. They raised an army of Anglo-Saxons and waged war against the Britons. Lot did his best to stop them, but he was not as effective a leader as Uther was.

Desperate for help, Lot called on Uther to return to the battlefield to lead the Britons once more. The former king agreed. His attendants carried him in a cart and led him to where the Saxons were besieging the city of Verulam.

He stirred his subject Britons to engage in fierce battle, and they were successful in repelling the Anglo-Saxons. Octa and Eosa were killed.

However, Uther’s condition suddenly deteriorated after the battle. The Saxons learned of this and decided that this was an excellent opportunity to finally be rid of him. They poisoned a well from which Uther was known to drink.

The next time he drank from it, Uther died. He was subsequently buried within the Giants’ Diance, close to Ambrosius.

Historical Considerations

The evidence is overwhelmingly clear that Lot cannot really have been involved in this event, since he was the brother of Urien Rheged, whose chronology definitely places him in the mid to late sixth century.

It would appear that this event is a legendary version of the death of Tewdrig, a historical king of southeast Wales in the early medieval period. After he grew old, he entrusted the kingdom into the hands of his son, Meurig.

After his son struggled to repel the Saxons, Tewdrig returned for one final battle. He was victorious, but came off mortally wounded. He was subsequently carried by his men in a cart, and then died shortly after stopping at a well.

It is possible – likely, in fact – that much of the rest of Geoffrey’s account of Uther has been drawn from Tewdrig’s life as well.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Uther Pendragon was the legendary father of King Arthur. He was a powerful war leader who fought effectively against the Anglo-Saxons as Arthur’s predecessor. According to the legend, he was the son of King Constantine of Britain and the brother of Ambrosius. However, the evidence suggests that he was actually the son of Ambrosius.

Furthermore, we have seen that the name ‘Uther Pendragon’ is actually entirely a poetic title, meaning ‘Fearsome Chief Leader’. As such, it was sometimes applied to Arthur himself, and not just his father.

Sources

Bartrum, Peter, A Welsh Classical Dictionary, 1993

Bromwich, Rachel, Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain, 2014

Morris, John, Arthurian Period Sources, Vol 3: Persons, 1995

Breverton, Terry, Wales: A Historical Companion, 2009

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

https://mythbank.com/uther-pendragon/#the-story-of-uther-pendragon