The Mammoth Book of King Arthur (41 page)

Advised by Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, Uther attacks the Saxons at night. Surprised, they are defeated, and Octa and Eosa are taken as prisoners to London. Uther then tours Scotland, inspecting
the damage caused by the Saxons. It is clear that Geoffrey has slipped ahead a century, and the story he is telling has nothing to do with Ambrosius or with Octa and Eosa. He has confused
Octa’s and Eosa’s expedition with a much later battle for the north between the British and the Saxons, during the latter half of the sixth century.

Geoffrey is usually credited with “inventing” Uther. Certainly he made a major figure out of him, just as he did of Ambrosius, The name
Uthr
, or
Uthyr Pendragon
, does
appear in other sources, albeit briefly. We’ve encountered one in the poem
Pa Gur
, which speaks of Mabon as the “servant of Uthr Pendragon”. Uther is also mentioned in one
of the Welsh Triads, the “Three Great Enchantments”, which he is supposed to have taught to Menw ap Teirgwaedd. Menw, who appears as a shapechanger and magician in both
Culhwch and
Olwen
and
The Dream of Rhonabwy
, is one of the “Three Enchanters” of Britain (Triad 27), and is arguably the prototype for Merlin. But for Menw to have learned an enchantment
from Uther (rather than the other way round), suggests that Uther was of an older generation and very possibly regarded as something of a mage in his own right. Taliesin refers to Uther’s son
Madog, noting that before his death Madog’s fortress was one of “abundance, exploits and jests”, almost like Arthur’s Camelot. Madog was in turn the father of the
“golden-tongued knight” Eliwlod, who in another ancient poem speaks to Arthur from the grave in the form of an eagle.

Unfortunately, no surviving pedigree links Madog or Eliwlod with Arthur, even though they were his brother and nephew respectively. It suggests that Uther > Madog >
Eliwlod existed independently as part of a much older tradition, and that Arthur was later grafted onto their stories, as he was onto so many hero tales.

Madog is a common Welsh name, and several Madogs appear in legend. According to one of the pedigrees Merlin, or more properly Myrddin, was the son of Madog Morfryn, himself the son of Morydd, a
brother of Arthwys of the Pennines. Madog’s cousin was Eliffer of the Great Host, and the Latin for Eliffer is Ele
uther
ius. It would be easy for these early pedigrees to have become
confused, and for Madog to be treated as a son of Eleutherius. Madog’s position in the pedigrees is far from clear, and it’s entirely possible that he was one of Eliffer’s sons.
Another, later pedigree of the princes of Powys (
see
Table 3.9
) shows a Merin, son of Madog, who lived in the early seventh century. Geoffrey could have mis-copied
Merin
as
Merlin.

Geoffrey may originally have got the name Uther from Maximus’s son Victor.
Victor
, in the sense of “victorious”, may be rendered as
uabhar
, which means
“proud” in Gaelic and is related to
aruthr
, the Brythonic for “terrible”, as in a conqueror or tyrant. Geoffrey may also have made the leap to
Eleutherius
,
which also means “famed” or “honoured”, as in victor.

Eliffer was credited in the
Black Book of Carmarthen
with having had seven sons. One of the Welsh Triads, “Three Fair Womb-Burdens”, refers to the triplets born to
Eliffer’s wife: Gwrgi, Peredur and Arddun. Arddun (pronounced
Arth-oon
) was a girl, but a later translation of this triad, now held at Jesus College, Oxford, and quite possibly once
accessible to Geoffrey, corrupts
Arddun
to Arthur. Geoffrey, ever able to make two and two equal five, no doubt discovered this identification of [Ele]Uther[ius] as the father of Arthur, and
that was all he needed. In reality, Arddun (some records call her Ceindrech) was not the daughter of Eliffer (
see
Chapter 3), but of Pabo, Eliffer’s uncle.

Eliffer was justly famous in his day, as were his sons Gwrgi and Peredur, whose deaths in 581 were noted in the
Welsh Annals.
Eliffer is exactly contemporary with
Dubricius and Samson, although it is unlikely their paths crossed as his domain was in York, the setting for so much of Geoffrey’s narrative. Eliffer’s reign, from the 530s to the 550s,
would have been one constant battle against the Angles, under Eopa, and doubtless against his fellow British as each ruler sought to protect his own territory. Eliffer was, for a while, the most
powerful ruler in Britain, and there is no doubt that there would have been a period during his reign when he worked through the north, quelling his rivals. He might also have become king in either
530 or 539 at the time of a comet perihelion.

Returning to Geoffrey’s narrative, we now enter familiar territory. After his tour of the north, Uther returns to London, and the following year holds a celebration of his victory,
inviting all his nobles. These include Gorlois of Cornwall and his beautiful wife Ygerna, or Ygraine. Uther lusts after Ygerna and, affronted, Gorlois storms away from the festivities. Uther
demands an apology, and when none is forthcoming, raises an army and ravages Cornwall. Gorlois’s army is too small to face Uther’s. He places Ygerna in safekeeping at Tintagel Castle
and seeks refuge, with his army, at the hill-fort of Dimilioc. There still is a hill-fort and territory known as Domellic to the north of St Dennis in the middle of Cornwall. Another contender is
the Tregeare Rounds, formerly called Castle Dameliock, an impressive earthwork near the hamlet of Pendoggett, just six miles southwest of Tintagel.

The siege of Dimilioc is deadlocked and Uther, pining for Ygerna, seeks the aid of Merlin. Merlin agrees to change the appearance of Uther into that of Gorlois so that he can gain access to
Tintagel Castle. Uther/Gorlois is welcomed by Ygerna and taken to her bed, and that night Arthur is conceived. In the meantime, Uther’s men attack Dimilioc and manage to take the fort,
killing Gorlois. They are perplexed when they travel to Tintagel and find a man whom they believe to be Gorlois there. Uther changes back to his own self, and returns to capture Tintagel and
Ygerna. They marry and have two children, Arthur and Anna.

This whole episode appears as an aside in Geoffrey’s narrative, after which he returns to the story of Octa and Eosa. It
was clearly drawn from a popular folk tale
about Arthur rather than from any historical source. Geoffrey’s story now leaps ahead fifteen years. Anna is married to King Loth of Lodonesia, though she cannot have been more than fourteen.
During these years, the soldiers who guarded Octa and Eosa set their captives free, fleeing with them to Germany. They raise an army and once more return to plunder and ravage the north. Loth is
put in charge of the British forces. The war is long and protracted with no victory to either side. Uther is furious and, though now old and “half dead”, reprimands his nobles and leads
his forces against the Saxons who are laying waste St Albans. In the ensuing battle, the British win and Octa and Eosa are killed. The Saxons retreat to the North and continue to harry the land.
They send spies to watch Uther and, discovering his water supply, they poison it, thereby killing the king and hundreds of others.

6. Enter Arthur

Geoffrey places the showdown between Uther and the Saxons at St Albans. There is no specific historical reference to a battle here in the fifth century, but as we considered
earlier with Gildas’s
De Excidio
, St Albans, which remained a British enclave throughout the fifth century, was right on the edge of the division created post-Badon between the British
and the Saxons, so would have been subject to periodic assaults from the Saxons. According to the
ASC
, Aesc/Octa died in 512, so in theory Geoffrey’s narrative has now reached this
year although many of the British characters he refers to lived half-a-century or more later.

However, if we try to follow a time line for Geoffrey’s narrative we find we are much earlier, around the year 485. Our last “fixed” point was the death of Hengist around
457/460, the year of Ambrosius’s coronation. Ambrosius’s reign must have been long enough to see the start of a rebuilding programme, but unless Geoffrey has left out other detail, it
cannot be much more than a decade, and we must presume in Geoffrey’s timeline that Ambrosius’s reign was over by the late 460s. Uther then quells the north, captures Octa and
Eosa, and seduces Ygerna, suggesting that Arthur’s birth would be around 470. The deaths of Uther and Octa, fifteen years later, must be around 485. To push them as far as 512
would mean that Ambrosius’s reign lasted nearly forty years, and since Geoffrey places his birth at around 426, he would by then have been 84. Uther, who was Ambrosius’s younger brother
and thus probably born around 428, would be nearly sixty in 485, which fits in with the narrative. However, this date is far too early for the death of Octa, which cannot be earlier than 512, and
was most probably later. It is evident that Geoffrey’s narrative has now split into two overlapping timelines as he seeks to fit later events into his earlier chronology.

It is at this point (Book 9), that Geoffrey commences the story of King Arthur. This is the original story, not the legend we know from the French romances and Malory.

Geoffrey relates that with the death of Uther, the Saxons become more invasive. A new leader is appointed, Colgrin (or Colgrim), who, with his brother Baldulf, has brought more forces from
Germany and is laying waste to the far north. An urgent response is required, and the nobles wish to appoint Uther’s son Arthur as their new king, even though he is only fifteen. He is
crowned by Archbishop Dubricius at Silchester. Arthur promptly gathers together an army and marches on the Saxons at York, where Colgrim meets him with “a vast multitude”, a combined
army of Saxons, Scots and Picts. Their first battle is “beside the River Douglas”, and the British are victorious. Colgrim flees, and Arthur pursues him to York and lays siege to the
city. We have already discussed possible sites for these battles, derived from Nennius’s list. It is evident that Geoffrey believed the river Douglas was near York.

Colgrim’s brother is awaiting further reinforcements from Germany under the leadership of Cheldric, but learning of Colgrim’s predicament he leads his troops overnight to York. He is
attacked by Cador, Duke of Cornwall, in a vicious battle in which many are killed. Baldulf disguises himself as a minstrel and manages to get into York and be reunited with his brother. Arthur
learns of the arrival of Cheldric’s forces, and rather than face so large an army retreats to London.

Arthur calls upon Hoel, king of Brittany, who brings an army of 15,000 warriors to Britain. Geoffrey calls Hoel the son of Arthur’s sister, but he had already stated
that Anna, who was younger than Arthur, was married to Loth, and certainly could not have been married previously. According to Geoffrey, Hoel’s father was Budic, the king who reared
Ambrosius and Uther, and no direct relation to Arthur.

The Saxons Colgrim and Baldulf do not appear in other documents, which makes one wonder where Geoffrey found the names. I am convinced that he found most of his sources from old records, and
though he may have elaborated some aspects of his stories the names are almost certainly based on genuine people. The name
Colgrim
, for instance, while it does not feature in the Anglo-Saxon
histories, appears on some of the coins of Athelred the Unready and Canute in the early eleventh century, and was the name of the moneyer working at the Lincoln mint. The connection with Lincoln is
interesting, because of the suggested site of Arthur’s battles with Colgrim.
Colgrim
is actually a Norse name and so, once again, it seems likely that Geoffrey had found the name of a
Scandinavian chieftain from a later vintage, who had nothing to do with the original Angle and Saxon settlement.

There are also some parallels between Baldulf and the Norse demi-god Balder, especially in the tale from Saxo Grammaticus’s
History of the Danes
about the battle between Balder and
the Danish king Høther (
III.69).
One night, during a pause in a violent battle, Høther disguises himself as a minstrel to infiltrate Balder’s camp, and accidentally
stumbles across Balder and kills him. In Geoffrey’s story, it is Baldulf who disguises himself, but Geoffrey may have drawn his tale from the same source. The name
Høther
could
have been treated by Geoffrey as Arthur.

The Norwegian philologist Sophus Bugge (1833–1907) believed that some of the sources for the early Scandinavian sagas were founded on Christian and Latin tradition imported to Scandinavia
from England. Therefore, it is possible that some of the sources for Saxo’s
History
, though told as Danish history, could owe their sources to earlier British events. Bugge suggested
that Høther, in its original spelling
Höur
, could have been
corrupted into Cador, and that Cheldric, or Cheldricus, may be a corruption of the Saxon king
Gelderus, who was also defeated by Høther. As we shall see, there are various episodes from the early history of the Danes that have parallels, albeit slight, with Geoffrey’s
account.

Arthur and Hoel advance on Kaerluideoit (
Kaer-lwyd-coed
in
Tysilio
), which was being besieged by the Saxons. Geoffrey translates this as Lincoln, but it should be read as Lichfield
(
Letocetum
). Making such an error shows that Geoffrey must have been working from an old document. Arthur lifted the siege and won a resounding victory, killing over six thousand Saxons.
Though the town’s name is supposed to mean “grey wood” (
llywd coed
), it was long believed to mean “field of corpses” (
lic feld
), referring to an ancient
battle. It was called
Licitfelda
as early as 710. In his
Natural History of Staffordshire
(1686), Robert Plot relates the name to the martyrdom of a thousand Christians here following
the death of St. Alban. But the arms of Lichfield represent three slain kings on a field, and seem more appropriate to some long forgotten battle, possibly Arthur’s.