The Mammoth Book of King Arthur (87 page)

Many of the names are clearly derived from the Arthurian romances but some are of greater antiquity.

In
Erec et Enide
, Chrétien says that he could not name a tenth or even a fifteenth of all of Arthur’s knights, and then lists 50, suggesting there must be more than 750
knights. He identifies the first ten knights in order of valour, though not all are given names. They are:

Clearly, apart from Gawain, Erec and Lancelot, there is little consistency amongst the top knights, and there are others possibly better known today, such as Agravaine, Pellinore, Dinadan,
Bleoberis and Lucan, who seem to be “also-rans” at this early stage.

By about 1516 names had been added to the places on the Round Table at Winchester. This seated 25 (including Arthur). The key list had now become:

Table 23.1. Malory’s Knights of the Round Table from
Le Morte Darthur

It is intriguing that some individuals come to the fore at certain times whilst others remain simply names, because all of them must have had some significance at some time.
There is little doubt that when the French and German romances were at their peak of popularity the compilers added names that reflected individuals and events known to them and it is difficult to
guess who they now meant. In the following I try and pierce the clouds where we can.

Here then is a Who’s Who of the major Arthurian characters, both historical and legendary.

Aelle.
The first Saxon Bretwalda, leader of the South Saxons, and Arthur’s most likely opponent at Badon.
See
Chapter 7 for full discussion.

Aesc,
see
Oisc.

Aglovale.
He first appears in the Vulgate
Quest del Saint Graal
, the eldest son of King Pellinore and thus the brother of Perceval and Lamorak. Aglovale has only
a minor role, because much of his time is spent either defending his homeland or ruling a small kingdom in the Middle East. He had an affair with a Moorish princess and fathers a son, Moriaen. He
is killed when Lancelot rescues Guinevere.

Agravain.
One of the sons of King Lot and Margause and brother of Gawain. Although a valiant knight and handsome he
is arrogant, scheming and
generally disliked. Agravain looks out for his brothers but dislikes Lancelot and plots with Mordred to expose Lancelot’s affair with Guenevere. It is his actions that lead ultimately to the
downfall of the Round Table. Loomis believes his name was a corruption of Gware-van, meaning “Little Gware” and thus is the same as the knight described by Chrétien in
Erec et
Enide
as Garravain of Estrangot. In the Welsh tales he appears as another manifestation of Gware Goldenhair, the basis of the same name who became Gawain. However, in character he may owe much
to Rhufon the Radiant. In
The Dream of Rhonabwy
he is described as a handsome young man with yellow-red hair who dotes on Arthur and cannot bear the idea that Arthur should suffer loss of
any kind. But he was also known as one of the “Three Arrogant Men” of Britain and the Stanzas of the Graves reports that he died young. Rhufon the Radiant is listed as the son of
Dewrath or Dorath, a name not otherwise recorded. Curiously, a variant triad version of the “Three Arrogant Men” lists Rhun ab Einion instead of Rhufon and we find in
Culhwch and
Olwen
that Rhufon ap Dorath is listed as Rhuawn ap Dorath, suggesting that his name may really be Rhun. Rhun ab Einion appears in Table 3.3 as a descendant of Coel and a nephew of Arthwys.
Gawain, and by extension Agravain, is always identified as Arthur’s nephew. This Rhun is known as Rhun the Wealthy, which may also explain why he was both radiant and arrogant. Regardless of
name derivations, it is possible that the character of Agravain was drawn from this prince of the North. His territory of Estrangot is referred to elsewhere as the Strange Isle but is not otherwise
identified. Rhun’s territory was probably somewhere in the Southern Pennines around the Peak District, an isolated area in those days which may well have been regarded as Strange.

Agwisance,
see
Anguish.

Alynore.
A name included on the Winchester Round Table. Many have puzzled over his identity because he does not appear in Malory or, for that matter, any other Arthurian
text. It has been suggested it originally read Alymere and was changed in error when the inscriptions were repainted in 1789. Sir Alymere
is still a minor knight. He is named
just once in the Alliterative
Morte Arthure
as an “able knight” who fights alongside Arthur at the final battle. Each generation doubtless added their share of names and the
likeliest candidate here is Aymer de Valence (
c
l270–1324), earl of Pembroke. Aymer was a nephew of Henry III and also related to the powerful de Lusignan family. His uncle, Aylmer de
Lusignan, had been Bishop of Winchester from 1250 to 1260. Aymer de Valence was Commander of the English forces at Berwick in 1303 and defeated Robert the Bruce at both Methven in 1306 and Loudun
Hill the following year. It is doubtless he who earned a reference in the Alliterative
Morte Arthure
and someone of influence must have perpetuated it in the Winchester Table.

Ambrosius Aurelianus.
The one pre-Badon person named by Gildas in a passage that might just mean that Ambrosius was the victor at Badon, in which case he would have to
be the historical Arthur. Because Gildas was ambiguous he has caused 1500 years of debate.
See
discussion in Chapters 5 and 10.

Amhar
or
Amyr
. Recorded by Nennius as a son of Arthur, whom Arthur killed and buried in Ergyng and from whom the River Gamber takes its name. No explanation is
given as to why Arthur killed his son. Amhar also appears in
Geraint ab Erbin
as one of the guardians of Arthur’s bedchamber. He remains a mystery. We do not know who his mother was.
Some have tried to equate him with Emyr Llydaw in which case he would, according to at least one source, be Arthur’s brother-in-law. Arthur’s better known son was Llacheu (
see
entry
) also called Loholt.

Anfortas,
see
Fisher King.

Anguish
or
Agwisance.
Both names appear separately in Malory but they are almost certainly the same person, both identified as a King of Ireland. He may be the
same as the King with a Hundred Knights. At the outset, Agwisance or Aguysans was one of the kings who rebelled against Arthur at the start of his reign. Later we find him demanding tribute from
Mark of Cornwall. Tristram killed Anguish’s champion Marhaus, the
queen’s brother, but later, when Tristram is disguised, he and Anguish become good friends.
Anguish was the father of Iseult. The name is usually suggested as a corruption of Angus or Oengus, a common name amongst the Irish kings and the Scottish kings of Dál Riata, who were of
Irish descent. The earliest Angus of Dál Riata ruled from 736 to 750 and was already a king of the Picts. He claimed the Pictish throne after a series of battles against the former king,
Drust (the Pictish form of Tristan). There was an earlier Oengus, king of Cashel, who was a contemporary of Vortigern rather than Arthur, and who was the first Irish king to be baptised a
Christian, in 448. However, it should be noted that the early French romances translated the name of the Saxon Hengist as Hanguis or Hangus, and it would be easy for him to have become sucked into
the story of the rebel kings.

Anna.
Geoffrey introduces her as the younger sister of Arthur and the second child of Uther and Ygraine. Thereafter it gets a little complicated. He states that she
married Lot of Lodonesia when she must have been about fourteen but soon after that he introduces her son (Arthur’s nephew), Hoel of Brittany, who he says is the son of King Budic. Anna was
not old enough to have been married before and have an adult child. Other sources clarify the problem and identify Hoel as the son of Gwyar, an earlier daughter of Ygraine and Gorlois. Geoffrey
then further complicates matters by saying that Anna was the sister of Ambrosius rather than Arthur. This would make more sense chronologically because Anna’s children include Gawain who is
of much the same age of Arthur. However, the one consistent reference in all the tales is that Gawain is Arthur’s nephew. This can only mean that Anna was not his younger sister, as Geoffrey
first implies, but an older half-sister, and possibly the same as Gwyar. The Celtic tales always refer to Gawain as the son of Gwyar and Gwyar is a female name – though it means
“gore” or “blood”. The later romances gave Arthur three elder half-sisters, Morgawse (or Margause), Elaine (or Viviane) and Morgan, all of whom superseded Anna. The name
Morgawse is almost certainly derived from Gwyar.

Antor,
see
Ector/Hector.

Artegall.
Sir Artegall is best remembered not from any of the primary Arthurian romances but from Spenser’s
Faerie Queen.
Yet there are many strong
connections with the Arthurian legend. Merlin reveals Artegall to Britomart, daughter of King Rience, in his magic mirror. She falls in love with him and Merlin reveals that they will marry and be
the ancestors of the Kings and Queens of Britain, meaning the Tudors. Artegall has thus become a substitute for Arthur. In Book V Artegall undertakes a quest to destroy the giant Grantorto and
rescue Irena. Here Artegall, like Arthur, personifies Britain’s right over Ireland. Irena represents Ireland and Grantorto the rebel uprising of 1580. Spenser had been involved with this as
secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Arthur, Lord Grey of Wilton, who was believed to be the model for Artegall.