Mordred

by Brian Edward Rise

 
Traitorous leader of the rebellion that leads to Arthur’s downfall. Originally named Medraut, a legendary and possibly historical Welsh figure who diasgrees with Arthur and does battle with him at Camlann, with fatal results for both. However, the Welsh do not make him plotting or evil. Geoffrey of Monmouth is responsible for the villainous role he assumes in later medieval literature. Possibly revealing an other than Welsh influence, Geoffrey changes the name to Modred, a Cornish or Breton name. Modred is Arthur’s nephew who rules jointly with Guinevere during Arthur’s campaign in Gaul. Modred persuades the Queen into an aldulterous affair and usurps the throne, making peace with the hated Saxons, whom Arthur had destroyed at Badon.Arthur speeds home and engages him by the River Camel in Cornwall. The rebellious usurper is killed and Arthur is borne to Avalon.

Camlann

by Brian Edward Rise

 
The location of Arthur’s final battle with Merdraut (Mordred). It is not mentioned in the Historia Brittonum but rather appears first in the Annales Cambriae (10th century). The entry for a year that may be 539 reads, “the strife of Camlann in which Arthur and Merdraut fell.” No mention of villainy or opposition between the two is made. In the triads, Camlann is one of the “Three Futile Battles,” the result of a tragic, bloody feud. Merdraut is the attacker here in what appears to be more a conflict of equals rather than that of king versus usurper. That theme is a later addition by Geoffrey and he may have been trying to combine the Welsh tradition with an alternate story of Arthur’s betrayal and very different end. In the romances, the treason is kept but the location is moved from Camlann to near Salisbury.

Camel

by Brian Edward Rise

 
A river in Cornwall and the scene of Arthur’s final battle with Mordred in Geoffrey of Monmouth, obviously derived from the Welsh Camlann. Slaughter Bridge above Camelford is the exact location according to local tradition.