#amhar

[gawrkin]

The Pendragons and their names

From time to time, I've investigated into the etymologies of the various names of the Arthurian legends, because a good chunk of Arthurian Material is poetry. So for a bit of fun, I try to tease out the meanings of the characters' names

Then I remembered that, in a number modern stories, writers use "Pendragon" as a dynastic/family name for Arthur and his relatives, even though Pendragon is actually an epithet that only two characters in the entirety of the Matter of Britain are known to bear that title - neither of which is Arthur - and it's mostly a kenning for "War Leader".

So let's humor ourselves and see what happens when you turn Pendragon into a last name and see what that technically means for certain characters.

The following comes from my personal interpretations from learning through online dictionaries. So forewarning, these are my speculations.

First, the "official" Pendragons from medieval sources:

Uther Pendragon: "The Dreaded War Leader", "The Horrifying War Leader" (From the Brythonic Uthr "Awesome, Terrible")

Gwen Pendragon: "The Beautiful War Leader" "The Holy War Leader" (From the Brythonic feminine Gwenn "White, Blessed")

Next are the presumptive Pendragons:

Arthur Pendragon: "The Bear(like) War Leader" (From the Pan-European Arkhtos, "Bear")

Morgan(a) Pendragon: "The Sea-born War Leader" (From the Bretonnic Morigenos, "from/of the Sea")

Mordred Pendragon: "The Moderating War Leader" "The Restrained War Leader" (From the Latin Moderatus, "Managed, Controlled")

Amhar Pendragon: "The Disgraceful War Leader" "The Harmful War Leader" (From either the Brythonic Amarch "Disrespect" or Amharu, "to impair, to disrupt")

Gwydre Pendragon: "The Glass-like War Leader" "The Glazing War Leader" (From the Brythonic Gwydr "Glass")

Llacheu Pendragon: "The Striking War Leader" "The Brilliant War Leader" (From either the Brythonic Llach "Lash" or Llachar "Bright, Shining")

Duran Pendragon: "The Enduring War Leader" (From the Latin Durans "Hard, Lasting")

Archfedd Pendragon: "The Compelling War Leader" "The Commanding War Leader" (From the Brythonic words Erchi "Request, Ask" + Gwedd "Appearance")

Melora Pendragon: "The Superior War Leader" (From the Latin Melior "Better")

[pgwodewose]

Mordred: The Brother

The infant Mordred is found adrift by a fisherman and his wife, who raise the babe as their own [1]. When Mordred is fourteen, he kills a sea-serpent, a deed which catches the attention of King Arthur who takes the boy back with him to Camelot. There the Queen Morgause recognises the boy as her long long-lost son by the scar on his forehead, and Mordred is taken in by her and he comes to know his brothers and his sister [2]. Mordred later becomes a Knight of the Round Table and is given a sword by his eldest brother Sir Gawain--none other than the Sword which Arthur had drawn from the stone, and which was later broken when Arthur fought Sir Pellinor, and even after Arthur was given Excalibur by the Lady of the Lake, the fragments of the old Sword were not discarded but were reforged, and Arthur gave this sword to Sir Gawain. 'With this sword I slew the Emperor Lucius of Rome, who was my foster-brother,' Sir Gawain says. 'Therefore I give it to you, and may you wield it well.' [3]

A young and more innocent Mordred for this picture, which was fun to draw. The left side depicts Mordred's maternal siblings: Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth, and Clarissant. The right side depicts his paternal siblings (though neither he nor they know this yet): Loholt, Amhar, Gwydre, Duren, Archfedd, and Melora.

This drawing was done for @mordredpendragon's Maydred 2025.

The Children of Morgause

Top row from right to left: Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris Bottom row: Gareth, Clarissant

The Children of Arthur

Top row from right to left: Loholt, Amhar, Gwydre Bottom row from right to left: Duran, Archfedd, Melora

Notes

Me: 'Right, which canon are we going with for the Maydred prompts--' My brain: 'All of them.' Me: '...a-all of them?' My brain: 'All of them.' Me: 'H-how d--how do we even make that work?' My brain: 'You figure it out.' Me: 'Isn't that supposed to be your job?'

[1] This is taken from Thomas Malory, who says that Mordred was adopted by fisherfolk, and I personally prefer this version of the story to the one in the Post-Vulgate where he is raised by the lord Nabur the Unruly alongside Nabur's own son Sagremor.

[2] I made this story up on the spot as I was drawing this. I wanted to find a way to bring Mordred back into Arthur's household in a way that maintained his fisherman's upbringing while also not needing to create yet another elaborate Fair Unknown narrative. Also I like sea monsters. Arthur fostering Mordred comes from The Dream of Rhonabwy. The detail of the scar comes from the Post-Vulgate:

The scar was also a convenient way of bringing him back into the Orkney household.

[3] Right, where do we start with this? Well, Gawain wielding the Sword in the Stone is loosely based on something I noticed while going through the Vulgate Merlin in which Gawain kills the Emperor Lucius with Excalibur:

So I tried to blend together the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate narratives so that Arthur wields the sword Excalibur (the Sword of the Lake) while Gawain gets to wield the Sword in the Stone reforged.

Gawain mentioning Lucius as being his foster-brother is my headcanon derived from De Ortu Waluuanii (The Rise of Gawain) in which Gawain, abducted as infant and raised in poverty by the poor fisherman Viamundus, is later adopted into the household of the Roman Emperor alongside the Emperor's own children, which in my head includes the young Lucius.

So I imagine Gawain, even though he is especially close to Gareth, having a particular fondness as well for Mordred based on the latter's upbringing, and that being one of the reasons why he gifts his sword to Mordred. The sword passes from one long-lost son (Arthur) to another long-lost son (Gawain) to another long-lost son (Mordred).

[queer-ragnelle]

Can you recommend some books that focus on Arthur's children that you've liked?

Hi anon! Sure can. I’ll list them in order of release and note which kids are in it.

Mordred, A Tragedy by Henry Newbolt (Mordred)

The Great Captains by Henry Treece (Anir)

Lionors, King Arthur's Uncrowned Queen by Barbara Ferry Johnson (Mordred & Elise)

The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart (Mordred)

Idylls of the Queen by Phyllis Ann Karr (Mordred)

The Book of Mordred by Peter Hanratty (Mordred)

The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein (Medraut, Lleu, & Goewin)

The Winter King, Enemy of God, & Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell (Amhar, Loholt, & Gwydre)

A Camelot Triptych by Norris J Lacy (Mordred)

Exiled From Camelot by Cherith Baldry (Loholt & Mordred)

Arthurian Tales by Phyllis Ann Karr (Mordred)

There are definitely more books with Arthur’s kids but these are the most prominent. Most often it’s Mordred/Medraut, but the others do show up occasionally. Enjoy!

[princess-ibri]

How you do imagine Uther and Igraine (Arthur’s parents) in the DisneyVerse?

So here’s the DisneyVerse Pendragon Family tree as it currently stands

I feel like Disney would most likely just make Uther marry Igraine after her first husband’s death so as to be able to keep his whole “Good King” title per the song, and have Mordred just be Arthur’s (half) nephew cuz nooo way they’d do the actual story 😅

[gawrkin]

Titles for the Arthur kids

Amr /Amhar - Amr Mawr/Amhar Mawr "Amr the Great"

(Source: Preface to Le Morte D'Arthur by John Rhys)

2. Loholt/Llacheu - Loholt the Generous (Llacheu Hael?)

(Source: Lanzelet, by Ulrich von Zatzikhoven)

Alternatively, Llacheu, Awesome in Songs

(Source: Arthur in Medieval Welsh Literature, by Oliver James Padel)

3. Melora - Knight of the Blue Arms. Alternatively, Knight of the Blue Surcoat (Mhelora Gorlassar?)

(Source: Eachtra Mhelora agus Orlando)

[gawrkin]

More folklore from Sewingshields, Northumbria

Arthur's sons are more like the Orkney siblings than I realize. I bet you the eldest son was Amr.

[gawrkin]

When reading Childe Rowland and Burd Ellen, I couldn't help but imagine that you could replace Rowland and Ellen with Loholt and Melora and frame this as the story of how Loholt (the most significant of the Non-Mordred sons of Arthur) rescued Melora (the most significant of the Daughters of Arthur), with the two elder brothers being Amr and Gwydre/Duran

Loholt gets a childhood adventure.

Melora gets a motive to learn how to be a warrior as to not be helpless again.

[gawrkin]

Ever since your post about Jenny Greenteeth/Guinevere I'm imagining in this version she becomes a Lamia-like figure, traumatized by the deaths of all her children (I started out thinking Amhar & Loholt but we could also include her kids from Mordred if we wanted to go very dark and include Pedicide) she kills other children to make others know her own pain

Oooh, that's very dark. Maybe a bit too dark (which is always a worry considering Guinevere's varying characterizations and ability to engage with audiences)

Then again, Amhar, Loholt and Mordred's sons are reportedly killed by people Guinevere ought to trust - Amhar by Arthur, Loholt by Kay and Mordred's sons by Constantine (Arthur's cousin) or by the Benoic faction.

I think the "retaliation" angle may work if Guinevere's (racial/tribal?) affliations and tensions are more clearly defined - like her Cewri/Giantess heritage from Welsh myth sets the precedent for her turning monstrous against the Britons for long standing prejudice (potentially going all the way back to Brutus and Gogmagog).

(EDIT: Oh, it just came to me: Lamia was given the power of Prophecy as compensation by Zeus. Guess what is Guinevere's magical ability in Rise of Gawain?)