#king urien

[gawrkin]

So, hear me out... what if one of the reasons Morgan le Fay went so far as to assassinate her husband Urien is because he broke a taboo Morgan imposed on him, perhaps even three times?

In folklore, there is a recurring trope of the "Fairy Bride" - where a man, through various circumstances depending on the tale, manages to land himself a fairy woman as a wife. However, a stipulation is made that so as long as the man doesn't break a certain condition - such as "Don't strike three blows on the wife" or "Don't gaze upon the wife while she's giving birth" - the marriage would be maintained. Inevitably in these sorts of stories, the man ultimately breaks the taboo, thus the marriage is cancelled and the fairy wife magically leaves him forever.

Given that Morgan is the archetypal Fairy Queen in literature and the fact that, in most narratives, Morgan didn't really choose to marry Urien of her own free will, it is believable that Morgan would try to impose a condition or a set of conditions on Urien so that she could feel comfortable with the union. I could just imagine Morgan cooking up a set of rules so vaguely worded, Urien would break them invariably, one way or another.

This could serve as an explanation for why Morgan waited so long to enact her assassination attempt that, by the time it happens, Ywain is already a young man. Perhaps, in the beginning, Morgan was just "fine" with being hitched to a man she didn't love, but was slowly losing patience over time, with each violation of the taboo, intentionally or unintentionally. And then Urien breaks the last straw just recently, so now Morgan has the excuse to enact her murder plot of Urien (and Arthur, the person who brokered the marriage in the first place)

[wandrenowlereacts]

According to the Triads, King Urien is a twin brother, who then becomes the father of twins, Owain and Morfudd. Urien's sister Efrddyl also becomes the mother of triplets, Gwrgi, Peredur and Ceindrech (Bromwich, 2014).

On the other hand, in accordance with the "Historia Meriadoci Regis Cambrie", Urien kidnapped a young woman called Orwen, who was also herself the twin sister of Meriadoc son of King Caradoc of Cambria (Day, 2019).

In conclusion, there is a lot of twins in King Urien's life (including what plausibly seems to be his second wife).

References

Bromwich, R. (2014). Trioedd ynys prydein: The triads of the Island of Britain. University of Wales Press.

Day, M. L. (2019). The story of Meriadoc, King of Cambria. Routledge.

[queer-ragnelle]

collection of meme/reaction gifs i've made for the arthurian theater discord server

[swixtern]

Spaghetti family. Three tangled trees

[gingersnaptaff]

*chants* Morfudd and Owain, Morfudd and Owain, Morfudd and Owain.

[epic-summaries]

British LegendsxPokémon

Kings/Gym Leaders Part 3

Psychic Type Leader:

King Urien

It was hard to figure out what type Urien should master. I decided on Psychic because in the first could of gens it was considered one of the strong types, which is why there are so many Psychic legendaries. Anyway, I always thought of Urien as very powerful and strong, so Psychic.

Okay I’m starting to see a pattern, I like puzzle gyms. Buts it’s Arthuriana, where would we be without a haunted castle? Anyway, Morgana renovated the castle and made into a creepy castle with magic and mystery. There’s rumours that maybe a legendary lives in the castle. In the castle things move by itself (it’s just telekinesis) and you have to find your way to the main hall. In the main hall Urien sits in his chair waiting for the battle.

Metagross’ moves are Zen Headbutt, Meteor Mash, Ice Punch and Earthquake.

Meowstic’s moveset is Light Screen, Psychic, Thunder Wave and Shadow Ball

Oranguru’s moves are Protect, Psychic, Foul Play and Shadow Ball

Sigilyph’s moves are Psyshock, Air Slash, Ice Beam and Cosmic Power.

Alolan Raichu’s moves are Nasty Plot, Sweet Kiss, Psychic and Thunderbolt.

Wobbuffet can only learn four moves, it is its gimmick. The moves are Counter, Mirror Coat, Safeguard and Destiny Bond.

Rock Type Leader:

Lady Laudine

This one may be a little out there. But hear me out.

Basically the way you get to the gym/castle is the same as the original story. But that’s the route not the gym. To get into the gym you need take the water out of the fountain with a ladle and pour it on the rock. This summons a battle between Tornadus and Thundurus. The two legendaries create an epic storm. When they finish, a black knight comes out and you must battle him. After you win the battle, he lets you into the castle and you can battle the gym leader, Laudine. (She’s Rock because rock is strong against Tornadus and Thundurus and she keeps the two from totally destroying the castle, the people and the surrounding town. Sure she could have been an Ice type leader too but Rock was the weakness that came to mind first.)

Tynanitar’s moves are Stone Edge, Crunch, Aerial Ace and Earthquake.

Lycanroc Midnight Form moveset is Stone Edge, Brick Break, Crunch, Sword Dance and Splintered Stormshards.

Magcargo’s moves are Earth Power, Flamethrower, Amnesia and Light Screen.

Rhyperior’s moves are Earthquake, Stealth Rocker, Fire Punch and Stone Edge.

Alolan Golem’s moves are Rock Slide, Thunder Punch, Mega Punch and Earthquake.

Probopass’ moveset is Stone Edge, Magnet Bomb, Thunder Wave, Power Gem.

Ice Type Leader:

Lord Cilydd

Why ice? For some unknown reason I personally associate Cilydd’s castle with winter. I have absolutely no reason for this? Maybe the reason that the flower did not grow on his dead wife’s grave is that the Ice Pokémon kept stopping it from growing? Yeah let’s go with that.

When it gets cold, you know you are close. You find this castle made of ice. You slip and slide. Then fall into a room of ice mirrors and you see a person reflected. You must find the real person, battle them and move on to the next mirror room. Eventually you find your way into Cilydd’s room.

Glalie’s moves are Ice Fang, Headbutt, Crunch and Protect.

Mamoswine’s moveset is Earthquake, Ice Fang, Stone Edge and Take Down.

Crabominable’s moveset is Ice Hammer, Close Combat, Scald and Brutal Swing.

Vaniluxe’s moves are Ice Beam, Hail, Blizzard and Mirror Shot.

Glaceon’s moves are Ice Beam, Bite, Toxic, Protect.

Walrein’s moveset is Ice Beam, Surf, Crunch and Body Slam.

Bug Type Leader:

King Mark

Why bug? Mark is either seen as a total asshole or totally pathetic. I prefer the well meaning but “pathetic” King. And we all know that bug is stereotypically the weak type. In this team maybe Scolipede and Mega Pinsir are good competitively (MAYBE).

Mark’s castle is on the hills and cliffs of Tintangel. You walk the castle, some people will battle you and then you met Mark in the great hall. No gimmicks, just a walk. It’s a popular gym, not just because it’s easy but also doesn’t try to kill you.

Pinsir’s moves are X-Scissor, Swords Dance, Superpower and Stone Edge.

Ribombee’s moves are Bug Buzz, Dazzling Gleam, Quiver Dance and Draining Kiss.

Scolipede’s moves are Megahorn, X-Scissor, Poison Jab and Earthquake.

Vikavolt’s moveset is Bug Buzz, Thunderbolt, Dig and Agility.

Kricketune’s moves are X-Scissor, Sing, Night Slash and Leech Life.

Crustle’s moves are X-Scissor, Rock Slide, Stealth Rock and Slash.

Dragon Type Leader:

King Hoel

Like Urien, Hoel always felt powerful to me. He’s king of all of Brittany. It’s a large piece of land.

Hoel’s castle is in the forest on a cliff looking at the Channel. There are two ways up, a waterfall or flying. When you go through waterfall, you get stuck in caves behind it where you have to fight trainers. Then you have to have to go back up and there’s another cave. In the cave you have to find Garchomp’s treasure and only then you will be shown the way into Hoel’s great hall for a battle.

Garchomp’s moves are Fire Fang, Dragon Claw, Earthquake and Poison Jab.

Dragonite’s moves are Frie Punch, Surf, Outrage and Fly.

Duddigon’s moveset is Dragon Claw, Crunch, Earthquake and Night Slash.

Alolan Exeggutor’s moveset is Stun Spore, Dragon Hammer, Mega Drain, Flamethrower.

Kingdra’s moves are Ice Beam, Dragon Pulse, Hydro Pump and Flash Cannon.

Dragalge’s moves are Dragon Pulse, Sludge Bomb, Scald, Shadow Claw.

Previous in series: Kings/Gym Leaders Part 2

Next in series: Kings/Gym Leaders Part 4

[arthurian-texts]

(In response to this post.)

@sensicalabsurdities, I hope you don’t mind me replying like this! It’s just easier than reblogging the whole long post again.

The issue of whether there’s a historical basis for Arthur is a fascinating one, although not one I’ll be going into that much in depth on this blog since I’m both more knowledgeable and more interested in Arthur as a legend than what the actual historical facts may have been. 

There definitely was a significant oral tradition around Arthur, though - something I’ll be getting into more when we get to some of the Welsh stories and references to him. The earliest reference we have to Arthur is in a c. 7th-century poem called Y Gododdin, which just passingly uses him for a comparison, on the clear expectation that the audience would already know who he was and what the comparison implied.

A lot of Welsh mythology was originally oral in fact, which makes it really hard to trace what the stories originally started as and who influenced whom when the stories came to be written down. (This is particularly relevant when we talk about the Arthurian stories collected in what’s come to be known as the Mabinogion, such as the Three Welsh Romances and Culhwch and Olwen.)

When it comes to historical Arthur though... my best guess, based on what I’ve read, is that he probably was based on a real person, but that real person and his life story were near-unrecognizably different from the King Arthur legend as we know. As we’ll see when we get to the Arthur mention in Historia Brittonum, he may not even have been a king, or even nobly born. I think the basic fact of there being a Briton leader named Arthur (or something similar) who won some significant victories against the Saxons is probably true, and there may also be a historical basis for some of the earliest mentioned Arthurian characters, like Guinevere, Mordred, Gawain, Kay, and Bedivere.

Interestingly, two Arthurian characters we know for a fact are based on historical people are Urien of Rheged (who gets turned into Morgan le Fay’s husband in later traditions), and his son Owain mab Urien, known variously in Arthurian literature as Sir Owain, Sir Ywain, and Sir Yvain. (The real Owain probably didn’t have an army of ravens, and/or a lion companion, like his Arthurian counterpart though. Which is disappointing.)

[wandrenowlereacts]

Unknown Bard: Morgan, tell us: All the women are jealous Which of your magical wands Got you Merlin, Urien and Guiomar?