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Bedivere
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SIR BEDIVERE

Bedivere (Welsh: Bedwyr) is a legendary character in the King Arthur stories. He is a Knight of the Round Table. He is a fearless fighter and one of Arthur's most trusted knights. In the early legends he is the cupbearer. Later legends have him as the one who returns Arthur's sword Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake.[2][3] He then put the dying Arthur in a boat to take him to Avalon.[a][5] In some legends Arthur gives him rule over Normandy.[6] In stories he is frequently associated with Sir Kay. Sir Lucan is his brother. Sir Griflet is his cousin.
DATABASES
Bedivere (Welsh: Bedwyr) is a legendary character in the King Arthur stories. He is a Knight of the Round Table. He is a fearless fighter and one of Arthur's most trusted knights. In the early legends he is the cupbearer. Later legends have him as the one who returns Arthur's sword Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake.[2][3] He then put the dying Arthur in a boat to take him to Avalon.[a][5] In some legends Arthur gives him rule over Normandy.[6] In stories he is frequently associated with Sir Kay. Sir Lucan is his brother. Sir Griflet is his cousin.
A truly deep and fervent supporter of King Arthur from the very start, Sir Bedivere never wained from that support. Bedivere was also one of the first knights to join the fellowship of the Round Table, and was by King Arthur’s side at his death/transport to the Isle of Avalon. Sir Bedivere also helped King Arthur fight the Giant of Mont St. Michel and later was made Duke of Neustria. Sir Bedivere lost one of his hands in battle and spent the rest of his life fighting with only one hand. He had a son called Amren and a daughter named Eneuavc.
Sir Bedivere is best known to readers of the English Arthurian tradition as the knight charged with returning Excalibur to its lake of origin, as King Arthur lies mortally wounded from his final battle. Thrice Bedivere tries to follow his lord’s orders to throw the sword into the lake, but the first two times he is unable to part with Excalibur and keeps it as the last remaining symbol of Arthur’s glorious reign. He only musters the will to discard Excalibur on his third attempt, and is then rewarded with a marvelous sight: the Lady of the Lake’s hand rising from the water to catch the sword and draw it into the water, signaling the end of Arthur’s reign. Readers may associate Bedivere’s importance solely with this scene, but he in fact plays a larger role within the Arthurian tradition. Bedivere holds the curious distinction of bookending Arthur’s story: at the beginning of the tradition, he is named one of...
Sir Bedivere was known to the Welsh as Bedwyr Bedrydant (of the Perfect Sinews) and was therefore, presumably, a very muscular man. Along with Sir Kay alias Cai Hir (the Tall), he is one of the most ancient warriors associated with King Arthur. He appears in the Mabinogion attached tale of 'Culhwch and Olwen' as the handsomest warrior who ever was at Arthur's Court, "and, although he was one-handed, no three warriors drew blood in the same field faster than he". In the Life of St. Cadog, he was one of Arthur's entourage sent to pursue King Gwynllyw of Gwynllwg after he had abducted St. Gwladys from her father's court in Brycheiniog. Bedwyr is also recorded in the Black Book of Carmarthen as having fought at the unlocated Battle of Tryfrwyd: "By the hundred they fell before Bedwyr Bedrydant" for "furious was his nature with shield and sword". Geoffrey of Monmouth named him as Arthur's head butler and Duke of Normandy. Bedivere fought the giant of Mont St. Michel and was highly active in the King's continental campaigns, during which he may have been killed. The more developed literary tradition, particularly voiced by Sir Thomas Malory, makes him Sir Bedivere, the knight who returned Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake after the Battle of Camlann. His brother was named as Sir Lucan.
From the Welsh name Bedwyr, which is of unknown meaning. In Arthurian legends Bedivere was one of the original companions of King Arthur. He first appears in early Welsh tales, and his story was later expanded by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 12th century. He is the one who throws the sword Excalibur into the lake at the request of the dying Arthur.
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