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Mordred
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MORDRED

Mordred or Modred (/ˈmoʊdrɛd/; Welsh: Medraut or Medrawt) is a figure who is variously portrayed in the British tradition. The earliest known mention of a possibly historical Medraut is in the Welsh chronicle Annales Cambriae, wherein he and Arthur are ambiguously associated with the Battle of Camlann in a brief entry for the year 537. His figure seemed to have been regarded positively in the early Welsh tradition and may have been related to that of Arthur's son.
DATABASES
Mordred or Modred (/ˈmoʊdrɛd/; Welsh: Medraut or Medrawt) is a figure who is variously portrayed in the British tradition. The earliest known mention of a possibly historical Medraut is in the Welsh chronicle Annales Cambriae, wherein he and Arthur are ambiguously associated with the Battle of Camlann in a brief entry for the year 537. His figure seemed to have been regarded positively in the early Welsh tradition and may have been related to that of Arthur's son.
In the Annales Cambriae we are told that Arthur and Medrawt (Mordred) perished at Camlan, but we are not told they were on different sides. Geoffrey of Monmouth informs us that Mordred was Arthur’s nephew, the son of Arthur’s sister Anna and her husband, Lot of Lothian. The Dream of Rhonabwy makes him Arthur’s foster-son as well as his nephew. Geoffrey asserts that, when Arthur was away on his Roman campaign, Mordred seized Guinevere and the throne, thus paving the way for their final battle. Ly Myreur des Historires claims Mordred survived the battle, only to be defeated by Lancelot who executed Guinevere – doubtless because he thought she had willingly complied in being seized – and incarcerated Mordred with her dead body which Mordred ate before dying of starvation.
Mordred or Modred (/ˈmoʊdrɛd/; Welsh: Medraut, Medrod, etc.) is a character in the Arthurian legend, known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his half-sister Morgause, though in many modern adaptations Morgause is merged with the character of Morgan le Fay. In earlier literature, he was considered the legitimate son of Morgause, also known as Anna, with her husband King Lot of Orkney. His brothers or half-brothers are Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, and Gareth. The name (from either Old Welsh Medraut, Cornish Modred, or Old Breton Modrot) is ultimately derived from Latin Moderātus (moderate, restrained, temperate, sober).
Mordred (Modred, Medrawd, or Medraut) has become the quintessential traitorous villain in the Arthurian tradition. According to the majority of texts, he is Arthur's bastard son by his half-sister Morgause, the wife of King Lot. This incestuous begetting, alternately an innocent mistake on the part of both parties, as the French Vulgate portrays it, or a perverted seduction on Morgause's part, as in the film Excalibur, can in part explain why Mordred's character and sense of loyalty is so twisted. However, his reputation has not always been quite so bad.
Sir Mordred appears to have been an historical personage. Tradition makes him the youngest son of Queen Morgause of Orkney. He was raised as a son of her husband, King Lot, but - due to an unfortunate and uninformed encounter - his real father was his own uncle, King Arthur. When the monarch discovered the truth, he tried to have the baby Mordred disposed off. Along with all the children born his birthday, he was set adrift in a large boat. The boat sank but Mordred survived and was washed up an island shore, from where he was taken in by Lord Nabur the Unruly. When he grew up, Mordred travelled to the Court of King Arthur and was reunited with his real parents.
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