In Arthurian legend, Gorlois (Welsh : Gwrlais) of Tintagel was the Duke of Cornwall. He was the first husband of King Arthur's mother Igraine and the father of her daughters, Arthur's half-sisters. Her second husband was Uther Pendragon, the High King of Britain and Arthur's father, who marries her after killing him.
The name Gorlois first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136). [1] Culhwch and Olwen calls him Rica. [2] The Prose Merlin and Of Arthour and of Merlin call him Duke Hoel (Höel [3] ) of Tintagel, [4] the latter text describing him as Igraine's second husband but also prior to her marriage with Uther. [5] In Perlesvaus , he appears as King Goloé (Golaas). [6] William Worcester's Itineraries call him Tador. [7]
According to Historia Regum Britanniae, Gorlois was vassal of Ambrosius Aurelianus, whose arrival at the Battle of Kaerconan ensured the defeat of Hengist. [8] In Wace's Roman de Brut , when Hengist's son Octa and his cousin Ossa rebel, Gorlois helps Uther defeat them at York. [9] In the Brut Tysilio, a Welsh version of Geoffrey's work, Gorlois is the father of Cador, Duke of Cornwall, presumably by Igraine.
After he succeeds his brother, Ambrosius, Uther holds a feast for his nobles, and seeing Igraine, falls in love with her. Sensing Uther Pendragon's interest, Igraine asks her husband to take her back home to Cornwall. He placed her at the more defensible Tintagel Castle, while he prepared to defend his territory from Dimilioc. Incensed at their departing without leave, Uther lays siege to Gorlois' castles to little effect. He consults his friend Ulfin who tells him that the lady can hardly look favorably on someone who makes war on her husband, and suggests the king seek advice from Merlin in gaining access to Tintagel. Merlin devises an enchantment that disguises Uther in the form of Gorlois. In this form he approaches Igraine and they sleep together, conceiving Arthur. Unbeknownst to either of them, the real Gorlois has been killed that very night in battle against Uther's troops. [8] Eventually Igraine is persuaded to marry Uther. (In Thomas Hughes' 1587 play The Misfortunes of Arthur , Gorlois' ghost condemns Arthur for his father's treachery.)
Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur , following the later tradition of Merlin and French prose cycles, features Gorlois as the father of Morgan le Fay, Morgause, and Elaine, [8] who are roughly corresponding with Brimesent, Belisent and Blasine in Gorlois' "Hoel" variant. [5] After Gorlois' death, his three daughters are married off to vassals of Uther: Elaine to King Nentres of Garlot, Morgause to King Lot of Orkney, and (after she has received an education in a convent) Morgan to King Urien. Arthur is spared any knowledge of his half-sisters after he is whisked away by Merlin to be raised by Sir Ector.
The 11th/12th century Welsh text Culhwch and Olwen lists "Gormant son of Rica (Arthur's brother on his mother's side, his father the chief elder of Cornwall)". [10] This passage is a parallel of later stories of Gorlois and Igraine. Scholars Rachel Bromwich and D. Simon Evans note the similarity between the Gor- element in Gormant and Gorlois' names, which could reflect a known practice in some late antiquity and early medieval European dynasties to share a name prefix. There is a possibility that Rica could be equated with Ricatus (or Recgisi), a name found on an 11th century Cornish cross. [2] The Peniarth triads give the same title—Arthur's chief elder at Celliwig, Cornwall—to Caradoc, which could also equate him with Rica. [11]
The 13th century Prose Merlin calls Ygerne's husband Hoel, Duke of Tintagell, with Ydiers as king of Cornwall. Hoel and Ygerne have five daughters together, who marry King Lot, King Ventres, King Urien, and King Briadas. [12]
Richard Carew's Survey of Cornwall (1602) places Gorlois as husband of Igerna and duke of Cornwall in 500 AD, who is succeeded by Earl Cador by 526 AD. [13] The Book of Baglan (1600–1607) calls him Gurleis, Goulisor, or Gwrleis, duke or prince of Cornwall, and husband of Eigyr; he is the father of Cador, and son of Sortogus, a direct male-line descendant of Maxentius, Dyfnwal Moelmud, Camber and Brutus of Troy. [14]
William Worcester travelled to Cornwall in 1478, and recorded in his Itineraries that "Tador Duke of Cornwall, husband of the mother of Arthur was slain" at Castle an Dinas. This is generally interpreted as a conflation of Gorlois with Cador, and as an alternative place of Gorlois' death, differing from the Historia Regum Britanniae's account that he died at Dimilioc. [7]
Henry Jenner considered Gorlois to be a real fifth or sixth-century figure, either a petty chief and vassal of the Royal House of Dumnonia, or of the line of the original chiefs of the Dumnonii if the kings of Dumnonia were the leaders of the Britons displaced by the Saxons. He suggested that Bosworlas (in St Just) and Treworlas were place names taken from Gorlois, [15] and notes that Bosworlas ('the Dwelling of Gorlois') is very close to Bosigran ('the Dwelling of Igerna'). [7]
King Arthur, according to legends, was a king of Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
Uther Pendragon (Brittonic), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons and father of King Arthur.
In the Matter of Britain, Igraine is the mother of King Arthur. Igraine is also known in Latin as Igerna, in Welsh as Eigr, in French as Ygraine, in Le Morte d'Arthur as Ygrayne—often modernised as Igraine or Igreine—and in Parzival as Arnive. She becomes the wife of Uther Pendragon, after the death of her first husband, Gorlois.
Tintagel Castle is a medieval fortification located on the peninsula of Tintagel Island adjacent to the village of Tintagel (Trevena), North Cornwall in the United Kingdom. The site was possibly occupied in the Romano-British period, as an array of artefacts dating from this period have been found on the peninsula, but as yet no Roman-era structure has been proven to have existed there. It was settled during the early medieval period, when it was probably one of the seasonal residences of the regional king of Dumnonia. A castle was built on the site by Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall in the 13th century, during the High Middle Ages. It later fell into disrepair and ruin.
The Mists of Avalon is a 1983 historical fantasy novel by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which the author relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters. The book follows the trajectory of Morgaine, a priestess fighting to save her Celtic religion in a country where Christianity threatens to destroy the pagan way of life. The epic is focused on the lives of Morgaine, Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), Viviane, Morgause, Igraine and other women of the Arthurian legend.
Morgause is a popular variant of the figure of the Queen of Orkney, an Arthurian legend character also known by various other names and appearing in different forms of her archetype. She is notably the mother of Gawain and often also of Mordred, both key players in the story of her brother King Arthur and his downfall.
King Lot, also spelled Loth or Lott, is a British monarch in Arthurian legend. He was introduced in Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudohistorical Historia Regum Britanniae as King Arthur's brother-in-law, who serves as regent of Britain between the reigns of Uther Pendragon and Arthur. He has appeared regularly in works of chivalric romance, alternating between the roles of Arthur's enemy and ally, and is often depicted as the ruler of Lothian and either Norway or Orkney. His literary character is probably derived from hagiographical material concerning Saint Kentigern, which features Leudonus as king of Leudonia and father of Saint Teneu.
Historia regum Britanniae, originally called De gestis Britonum, is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons over the course of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the British nation and continuing until the Anglo-Saxons assumed control of much of Britain around the 7th century. It is one of the central pieces of the Matter of Britain.
Morgaine le Fey is a supervillain appearing in DC Comics, based on Morgan le Fay, the mythical sorceress and half-sister of King Arthur. She debuted in The Demon #1, and was created by Jack Kirby.
Cador is a legendary Duke of Cornwall, known chiefly through Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudohistorical Historia Regum Britanniae and previous manuscript sources such as the Life of Carantoc. In Welsh genealogical records, he appears as Cado, the son of Cornish king Geraint. Early sources present him as a relative of King Arthur, though the details of their kinship are usually left unspecified.
Merlin is a 1998 two-part television miniseries starring Sam Neill as Merlin, recounting the wizard's life in the mythic history of Britain. Loosely adapted from the legendary tales of Camelot, the plot adds the antagonistic Queen Mab and expands Merlin's backstory before the birth of King Arthur.
Octa was an Anglo-Saxon King of Kent during the 6th century. Sources disagree on his relationship to the other kings in his line; he may have been the son of Hengist or Oisc, and may have been the father of Oisc or Eormenric. The dates of his reign are unclear, but he may have ruled from 512 to 534 or from 516 to 540. Despite his shadowy recorded history Octa made an impact on the Britons, who describe his deeds in several sources.
The Crystal Cave is a 1970 fantasy novel by Mary Stewart. The first in a quintet of novels covering the Arthurian legend, it is followed by The Hollow Hills.
Castle an Dinas is an Iron Age hillfort at the summit of Castle Downs near St Columb Major in Cornwall, UK and is considered one of the most important hillforts in the southwest of Britain. It dates from around the 3rd to 2nd century BCE and consists of three ditch and rampart concentric rings, 850 feet (260 m) above sea level. During the early 1960s it was excavated by a team led by Dr Bernard Wailes of the University of Pennsylvania during two seasons of excavation.
The Mists of Avalon is a 2001 television miniseries based on the 1983 novel of the same title by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Produced by American cable channel TNT, adapted by Gavin Scott, and directed by Uli Edel, the series retells Arthurian legend from the perspectives of Morgan le Fay and other women of the tale. The first episode was the highest-rated original film on basic cable in the summer of 2001.
King Arthur's family grew throughout the centuries with King Arthur's legend. The earliest Welsh Arthurian tradition portrays Arthur as having an extensive family network, including his parents Uther Pendragon and Eigyr (Igraine), wife Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), nephew Gwalchmei (Gawain), brother, and several sons; his maternal lineage is also detailed, linking him to relatives like his grandfather. This complex familial structure is simplified in the shared British and greater European tradition of chronicles and medieval romances influenced by Geoffrey of Monmouth's writings, which instead introduce new characters like Arthur's half-sisters including Morgan and Morgause, theirs children including Yvain and Mordred, and others. Arthur's lineage was later claimed by various rulers, especially the House of Tudor and Scottish clans, reflecting the enduring legacy of his familial ties in medieval and early modern genealogies.
Merlin is a partly lost French epic poem written by Robert de Boron in Old French and dating from either the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century. The author reworked Geoffrey of Monmouth's material on the legendary Merlin, emphasising Merlin's power to prophesy and linking him to the Holy Grail. The poem tells of his origin and early life as a redeemed Antichrist, his role in the birth of Arthur, and how Arthur became King of Britain. Merlin's story relates to Robert's two other reputed Grail poems, Joseph d'Arimathie and Perceval. Its motifs became popular in medieval and later Arthuriana, notably the introduction of the sword in the stone, the redefinition of the Grail, and turning the previously peripheral Merlin into a key character in the legend of King Arthur.
Edern ap Nudd was a knight of the Round Table in Arthur's court in early Arthurian tradition. As the son of Nudd, he is the brother of Gwyn, Creiddylad, and Owain ap Nudd. In French romances, he is sometimes made the king of a separate realm. As St Edern, he has two churches dedicated to him in Wales.
Caradoc Vreichvras was a semi-legendary ancestor to the kings of Gwent. He may have lived during the 5th or 6th century. He is remembered in the Matter of Britain as a Knight of the Round Table, under the names King Carados and Carados Briefbras.
