Pendragon: Sword of His Father is a 2008 Christian historical fiction [1] film based on the Arthurian legend directed by Chad Burns. [2] It was filmed in five U.S. states, and was released on November 25, 2008. The film won "Best Family Picture" and two other awards at the 2009 Bare Bones International Film Festival, [3] and will also be featured at the SENE Film, Music & Arts Festival. [4]
The story is set in 411 AD, one year after the legions of Rome withdrew from the Isle of Britannia. Pendragon is the story of young Artos who is raised to believe that God has a purpose for his life. After a tragic event resulting in the burning of his village by a saxon attack , the death of his father, and the disappearance of his little sister Adria, he is taken into slavery by the Saxons, where Artos begins to question his God. He soon manages to escape from the Saxons and is nursed back to health by a Roman outcast named Lailoken. When he fully recovers, Artos travels to a Celtic fortress hidden in the Welsh mountains where he becomes a great warrior under King Ambrosius. Advancing through the military ranks, Artos begins to understand that his father's vision was not based on the strength of man, but on the plan of God. However, his success causes one of Ambrosius's men, his pagan Captain of the Guard Caydern, to become jealous of Artos's rapid rise to power in the military. Using a secret guard that he created several years ago, Caydern is able to murder Ambrosius, and to frame the assassination on Artos. While on trial, Artos escapes from the court and elude Caydern's elite guard. Further events force Artos to decide between following God's plan unto certain death or abandoning God to save himself.
Ambrosius Aurelianus was a war leader of the Romano-British who won an important battle against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, according to Gildas. He also appeared independently in the legends of the Britons, beginning with the 9th-century Historia Brittonum. Eventually, he was transformed by Geoffrey of Monmouth into the uncle of King Arthur, the brother of Arthur's father Uther Pendragon, as a ruler who precedes and predeceases them both. He also appears as a young prophet who meets the tyrant Vortigern; in this guise, he was later transformed into the wizard Merlin.
Hengist and Horsa are Germanic brothers said to have led the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in their supposed invasion of Britain in the 5th century. Tradition lists Hengist as the first of the Jutish kings of Kent.
Uther Pendragon (Brittonic), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons and father of King Arthur.
Pendragon or Pen Draig, is the epithet of Uther, father of King Arthur in the Matter of Britain in medieval and modern era and occasionally applied to historical Welsh heroes in medieval Welsh literature such as Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd.
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.
King Arthur is a 2004 historical adventure film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Franzoni. It features an ensemble cast with Clive Owen as the title character, Ioan Gruffudd as Lancelot and Keira Knightley as Guinevere, along with Mads Mikkelsen, Joel Edgerton, Hugh Dancy, Ray Winstone, Ray Stevenson, Stephen Dillane, Stellan Skarsgård and Til Schweiger.
The historicity of King Arthur has been debated both by academics and popular writers. While there have been many claims that King Arthur was a real historical person, the current consensus among specialists on the period holds him to be a mythological or folkloric figure.
The Lantern Bearers is a historical novel for children by Rosemary Sutcliff, first published by Oxford in 1959 with illustrations by Charles Keeping. Set in Roman Britain during the 5th century, it is the story of a British Roman's life after the final withdrawal of Roman troops. Sutcliff won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject.
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.
Anglo-Saxon paganism, sometimes termed Anglo-Saxon heathenism, Anglo-Saxon pre-Christian religion, or Anglo-Saxon traditional religion, refers to the religious beliefs and practices followed by the Anglo-Saxons between the 5th and 8th centuries AD, during the initial period of Early Medieval England. A variant of Germanic paganism found across much of north-western Europe, it encompassed a heterogeneous variety of beliefs and cultic practices, with much regional variation.
The Hollow Hills is a novel by Mary Stewart. It is the second in a quintet of novels covering the Arthurian Legends. This book is preceded by The Crystal Cave and succeeded by The Last Enchantment. The Hollow Hills was published in 1973.
Sword at Sunset is a best-selling 1963 novel by Rosemary Sutcliff. One of her few historical novels written specifically for adults, it is her interpretation of the legend of King Arthur.
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 is a re—telling of the Arthurian legend with an emphasis on the perspectives of Morgan le Fay and other women of the tale. The first episode was the highest-rated original movie on basic cable in the summer of 2001.
Excalibur: A Novel of Arthur is a historical fiction novel by English writer Bernard Cornwell, first published in the UK in 1997. It is the third and final book in The Warlord Chronicles series, following The Winter King and Enemy of God. The trilogy tells the legend of King Arthur through the eyes of his follower Derfel Cadarn.
The Last Legion is a 2007 historical action adventure film directed by Doug Lefler and produced by Dino De Laurentiis. It is based on the 2002 novel of the same name by Valerio Massimo Manfredi. It stars Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley, Aishwarya Rai, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Peter Mullan, Kevin McKidd, John Hannah, and Iain Glen. It premiered in Abu Dhabi on 6 April 2007.
Arwald was the last King of the Isle of Wight and last pagan king in Anglo-Saxon England.
The Battle of Guoloph, also known as the Battle of Wallop, took place in the 5th century. Various dates have been put forward: 440 AD by Alfred Anscombe, 437 AD according to John Morris, and 458 by Nikolai Tolstoy. It took place at what is now Nether Wallop, 15 kilometers southeast of Amesbury, in the district of Test Valley, northeastern Hampshire. The battle was an internal conflict between the rival Britonnic forces of Ambrosius Aurelianus and Vortigern (Vitalinus).
The Pagan Lord is the seventh historical novel in the Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 2013. The story is set in the early 10th century in Anglo-Saxon Mercia and Northumbria.
Cursed is an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on Netflix on July 17, 2020. It is based on the illustrated novel of the same name by Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler. The set location of the series is the United Kingdom. In July 2021, the series was canceled after one season.