Read The Mammoth Book of King Arthur Online
Authors: Mike Ashley
Vortipor is one of the kings singled out for criticism by Gildas who calls him the “bad son of a good king” and “spotted with wickedness”. He may have been a better ruler
in his youth but in
his old age, when Gildas was writing, he was “defiled by various murders and adulteries.” This included “the rape of a shameless
daughter.” Gildas does not say whether this was Vortipor’s own daughter or “daughter” in a symbolic sense, such as a “daughter of Eve” or “daughter of the
church”. Others have interpreted it as a step-daughter. We know that later legends give Arthur an incestuous relationship with his sister, of which Mordred was the offspring. Arthur is not
always the hero we like to imagine. Geoffrey of Monmouth portrays him as proud and vain in later years, defying Rome. In the later legends, as we shall see, he has moments of unprovoked violence
and an adulterous relationship.
Since Gildas thought so ill of Vortipor, yet wrote of Badon as such a victory, does that mean that Vortipor could not have been the victor of Badon? Perhaps, but the opposite is as likely. If
Gildas were going to castigate Vortipor then he would hardly want to name him as the victor of such an important battle. It would be surprising if Vortipor, as Protector, did not fight at Badon,
which was the decisive battle against the Saxons. Perhaps Vortipor had not called himself the Protector at that stage. After all, if his father were still alive, and in his mid fifties, he probably
also held the title – or at least the role – of Protector, and Gildas did at least praise him as a “good king.”
We can almost certainly determine the coalition of kings. If the battle were in the south, then it probably involved Cadwallon Lawhir, Cadell, Riocatus, Rhain ap Brychan and perhaps Cynfor of
Dumnonia. Agricola (Aircol) would have been the senior king though, because of his age, he may not have been involved in the majority of the fighting. That could well have been left to Vortipor as
the
dux bellorum.
Nennius tells us that Arthur fought “along with the kings”. Gildas also calls Vortipor’s father a king, but if Agricola also held the rank of Protector, he may have been
regarded by later generations as over and above the kings.
In fact something like that may well have been felt by his son. Vortipor is, after all, a title, very similar in derivation to Vortimer – both names are rendered as Gwerthefyr in Welsh
– and means “Over King”. We do not know Vortipor’s given name. His great-grandson was called Artúir, so we cannot dismiss the possibility that the name recurred in
other generations, especially as his 4 x
great grandfather also bore the prefix in Artchorp. Vortipor’s title in Irish was Gartbuir, and it may just be possible that the
Gaelic
b
was misread as an
h
, when written as
Gartbuir.
Vortipor has perhaps one other surprise in store. In
Bloodline of the Holy Grail
Laurence Gardner makes several points about Artuir of Dyfed. I treat these separately below, but one is
more relevant here. Gardner suggests that it is Artúir of Dyfed who died at Camlann in 537 or 538. Artúir lived too late for this, but Vortipor could well have died at around that
time, and he is quite likely to have died in battle, despite his age. Our revised date for Camlann is 520, but this is based on its relationship to Badon. Supposing the Camlann entry in the
Welsh Annals
is correct at 538, Vortipor would then be in his mid sixties. There is some suggestion that Vortipor was in battle against his neighbour Ceredigion. That territory was between
Demetia and Gwynedd, and Vortipor may have invaded Ceredigion many times in conflict against Gwynedd.
One of the likely locations for Camlann is in northern Ceredigion on the border with Gwynedd. Vortipor would have passed through here on his way to Gwynedd and that may be where he was ambushed
and killed. We do not know Vortipor’s fate but it was always more likely to have been in battle than peace. We do not know if he was killed by a nephew, but a family rivalry may well have
been involved, if Vortipor had disposed of his wife and raped her daughter.
9. Cerdic (480–550) or Caradog (445–515)
This case is put forward by John C. Rudmin in “Arthur, Cerdic and the Formation of Wessex” available on the Camelot
argument is that Arthur, Cerdic and Caradog Vreichfras are all based on the same individual and he cites a number of comparisons. One of these is that Caradog’s wife was Guignier, sister of
Cador of Cornwall and, as we have seen, Arthur’s future wife Guenevere had been raised in Cador’s household. In the Welsh tales, Caradog’s wife was Tegau Eurfron, though the
stories about them are similar, further examples of how common characters (such as Cador) were thrown into the melting pot of legend. There may be more of a case to argue that Cerdic and Caradog
are the same, or at least related, as we have
explored, but it requires some manipulation to bring Arthur into that equation.
Caradog Vreichfras may well have fought at Badon, which is probably why he features so strongly in the later tales. Cerdic is unlikely to have been involved, on either side. If anything, Cerdic
benefited from the collapse of Arthur after Camlann which, if it was in 538, saw Cerdic establish the West Saxon kingdom.
10. Urien of Rheged (
c
535-591)
There is a strong likelihood that Urien’s battles against the Angles became fused in the folk memory with some of Arthur’s battles. Urien is known to have scored a
sequence of victories against the Saxons in a well-known battle list. Even though Badon was a victory for Arthur, Camlann was a defeat and betrayal, and Urien’s death at Lindisfarne, betrayed
by Morcant, would have echoed down the years. The
Northern Chronicle,
probably kept by his son Rhun, would have honoured Urien’s victories along with others of the north (especially
Arthwys, Eliffer and Peredur).
11. Athelstan (895–939)
The unsung hero of English history. While Alfred’s greatness is rightly celebrated, that of his grandson, who ruled the English from 924 to 939, is often overlooked. Yet
it was Athelstan who united Britain as none had previously. The main parallel with Arthur is that Athelstan had to conduct a campaign in the North to suppress both Welsh hostilities and the Norse
in York. He also quelled a Cornish revolt under their king Hoel. He achieved a period of peace and prosperity in England never previously experienced. Although this is not the same as the
post-Badon Pax Arthuriana, it does have parallels with Geoffrey’s portrayal of how Arthur achieved peace. Also, after the Scots broke the treaty arrangement in 934, hostilities broke out
which caused Athelstan first to devastate Scotland, just as Geoffrey described Arthur doing in his campaign, and then to meet a combined army of Scots and Vikings at Brunanburh in 937. All agree
that this battle was the most decisive of all Saxon victories, and yet, like Badon, no one is really sure when Brunanburh was fought. All this happened two hundred years before Geoffrey wrote his
History,
but considering his ability to confuse facts from any period, he may well have encountered a document about Athelstan’s northern battles and, not knowing
its origin, incorporated elements of it into his tale.
I shall now work through all of the individuals with any likely Arth- prefixed name, including some we have not yet discussed who I feel need to be mentioned if only to be
dismissed. These are also presented in date order for the fifth and sixth centuries.
12. Arthwys ap Mar (450–520)
The number of sites in the north that could relate to Nennius’s battle list is sufficiently tempting to suggest that there was an Arthur of the North, probably resident in
Elmet, whose exploits against the Angles were long remembered.
Arthwys is the best situated to fight a campaign along the eastern frontier which, because of its association with Gildas’s “partition”, is the one most likely to be connected
with Badon. Though it cannot be wholly discounted, Arthwys is unlikely to have fought as far south as Liddington, but if his territory were in Elmet, it would have been possible for him to bring
reinforcements to a siege around the Breidden Hills or the Wrekin in Powys. In fact, if the Saxons had advanced that far west by the 490s, it would have been a certainty that the British in Powys
would have looked to their northern cousins for aid. Just possibly, despite the other great and powerful at Badon, it was the northern prince who saved the day and entered legend. It may even be
just as Geoffrey described it, with Arthwys pursuing the Saxons from Lichfield to a last-ditch battle in Powys.
13. Arthfael ap Einudd (480–550)
Arthfael appears in the
Life
of St. Cadog, who lived in the early sixth century. He is identified as a king of Glamorgan who granted Cadog land at what is probably
modern-day Cadoxton, near Neath. His son Gwrgan the Freckled is also mentioned in Cadog’s
Life,
when Cadog gives Gwrgan a sword given to him by Rhun ap Maelgwyn. Arthfael ruled close
to Mynydd Baidan, where Blackett and Wilson identify Mount Badon, and he was almost certainly alive at the time of the battle. Arthfael is a
contemporary of Arthmael (St
Arthmel), and their names are ostensibly the same, but there is no record that Arthmael ever ruled, even as a sub-king. The genealogy in which Arthfael appears is clearly corrupt and has probably
picked up more than one pedigree. Unfortunately, no more is known.
14. Saint Arthmael (482–552)
Proposed by Chris Barber and David Pykitt in
Journey to Avalon.
Their idea is not so much who Arthur was but whom he became. The chronology only works if the dates in the
Welsh Annals
are correct for Badon and Camlann. It is also surprising that someone allegedly so well known could change identity so successfully and not be remembered by so many other
notable holy men in Brittany, not least Gildas himself. Brittany had its own memories of Arthur, and centuries later his name evolved into Arzor. If the Bretons knew Arzor was really Arthmael, that
would surely have found its way into the later legends.
15. Arthfoddw ap Boddw (540–610)
Suddenly there is a time leap. Despite the admitted roughness of our chronology, we have had a cluster of Arth- names in the mid-to-late fifth century, though no true Arthurs;
but now there are none until the mid-to-late sixth century. Curiously, it is a gap that exactly encompasses the time of Arthur of Badon who, based on the limited evidence we have, must have lived
from about 470 to 520, or to 540 if the later Camlann date is correct. The first new Arth- name seems to occur within a year or two of Arthur’s death. Even more curiously, the first known is
Arthfoddw, a name that means Arth the lucky or Arth the fortunate. Could Boddw of Ceredigion have named his son after Arthur in the hope that he would be fortunate? If so, then there must be
another Arthur that we are missing or one whose real name we do not know. This is the gap filled precisely by Vortipor, Cadell and Riocatus.
We know nothing else about Arthfoddw. He is a name in the pedigrees of the rulers of Ceredigion. It may be pertinent that he chose to pass a similar name on to his son Arthlwys, of whom more
below. That is the only example we have of successive generations with an Arth- name. It suggests to me that we have
already passed the Arthur of Badon and that his name had
left an impression.
16. Artúir ap Pedr (550-620)
We have at last reached the first individual whose name is genuinely “Arthur”. The grandson of Vortipor, Artúir ruled Dyfed at the end of the sixth century.
We are thus clearly a whole century after Badon so this Arthur can have no direct connection with the original historical Arthur.
Yet stories may have attached to him that later became grafted on to the composite Arthur of legend. We have already encountered several, most notably the hunt for the boar Trwyth. Stripping the
story brings us back to a probable historical event, a series of battles against a brigand and his men who came from Ireland and first laid waste to parts of Dyfed before moving on to Gwent. The
Gwent episode may relate to an entirely different historical event. The rulers of Dyfed were of Irish descent and they must have spent much of their time defending their lands from further Irish
raiders. Also present in Arthur’s court, in the tale of
Culhwch and Olwen,
are several survivors from lost lands, such as Gwenwynwyn, recorded as Arthur’s champion, and Teithi
the Old. The lost lands are believed to have been off the coast of Dyfed or Ceredigion, and perhaps to the north in Morecambe Bay. These locations could all be plausibly associated with the court
of Artuir of Dyfed. Neither of them is of great significance in the later story of Arthur, and it is hard to imagine that Artuir of Dyfed played much part in fighting against the Saxons who, by his
reign, were becoming firmly established in “England” and were enclosing the British into Wales.
In
Bloodline of the Holy Grail
Laurence Gardner tells us some unusual facts not recorded elsewhere. He tells us that Artúir of Dyfed was installed by Dubricius in 506. Dubricius
was alive then but Artúir of Dyfed was not even a gleam in his father’s eye. No matter how we play around with the dates in the Dyfed pedigree – probably the most reliable of all
of them – it would be impossible to have Artuir of Dyfed alive earlier than 530. Also Dubricius is most unlikely to have installed a king in Dyfed since, as we have seen, his territory was
soundly in Ergyng. The bishop of Dyfed was Dewi (St. David), whose dates are even more fluid
than Dubricius’s. In fact, opinion is shifting towards there having been two
holy men called Dewi in Wales during the sixth century. The lesser known Dewi of Ergyng (who gave his name to Dewchurch, Dewsall and others), lived from perhaps 480 to 550 and was the companion of
Dubricius and Gildas. The second, more famous St David of Dyfed lived from around 520 to 590 could quite possibly have inaugurated Artúir of Dyfed as king, perhaps in the 580s. Whether the
earlier Dewi or even Dubricius enthroned a previous king of Dyfed, I have no idea, but 506AD would be a perfectly acceptable date for the accession of Vortipor, or Gartbuir as he may be
remembered.