The Mammoth Book of King Arthur (89 page)

Calogrenant.
The unlucky stooge of the Arthurian romance. It is his failure to defeat Esclados at the magical spring in Broceliande that sets Yvain on his first quest in
Chrétien’s tale. He gets the rough end of a joust in
Meraugis de Portlesguez
, and he gets in the way in
Queste del Saint Graal
when Lionel attacks Bors and is killed. He
redeems himself slightly in
Claris and Laris
where, in the search for Laris, he succeeds in ridiculing Mordred. Loomis has suggested that his name is a conflation of
Cai-lo-grenant
,
“Cei the grumbler”, which is what Cei/Kay does well. Calogrenant doesn’t really grumble, though; he’s just something of a failure, which is increasingly how Kay is portrayed
in the later romances. Calogrenant takes it a stage further. In some versions he is confused with Colgrevance, a knight who’s little more than a name most of the time and whose moment of fame
comes when, waiting the other side of the bedroom door where Lancelot and Guenevere are in bed together, he is killed when Lancelot rushes out. To add insult to injury, Lancelot then takes his
armour and makes his escape. This knight is called Tanaguin in the Vulgate version.

Carados.
There are two by this name; to avoid confusion,
see
Karados
for the second. The first is a corruption of Caradog Vreichfras, Arthur’s chief
counsellor, who also turns up in later tales as Craddock or Cardock. He has his own adventures in the
Livre de Carados.
He is initially one of the rebellious kings but subsequently fights
valiantly for Arthur and is killed in Gaul.

Cei,
see
Kay.

Cerdic.
Leader of the Gewisse and founder of the West Saxon dynasty. It has been suggested that he was one of Arthur’s opponents at Badon. Others suggest he may be
the same as Caradog Vreichfras. He is discussed extensively in Chapters 4, 7 and 8.

Colgrevance,
see
Calogrenant.

Conmor
or
Cunomorus.
Wrongly called Mark Cunomorus and identified as Mark, King of Cornwall in the Tristan story. In fact he was a Count of Léon who
usurped power over Domnonée in the 550s.
See
Chapter 13.

Constantine.
The name Constantine, made popular by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, crops up several times in the Arthurian story. The Celtic version is
Custennin, but in the Arthurian stories the name Constantine prevails. To clarify, here is a quick note on each of them.

(1) Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306–337, son of Constantius. Legend makes his mother Helena the daughter of Coel, Duke of Colchester.

(2) Constantine II, Roman Emperor of Britain and Gaul, 337–340, son of the above.

(3) Custennin, son of Magnus Maximus, claimed as ancestor of rulers of Dyfed (spurious). Legend makes him Overlord of Britain from 388 onwards, but there is no evidence for this and his fate is
not known.

(4) Constantine III, Roman Emperor of Britain and Gaul, 407–411, not to be confused with the above, as he was apparently a soldier raised from the ranks.

(5) Constantine, brother of the Breton king Aldroenus. Geoffrey makes this Constantine become the first post-Roman British king. He may be a confused merging of (4) and (6).

(6) Custennin Fendigiad (“the Blessed”), believed to be a Prince of Dumnonia
c
470s.

(7) Custennin or Constantine of Dumnonia,
fl
505–535, identified as son of Cador and treated as the successor to Arthur. He is the one castigated by Gildas.

Cunomorus,
see
Conmor.

Custennin,
see
Constantine.

Cydfan
or
Kyduan.
Identified as a son of Arthur in the
Hanesyn Hen
batch of pedigrees. His mother is Eleirch, daughter of Iaen of Caer Dathyl –
Culhwch and Olwen
refers to the men of Caer Dathyl as being “kindred to Arthur on his father’s side.” Evidently Arthur was quite close to his relatives. We know nothing
more about Cydfan or his relatives. Caer Dathyl is at the start of the Lleyn Peninsula, a location that suggests a connection with Artúir of Dyfed.

Cynwyl
or
Cynfelyn,
see
Griflet.

Dagonet.
Arthur’s court jester and the butt of everyone’s jokes. Although knighted because Arthur believes him to be brave, Dagonet is really a coward, but
goes so far as to dent his own shield to look as if he has been fighting. However, when pushed he will fight. He turns on Tristram in anger on one occasion (though is beaten by Tristram and goes
mad), pursues Mark but dressed in Mordred’s armour, and tracks down and kills Helior when he abducts Dagonet’s wife.

Dinadan.
Although he is the son of the evil Breuse Saunce Pyté, Dinadan is a likeable if lazy knight who sees no point in questing for the sake of it but first
weighs up all the pros and cons. Dinadan rather likes practical jokes but can take as good as he gives. His appearances are always light hearted and he is particularly close to Tristram. However,
he upsets Mordred and Agravaine and they kill him during the Grail Quest.

Drudwas
or
Drydwas.
Listed in the Twenty-Four Knights of Arthur’s Court but not amongst his Counsellors. He was known as one of the “Three
Golden-Tongued Knights” of Arthur’s court and no one could deny him his wishes. There is a story told about him called “The Birds of Llwch Gwin”. Drudwas’s sister was
Arthur’s mistress, and Drudwas schemed to have Arthur
killed by some vicious birds. However Drudwas fell into his own trap and died. Drudwas is called the son of Tryffin,
but this does not appear to be the Tryffen of Dyfed, grandfather of Vortipor. If the genealogies are correct, Drudwas may have been the nephew of Gwyddno Garanhir, who is discussed in Chapter
8.

Drust
or
Drystan,
see
Tristan.

Dubricius
or
Dyfrig.
Bishop of Ergyng who lived
c
460-
c
530
AD
. According to Geoffrey he crowned Arthur.
See
discussion
in Chapter 9.

Ector, Hector
or
Antor.
The father of Kay, and Arthur’s foster father. He is called Antor in the Vulgate
Merlin
and Ector in Malory, but in the
earliest references to him in the Prose
Merlin
he is called Auctor, a name which some have suggested is merely a corruption of Arthur itself. Arthur has no idea that he has been fostered and
is upset when he learns that Ector is not his real father. Ector fights on the side of Arthur against the rebel kings and against the Saxons, but we hear no more of him. In Welsh tradition
Kay’s father is Cynyr (
see
Kay).

Ector/Hector de Maris.
One of the great knights of the Arthurian saga yet a strangely undervalued one. He is the illegitimate son of Ban of Benwick and the Damsel of les
Mares, so is half-brother to Lancelot. He’s also considerably more sensible than Lancelot, and although he can do little to curb Lancelot’s impulsive actions, is always supportive of
him. The name
Hektor
in the original Greek means “to resist”, and that seems to be Ector’s role here, to serve as a balance to Lancelot. In the Vulgate version Ector
searches for Lancelot after the death of Arthur and spends his final days with him in the monastery. In Malory, however, by the time he finds Lancelot, the knight has just died. Ector ends his days
on Crusade.

Elaine.
There are several Elaines in the Arthurian story, including the mother of Lancelot, but two individuals are significant and I believe they were really both
aspects of the
same person though developed separate identities. The more important is Elaine of Corbenic, the Grail Maiden and the daughter of King Pelles. Pelles contrives,
through a secret potion, to make Lancelot believe Elaine is Guenevere. The two sleep together and Elaine conceives Galahad. Their union reunites the lines of descent of David and Joseph. Although
Lancelot is furious that he has been deceived he forgives Elaine and in fact is gullible enough to be deceived again, when Elaine visits Camelot. Elaine of Corbenic does not reappear; in fact she
is supposed to have died while Lancelot was away on the Grail Quest. Guenevere had been intensely jealous of Elaine because of her beauty, and this same jealousy re-emerges in
Mort Artu
when
Lancelot is healed of wounds sustained at a tournament by the Lady of Astolat, or Shalott. She is not named in the Vulgate, but Malory calls her Elaine, and these two Elaines could easily be one.
Lancelot does not return Elaine’s love and eventually she pines away and her body floats in a barge down the river to Camelot.

There were likewise two Elens or Helens in British tradition who became confused and merged to form the basis for Elaine of Carbonek. The primary one is Elen, daughter of Eudaf Hen, who married
the Emperor Magnus Maximus. Through her Magnus gains acceptance as emperor in Britain; he even has a dream of her like some of the later Grail visions. Elen, as both a name and a character, became
symbolic of the bride in whom is invested an inheritance, whether the “kingdom” of Britain or the Grail kingdom. This was further embellished by the memory of Helen, mother of
Constantine the Great. Regardless of the facts, Helen had long entered legend as a British princess, daughter of Coel of Colchester, who became the mother of an Emperor. Constantine the Great, who
brought Christianity to the Roman Empire, could be seen in the role of Galahad. Helen undertook a pilgrimage to Palestine and founded several churches as well as confirming the sites of most of the
key holy places. She was also supposed to have discovered the True Cross, fragments of which were brought back to Britain. Helen thus became another manifestation of the Grail Maiden. There are
many churches and sites dedicated to Elen/Helen in North Wales, primarily the Caernarfon area where Elen ferch Eudaf lived.

There is a third Elen in Geoffrey’s
History
, the niece of Hoel of Armorica who is abducted by the giant of Mont-St-Michel.

Elidir, Eliffer
or
Eleuther.
The names of three Men of the North. The most interesting is Eliffer of the Great Host, who was probably the son of Arthwys of the
Pennines but who appears in some pedigrees as his brother. As Eleuther his name could easily be confused with Uther, especially when one triad gives him a child, Arddun, which becomes corrupted to
Arthur. Although little written record survives of Eliffer’s activities, it may well be that Geoffrey had a copy of a northern history and converted Eliffer’s battles into
Uther’s. The other two are Elidyr the Stout, uncle of Urien of Rheged, and Elidir the Wealthy. The latter believed he was entitled to the kingdom of Gwynedd and invaded Anglesey, an action
that resulted in Rhun’s great march north.
See also
Artegall.

Eliwlod
or
Liwlod.
Listed in the Twenty-Four Knights of Arthur’s Court but not amongst his Counsellors. He was known as one of the “Three
Golden-Tongued Knights” of Arthur’s court, like Drudwas, but we learn little about him. He is supposed to be the nephew of Arthur.

Emyr Llydaw.
One of the mystery men of fifth century British history. I have suggested that this was a title of the commander of the Gewisse, and also that he may be
synonymous with Amlawdd Wledig.
See
Chapter 8 for discussion.

Erec.
The hero of Chrétien’s story
Erec et Enide
(
see
Chapter 18 for full discussion of name and character). Despite his prowess in that story
Erec scarcely features in the later romances, which may be because Chrétien had created Erec out of Tristan and therefore his character was superfluous. It may be that Gareth also evolved
from Erec’s original name, Guerec, and superseded him. Erec does reappear on the Grail Quest in the Post-Vulgate version where he is killed by Gawain.

Ettard,
see
Pelleas.

Evalach
or
Evelake,
also
Mordrain.
A pagan king of Sarras who is baptised by Joseph of Arimathea and adopts the name Mordrain.
Mordrain’s shield is painted with a cross from the blood of Josephus and this same shield is the one later used by Galahad after Bagdemagus takes it from the White Abbey. Mordrain survives
through many generations until he is able to die in Galahad’s arms. Whilst Mordrain is not himself a Fisher King or Grail King, his actions (with both the shield and the broken sword of
Nascien, his brother-in-law) play a significant part in the Grail Quest. The name Evalach is derived from Afallach or Aballach, which appears in the pedigrees of the British kings (
see
Table 3.2
). There he is the grandson of Bran the Blessed, whose counterpart Bron was the ancestor of the Fisher Kings. So although the legend and the tradition are at odds, the connection provides a holy
authority to the British kings that would develop into the concept of the Divine Right of Kings. (
See entry on
Fisher King
below
.)

Fisher King
or the
Rich Fisher.
The role of the Fisher King was originally that of the Guardian of the Holy Grail, but both the role and the individuals who hold
the title change as the Grail story develops. As described by Robert de Boron in
Joseph d
’
Arimathie
, the first Fisher King was Bron, brother-in-law of Joseph. The name Fisher
King arose because Bron had supplied the fish for the Last Supper and, via the Grail, the quantity of fish multiplied and could feed all present. Thereafter one of the roles of the Fisher King was
to provide food (which may be seen as spiritual succour) to those who visit the Grail castle. Food is always plentiful because of the Grail. Bron’s son Alain le Gros inherited the title and
brought the Grail to the “isles in the West”. In this version Alain’s son Perceval is the final Fisher King, inheriting the kingship from his uncle, the hermit. Robert’s
time scale is clearly truncated, only allowing three generations from the time of Joseph to Arthur.