Arthurian Characters

Most scholars agree that Arthur, Guinevere, and Merlin were titles shared by various personas throughout the late fifth and sixth centuries. These are the late sixth-century characters. Because of inconsistent dating, multiple persons sharing the same titles and/or names, and place names as well as texts recorded in at least six languages, I again quote Nenius: “I’ve made a heap of all I could find.”

* historically documented individuals

*Arthur—Prince of Dalraida, Dux Bellorum (Duke of War) or Pendragon/High King of Britain, although he held no land of his own. He is a king of landed kings, their battle leader. A Pendragon at this time can have no kingdom of his own to avoid conflict of interest. Hence, Gwenhyfar is rightful queen of her lands, Prince Arthur’s through marriage. Arthur is the historic son of Aedan of Dalraida/Scotland, descended from royal Irish of the Davidic blood- line preserved by the marriage of Zedekiah’s daughter Tamar to the Milesian king of Ireland Eoghan in 587 BC. Ironically the Milesians are descended from the bloodline of Zarah, the “Red Hand” twin of Pharez (David and Jesus’ ancestor) in the book of Genesis. Thus the breach of Judah prophesied in Isaiah was mended by this marriage of very distant cousins.

*Aedan of Dalraida—Arthur’s father, Aedan, was Pendragon of Britain for a short time and prince of Manau Gododdin by his mother’s Pictish blood (like Arthur was prince of Dalraida because of his marriage to Gwenhyfar). When Aedan’s father, the king ofDalraida, died, Aedan became king of the more powerful kingdom, and he abandoned Manau Gododdin. For that abandonment, he is oft referred to as Uther Pendragon, uther meaning “the terrible.” He sent his son Arthur to take his place as Pendragon and Manau’s protector.

Angus—the Lance of Lothian. Although this Dalraida Arthur had no Lancelot as his predecessor did, Angus is the appointed king of Stirlingshire and protector of his Pictish Queen Gwenhyfar and her land of Strighlagh. Like his ancestral namesake Lancelot, his land of Berwick in Lothian now belongs to Cennalot, who is defeated by Arthur. (See Cennalot and Brude.) Angus is Arthur’s head of artillery. It is thought he was raised at the Grail Castle and was about ten or so years younger than his lady Gwenhyfar. Scholar/researcher Norma Lorre Goodrich suggests he may have been a fraternal twin to Modred or Metcault. In that case it would explain Lance not knowing who he really was until he came of age, as women who bore twins were usually executed. The second child was thought to be spawn of the Devil. Naturally Morgause would have hidden the twins’ birth by casting one out, only to have him rescued by her sister, the Lady of the Lake, or Vivianne Del Acqs. This scenario happened as well in many of the saints’ lives, such as St. Kentigern. Their mothers were condemned to death for consorting with the Devil and begetting a second child. Yet miraculously these women lived and the cast-off child became a saint.

*Brude/Bridei—see Cennalot/Cennalath/Lot of Lothian.

*Cennalot/Cennalath/Lot of Lothian—Arthur’s uncle by marriage to Morgause. This king of eastern Pictland and the Orkneys was all that stood between his Pictish cousin Brude reigning over all of Pictland. Was it coincidence that Arthur, whose younger brother, Gairtnat, married Brude’s daughter and became king of the Picts at Brude’s death, decided to take out this Cennalot while Brude looked the other way? Add that to the fact that Cennalot was rubbing elbows with the Saxons and looking greedily at Manau Gododdin, and it was just a matter of time before either Brude or Arthur got rid of him.

*Dupric, Bishop of Llandalf—wants to start a monastery on land where Brother Martin lives (a historical bishop who may also be Merlin Emrys per Norma Goodrich).

Gawain—son of Cennalot/Cennalath and Morgause, brother to Modred/Metcault, and cousin to Arthur; Arthur’s right-hand man on the battlefield and much older than Angus/Lancelot.

*Gwendoleu—kingdom between Strathclyde and Rheged invaded by Riderch of Alclyd/Strathclyde.

Gwenhyfar/Guinevere—High Queen of Britain. This particular Gwen’s Pictish name is Anora. She is of apostolic line and a high priestess in the Celtic Church. She is buried in Fife. Her marriage brought under Arthur the lands of Stirlingshire, or Strighlagh. Her offspring are its heirs, as the Pictish rule is inherited from the mother’s side. There were two abductions of the Gwenhyfars. In one she was rescued. In the other she slept, meaning she died (allegedly from snakebite), precipitating the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. Both in Gwenhyfar’s abduction and in that of Sleeping Beauty, thorns surrounded the castle, thorns being as common a defense in those days as moats were. Also note the similarities of names, even if the definitions are different—Anora (grace), Aurora (dawn).

*Merlin Emrys of Powys—a Christian druidic-educated bishop of the Celtic Church, protoscientist, advisor to the king, prophet after the Old Testament prophets, and possibly a Grail King or Joseph. Emrys is of the Irish Davidic/Romano-British bloodline as son of Ambrosius Aurelius and uncle to Aedan, Arthur’s father. Merlin Emrys retired as advisor during Arthur’s later reign, per- haps to pursue his beloved science or perhaps as the Grail King. In either case he would not have condoned Arthur’s leaning toward the Roman Church’s agenda. Later the Roman Church and Irish Celtic Church priests would convert the Saxons to Christianity, but the British Celtic Church suffered too much at pagan hands to offer the good news to their pagan invaders. (See Dupric, Myrddyn, and Ninian.)

*Myrddyn (also known as Merlin Sylvester or Merlin Wilt, meaning “wild”)—a pagan druidic bard of Gwendoleu, often confused with Arthur’s Merlin. (See Merlin Emrys of Powys.)

*Riderch Haol of Alcut or Alclyd in Strathclyde—historic Coeling king. His relationship with Arthur, Urien, and the other kings of the North was tenuous. Arthur punished him for invading Gwendoleu to avenge his ambitious brother’s death. Yet he rode later on with Arthur, his father, Aedan of Dalraida, Urien, Gwendoleu, the deposed Morcant Bulc of Bryneich (now Saxon Bernicia), and others against the Picts and Saxons in the Battle of Camlan.

*Vivianne Del Acqs—sister to Ygerna and Morgause of Lothian, she is Arthur’s aunt and Lady of the Lake. Vivianne is a high priest- ess and tutor at the Grail Castle. It’s thought that she raised both Gwenhyfar and Angus/Lance of Lothian, all direct descendants of the Arimathean priestly lines.

*Ygerna—Arthur’s mother and a direct descendant of Joseph of Arimathea, was matched as a widow of a British duke and High Queen of the Celtic Church to Aedan of Dalraida by Merlin Emrys to produce an heir with both royal and priestly bloodlines. It is thought her castle was at Caerlaverock.