| US News and World Report.Copyright and trademark information.Arthurian reprints, as well as original novels and anthologies
The Pendragons, husband and wife team of illusionists
Stephen R.Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle of fantasy books
Pendragon PLC, a UK car dealership chain
Knights of Pendragon, a Marvel UK comic during the early 1990s
The Pendragon Legend, a 1933 novel by Hungarian author Antal Szerb
Pendragon Records, a record label
The Pendragon Adventure, a fictional series by D.If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.See Copyrights for details.For other uses, see Uther (disambiguation).Roman Britain and the father of King Arthur.Uther, through circumstances (and Merlin's help) tricks the wife of his enemy Gorlois, Lady Igraine and sleeps with her.Thus Arthur, "the once and future king," is an illegitimate child.This act of conception ironically occurs the very night Uther's troops dispatch Gorlois.This theme of illegitimate conception is repeated in Arthur's siring of Mordred on his own sister Morgause in the later prose romances.It is Mordred who will eventually mortally wound King Arthur in the Battle of Camlann.Epithet
Uther's epithet Pendragon means literally "head dragon" or "dragon's head", probably in a figurative sense of "chief warrior."Uther assume the epithet "Pendragon" in his honour when he dies.He is mentioned in the 10th century Arthurian poem Pa gur yv y porthaur ("What man is the gatekeeper?"Uther Pen" from the Book of Taliesin.History of the Kings of Britain
Uther is best known from Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain (1136) where he is the youngest son of King of Britannia Constantine II.His eldest brother Constans succeeds to the throne on their father's death, but is murdered at the instigation of his adviser Vortigern, who seizes the throne.Uther and his other brother Aurelius Ambrosius, still children, flee to Brittany.Aurelius burns Vortigern in his castle and becomes king.Later, while Aurelius is ill, Uther leads his army against Vortigern's son Paschent and his Saxon allies.Uther wins the battle and takes the epithet "Pendragon", and returns to find that Aurelius has been poisoned by an assassin.He secures Britain's frontiers and quells Saxon uprisings with the aid of his retainers, one of which is Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall.At a banquet celebrating their victories, Uther becomes obsessively enamoured of Gorlois' wife, Igerna (Igraine), and a war ensues between Uther and his vassal.Gorlois sends Igerna to the impregnable castle of Tintagel for protection, while he himself is besieged by Uther in another town.Uther consults with Merlin, who uses his magic to transform the king into the likeness of Gorlois and thus gain access to Igerna at Tintagel.He spends the night with her, and they conceive a son, Arthur; but the next morning it is discovered that Gorlois had been killed.Uther later falls ill, but when the wars against the Saxons go badly he insists on leading his army himself, propped up on his horse.Geoffrey based some members of Uther's family on historical figures.Constans is based on his son.Aurelius Ambrosius is based on the legendary Welsh figure Ambrosius Aurelianus, though his connection to Constantine and Constans is an invention.It is less likely, however, that Uther ever existed outside of Britain's mythical history.Other medieval literature
In Robert de Boron's Merlin, Uther Pendragon personally kills Hengest after an assassination attempt by the Saxon leader, and Merlin creates the Round Table for him.In Prose Lancelot, Uther Pendragon claims to have been born in Bourges.There is an alternate account of Uther Pendragon's background in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival.Fay Morgan in Terre de la Joye; the "Land of Joy").Modern literature
Uther Pendragon remains a widely used character in modern Arthurian literature.Mary Stewart's first two books in her Arthurian saga, The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, feature Uther Pendragon.Notably, he is Merlin's uncle, since in this version the latter is his brother Ambrosius' illegitimate son.In Bernard Cornwell's The Warlord Chronicles, Uther is the King of Dumnonia as well as the High King of Britain.In Jack Whyte's The Camulod Chronicles, Uther is King of the Pendragon, the Celtic people of South Cambria, cousin to Caius Merlyn Britannicus and Ambrose Ambrosianus Britannicus and father to Arthur Pendragon through Ygraine of Cornwall.Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae 6.This page was last modified 01:42, 10 January 2008.Welcome to Pendragon Costumes!For women: from the basic suede bodice to the Sea Queen outfit complete with leather frockcoat, we are sure you will find something to outfit the wench, princess or noble within yourself.Complement your choice with brocade breeches or leather Venetians and don't forget your Pendragon shirt!If you see an image you like in our slide show to the right, click on it and it will take you to its page.Nick's comments, news, and general chit chat........................................DVD special edition are all now back in stock!...................................Looking forward to their 25th anniversary in 2008, Pendragon has embraced that tradition and created a timeless sound of its own, performing roots music with an unmistakable contemporary edge.Pendragon's music celebrates the lives and lore of generations of New Englanders who brought traditions from Ireland, Scotland, French Canada and other distant shores to the banks of the Blackstone River.Pendragon return to their roots with an emphasis on Scottish and traditional and original music.The band released their 7th album, "Artistic License," on Blackstone River Theatre's RiverFolk Productions label in 2005.While drawing on the ethnic music of the Blackstone River Valley, Pendragon fashions the music of tradition into the music of tomorrow.Pendragon performs their original songs and dance tunes on a combination of fiddle, flute, bouzouki, concertina, banjo, guitar, whistle, and percussion.In performance, the group elaborates on the cultural and historical context of the music while projecting a humorous stage presence that comes from over two decades of performance together.Pendragon is comprised of Bob Drouin on fiddle, bouzouki and tenor banjo; Russell Gusetti on guitar and concertinas; Josh Kane on flute and whistles; Mary Lee Partington on vocals; and step dancer and percussionist Kevin Doyle, a U.New England area for over 30 years.Past tributes include three straight Boston Music Award nominations for Outstanding Celtic Act and a Governor's Tourism Award.Pendragon was voted Rhode Island's Best Celtic Act in the 2007, 2006 and 2005 MOTIF Magazine Best Music Polls.Since 1995, members of Pendragon have been the driving force behind the Blackstone River Theatre, bringing traditional and ethnic music to the Blackstone Valley. |
