Pendragon or ( wlm, pen dreic, ''pen dragon''; composed of Welsh , 'head, chief, top' and / '' dragon'', 'dragon; warrior'; borrowed from the Latin word , plural , 'dragon , br, Penn Aerouant) literally means 'chief dragon' or 'head dragon', but in a figurative sense: 'chief leader', 'chief of warriors', 'commander-in-chief', , or 'chief governor'). It is the epithet of

Uther Uther Pendragon ( Brittonic) (; cy, Ythyr Ben Dragwn, Uthyr Pendragon, Uthyr Bendragon), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons in sub-Roman Britain (c. 6th century). Uther was also the father of King Arthur. A few m ...

, father of King Arthur in medieval and modern

Arthurian literature The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Wester ...

and occasionally applied to historical Welsh heroes in medieval Welsh poetry, such as

Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd ( 1147 – 1195) was prince of part of Gwynedd, one of the kingdoms of medieval Wales. He ruled from 1175 to 1195. On the death of Owain Gwynedd in 1170, fighting broke out among his nineteen sons over the division of hi ...

.Bromwich, Rachel, ''Trioedd Ynys Prydein'', University of Wales Press, 4th ed., 2014, p. 513 In the , one of the earliest texts of the

Arthurian legend The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Wester ...

, only Uther is given the surname ''Pendragon'', which is explained by the author

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography ...

as literally meaning ''dragon's head''. In the prose version of Robert de Boron's ''Merlin'', the name of Uther's elder brother

Ambrosius Ambrosius or Ambrosios (a Latin adjective derived from the Ancient Greek word ἀμβρόσιος, ''ambrosios'' "divine, immortal") may refer to: Given name: *Ambrosius Alexandrinus, a Latinization of the name of Ambrose of Alexandria (before 21 ...

is given as ''Pendragon'', while Uter (Uther) changes his name after his brother's death to ''Uterpendragon''. The use of "Pendragon" to refer to Arthur, rather than to Uther or his brother, is of much more recent vintage. In literature, one of its earliest uses to refer to Arthur is in

Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

's poem '' Lancelot and Elaine'', where, however, it appears as Arthur's title rather than his surname, following contemporary speculation that "pendragon" had been a term for an ancient Welsh war-chief. In

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

's 1945 novel ''

That Hideous Strength ''That Hideous Strength: A Modern Fairy-Tale for Grown-Ups'' is a 1945 novel by C. S. Lewis, the final book in Lewis's theological science fiction Space Trilogy. The events of this novel follow those of ''Out of the Silent Planet'' and '' Perel ...

'', the Pendragon leads a national moral struggle through the centuries; bearers of the title include Cassibelaun, Uther, Arthur, and

Elwin Ransom Elwin Ransom is the main character in the first two books of C.S. Lewis' ''The Space Trilogy'', namely ''Out of the Silent Planet'' and ''Perelandra''. In the final book, ''That Hideous Strength'', he is a lesser character (the main characters b ...

. Mark Twain in ''

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'' is an 1889 novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. The book was originally titled ''A Yankee in King Arthur's Court''. Some early editions are titled ''A Yankee at the Court of King Arth ...

'' makes various satirical and scathing remarks about "The Pendragon Dynasty" which are in fact aimed at ridiculing much later British dynasties. The story of ''

The Pendragon Legend ''The Pendragon Legend'' (Hungarian: A Pendragon-legenda) is a 1934 novel by the Hungarian writer Antal Szerb. It was published by Pushkin Press. The book is a philosophical thriller/comedy/murder-mystery/ghost story set first in London and then ...

'' by Antal Szerb revolves around a Welsh noble family called Pendragon.

References

{{Wiktionary Arthurian characters Legendary British kings