Bladud or Blaiddyd is a legendary king of the Britons, although there is no historical evidence for his existence. He is first mentioned in

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth (; ; ) was a Catholic cleric from Monmouth, Wales, and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle '' The History of ...

's ''

Historia Regum Britanniae (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a fictitious account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the List of legendary kings o ...

'' ( 1136), which describes him as the son of King Rud Hud Hudibras, and the tenth ruler in line from the first king,

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC) was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was reta ...

, saying Bladud was contemporaneous with the

biblical prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the ...

Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...

(9th century BC). A Bleydiud son of Caratauc is mentioned in the Welsh Harley MS 3859 genealogies (in the British Library), suggesting to some that Geoffrey misinterpreted a scrap of Welsh genealogy (such as the

Harleian genealogies __NOTOC__ The Harleian genealogies are a collection of Old Welsh genealogies preserved in British Library, Harley MS 3859. Part of the Harleian Library, the manuscript, which also contains the '' Annales Cambriae'' (Recension A) and a version of ...

itself or a related text). The Welsh form of the name is given as ''Blaiddyd'' in manuscripts of the '' Brut Tysilio'' (Welsh translations of Geoffrey's ''Historia''). The meaning of the name is "Wolf-lord" ( Welsh ''blaidd'' "wolf" + ''iudd'' "lord"). In the text he is said to have founded the city of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. He was succeeded by his son Leir (the

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

). The tale of Bladud was later embellished by other authors, such as John Hardyng and John Higgins, writing in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Legend

According to the final form of the legend, which appeared in John Hardyng's ''Chronicles'' of 1457, Bladud's father sent his son to be educated in the

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. After his father's death he returned with four philosophers, and founded a

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Stamford, Lincolnshire Stamford is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber ...

, which flourished until Saint

Augustine of Canterbury Augustine of Canterbury (early 6th century in England, 6th century – most likely 26 May 604) was a Christian monk who became the first archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English". Augustine ...

suppressed it on account of heresies which were taught there. Supposedly he ruled for twenty years from 863 BC or perhaps 500 BC, in which time he built Kaerbadum or Caervaddon (

), creating the

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

there by the use of magic. He dedicated the city to the goddess

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

and in honour of her, lit undying fires, whose flames turned to balls of stone as they grew low, with new ones springing up in their stead: an embellishment of an account from the third-century writer

Solinus __NOTOC__ Gaius Julius Solinus, better known simply as Solinus, was a Latin grammarian, geographer, and compiler who probably flourished in the early 3rd century AD. Historical scholar Theodor Mommsen dates him to the middle of the 3rd century. ...

of the use of local coal on the altars of her temple.

Leprosy

Bladud supposedly founded the city of Bath because, while he was in Athens, he contracted

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

; when he returned home he was imprisoned as a result, but escaped and went far off to go into hiding. He found employment as a swineherd at Swainswick ("Swineswick"),Stern (2021) p.106 about two miles from the later site of

, and noticed that his pigs would go into an alder-moor in cold weather and return covered in black mud. He found that this mud was warm, and that the pigs wallowed to enjoy the heat. He also noticed that the pigs which did this did not suffer from skin diseases as others did, and on trying the mud-bath himself found that he was cured of his leprosy. He was then restored to his position as

heir-apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to his father, and founded Bath so that others might also benefit as he had done. The story of Bladud's cure-by-immersion was much exploited when Bath became a fashionable spa resort. The statue of King Bladud overlooking the King's Bath at Bath carries the date of 1699, but it is much older than this. It was assembled from parts of two statues (respectively depicting

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

and Bladud himself) previously mounted on the city's north and south gates; its pitted appearance from weathering enhanced the association with disease. In the eighteenth century Bladud's legendary cure was celebrated by John Wood, the architect responsible for the fashionable development of Bath, who incorporated many references to the king in his buildings.

Divination, wings and death

The tale claims that Bladud also encouraged the practice of

necromancy Necromancy () is the practice of Magic (paranormal), magic involving communication with the Death, dead by Evocation, summoning their spirits as Ghost, apparitions or Vision (spirituality), visions for the purpose of divination; imparting the ...

, or divination through the spirits of the dead. Through this practice, he is said to have constructed wings for himself and to have tried to fly to (or from) the temple of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

Trinovantum Trinovantum is the name in medieval British legend that was given to London, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae'', when it was founded by the exiled Troy, Trojan Brutus of Troy, Brutus, who called it ''Troia Nova'' ("N ...

(London) or Troja Nova (New Troy), but to have been killed when he hit a wall, or to have fallen and been dashed to pieces or to have broken his neck. He was supposedly buried at New Troy and succeeded by his son, Leir.

Conflation with Abaris the Hyperborean

Eighteenth century Bath architect John Wood wrote about Bladud, and put forth the fanciful suggestion that he should be identified with Abaris the Hyperborean, the healer known from

Classical Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archa ...

sources.

In fiction

Vera Chapman Vera Chapman (8 May 1898 – 14 May 1996), also known as Vera Ivy May Fogerty, and within the Tolkien Society as Belladonna Took, was a British author and founder of the Tolkien Society in the United Kingdom, and also wrote a number of pseudo- ...

's ''Blaedud the Birdman'' is a fantasy novel about the character. Moyra Caldecott's ''The Winged Man'' is a fictional account of the life of Bladud. Bladud, styled Blaiddyd, is a legendary hero in '' Fire Emblem: Three Houses''. The narrator of Stephen Lawhead's second Song of Albion book ('' The Silver Hand'', 1992 ), Tegid Tathal, Chief Bard of

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

, is asked by the god

Gofannon Gofannon () is a Middle Welsh reflex of Gobannus, one of the List of Celtic deities, deities worshipped by the Celts, ancient Celts. He features in Welsh mythology, Middle Welsh literature as a great Smith (metalwork), metal worker and as the son ...

to tell the story of ''Bladudd the Blemished'' which he does in the way of myth, presenting it as a classic teaching story about sovereignty and mental/ physical purity. The legend is reproduced with some artistic interpretation as a short story in

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

novel “

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was the Debut novel, first novel serialised from March 1836 to November 1837 by English author Charles Dickens. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Bo ...

”, as the main character is visiting Bath.

House of Brutus

Notes

a. Pronunciation: As a mythological figure, there is no definitive pronunciation, but in

modern English Modern English, sometimes called New English (NE) or present-day English (PDE) as opposed to Middle and Old English, is the form of the English language that has been spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England England is a Count ...

it is . In the Brythonic language of the time the ''dd'' of "Blaiddyd" would have been pronounced , which has allowed some authors to call him "Bathulf, the founder of Bath".

References

Citations

Sources

* John Clark, Bladud of Bath: The archaeology of a legend, ''Folklore'' vol. 105 (1994), 39–50. * Howard C Levis FSA, ''Bladud of Bath: the British King who tried to fly'', West Country Editions: Bath (1973). * MacKillop, James (1998). ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford. . * Jean Manco
The mystery of Bladud
part of Bath Past. {{Authority control Legendary British kings Flight folklore Artificial wings Mythological city founders