Gartnait son of Girom was a
king of the Picts
The list of kings of the Picts is based on the Pictish Chronicle king lists. These are late documents and do not record the dates when the kings reigned. The various surviving lists disagree in places as to the names of kings, and the lengths ...
from 531 to 537.
The ''
Pictish Chronicle
The Pictish Chronicle is a name used to refer to a pseudo-historical account of the kings of the Picts beginning many thousand years before history was recorded in Pictavia and ending after Pictavia had been enveloped by Scotland.
Version A
The ...
'' king lists have him ruling for six or seven years between
Drest IV and
Cailtram.
Cailtram is said to have been Gartnait's brother and three sons of Girom are successively listed as king, although
Drest son of Girom is not explicitly stated to have been a brother of Gartnait and Cailtram.
Historian Damian Bullen has suggested that Gartnait is the historical figure behind the myth of
King Arthur
According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...
and that he had his residence in
Rhynie in
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
.
[Bullen, Damian (2021]
"King Arthur, King of Picts (529-536)"
/ref> He identifies his mother Girom as Gigurnus, Gygurn or Igraine
In the Matter of Britain, Igraine () is the mother of King Arthur. Igraine is also known in Latin as Igerna, in Welsh as Eigr (Middle Welsh Eigyr), in French as Ygraine (Old French Ygerne or Igerne), in ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' as Ygrayne—ofte ...
while his father Uudrost as Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon ( ; the Brittonic languages, Brittonic name; , or ), also known as King Uther (or Uter), was a List of legendary kings of Britain, legendary King of the Britons and father of King Arthur.
A few minor references to Uther appe ...
, and king Cailtram who ruled after him as Sir Kay
In Arthurian legend, Kay (, Middle Welsh ''Kei'' or ''Cei''; ; French: ''Keu''; Old French: ''Kès'' or ''Kex'') is King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of the Round Table. In later literature h ...
of legends.
References
Sources
* Anderson, Alan Orr; ''Early Sources of Scottish History A.D. 500–1286'', volume 1. Reprinted with corrections, Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990.
External links
Pictish Chronicle
537 deaths
Pictish monarchs
6th-century Scottish monarchs
Year of birth unknown
Historical figures as candidates of King Arthur
{{Scotland-royal-stub