Geraint () is a character from Welsh folklore and

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 Weste ...

, a valiant warrior possibly related to the historical Geraint, an early 8th-century king of Dumnonia. It is also the name of a 6th-century Dumnonian saint king from Briton hagiographies, who may have lived during or shortly prior to the reign of the historical Arthur. The name Geraint is a Welsh form of the Latin

Gerontius Gerontius (; Latinized Greek for 'old man') can refer to: Music and literature * '' The Dream of Gerontius'', a 1900 choral work by Edward Elgar, a setting of a poem of the same name by John Henry Newman * '' The Dream of Gerontius'', the poem ...

, meaning "old man".

Early sources

A "Geraint of the South" appears at the

Battle of Catraeth The Battle of Catraeth was fought around AD 600 between a force raised by the Gododdin, a Brythonic people of the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" of Britain, and the Angles of Bernicia and Deira. It was evidently an assault by the Gododdin part ...

(circa 600) in the poem ''

Y Gododdin ''Y Gododdin'' () is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia ...

'', attributed to

Aneirin Aneirin , Aneurin or Neirin was an early Medieval Brythonic war poet. He is believed to have been a bard or court poet in one of the Cumbric kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd, probably that of Gododdin at Edinburgh, in modern Scotland. From the 17th ...

. This is conceivably a reference to Geraint mab Erbin, son of the 5th-century king

Erbin of Dumnonia Erbin of Dumnonia (Latin: Urbanus; c. 427 – c. 480) was a 5th-century King of Dumnonia (now Cornwall and Devon) and saint of Wales. Monarch Traditionally, Erbin was a King of Dumnonia, the son of Constantine Corneu and the father of ...

. Geraint is also mentioned as one of the "Three Seafarers of the Isle of Britain" in the

Welsh Triads The Welsh Triads ( cy, Trioedd Ynys Prydein, "Triads of the Island of Britain") are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, mythology and traditional history in groups of three. The triad is a ...

. Geraint's deeds at the Battle of Llongborth are celebrated in the poem " Geraint son of Erbin", which was written probably in the 10th or 11th century and traditionally attributed to Llywarch Hen. However, Derek Bryce, following other scholars, suggests that the later, historical Geraint of Dumnonia (d. 710) may be identified as the real warrior eulogised in connection with the Battle of Llongborth in the poem, despite its title. Bryce identifies Llongborth with the 710 battle between that Geraint and Saxon leader Ine of Wessex.

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government ...

had rulers named Geraint and Erbin/Elfin in the same era, and was also known as Damnonia, after the Dumnonii tribe of the area in Romano-British times, and thus easily confused with Dumnonia/

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. The ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of A ...

'' says: "Port and his two sons, Bieda and Maegla, came to Britain at the place called

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

, and slew a young Welshman, a very noble man." Scholars believe that the Llongborth mentioned in the poem "Geraint son of Erbin" is the Portsmouth of the ''Chronicle'' entry and that Geraint is the "young Welshman" who was killed there."Elegy for Geraint", Britannia.com
/ref>

Arthurian legend

Geraint is most famous as the protagonist in the Welsh tale '' Geraint and Enid'', where he becomes the lover of Enid. ''Geraint and Enid'' is one of the three Welsh Romances associated with the '' Mabinogion''. Its story closely parallels the French writer

Chrétien de Troyes Chrétien de Troyes (Modern ; fro, Crestien de Troies ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on Arthurian subjects, and for first writing of Lancelot, Percival and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's works, including ...

's '' Erec and Enide''. Some scholars feel both works derived from a common lost source, but most believe the Welsh version derives directly or indirectly from Chrétien. In this case, the renowned figure of Geraint would have been added to the story to suit Welsh audiences unfamiliar with Chrétien's protagonist, Erec. In ''Geraint and Enid'', Geraint's father was said to be a shepherd named Erbin. According to Chrétien's ''

Culhwch and Olwen ''Culhwch and Olwen'' ( cy, Culhwch ac Olwen) is a Welsh tale that survives in only two manuscripts about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, c. 1400, and a fragmented version in the W ...

'', Geraint had brothers Ermind and Dywel. ''Geraint and Enid'' was reworked by

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 hi ...

into the poems ''The Marriage of Geraint'' and ''Geraint and Enid'', part of his '' Idylls of the King''. The Arthurian character in later works is often referred to as Sir Geraint.

Saint Geraint

According to the ''vita'' of Saint Teilo, in 549, in order to avoid the

Plague of Justinian The plague of Justinian or Justinianic plague (541–549 AD) was the first recorded major outbreak of the first plague pandemic, the first Old World pandemic of plague, the contagious disease caused by the bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. The d ...

("peste gialla del 547")Salsano, Mario. "San Geraint II King of Cornwall", Santi e Beati, June 11, 2008
/ref> then sweeping through Britain, Teilo, with a small group of monks, left Llandaff to join Samson of Dol in Brittany. Passing through Dumnonia, they were received hospitably by King Geraint at Din Gerrein. In gratitude, Teilo promised the King his spiritual assistance at the hour of death. Seven years later, Teilo returned to give the King the last rites. Perhaps because of the relationships that bound him to Teilo, he too was proclaimed holy.Salsano, Mario. "San Geraint II King of Cornwall", Santi e Beati, June 11, 2008
/ref> Near Falmouth, local legends of the

folk saint Folk saints are dead people or other spiritually powerful entities (such as indigenous spirits) venerated as saints, but not officially canonized. Since they are saints of the "folk", or the ''populus'', they are also called popular saints. Like ...

King Geraint,

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholic Church, Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocacy, advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, ...

of Gerrans, claim he was buried on Carne Beacon near Veryan."Porthscatho & Gerrans Bay", South West Coast Path National Trail
/ref> Gerrans celebrates his festival on the second Sunday in August. His feast day is 10 August.

References

{{authority control 6th-century Christian saints Arthurian characters Knights of the Round Table Medieval English saints Medieval Welsh saints Monarchs of Dumnonia Southwestern Brythonic saints