Pendragon or ( wlm, pen dreic, ''pen dragon''; composed of

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

, '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, 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.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 Weste ...

, 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 historiograph ...

as literally meaning ''dragon's head''. In the prose version of

Robert de Boron Robert de Boron (also spelled in the manuscripts "Roberz", "Borron", "Bouron", "Beron") was a French poet of the late 12th and early 13th centuries, notable as the reputed author of the poems and ''Merlin''. Although little is known of him apart ...

'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 hi ...

'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'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 ''Per ...

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

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

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 Arthu ...

'' 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'' by

Antal Szerb Antal Szerb (1 May 1901, Budapest – 27 January 1945, Balf) was a noted Hungarian scholar and writer. He is generally considered to be one of the major Hungarian writers of the 20th century. Life and career Szerb was born in 1901 to assimilate ...

revolves around a Welsh noble family called Pendragon.

References

{{Wiktionary Arthurian characters Legendary British kings