The infant Mordred is found adrift by a fisherman and his wife, who raise the babe as their own [1]. When Mordred is fourteen, he kills a sea-serpent, a deed which catches the attention of King Arthur who takes the boy back with him to Camelot. There the Queen Morgause recognises the boy as her long long-lost son by the scar on his forehead, and Mordred is taken in by her and he comes to know his brothers and his sister [2]. Mordred later becomes a Knight of the Round Table and is given a sword by his eldest brother Sir Gawain--none other than the Sword which Arthur had drawn from the stone, and which was later broken when Arthur fought Sir Pellinor, and even after Arthur was given Excalibur by the Lady of the Lake, the fragments of the old Sword were not discarded but were reforged, and Arthur gave this sword to Sir Gawain. 'With this sword I slew the Emperor Lucius of Rome, who was my foster-brother,' Sir Gawain says. 'Therefore I give it to you, and may you wield it well.' [3]
A young and more innocent Mordred for this picture, which was fun to draw. The left side depicts Mordred's maternal siblings: Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth, and Clarissant. The right side depicts his paternal siblings (though neither he nor they know this yet): Loholt, Amhar, Gwydre, Duren, Archfedd, and Melora.
This drawing was done for @mordredpendragon's Maydred 2025.
The Children of Morgause
Top row from right to left: Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris
Bottom row: Gareth, Clarissant
The Children of Arthur
Top row from right to left: Loholt, Amhar, Gwydre
Bottom row from right to left: Duran, Archfedd, Melora
Notes
Me: 'Right, which canon are we going with for the Maydred prompts--'
My brain: 'All of them.'
Me: '...a-all of them?'
My brain: 'All of them.'
Me: 'H-how d--how do we even make that work?'
My brain: 'You figure it out.'
Me: 'Isn't that supposed to be your job?'
[1] This is taken from Thomas Malory, who says that Mordred was adopted by fisherfolk, and I personally prefer this version of the story to the one in the Post-Vulgate where he is raised by the lord Nabur the Unruly alongside Nabur's own son Sagremor.
[2] I made this story up on the spot as I was drawing this. I wanted to find a way to bring Mordred back into Arthur's household in a way that maintained his fisherman's upbringing while also not needing to create yet another elaborate Fair Unknown narrative. Also I like sea monsters. Arthur fostering Mordred comes from The Dream of Rhonabwy. The detail of the scar comes from the Post-Vulgate:
The scar was also a convenient way of bringing him back into the Orkney household.
[3] Right, where do we start with this? Well, Gawain wielding the Sword in the Stone is loosely based on something I noticed while going through the Vulgate Merlin in which Gawain kills the Emperor Lucius with Excalibur:
So I tried to blend together the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate narratives so that Arthur wields the sword Excalibur (the Sword of the Lake) while Gawain gets to wield the Sword in the Stone reforged.
Gawain mentioning Lucius as being his foster-brother is my headcanon derived from De Ortu Waluuanii (The Rise of Gawain) in which Gawain, abducted as infant and raised in poverty by the poor fisherman Viamundus, is later adopted into the household of the Roman Emperor alongside the Emperor's own children, which in my head includes the young Lucius.
So I imagine Gawain, even though he is especially close to Gareth, having a particular fondness as well for Mordred based on the latter's upbringing, and that being one of the reasons why he gifts his sword to Mordred. The sword passes from one long-lost son (Arthur) to another long-lost son (Gawain) to another long-lost son (Mordred).
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Part of an amazing coffee shop au. You should probably read these in order I just happened to read this one first lol. I really like it though! Good blend of hi-jinxs and serious character moments, plus lotsss of Orkney stuff which you know I'm always down for!
Warnings: None
Characters and Ships: Lancelot, Priamus, Gawain, Lionel, Morgan, Gaheris, Clarissant, Lynette, Gareth, Agravaine, Lamorak, ; Gawain/Lancelot, other minor/background relationships
