#duran

guri_gom: 차일드

From time to time, I've investigated into the etymologies of the various names of the Arthurian legends, because a good chunk of Arthurian Material is poetry. So for a bit of fun, I try to tease out the meanings of the characters' names

Then I remembered that, in a number modern stories, writers use "Pendragon" as a dynastic/family name for Arthur and his relatives, even though Pendragon is actually an epithet that only two characters in the entirety of the Matter of Britain are known to bear that title - neither of which is Arthur - and it's mostly a kenning for "War Leader".

So let's humor ourselves and see what happens when you turn Pendragon into a last name and see what that technically means for certain characters.

The following comes from my personal interpretations from learning through online dictionaries. So forewarning, these are my speculations.

First, the "official" Pendragons from medieval sources:

Uther Pendragon: "The Dreaded War Leader", "The Horrifying War Leader" (From the Brythonic Uthr "Awesome, Terrible")

Gwen Pendragon: "The Beautiful War Leader" "The Holy War Leader" (From the Brythonic feminine Gwenn "White, Blessed")

Next are the presumptive Pendragons:

Arthur Pendragon: "The Bear(like) War Leader" (From the Pan-European Arkhtos, "Bear")

Morgan(a) Pendragon: "The Sea-born War Leader" (From the Bretonnic Morigenos, "from/of the Sea")

Mordred Pendragon: "The Moderating War Leader" "The Restrained War Leader" (From the Latin Moderatus, "Managed, Controlled")

Amhar Pendragon: "The Disgraceful War Leader" "The Harmful War Leader" (From either the Brythonic Amarch "Disrespect" or Amharu, "to impair, to disrupt")

Gwydre Pendragon: "The Glass-like War Leader" "The Glazing War Leader" (From the Brythonic Gwydr "Glass")

Llacheu Pendragon: "The Striking War Leader" "The Brilliant War Leader" (From either the Brythonic Llach "Lash" or Llachar "Bright, Shining")

Duran Pendragon: "The Enduring War Leader" (From the Latin Durans "Hard, Lasting")

Archfedd Pendragon: "The Compelling War Leader" "The Commanding War Leader" (From the Brythonic words Erchi "Request, Ask" + Gwedd "Appearance")

pairing: ashe ubert x gn!reader

summary: ashe admires you as you fall asleep on his shoulder...

“you look so beautiful right now… and i can't even tell you…” ashe mumbled under his breath, as you leaned against his shoulder, deep asleep.

he had offered you to rest against him after a long day of training, but now that you were asleep on his shoulder, ashe couldn't help but get a little nervous and flustered.

“n-no, focus on something else…!” ashe mumbled to himself and tore his gaze from you, his cheeks covered in a light pink. if he kept staring at you like this, he worried you might wake up, feeling his gaze on you…

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.