WHY NOT TWO WORDS FOR 'ARM[...]S' ON THE L. ARTORIUS CASTUS INSCRIPTION?

Coming to the stone cold without any presuppositions and basing my opinion purely on the script, I would favour a date in the Severan period (AD 193-235) or up to a decade or so later. I base this on the high degree of ligaturing in the design.

Dr. Benet Salway

https://www.ancienttexts.org/library/latinlibrary/livy/liv.21.html

https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0162%3Abook%3D30%3Achapter%3D44%3Asection%3D10

https://www.trismegistos.org/abb/list.php?abb=arm&abb_type=exact&abb_word=&abb_word_type=exact&abb_length=&abb_size=&freq=&comb=AND&search=Search

A REEXAMINATION OF 'ARTHURIBURGUM' AT STANWIX IN LIGHT OF ARTHUR'S PLACEMENT ON THE WALL

[NOTE: I think the Arthurian story of Ettard and Pelleas caused Etterby to be associated with Arthur. I note that Malory's Ettard becomes Arcade in the Post-Cycle. It is possible Arcade was linked to the Greek root for bear, found in mythological names like Arcas. If so, there is nothing to the Etterby tradition as Arthur's fort.]

Now that I have finally decided to be satisfied with an Arthur based on Hadrian's Wall, with a prime candidate for his ruling center being Banna/Birdoswald, it is important that I once again discuss the other possible capital: Stanwix, where there was a Roman fort called Uxellodunum (nicknamed Petriana).

Many years ago I wrote a series of blog posts on the site, and it's apparent identification in sources heralding from the 1600-1700s as 'Arthur's Burg':

On Stanwix (Arthuriburgum?):

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2018/10/an-early-piece-on-arthur-and-stanwix.html

On the Ala Petriana the late period garrison of the fort:

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2017/09/more-on-ala-petriana-of-stanwix-roman.html

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2017/09/a-selection-from-mike-mccarthys-roman.html

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-nice-article-on-roman-cavalry-in.html

I never really took Stanwix as Arthur's Fort very seriously.  Why?  Well, the lateness of the reference to the tradition for one.  Still, there were a number of things I liked a lot about Uxellodunum/Petriana.  To begin, there was this from Roman scholar Shepherd Frere:

“The western sector of the Wall was the most dangerous… both on account of the nature of the ground and because of the hostile population beyond it. It is not surprising to find, then, that at Stanwix near Carlisle was stationed the Ala Petriana… Such regiments are always found on the post of danger; and the prefect of this Ala was the senior officer in the whole of the wall garrison. Here, then, lay Command headquarters, and it has been shown that a signaling system existed along the road from Carlisle to

York, which would enable the prefect at Stanwix to communicate with the legionary legate at York in a matter of minutes.”

I recently wrote to Professor Roger Tomlin about this, and he replied:

"I would agree with Frere on anything – and indeed, I often did. I even dug for him once, on an excavation. 

Stanwix was certainly the base of the ala Petriana, the only milliary ala in Britain, so its prefect would have been senior to the other prefects and tribunes on the Wall. Its geographical location also is significant, as Frere says."

That analysis by Tomlin made me realize that I should not so hastily dispense with the Arthuriburgum idea.

I suppose the question I should have asked myself, all those years ago, is this:

WHY WAS STANWIX (FOR ETTERBY IN STANWIX PARISH) THOUGHT BY SOMEONE IN THE REGION TO BE ARTHUR'S FORT?  

It's a reasonable line of inquiry.  I mean, presumably by the time of Joseph Nicolson and Richard Burn there were already no signs of the Stanwix fort hard by Etterby.  Given that it is hard to account for the place-name element Etter- (from Etardeby 1246, Etard being a French name from OHG Eidhart) having been somehow miscontrued as representing the name Arthur, we are left scratching our heads when seeking a plausible connection. 

Authorities in Stanwix and Carlisle, in response to my queries, have failed to produce any evidence of the Etterby = Arthur's Burg tradition prior to the time of Nicolson and Burn. Yet these same parties were insistent on defending the integrity of Nicolson's 2 volume compilation "The history and antiquities of the counties of Westmorland and Cumberland". 

In other words, this man is believed to have faithfully recorded traditions that were in his uncle's collection. He does not seem to have created or promulgated forgeries in the manner of Iolo Morganwg in Wales.

And then there was this... the Petriana cavalry group at Stanwix had been named for a Roman Titus Pomponius Petra.  When seeking to explain why Pedr (from L. Petrus) of Dyfed had named his son Arthur, I dared entertain the following notion:

Could Pedr had called his son Arthur because the famous Arthur, just a generation earlier, had hismelf descended from the Petriana at Stanwix?

As anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of Latin knows, the relationship of Petra and Petrus is extremely close.  Here are the relevant entries from the Lewis and Short Dictionary at Perseus:

pē^tra , ae, f., = πέτρα,

I.a rock, a crag, stone (pure Lat. saxum; cf.: rupes, scopulus): petrarum genera sunt duo, quorum alterum naturale saxum prominens in mare; “alterum manufactum ut docet Aelius Gallus: Petra est, qui locus dextrā ac sinistrā fornicem expletur usque ad libramentum summi fornicis,” Fest. p. 206 Müll. (of the latter signif. there is no other example known): petris ingentibus tecta, Enn. ap. Fest. 1. 1. (Ann. v. 366); Sen. Herc. Oet. 804: “aquam de petrā produxit,” Vulg. Isa. 48, 21 et saep.: “gaviae in petris nidificant,” Plin. 10, 32, 48, § 91: “alga, quae juxta terram in petris nascitur,” id. 32, 6, 22, § 66; 34, 12, 29, § 117; Curt. 7, 11, 1.

πέτρα , Ion. and Ep. πέτρη , ἡ,

A.rock; freq. of cliffs, ledges, etc. by the sea, “λισσὴ αἰπεῖά τε εἰς ἅλα πέτρη” Od.3.293, cf. 4.501, etc.; χῶρος λεῖος πετράων free from rocks, of a beach, 5.443 ; “π. ἠλίβατος . . ἁλὸς ἐγγὺς ἐοῦσα” Il.15.618, etc.; χοιρὰς π. Pi.P.10.52; also, rocky peak or ridge, αἰγίλιψ π. Il.9.15, etc.; “ἠλίβατος” 16.35, etc.; λιττὰς π. Corinn.Supp.1.30, cf.A.Supp.796 (lyr.); π. Λενκάς, ?ωλενίη, etc., Od.24.11, Il.11.757, etc.; π. σύνδρομοι, Συμπληγάδες, Pi.P.4.209, E.Med.1264(lyr.); πρὸς πέτραις ὑψηλοκρήμνοις, of Caucasus, A.Pr.4, cf. 31, 56, al.; π. Δελφίς, π. δίλοφος, of Parnassus, S.OT464(lyr.), Ant.1126(lyr.); “π. Κωρυκίς” A.Eu.22; π. Κεκροπία, of the Acropolis, E.Ion936.

2. π. γλαφυρή a hollow rock, i.e. a cave, Il.2.88, cf. 4.107; σπέος κοιλῇ ὑπὸ π. Hes. Th.301; δίστομος π. cave in the rock with a double entrance, S.Ph.16, cf. 937; κατηρεφεῖς αὐτῇ τῇ π. Pl.Criti.116b; “π. ἀντρώδης” X.An.4.3.11; “τόπος κύκλῳ πέτραις περιεχόμενος” IG42(1).122.21 (Epid.); ἕως τῆς π. down to virgin rock, PCair.Zen.172.14 (iii B.C.), OGI672 (Egypt, i A. D.), cf. Ev.Matt.16.18.

3. mass of rock or boulder, Od.9.243, 484, Hes.Th.675 ; “πέτρας κυλινδομένα φλόξ” Pi.P.1.23 ; “ἐκυλίνδουν πέτρας” X.An.4.2.20, cf. Plb.3.53.4.

4. stone as material, π. λαρτία, Τηΐα, SIG581.97 (Crete, iii/ii B. C.), 996.13 (Smyrna, i A. D.): distd. from πέτρος (q. v.), which is v.l. in X.l.c.; πέτρᾳ shd. be read in S.Ph.272 ; the distn. is minimized by Gal.12.194.

II. prov., οὐκ ἀπὸ δρυὸς οὐδ᾽ ἀπὸ πέτρης, etc. (v. δρῦς); as a symbol of firmness, “ὁ δ᾽ ἐστάθη ἠΰτε π. ἔμπεδον” Od.17.463; of hard-heartedness, “ἐκ πέτρας εἰργασμένος” A.Pr.244; “ἁλίαν π. ἢ κῦμα λιταῖς ὢς ἱκετεύων” E.Andr. 537 (anap.); cf. “πέτρος” 1.2 . (Written πε-τε-ρα in a text with musical accompaniment, Pae.Delph.5.)

πέτρος , ὁ (in later Poets ἡ, AP7.274 (Honest.), 479 (Theodorid.)),

A.stone (distd. from πέτρα, q. v.); in Hom., used by warriors, “λάζετο πέτρον μάρμαρον ὀκριόεντα” Il.16.734 ; “βαλὼν μυλοειδέϊ πέτρῳ” 7.270, cf. 20.288, E.Andr.1128 (never in Od.); “ἔδικε πέτρῳ” Pi.O.10(11).72; “ἄγαλμ᾽ Ἀΐδα ξεστὸν π. ἔμβαλον στέρνῳ” Id.N.10.67; “νιφάδι γογγύλων πέτρων” A.Fr.199.7; “ἐκ χερῶν πέτροισιν ἠράσσοντο” Id.Pers.460; “λευσθῆναι πέτροις” S.OC435; “πέτρους ἐπεκυλίνδουν” X.HG3.5.20, etc.; ἐν πέτροισι πέτρον ἐκτρίβων, to produce fire, S.Ph.296; of a boulder forming a landmark, Id.OC1595; “τόνδ᾽ ἀνέθηκα π. ἀειράμενος” IG42(1).125 (Epid., iii B. C.).

2. prov., πάντα κινῆσαι πέτρον 'leave no stone unturned', E.Heracl.1002, cf. Pl.Lg.843a; of imperturbability, “καὶ γὰρ ἂν πέτρου φύσιν σύ γ᾽ ὀργάνειας” S.OT334, cf. E.Med.28.

II. a kind of reed, Peripl.M.Rubr.65.—The usual Prose word is λίθος.

I even went beyond this at one point - probably foolishly - when I also sought to explain how the name Arthur had reached Scottish Dalriada.  As I knew the Cenel nGabrain had intermarried with the British, doubtless of Strathclyde, I reminded my readers of the Latin Petra Cloithe rendering of Al Clut, the name of the capital of Strathclyde at Dumbarton Rock.  I then went even more crazy by pointing out that Arthur son of Bicoir had killed Mongan with a stone (although it now seems that stone is a folklore remnant based on the monolith at Dun Beachaire in Kintyre; see 

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2024/11/arthur-son-of-bicoir-of-kintyre.html).  Although I don't recall, I may even have ventured to float the Irish art- 'stone (?)', a word of dubious existence. 

While it is certainly attractive to think of Arthur as a leader of cavalry based at Petriana, critics immediately pounced on that, citing the proximity of Stanwix to Carlisle, claiming (as one still finds in respectable Arthurian publications!) that Carlisle is the Carduel of Chretien de Troyes.  

Well, I can only say -

CARDUEL IS NOT CARLISLE!

Carduel is said to be in Wales (Gales). However, it has long been customary to identify this site with Carlisle, the Roman Luguvalium, in Cumbria. The "d" of Carduel is said to be due to dissimilation of the first "l" of Carlisle (Welsh Caerliwelydd). I have always thought this linguistic argument to be highly questionable.

Carduel is also hard by the Red Knight's Forest of Quinqueroy and not far from the castle of Gornemont of Goort. Goort is here definitely Gower. Quinqueroy is Welsh gwyn plus caer, a slight error for Caerwent.

While Kerduel in Brittany is derived from Caer + Tudwall (information courtesy Jean-Yves le Moing, personal correspondence; cf. Caer Dathyl in Arfon, from Irish Tuathal = Welsh Tudwall, possibly Caer-fawr or Caernarfon, information courtesy Brian Lile of The National Library of Wales, citing Ifor Williams' Pedair Keinc Ymabinogi, 1951), I think Carduel (Car-dyou-EL) probably derives from Caer +d'iwl, Iwl (pronounced similar to English 'yule', according to Dr. David Thorne of the Welsh Department at Lampeter) being the Welsh form of Julius, the name Geoffrey used for Aaron's partner, St. Julian.

When Perceval first comes to Arthur's court, it is at Carduel; but when Arthur sets off after Perceval when the latter sends the Haughty Knight of the Moor to the court, the king leaves Caerleon. In between the king's placement at Carduel and Caerleon, Anguingueron and Clamadeu find Arthur at Dinas d'Aaron, the Fort of Aaron/Caerleon. In other words, Caerleon and Carduel are the same. Indeed, Anguingueron and the Haughty Knight are sent to Arthur's court by Perceval, who knows only that Arthur is at Carduel. This means that Dinas d'Aaron and Carduel have to be Caerleon.

And Arthur's Quarrois? When Erec of Erec and Enide says he will not loiter anywhere until he has "come to the court of King Arthur, whom I wish to see either at Quarrois or Carduel", he seems to be implying that Carduel and Quarrois are near each other. Because Quarrois is mentioned only in conjunction with Carduel, it is more than likely the -queroy of Quinqueroy, i.e. Quarrois = the Caer that is Caerwent.

Carduel's relationship with Chrietien de Troyes' Camelot supplies us with additional reason for placing the former at Caerleon.

According to Chretien, Camelot is ‘in the region near Caerleon’. For some reason, most authorities have seen fit to ignore this statement, insisting that Camelot was placed near Caerleon simply because of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s glorified description of the latter site as a major Arthurian centre. If we do take

Chretien’s statement seriously, we can for the first time arrive at a satisfactory identification of this most magical of royal cities.

The second clue to the location of Camelot is from the later romance The Quest for the Holy Grail, wherein Arthur escorts the Grail questers from Camelot to a point just shy of Castle Vagan.

A third clue, from the prose Tristan, places Camelot either on or very near the sea. The last clue is from the Morte Artu; in this source, the castle of Camelot is on a river. It goes without saying that we need to look for a CASTLE or, at the very least, the site of an earlier hill-fort of some significance.

Castle Vagan is St. Fagan’s Castle (W. Ffagan) four or five miles west of Cardiff. 

According to the HB, Campus Elleti, the ‘Field or Plain of Elleti’, was said to be in Glywysing, the later Morgannwg/Glamorgan.  The same place-name is found in the Book of Llandaf as Palud Elleti (see https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-red-herring-of-llanilid-uther.html).

In my opinion, Campus Elleti, with Latin Campus rendered as French Champ (the p of which eventually became silent), became Camelot:

Cham(p) ellet(i) > Camelot

So, if I'm right about all that (am I'm pretty sure I am), then we cannot look at Etterby (Stanwix) as Arthur's Fort as being a near-miss for Carlisle.  Instead, we must still look at Petriana/Uxellodunum in isolation as Arthuriburgum.

Once upon a time I put out there that the Arthur Penuchel mentioned in a corrupt Welsh Triad may be an oblique reference to Arthur having ruled from Uxellodunum, the 'High Fort'.  Uxello- becomes in Welsh uchel.  Dr. Simon Rodway of The University of Wales, a noted expert in the Welsh language, recently informed me that Uxellodunum in Welsh would have become *Uchelddin.  However, Welsh place-names show a shift in the order of components, so that one would expect a Din Uchel or Dinas Uchel. 

Welsh Uther is cognate with Irish uachtar.  Its original meaning was (citing Professor John Koch here) 'high, lofty.'

Is all of this sufficient for us to seriously consider Stanwix as THE Arthurian center?

I'm not sure.  Need to think on it some more.  

Željko Miletić's "Lucius Artorius Castus and the borders of the province of Liburnia with Italy under Marcus Aurelius"

Fig. 5. Map with the ideal borders of the province of Liburnia. Prepared by Dora Štublin.

Professor Željko Miletić has recently made available his new study on L. Artorius Castus.  The link to the article is here:

https://storicamente.org/miletic_bekavac_castus_liburnia_italy

I urge my readers to check out his piece, as it confirms the reading of ARMENIOS for the L. Artorius Castus memorial stone.

A NEW THEORY ON THE 'CONCAVATA' NAME FOR THE ROMAN FORT AT DRUMBURGH

Drumburgh Moss Looking North

Some time ago I discussed the Roman-period name of the Roman fort at Drumburgh:

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2019/04/a-northern-prototype-for-arthurian.html

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2019/04/a-note-on-recent-post-northern.html

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2019/04/more-on-andematunnum-of-drumburgh.html

My idea, in brief, was that we could go with this being a sort of Grail Castle, in so far as the Latin word gabata for a particular kind of service dish had been likened to a similar platter preserved in the word grail.  I acknowledged, of course, that such a name would imply some geographical characteristic was being referred to as Concavata, 'the hollowed-out' place or, according to Professor Roger Tomlin, the "dish-like" place.  Tomlin had already guessed this had to do with the hill the fort stood upon which could be imagined as an upside-down serving platter.

I now think that guess, though a good one, may not be correct.

Instead, my research of the immediate environs of the Concavata fort showed the Drumburgh Moss just to the south.  This is a very unusual and, indeed, unique landscape feature. 

From https://crossingthemoss.wordpress.com/tag/drainage/:

Peat forms at the rate of about 10cms every 100 years and, because the raised mires are essentially ‘trapped’ within post-glacial depressions, they grow upwards to form a shallow dome, like an inverted saucer. But the growth of the Solway Mosses has not been a simple accumulation of peat. Cores show layers of peat separated by sand (watch the video of Alasdair Brock explaining this while taking a core sample on Wedholme Flow), indicating that in places there were several incursions by the sea, and there were regions that initially remained as ‘islands’. Nor did all the wetlands form in an empty bowl, because here and there melting glaciers had dumped their burden of rocks and till, leaving small, tear-drop-shaped hills or drumlins.

Frank Mawby throws more light on the Solway Mosses: “The classic image of a raised mire as a bog in a slight saucer-shaped depression doesn’t fit for Wedholme, Bowness and Glasson – they all have a glacial topography and all have grown over ridges and mounds. Bowness, of course, is a classic of glacial topography in that it never overwhelmed the Rogersceugh drumlin, although it did almost cover another lower, parallel ridge to the north. But Drumburgh Moss is in a saucer and probably fits the classic mire model.”

If I'm right about this, does the identification of the 'hollowed-out' place with the Moss take away our desired cauldron symbolism?

Not necessarily.  I had treated of the cauldron as itself being symbolic of a lake or marsh.  It is well-known that cauldrons are common votive deposits in bogs.  My argument for the Welsh Ceridwen's cauldron as being emblematic of Penllyn itself was detailed in my book THE MYSTERIES OF AVALON:

Ceridwen

Her name means the ‘Bent or Crooked Woman’ and she is the quintessential hag or crone, associated in this case with Llyn Tegid or Bala Lake in north-western Wales. The true nature of her magical cauldron will be revealed when we take a closer look at her son, Morfran Afagddu (q.v.).

Creirwy (or Creirfyw)

Crierwy, one of the three fair maidens/ladies or fair queens (gwenriein) of Welsh Triad 78, is the daughter of CERIDWEN.  Her name derives from creir, a common Welsh variant spelling for crair, ‘relic, holy thing, talisman, treasure, richly decorated article, object of admiration or love, darling, safe-guard, strength, hand-bell, church-bell’. -wy is merely a feminine suffix, as in Gwenonwy, while the alternate terminal –fyw (byw) means ‘lively’. This etymological analysis does not, however, shed much light on Creirwy’s character. We will see below that Ceridwen’s son MORFRAN, ‘Sea-raven’, is a black cormorant deity of Bala Lake/Llyn Tegid. The Welsh word for ‘lake-monster’ was afanc, actually the word for beaver, being derived from the word for river, afon, and meaning literally ‘water-dweller’. The Irish cognate word is abhac, meaning ‘dwarf, supernatural being’, but this last is also used for a beaver and even a small terrier. Beavers reside in streams, not large lakes, but otters (otter as a word is etymologically related to ‘water’) do live in lakes and are, in fact, found in Bala Lake. One of Ceridwen’s assumed forms when pursuing Taliesin is that of an otter. All of which brings us back, albeit rather circuitously, to Creirwy. It would seem reasonable to assume that this sister of Morfran the divine cormorant and daughter of Ceridwen the divine otter ought to be another submarine denizen of the same lake.  Fortunately, a saint’s life comes to our rescue: there is a 6th century Breton saint heralding from Wales of the same name (Chreirbia), and she isintimately associated with the goose. It is likely that the Llyn Tegid Creirwy is the same personage, and she should be paired as a divine lake bird with her brother Morfran.  Perhaps significantly, there is a Welsh folk belief in Caernarvonshire of geese on a lake at night being transformed witches.  This was especially true on the first Thursday night of the lunar month.  In Welsh Thursday is Ddydd Iou or the ‘Day of Jove’, i.e. Jupiter, the Classical counterpart of the Norse Thor of Thursday.  It is noteworthy, perhaps, the Jupiter’s consort Juno is known for her sacred geese.

Morfran

The son of the crone Ceridwen of Penllyn, the ‘Chief Lake’ that is now known as Lake Tegid or Bala Lake, was named Morfran Afagddu. This name means ‘Sea-Raven the Utterly Dark’. Because he is on Lake Tegid and we have Irish Fiach Mara or ‘Sea-Raven’ as a name for the cormorant, this tells us much about Ceridwen’s cauldron. Morfran was set at the cauldron to wait for the magical drops to come flying out. Gwiawn Bach, the first incarnation of the poet Taliesin, was set to tend the fire under the cauldron, while a blind man stirred it. Anyone who observes cormorants is aware of their peculiar habit of spreading their wings for several minutes to heat up in the sun before they begin their daily fishing in a lake or the sea. This is what Morfran is doing in front of the cauldron which is symbolic of Penllyn itself. The fire Gwiawn Bach keeps perpetually stoked is the sun, which warms the waters of the lake. The waters of the lake are stirred by the wind, and this accounts for the blind man of the story. Perhaps significantly, the Irish also call the cormorant the Cailleach Dubh, i.e. the ‘Black Hag’. So it is quite possible that the story-teller mistakenly assumed Morfran was a second character, when in reality the cormorant was Ceridwen herself in bird form. Lakes were possessed of great spiritual power for the ancient Celts as they were liminal places, in essence being portals to and from the Otherworld. This is why sacrificial victims were submerged in bogs and why weapons and other items, often first ritually destroyed, were deposited as votive items. We have recovered many cauldrons from bogs. A human figure is being submerged in a cauldron on the Gundestrup, which itself was found in a bog.  

Thus there may be a mythological link between the inverted saucer that was the Drumburgh Moss itself and any ritual cauldron that may have been constructed to represent the Moss. 

As for any goddess we can associate with the South Solway Mosses, I would point again to Dea Latis, whose altars were found at Birdoswald and Burgh-By-Sands (the 'Avalon' Roman fort only a half dozen kilometers or so east of Drumburgh).  As the preeminent 'Lake Goddess' of the region, Drumburgh Moss would not only have belonged to her, but would actually, by natural extension, be her. After all, the goddess, the lake and the cauldron were one. 

I did approach Professor Roger Tomlin with this idea. He had once discussed the hill as as possible gabata, but when I sent him the information on the moss and pointedly asked him

"Such hills are not at all unusual for forts.  No chance we could be talking about the saucer-shaped Drumburgh Moss, which would be a much more distinctive feature?"

He responded:

"Quite possibly.  It's many year since I was there (on foot from Newcastle), and I don't remember the topography, but I can accept the idea." 

WHY I DON'T BELIEVE UTHER WAS EVER IN WALES: MY DECISION ON A SOUTHERN VS. A NORTHERN ARTHUR

Arthur's Battles in the North, Along with Magnis of the Dalmatian Garrison, Banna of the Dacian Draco and Dea Latis/Lake Goddess, Camboglanna/Camlann and Aballava/Avalon, also of Dea Latis (Not Labelled is Concavata Just West of Aballava, a Possible Prototypical Grail Castle)

A few days ago I wrote the following piece in which I asked myself whether I could use a reading for Pen Cawell that would support a theory identifying Uther Pendragon with Cunedda:

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2024/11/coming-soon-caer-dathal-pen-mynydd-and.html

After reviewing all my past work on the subject, and considering the best possible reading for the critical lines  MARWNAT VTHYR PEN, I've come to the conclusion that, in all likelihood, Uther's placement at Caer Dathal/Dinas Emrys in Gwynedd is a folklore or literary invention relocation.  

Before I get into why Uther was situated at Dinas Emrys, a quick review of how I think the elegy lines should be rendered.:

Neu vi tywyssawc yn tywyll:

It is I who’s a leader in darkness:

a’m rithwy am dwy pen kawell.

‘May our God, the Chief of the Sanctuary, transform me’ or

(with yn adwy) ‘May the Chief of the Sanctuary transform me in the

breach’ or (with yn ardwy) 'May the Chief of the Sanctuary transform me

as a defence'

Neu vi eil kawyl yn ardu:

It's I who's like a candle (luminary, transf. of star, sun, moon, lamp; fig. of leader) in the gloom.

There is little doubt in my mind that the Pen Cawell of the second line does, indeed, refer to God.  As Dr. Simon Rodway of The University of Wales pointed out to me, cawell could here have the meaning of later cafell, 'sanctuary', as both words derived from the same Latin word and at an early enough period cawell could well have carried a double semantic meaning.  When Geoffrey of Monmouth told the transformation story he utilized an earlier line of the poem in which Uther calls himself gorlassar, a heroic epithet from which Geoffrey conjured his Gorlois.  But Geoffrey also has Merlin, called Ambrosius (the 'divine/immortal one') do the transforming.  So Merlin here stands in for God.

Line 3 was used by Geoffrey to create the story of the dragon-comet, which he says represents Uther himself.  The figurative meaning of leader for cannwyll ties back to the tywyssawc/leader of the first line.

This is simply the best rendering of these elegy lines and also has the benefit of requiring the least amount of emendation.  A reading that makes good sense that requires the least amount of emendation has the best chance of being correct.

Now, as for Uther's relocation to Wales...

I have made my case for Banna on Hadrian's Wall being Uther's ruling center.  The Roman fort was garrisoned right up until the end of Britain by a Dacian force.  A sub-Roman royal hall complex is in evidence at the site. The Dacians were noted for their own version of the draco standard, and if I'm right about the inscription on the Ilam Pan the fort itself was alluded to as 'the Aelian Dragon.'  Professor Roger Tomlin has told me that it is quite possible that this garrison may have continued to use its own draco as a sort of unit emblem, similar to their falx weapon which appears on carved stones at Birdoswald.  A ruler who descended from a mixed Dacian-British population may well have been referred to as the Chief Dragon. Or Pendragon may be a relic of the late Roman rank of magister draconum.

If we allow for Uther being from Banna, transplanting him to NW Wales would be an easy matter.  Gwynedd, ever since Gildas referred to Maelgwn as the Dragon of the Isle, was replete with serpent symbolism.  I've written many articles on this fact, and a few of them may be found here:

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2016/10/that-pesky-dragon.html?m=1

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-true-identity-of-uther-pendragon.html?m=1

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-dragon-of-emrais-and-dragon-of.html?m=1

We must also consider the source from which we obtain information on Uther's presence at Caer Dathal in Wales: the Mabinogion tale CULHWCH AC OLWEN.  This is hardly a reliable historical account of Arthur.  

It is for these reasons that I've decided to forsake any attempt to identify Uther with an entity whose origin lies in Gwynedd.  Instead, I will be sticking with a father for Arthur based on Hadrian's Wall.

My book THE BATTLE-LEADER OF THE NORTH will be my final expression of that theory.  

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0B5CG54RT/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Eq-AAIpUgOc7JPPNM39d1Q.upLToA_6VR7YJrx3GY_b8f1fCbJp9TmYsdeOEAGKNZk&qid=1733325790&s

CAER DATHAL, PEN MYNYDD AND PEN CAWELL or THE PROBLEM OF UTHER PENDRAGON IN WELSH TRADITION

[Since writing this piece, I've made a decision regarding Uther at Dinas Emrys and the proposed Cawell/Ceawlin identification. In the next couple of days I will be posting a piece detailing that decision and how I arrived at it.]

                        Dinas Emrys

I was recently asked by a reader why I departed from the Welsh tradtion concerning Uther Pendragon. To be honest, I really don't have a good answer to that question. What it prett looy much comes down to is that I have a strong preference (read 'bias') for a poo northern Arthur and the9 Welsh does not provide me with that. In addition, I can account for the preservation of the Artorius name in the North, but must resort to the use of a decknamen in the South.

Still, can I afford to continue ignoring what seem to be fairly solid identications of Uther with Cunedda/Ceawlin?

I've decided to explore that question here - in a more purely philosophical vein than I've permitted myself to indulge in before. 

I long ago offered a complex and rather comprehensive argument for Uther = Cunedda/Cuinnid-Maquicoline/Ceawlin. This argument was extended to Cunedda's son Ceredig, who I identified as Cerdic of Wessex. CeredigCerdic, in turn, made for a very good Arthur.

Three later developments seemed to bolster my Cunedda theory. One, I showed that Uther's lost Caer Dathal was, in fact, Dinas Emrys. And two, Pen Kawell, taken literally as Chief Basket, perfectly matched the West Saxon Ceawlin (as AS ceawl = basket). Ceawlin itself could be explained as deriving from Cunedda's other name, Cuilenn/Coline (W. Celyn). Finally, three, the Uther elegy mentions a Pen Mynydd and a place of that name on Anglesey is linked to the Gwynedd dynasty and contains place-names and a corresponding folktale that parallels the dragon story of Dinas Emrys (https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2021/10/uther-and-dragons-of-gwynedd.html).

I had known for years that Emrys' presence at Dinas Emrys was a mere folktale. Vortigern had not given all of western Wales to Ambrosius. Instead, that region had fallen under the control of Cunedda and his "sons." That we find a Cunorix son of Maqui-Coline at Wroxeter/Viroconium (= Cynyr son of Gwron/"Hero" son of Cunedda) suggests that the Gewissei served whoever was the high king at the time in Wales.

And there we have it for the pre-Galfridian tradition concerning Uther.

Can we ignore that for no other reason than we can better account for the Arthurian battles in the North? And because L. Artorius Castus was stationed at York in the 2nd century A.D.?

Well, to treat of the second problem is an easy matter. Ceredig son of Cunedda has three bear names in his immediate line of descent. In addition, the Afon Arth with its headland fort is in Ceredig's kingdom of Ceredigion. Thus if Ceredig himself had possessed a bear epithet or title, the Latin Artorius might well have been substituted for it. There is nothing impossible about this and, indeed, it is quite allowable. We have precedents for it, in fact.

In addition, the Segontium unit was withdrawn in the late Roman period and stationed in Illyricum. L. Artorius Castus' Dalmatia was a part of Illyricum. It is not impossible that someone returned to Gwynedd when his term of service was complete and the Artorius name travelled with him.

But then there are the battles as those are found listed in the HISTORIA BRITTONUM and ANNALES CAMBRIAE. Yes, they can be made to conform to Gewissei battles contained in the ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE. I myself am comfortable with the result, but others have not been. They will always opt for the cleaner arrangement in the North.

What this all comes down to for me, at least, is this: 

CAN PEN KAWELL OR 'CHIEF BASKET', AS A DESIGNATION FOR CEAWLIN, BE PERMITTED TO STAND? IF NOT, AND THIS READING IS EITHER WRONG OR A COINCIDENCE, WHAT SEEMS OUR ONLY SURE IDENTIFICATION OF UTHER WITH A KNOWN, HISTORICAL PERSONAGE WHO ORIGINATES FROM CAER DATHAL IS LOST.

Clearly, I need to make a decision. One that is several years overdue.

NOTE:

Allowing for Uther to be Cunedda, who was Irish, helps explain why all the subsequent Arthurs belonged to Irish-founded dynasties in Britain.

The "Mabon son of Modron servant of Uther Pendragon" of the PA GUR poem also, unexpectedly, points to Uther at Caer Dathal/Dinas Emrys.  

How?

Well, Mabon in that poem is placed at the River Ely in Glamorgan. This is hard by the location of Campus Elleti (Palud Elleti in the Book of Llandaf).  The story of Ambrosius there, a boy without a father playing a ballgame, is a motif copied from the Irish story of Oengus Mac Og or Oengus the "Young son".  As Mabon the 'Divine Son' is even closer to Elleti (Gileston was once the Church of Mabon of the Vale), my guess from many years ago that Ambrosius, a name that means 'the divine or immortal one', is in this context merely an honorific used for the god Mabon seems to be correct.  And if Ambrosius in this context is Mabon, then Mabon as Uther's servant makes perfect sense given the association of both Ambrosius and Uther with Dinas Emrys/Caer Dathal.

I thus wasted a lot of time and effort trying to place Uther at the River Ely when it is obvious now that he belongs at Dinas Emrys.  It is merely his servant Mabon who also happens to be one of the champions of Ely.  

THE NIEDERBIEBER DRACO: AN ANATOMICAL ANALYSIS

The Niederbieber Draco

Rather than attempt to compare the Niederbieber Draco with various mythological beasts known from other places and times, I thought it would be fun to address the anatomy of the standard in the context of real known animals.  

Three features strike me as being the most important in this regard.  First, the position of the crest (if interpreted literally, i.e. if we assume the maker had modelled that particular feature after an actual animal he was acquainted with) removes from our consideration both fishes and lizards.  This is because both of those classes of animals have crests or anterior dorsal fins that begin behind the head, and behind the eyes. Yes, there are plenty of crested lizards about, and there are even some that have a similar number of spiny projections beginning at the base of the skull and running towards the tail.  

Blue-Crested Lizard

Forest Dragon

But only birds have a crest that stands on the very tops of their heads and can begin either above the eye or just in front of the eye.  Such a crest also does not continue down the neck, as is the case with the draco. So, again, if we are looking for the crest of a existing versus an imaginary animal, we would have to identify that of the draco as being avian.  The ancient Greek basilisk (mythical) or "little king" may have contributed the idea of a crest-like crown and this snake was later associated with the cockatrice, which sported a cock's comb.  

Second, while the draco has sometimes been described as being earless, it most certainly is not.  The maker has included a lizard's tympanum or external eardrum in just the right location.  We can tell the feature in question is a tympanum, as the surrounding scales are not of the same perfect tear-drop shape, and have their more pointed ends on the opposite side.  More importantly, the scales are keeled. Reptiles are often described as having either keeled or unkeeled scales.  The lack of a keel on the isolated feature at the side of the head identifies it as a tympanum.  Everything from the brow ridge, eye and chin back is definitely saurian - with the exception of the crest, of course.  Snakes do not have tympani. Lizards do.  Finally, despite its shape, the feature is too small to be the pectoral fin of a fish.  

Green Lizard in Germany Showing Tympanum

Most interesting to me (as a person who has studied the Dacian wolf-headed draco in considerable detail) is the pronounced furrowing of the muzzle and the total lack of scalation present there.  The furrowed muzzle is clearly meant to portray a snarling beast, and the one whose muzzle most perfectly accords with this image is the wolf.  

In fact, the correspondence of the draco muzzle with that of a snarling wolf is so complete that the number of furrows on the former match those found on the canine.  Thus while the Niederbieber Draco is often said to be just that - a dragon - a major element of it retains an important component of the Dacian draco, i.e. the wolf.  

I would then conclude that the Niederbieber Draco is a composite (tripartite) beast, part lizard, part bird and part wolf. That is, if we ascribe to its maker a rudimentary knowledge of natural history!