YET ANOTHER REASON WHY ARTHUR WAS SAID TO HAVE BEEN BORN AT TINTAGEL?

Church of St. Materiana, Tintagel

Many scholars (myself included) have provided explanations for why Geoffrey of Monmouth chose Tintagel as Arthur's birthplace.  Now, as I result of my work on Uther at Dinas Powis near the Ely River, I may have another reason.

According to the 'Pa Gur', Mabon son of Modron was Uther's servant in Ely.  Illtud, whom I've just identified with Uther, brought his wife to the court of Pawl Penychen.  It is my belief this court was the Dinas Powis fort.

At Tintagel, the earliest known church is that of St. Materiana, the 'Holy Mother.'  While this saint's name is subject to various alternate spellings, she has been most strongly linked to Madrun/Madryn, or Matrona, the divine mother of Mabon.

In my book THE MYSTERIES OF AVALON, I proposed that the Tintagel promontory was, in fact, the Roman period Herakleous Akron or Promontory of Herakles. The name Eigr would appear to be a reflection of Hera Akraia as the mother of Herakles and/or a designation for the promontory itself.  Arthur's conception story matches not only that of the Irish Mongan, but of Herakles himself.  The idea, then, is that Arthur, metaphorically speaking, is a Hercules and his mother is a goddess - or, one might say, a divine mother, i.e. Modron.

The actual birthplace of Arthur would, undoubtedly, have been Dinas Powis in Glamorgan.