UTHER PENDRAGON/ILLTUD: LOVE HIM OR LEAVE HIM?

The River Leadon

In a NOTE added to the beginning of the following post -

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2018/10/how-welsh-tradition-confirms-that.html

I came to the conclusion that the mysterious 'Llydaw' mentioned in Welsh sources as being somewhere in or near central Wales is, in fact, the Vale of Leadon.  Illtud, i.e. Uther Pendragon, came from this 'Llydaw.'

As such, he was demonstrably British and not Irish or Hiberno-Irish.  And it is the latter characteristic that he must have if we are to link him successfully with Arthur.  For, as I've made very plain many times in the past, all Arthurs subsequent to the most famous one belong to Irish-founded kingdoms in Britain.

It is with incredible reluctance, then, that I must dispense with Uther/Illtud as Arthur's father.  The Galfridian tradition, in this regard, is flawed. I had reached this conclusion already in my book THE BEAR KING: ARTHUR AND THE IRISH IN WALES AND SOUTHERN ENGLAND (https://www.amazon.com/Bear-King-Arthur-Southern-England/dp/1548982954).  But my desire to somehow salvage Uther drove me to explore the problem anew - if for no other reason than to pursue and preserve intellectual honesty.

The evidence for Arthur as Cerdic of Wessex/Ceredig son of Cunedda is, taken as a whole, rather overwhelming.  For those interested in judging my argument for themselves, I urge you to read my book.  Otherwise, I will end up endlessly repeating myself here and I would prefer to avoid such a redundant exercise.

Geoffrey of Monmouth told a splendid story.  More than anyone else, he established the Arthurian legend.  But - and this is a huge "but" - he also took creative license to extreme.  For well over a decade, I've come to realize through exhaustive analysis and cross-comparison of his HISTORY OF THE KINGS OF BRITAIN that there is precious little history contained in that volume's pages.  Uther as Arthur's father is a case of adaptive fiction.  If you don't know who Arthur's father was, and yet you need such a figure for your tale, then you look around in whatever sources are at your disposal until you find a presentable and impressive candidate.  And Geoffrey found such a candidate in Illtud, the terribilis miles.