UTHER PENDRAGON BY SIMPLE PROCESS OF ELIMINATION

Over the past several months I've quested after the Questing Beast that is Uther Pendragon.  Having concluded my systematic search, I can offer only four GENUINE candidates for this supposed father of Arthur.  My criteria is pretty basic: only those Dark Age chieftains who bore either Welsh names or Latin titles that could be rendered by Uther Pendragon qualify.  Of these four candidates, only two are credible chronologically.  For details on these various Uthers, I urge my readers to check out the relevant past posts.

1) Amlawdd Wledig of Ercing, from an earlier Welsh Anblaud Wledig, 'the very terrible/horrible ruler.'  This man is said to be the father of Eigr, Uther's wife and Arthur's mother.  Eigr, however, is a fiction, a personification of the Tintagel headland or an epithet for the goddess Hera.  I discussed her comprehensively in my book THE MYSTERIES OF AVALON.  It is difficult, though, to explain why a perfectly good Welsh name and title would be rendered by another such! Amlawdd/Anblaud,  whose daughters are the mothers of heroes who are all cousins of Arthur, does not appear in Geoffrey of Monmouth's pages.

2) St. Illtud, said in his VITA to be the cousin of Arthur.  He is referred to as 'terribilis miles', the terrible warrior, and has other military titles which accord very well with Pendragon.  Uther's servant Mabon, according to the 'Pa Gur' poem, is placed in Ely, where Illtud served as master of soldiers.  Unfortunately, there is nothing in the VITA to indicate that Arthur was Illtud's son.  Still, in terms of a perfect rendering of Welsh Uther Pendragon, I can find nothing more suitable than Illtud as he is described in his VITA. In Geoffrey of Monmouth, Illtud appears as Eldadus of Gloucester (this last being an error for Glywysing).

3) Urien of Rheged, if the 'Marwnat Vthyr Pen' is about this chieftain's decapitated head.  Urien is much too late to have been Arthur's father.  If Ceidio son of Arthwys is Arthur, then it may be significant that Urien's sister Efrddyl married Ceidio's/Arthur's brother, Eliffer of York.  In a corrupt TRIAD we find a certain Arthur Penuchel 'the Overlord', son of Eliffer.  Geoffrey of Monmouth knew of Urien, however, and associated him by name with Arthur in his HISTORY OF THE KINGS OF BRITAIN.  

4) The 'terrible warrior/man' (of Manannan Mac Lir) of the Irish COMPERT MONGAIN.  The terrible warrior in the short version of this tale is a reference to a variant spelling of Degsastan.  The date is wrong and the episode is wholly mythical.  Geoffrey may have used the transformation of Manannan into Fiachnae for his Uther-Merlin story, although (as I pointed out in my THE MYSTERIES OF AVALON) the Herakles birth story contains the same motif and Tintagel may have been (or been mistaken for) the Promontory of Herakles of Ptolemy. 

That, then, is my "summary" of Uther candidates.  One may be the real Uther, but even if so it doesn't follow that Uther was necessarily Arthur's father.  In fact, Uther may have been little more than a "filler generation", meant to make up the gap between Ambrosius and Arthur.

A fifth candidate was written about in some detail in two previous blog posts: a man named Julian after previous famous Roman Julians, viz. Emperor Julian the Apostate and Julian the son of Constantine III. Such a person, based out of Dark Age York, is a purely hypothetical construct.  We would have to assume that this Julian belonged to the House of Eliffer/Eleutherius and that he went by the title Uther Pendragon because of the pronounced dragon characteristics attached to the earliest Julian. While this personage appears attractive for several reasons, I again warn that I have absolutely no evidence for his existence.  But for those who are interested in Roman period parallels, I urge you to carefully read or re-read the following articles.

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2017/08/a-new-paradigm-for-vortigern-and-uther_24.html

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2017/10/julian-dragon-and-his-draco-standard.html

THE DACIAN DRAGON ON TRAJAN'S COLUMN and THE FIRST COHORT OF DACIANS, HADRIAN'S OWN, AT BIRDOSWALD

A very nice site portraying the scenes of Trajan's Column:

http://www.trajans-column.org/?page_id=107

These photos are courtesy Wikipedia's article on the 'Dacian Draco':

Wikipedia also has an excellent article on the Dacian unit stationed at Banna/Birdoswald in the Irthing Valley of Arthwys, father of Ceidio/Arthur:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohors_I_Aelia_Dacorum

Another nice page on the Dacians at Birdoswald:

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/birdoswald-roman-fort-hadrians-wall/history-and-stories/the-people-of-birdsowald/

ARTHUR/CEIDIO SON OF ARTHWYS IT IS!

The following is a selection from an older post. I'm offering it here again for one simple reason: I'm now convinced that trying to pin down a real Uther Pendragon is an exercise in futility.  The name - or title - readily can be attached to any number of Dark Age chieftains.  Over time, I've suggested Ambrosius (who was never even in Britain),  Anblaud ("the very terrible") Wledig, Cunedda, Sawyl Benisel, St. Illtud, Urien of Rheged and the 'terrible warrior' or Manannan Mac Lir of the Irish COMPERT MONGAIN.  According to the "Gwarchan Maeldderw", the red dragon actually belonged to Vortigern! At one point I even pointed out the parallels between Uther and Julian, son of Constantine III (see https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2017/10/julian-dragon-and-his-draco-standard.html).   

What I keep coming back to is what seems like far more than a mere coincidence: the presence of both Dacians and Thracians in the Irthing Valley during the Roman period.  The Arthwys or 'man of the Arth' (an eponym not unlike Welsh Glywys, 'man of Glevum/Gloucester') who I've proposed as the father of Arthur/Ceidio may well have been a man who inherited the draco standard from these military units. He may thus have come to be referred to as the 'terrible chief-dragon' or even the 'terrible magister draconum.'  

While it remains true, of course, that Uther Pendragon could be nothing more than a borrowed figure or even utter fiction invented by Geoffrey of Monmouth, I urge my readers to go over this short piece again and consider the possibility that the father of Uther belongs the Banna Roman fort...

Sarmatian Draconarius from Chester

In my book THE ARTHUR OF HISTORY, I made a case for the Banna Roman fort at Birdoswald towards the western end of Hadrian's Wall as one of the possible ruling centers of King Arthur (alkthough I finally opted for the Roman fort at Stanwix).  At the same time I pointed out the proximity to this fort of another named Camboglanna, modern Castlesteads, which I thought might be Arthur's Camlann.  Just a few miles further to the west lay the fort of Aballava (variant Avalana), perhaps the factual basis for the legend of Avalon. Both Birdoswald and Castlesteads lay in the Irthing Valley.  Place-name expert Dr. Andrew Breeze had made the case for this river-name deriving from a Cumbric word meaning 'Little Bear.'  I had suggested that the Northern British chieftain Arthwys belonged here or that his name might well be an earlier territorial designation for the Irthing region.  More recently I was assured by North British place-name expert Alan James that the terminal of the Irthing may simply be that used in several other river-names, and that this may simply represent the 'Bear River.'

Something I didn't take into account was a possible connection with Uther Pendragon. While it is fashionable (and quite likely correct!) that this name/title means something akin to 'the terrible chief-warrior or chief-leader', I had once, more or less playfully, suggested Pendragon could stand for the known late Roman military rank of magister draconum, that is the head of the corp that carried the dragon standard. 

As it happens, the draco (see http://www.fectio.org.uk/articles/draco.htm) is traced to a number of cavalry peoples of the steppes, including Thracians and Dacians.  Some scholars have argued for the actual origin of the draco among the Dacians (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacian_Draco).  The Thracians themselves possessed a draco-like standard. Why are these facts significant in the context of Birdoswald and Castlesteads?

Because according to the NOTITIA DIGNITATUM, the First Cohort of the Dacians, Hadrian's Own, 1000-strong, was based at Birdoswald (see https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/org/2964).  Also, the First Cohort of Thracians appears with the Dacians on an inscription recording the building of the granary in the early 3rd century. 

When I first wrote about Arthur as Ceidio son of Arthwys of the Irthing Valley, I did not feel the argument was entirely convincing. But once we look at this candidate again in sufficient detail, I now feel differently.  

What we have with Ceidio is a man bearing a 'Battle-leader' name (= Arthur's dux erat bellorum title), who is born at a place named for a Bear River.  His father is claimed to also have had a son named Eliffer/Eleutherius, the ruler of York.  The York of the famous second century Lucius Artorius Castus. The same Eliffer who is given a son named Arthur Penuchel ('Overlord') in a corrupt TRIAD.  Ceidio's son was Gwenddolau, lord of Myrddin/Merlin.  Camlann and Avalon are both in close vicinity to Banna/Birdoswald, and all of Arthur's battles are to be found north and south of Hadrian's Wall, mostly along the Roman road of Dere Street.

While in my book THE BEAR KING I tried to make a case for Ceredig son of Cunedda/Cerdic of the Gewissei being Arthur, I'm now fairly certain that if he were, it's only because the real Northern Arthur was relocated in legend to the South.  One thing I have definitely concluded: the Arthur who is found in Chapter 56 of Nennius's HISTORIA BRITTONUM owed his name to that of York's Lucius Artorius Castus.  And this means that he belongs to the North, and that he must have ruled from a place with close ties to York.  The Stanwix/Uxellodunum Roman fort between the Irthing Valley's Camboglanna/Camlann and the 'Avalon' at Aballava/Avalana was the Roman command center of the Wall and as such was the most likely place to have maintained this kind of special relationship with York.  Etterby adjoining Stanwix was actually locally known as 'Arthur's burg.'

More on all this can be found below.  This is from yet another old post, much of the material of which was eventually incorporated into my book THE ARTHUR OF HISTORY...

In the Welsh genealogies we encounter a chieftain of the North named Eliffer Gosgorddfawr (Eleutherius of the Great Retinue). Eliffer’s epithet is significant. This ‘great retinue’ may be a memory either of the Sixth Legion, which was stationed at York, or of a comitatensis.

Eliffer’s real father is thought to have been one ARTHWYS (although see Chapter 5 and Appendix II for this personal name as a possible territorial designation) and he had a son named Peredur, the Welsh form of the Roman rank of Praetor (hence the later Peredur son of Ebrauc, the latter being an eponym for the city of Eboracum/York, headquarters of the Roman praetor).

During the Roman period, the governor of Northern Britain at York was a Praetor, or to be more specific, a Praetorian Prefect. I do not hold to the idea that Peredur is instead from *Pritorix, the handsome king, fair-shaped king (see Rachel Bromwich’s Triads of the Island of Britain, p. 561).

Eleutherius is a Greek name, and these were popular in northern Europe in the 5th century. It means "Liberator", and this is certainly significant.

Why? Because York is famous for its association with Constantine the Great, who not only declared himself emperor while at the city, but went out of his way to present himself as the Liberator of Rome and, indeed, of the world (see

laweb.usc.edu/centers/clhc/events/feature/documents/Lenski_ConstantineUSC.pdf). Greek writers, of course, when speaking of him as the Liberator used words derived from eleutheros/ eleutheria.

I would surmise that a sort of "cult" of Constantine the Great might have existed in 5th century York and that Eleutherius as a name was actually originally derived from Constantine's Liberator title. [The ‘The Twenty-Four Mightiest Kings’, Custennin Fendigaid, i.e. the Welsh version of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Constantine III, is called Waredwr, ‘the Deliverer’. This suggests that Constantine III was here confused with the earlier Constantine the Liberator.]

Eliffer's sons Peredur and Gwrgi are recorded as fighting at a place called Caer Greu (‘Fort Greu’) and at Arfderydd/Arthuret just NW of Carlisle. Greu has been tentatively related to W. creu, ‘blood’. I would propose that Caer Greu/Creu is

Carrawburgh, i.e. the Roman fort of Brocolitia, on Hadrian’s Wall. English 'Carrawburgh' could easily reflect something like very early Old Welsh *'Cair Carrou'. The extant form of 'Caer Greu' could be the regular Middle Welsh reflex of this. Carrawburgh is not far from Corbridge, where Arthur's Dubglas River battles were fought (see Chapter 3).

Their presence at Arthuret shows that they were active in the same area as Arthur, who died in battle at Castlesteads/Camboglanna on the Wall not far to the east (see again Chapter 3).

Eliffer’s wife Efrddyl, daughter of Cynfarch son of Merchiaun, is said to have had three children: Gwrgi, Peredur and either Ceindrech or Arddun Benasgell (sometimes called 'Wing-head'; however, as asgell can also mean 'spear' or even 'wing of an army', her epithet may mean instead either 'Spear-head', a reference to her weapon, or 'Spear-chieftain', or even 'Chieftain of the Army Wing'). Arddun is elsewhere said to be the daughter of Pabo Post Prydyn. But in the slightly corrupt Jesus College MS. 20, Arddun’s name is replaced by ARTHUR PENUCHEL.

Rachel Bromwich discussed this supposed corruption in her revised edition of ‘The Triads of the Island of Britain”, and I am quoting her here in full:

“Ardun Pen Askell is probably the correct form of the name of the sister of Gwrgi and Peredur… But if is likely that it is this name which has been corrupted to arthur penuchel in Jes. Gens. 20… The manuscript is of the turn of the 14th/15th century, but with indications of having been copied from an earlier exemplar… These points suggest that the triad may be as old as any that hav been preserved in the earlier collections… And in fact the context in which the triad is cited in Jes. Gens. 20 points to the probable source which inspired its composition This is the allusion to the progeny of Nefyn daughter of Brychan which is contained in the tract De Situ Brecheniauc, preserved in a thirteenth century manuscript, which has been copied from one of perhaps the eleventh century.”

We should pay a bit more attention to this alteration.

Why? Firstly, although it has been customary to view the alteration as a corruption, we cannot be sure that this is so in this particular context. It could represent, in fact, a CORRECTION or even a SUBSTITUTION.

Or an ADDITION: in 'The Dialogue of Myrddin and Taliesin", we are told of the "seven sons of Eliffer.”  While this may be mere poetic rhetoric, the possibility that Eliffer had sons in addition to Peredur and Gwrgi leaves for an Arthur among them.

The truly remarkable thing about this “corruption” of Arthur Penuchel is that it is found attached to the royal house of York – the one place we know of that had seen a Roman period camp prefect named Artorius, and the one place where the name may have been remembered by Britons claiming Romano-British descent. This is simply too big of a coincidence, in this author’s opinion. Of all the other lines of descent for the Men of the North the name could have been attached to, it was attached only to the family of Eliffer/Eleutherius.

What we may have then, is this: a southern pedigree running Cynfarch-Constantine-Uther- Arthur and a northern one that is very similar, but relies upon the maternal line, i.e. Cynfarch, brother of Urien/Uther Pen- Efrddyl daughter of

Cynfarch, brother of Urien and wife of Eleutherius/”Constantine”-Arthur.

The Arthwys preferred as the father of Eliffer displays the Celtic arth, 'bear', component and the Welsh interpreted the Arth- of Arthur in the same way. Recently, the Roman name Artorius as been etymologized as deriving ultimately from the Celtic, meaning "Bear-king" (see Stefan Zimmer’s “The Name of Arthur – A New Etymology”, Journal of Celtic Linguistics, 13, 2009, 131- 6; there, Artorius is shown to be from Celtic *Arto-rig-ios, ‘Bear-king’). If the arth/’bear’ component was already in Arthwys’s family, then it is not unreasonable to suppose that his grandson also bore this component as part of his own name. The name Arthur is indisputably from the Roman Artorius.

Penuchel, the epithet assigned to this Arthur, is given a couple different meanings. Patrick K. Ford of Harvard, translator of the Mabinogion, rendered Penuchel (in the context of Sawyl Penuchel of Samlesbury hard by Ribchester) as ‘Overlord’. The GPC dictionary, on the other hand, reading it as ‘high-head’, gives it a transferred sense of ‘haughty, arrogant’. 'Overlord' would fit the context better, as this would be a good description of the role Arthur is said to have played in the 'Historia Brittonum' of Nennius. When I wrote to Professor Ford and asked him why he had chosen the rendering 'Overlord', he replied:

"The answer is a choice based on context and the semantic fields of penn and uchel."

It should be stressed that Penuchel as an epithet for Sawyl of Ribchester is a later replacement for an earlier Penisel, 'low-head' or 'the humble' – perhaps better, 'under-lord'.

Granted, the established chronology for the Eliffer dynasty does not exactly support my contention that Arthur of the North was a son of Eliffer. Obviously, Arthur was not a contemporary of Urien! But Arthur may have been born to

Eliffer and Efrddyl very early on, while their sons

Gwrci and Peredur were produced years later.

Finally, the chronologies that have been worked out for these early Men of the North are rough approximations and thus cannot be relied upon for any kind of precise dating.  I will discuss below the very real possibility that Arthur was not a son of Eliffer, but his brother.

The Dalriadan Connection

At this point in our exploration of Arthur’s real parentage, we must pause to consider the implications of the intrusion of the founder of the Scottish Dalriadan dynasty into the early British pedigrees. For sources on the following details, please see P.C. Bartram’s relevant works.

I’ve already mentioned that Arthwys was the father of Eliffer – but this is so only in the PREFERRED genealogy. Preferred primarily for the purposes of establishing a reasonable chronology, that is. But an early version of Eliffer’s pedigree lists Gwrwst Ledlwm as his father. Because this Gwrwst is said to have had a son name Dyfnarth, P. K. Johnstone long ago suggested that Dyfnarth was, in fact, Domangart, son of Fergus Mor of Dalriada. I agree with his assessment, and for good reason: Arthwys’s father is said to be one Mar, whose name is spelled Mor in later versions of the pedigree.

In other words, Mar/Mor = Fergus Mor = Gwrwst

Ledlwm. [Mor is ‘great’ in Irish, but the cognate word in Welsh was mawr. Mor in Welsh means ‘sea’.]

Mar is also made the father of Lleenog, father of Gwallog of Elmet. But a conflicting genealogy claims that Lleenog’s father was one Maeswig. Mar (and his son Arthwys) are also thrust into the pedigree of Pabo Post Prydyn, otherwise the

son of Ceneu.

Arthur of Dalriada is made variously the son of Aedan or of his son, Conaing (the latter name being a borrowing of English cyning, ‘king’, and so merely a confused reference to Aedan himself as King of Dalriada?). This Dalriadan Arthur was named after his more famous predecessor, who according to a corrupt source may have been a son of Eliffer of York (although see below for Arthur as a brother of Eliffer).

Why Was Arthur’s Parentage Forgotten?

It was only natural for Arthur to become attached to Ambrosius as Uther Pendragon, for other than Arthur, Ambrosius – though a fiction transplanted from Gaul - was the most famous commander of the period. The process was undoubtedly made easier by the supposed Constantine connection, something that became attached to Dumnonia in the southwest of England precisely because the royal house there had as its semi-legendary progenitor Geraint, himself patterned after Gerontius, the British magister militum of Constantine III. York, too, had its “cult of Constantine (the Great).” Thus it was not difficult to transfer Arthur from the region of York to that of Dumnonia.

But none of this explains why Arthur’s real father’s name was forgotten.  As it turns out, I believe this may have happened precisely because Arthur himself went by another name.

The personage we will be considering was not a son of Eliffer of York, but actually his brother.

                                                         Jet bear from Bottle, Lancashire

                                         Sardonyx cameo of a bear found 

                                                        at the Roman fort of Arbeia, South 

                                                        Shields, Tyne and Wear

   1st-2nd century AD Roman discoid jasper 

  plaque with chamfered rear edge, intaglio image 

   of an advancing bear with tree behind.

Arthur Dux Bellorum and Ceidio son of Arthwys

There has always been a problem with the ‘dux bellorum’ title applied to the legendary Arthur.

To begin, there is a misconception that the socalled title actually appears this way in the text of Nennius’s Latin HISTORIA BRITTONUM. In fact, it does not. The text actually reads ‘sed ipse dux erat bellorum’, ‘but he himself was leader of battles’. As has been discussed before by experts in early Medieval Latin who have studied Nennius, this is NOT a title. It cannot be equated, therefore, with the dux legionum rank of the third century Roman Lucius Artorius Castus, who led a single campaign against the Armenians. It certainly can’t be compared with the same man’s rank of praefectus (castrorum) of the Sixth Legion at York. For a good discussion of the ranks held by LAC, see http://www.christophergwinn.com/celticstudies

/lac/lac.html.

This description applied to Arthur in the HB seems to have led to him being referred to in subsequent sources as simply a miles or ‘soldier.’ The idea has often been floated that this means Arthur was not a king and, in fact, may not even have been of royal blood. Truth is, Arthur may not have been king – if he predeceased his father, for instance. We do not have to resort to the 2nd-3rd century Roman soldier Lucius

Artorius Castus to account for the 5th-6^th century chieftain being considered only a ‘leader of battles.’

But if not a title, could this Latin phrase have designated a secondary, purely British name belonging to Arthur?

Myself and others have pointed out that attested early names such as Cadwaladr, (“Catu-walatros) ‘Battle-leader’, Caderyn (Catu-tigernos), ‘Battle-lord’, Cadfael (Catu-maglos), ‘Battle-prince’, Caturix (a Gaulish god), ‘Battle-king’, could have yielded a description such as ‘dux erat bellorum’. No names of this nature appear to have been known in the North (where I’ve shown Arthur to belong) during the Arthurian period.

However, it has recently occurred to me that my tentative genealogical trace of Arthur to Arthwys, the latter being a name or a regional designation of the valley of the River Irthing on the western part of Hadrian’s Wall, may hold the clue to unraveling the dux bellorum mystery. Arthur died at Camboglanna/Castlesteads on the Cambeck, a tributary of the Irthing.

The son of Arthwys in the genealogies is given as Ceidio, born c. 490 (according to P.C. Bartram), quite possibly the same chieftain whose son is mentioned in the ancient Gododdin poem as ‘mab Keidyaw’. John Koch and others have discussed Ceidio as a by-form of a longer two element name beginning with *Catu-/Cad-, ‘Battle’.

Dr. Simon Rodway was kind enough to write the following to me on Ceidio:

“Ceidiaw is a 'pet' form of a name in *katu- 'ba tle' with the common hypocoristic ending -iaw (> Mod. Welsh -(i)o) found in Teilo (Old Welsh Teliau) etc., and still productive today (Jaco, Ianto etc.). And yes, it's not possible to say what the second element would have been. But the forms you suggest [Cadwaladr, Cateryn] are among the candidates, especially as this man was a chieftain of Y Gogledd [the North] at the head of some of the royal genealogies. ”

In other words, this Ceidio would originally have had a full-name of the type Cadwaladr or Cateryrn. Unfortunately, we can never know what the second “dropped” element of his name might originally have been. However, if Roman naming practices had been preserved in the North during Arthur’s time, we would reasonably expect a form such as X Artorius Z, where X, the praenomen, was the given name, Artorius was the nomen, i.e. gens or clan name, and Z was the cognomen, i.e. the name of the family line within the gens. A Cad- name, shortened to Ceidio, might well have been one of Arthur’s other names.

Of course, by the time of the 5th-6th centuries, the Roman gens name Artorius may well have been given to a prince as his praenomen. If the name had retained its status as a gens name, then that would mean someone in the Irthing River region actually traced his descent from Lucius Artorius Castus. While this could be either a genuine or fabricated trace, it is also possible the name was remembered as belonging to a famous figure of legend and passed on to a favorite son for that reason alone.

In the contents description of the Harleian recension of Nennius, we find the phrase ‘Arturo rege belligero’, something usually translated as “King Arthur the warrior”. More accurately, this is ‘Arthur the warlike or martial king’. Suppose we allow for rege belligero as an attempt at a literal Latin rendering of something like Cadwaladr or Cateryn?

The fifth century St. Patrick, who I’ve shown came from the Banna fort on Hadrian’s Wall at modern Birdoswald on the Irthing, is known to have had a typical Roman style ‘three-part’ name: Patricius Magonus Sucatus. Patricius is believed to have been his Christian name, assumed after his conversion, but it is just as possible he bore a classic Roman-structured name from birth.

If I’m right about Arthur being a son of Arthwys – or being FROM Arthwys – and we can allow for Ceidio son of Arthwys having originally born a name like Cadwaladr or Cateryn, then it is not inconceivable that Arthur DOES appear in the Northern genealogies after all.

Arthur and Ceidio would be one and the same man.

I HAVE, ONCE AND FOR ALL, SOLVED THE MYSTERY OF UTHER PENDRAGON'S IDENTITY

NOTE: Since writing this piece, I went back and looked at a previous blog post -

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2018/11/i-am-he-who-is-called-gorlassar-uther.html

I also checked with the linguists on whether the 'kawell' of Uther's Pen Kawell could represent an attempt at Welsh cefyll (or Cornish kevyll).  Alas, Dr. Simon Rodway was quite adamant that "None of the horse-forms have -ell, so kawell cannot be for 'horse.'"  Thus Penkevel/St. Michael Penkevil in Cornwall is out, as is my proposed Pen Kefyll for the Ard Echde that is the Mull of Kintyre.

This brought me back to Kingscavil or Kincavel in what had been Manau Gododdin.  As Uther Pendragon seems to be Manannan mac Lir of the COMPERT MONGAIN (see below), and the name Manannan is related to that of the place-name Manau of Manau Gododdin, AND Manawydan son of Llyr is placed in Manau in the Welsh 'Pa Gur' poem, we must once again ask if Kingscavil = the PEN KAWELL where Uther is "transformed."

Assuming, of course, that Pen Kawell IS a place-name!  I will continue working on the problem... It may well be that my earlier translation of the line was correct and that it should read "Our Lord, chief of the sanctuary (pen cafell), transforms me."  The sanctuary (temple, etc.) might be a poetic reference to the sky, as the following line reads "It is I who's a second luminary (specifically the dragon comet?) in the gloom."  God, presumably, is the first luminary.  In this case, the transformation of Uther into Gorlois, i.e. Gorlassar the 'very green/blue', is a reference to his being symbolized by the intensely green/blue and would not have anything to do with Manannan's assuming the form of Fiachnae to beget Mongan.  

Castle Dunaverty, Kintyre, Scotland

Castle Tarbert, Kintyre

Many years ago, in essays that eventually came together in my book THE MYSTERIES OF AVALON, I showed that Arthur's mother, Eigr, was a personification of a headland.  In the same work I examined the parallel tales of Arthur's birth and that of the Irish king Mongan.  Lastly, I suggested that Uther Pendragon may, at least in part, owe his origin to the 'terrible warrior/terrible man' present in the COMPERT MONGAIN.  Fairly recently I proposed that this terrible man owed his designation to one of the variant spellings for Degastan, and that, therefore, the location of the battle in the COMPERT MONGAIN was Dawston in Liddesdale.

For those who would like more background details on these matters, please see

https://secretsavalon.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-mysteries-of-avalon-chapter-twelve.html

and

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2017/10/degsastan-and-origin-of-mil-uathmarfer.html

Unfortunately, I did not pursue these ideas any further.  Until now, that is.  I decided I needed to look more closely at the Irish sources, just in case I had missed something important that might pertain to the true identity of Uther Pendragon.   My readers are urged to consult the Irish texts and translations for the two versions of COMPERT MONGAIN.  These may be found in the following excellent edition by Kuno Meyers:

https://archive.org/stream/voyageofbransono01meye#page/44/mode/2up

The moment I re-read the longer tale of the conception of Mongan, I realized I had, indeed, failed to make obvious observation.  For in this last source, Manannan mac Lir, the magical, shapeshifting god and prototype for Merlin in Geoffrey of Monmouth's story, is described thusly:

aenoglach mor mileta

"a single tall [or great/big] warlike/martial young man/warrior"

This did not immediately excite me, although it was not far from the terrible warrior/terrible man of the shorter version of the COMPERT.  In the second, longer version, the terrible warrior is not present in the narrative.  It was the clothing worn by Manannan that set off alarm bells:

brat uaine aendatha

"a green cloak of one color"

We will recall that Uther calls hims "Gorlassar" in the Elegy of Uther Pen, a word that can mean either very blue or very green.  I'd offered various ideas to account for the epithet, and occasionally patted myself on the back for coming up with this or that ingenious solution to the riddle.  But here was a very prosaic and common-sense explanation for gorlassar.  Uther is very green because he is wrapped in a green cloak.

Everything then came down to the 'Pen Kawell' found in the Uther Elegy.  I now believe this to be an error for Pen Kafall/Keffyl, 'the Head/Headland of the Horse.'  If so, this is clearly a reference to Ard ("Promontory") Echde, a Gaelic rendering of Ptolemy's Epidion Akron, the Mull of Kintyre.  Kintyre, literally 'End of the Land', shows the Irish Q-Celtic cenn, cognate with the P-Celtic pen found in Welsh. The Epidii were the 'horse-people', inhabitants of the Kintyre peninsula prior to the arrival of the Irish Dalriadans.

Ard Echde is known from fairly early on, as is evinced by its presence in early Irish saga.  The following is from

https://books.google.com/books?id=j2QGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA175&lpg=PA175&dq=Ard+echde%2BThe+Death+of+CuRoi&source=bl&ots=wM055tj0lv&sig=hXuCNn3NgBrg3ZlvbDM9M7EDYA8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjk5qKJ3PLeAhVrjlQKHbVtDbcQ6AEwCnoECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q=Ard%20echde%2BThe%20Death%20of%20CuRoi&f=false

Kintyre was also the home of Aedan son of Gabran, whose son was called Arthur. Aedan's son Conaing (an Irish borrowing of the English word cyning, 'king'), is also said to be the father of this particular Arthur, and I think what may have happened is that Aedan was the king/cyning/conaing in question, confused for a descendant in the genealogy.

Ultimately, then, Uther Pendragon/Gorlassar would be none other than Manannan Mac Lir.  His transformation, presumably into Fiachnae, is placed at Pen Kawell/Ard Echde/Epidion Akron/Mull of Kintyre.

The corollary to the Mongan birth story is that of his death at the hands of Arthur son of Bicoir the Briton.  I've elsewhere made my case for this being Arthur sonof Petuir/Petr/Pedr of Dyfed.  This Arthur is said to kill Mongan with a stone (identified as a 'dragon-stone' in one text).  I suspect this motif was introduced because Petr = Latin Petrus, 'stone, rock.'  Irish also has an obscure word art, 'stone.'

From the ANNALS OF TIGERNACH:

T627.6
Mongan son of Fiachna Lurgan, stricken with a stone by Artur son of Bicoir Britone died. Whence Bec Boirche said:

Cold is the wind over Islay;
There are warriors in Cantyre,
They will commit a cruel deed therefor,
They will kill Mongan son of Fiachna.

And from THE VOYAGE OF BRAN:

58. 'He will be-his time will be short--
Fifty years in this world:
A dragonstone from the sea will kill him
In the fight at Senlabor.

I find myself, as a result of this "revelation", both satisfied and, curiously, dissatisfied.  It has always been my goal to find a real-life Uther Pendragon.  Alas, there is no such man.  We have had an Irish god made into the father of the Arthur of the HISTORIA BRITTONUM.  While it is true that Aedan of Dalriada was of Kintyre, we are nowhere told that the tall, green-cloaked, warlike man who was Manannan sired Aedan's son Arthur.

The Arthur made famous in Nennius and the Welsh Annals is still, regrettably, fatherless.

I can say one thing, though, with a fair degree of certainty: Geoffrey of Monmouth substituted his Tintagel headland for that of the Mull of Kintye/Pen Kawell.  And as he has Arthur born at Tintagel, and it is reasonable to assume that Arthur son of Aedan was born on Kintyre, we are more or less forced to concede that the prototype for Geoffrey's Arthur, at any rate, was Arthur of Dalriada.

The good news in all this is that I no longer feel bound to find an Arthur who is in any real, historical sense associated with an Uther Pendragon.

Coming Soon: I HAVE, ONCE AND FOR ALL, SOLVED THE MYSTERY OF UTHER PENDRAGON'S IDENTITY

Dunaverty Castle, Kintyre, Scotland

Tarbert Castle, Kintyre

A big announcement coming up.  Should have it posted within a few days... 

"I AM HE WHO IS CALLED GORLASSAR": UTHER AND THE LOCATION OF HIS TRANSFORMATION

Neu vi a elwir gorlassar:
It’s I who’s called 'the very blue/green'

- from the Elegy of Uther Pen

The translation offered would be the literal interpretation of the line.

I've discussed the possible significance of the term in the context of Uther here:

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-transformation-of-uther-pendragon.html

I also have worked on the following line -

a’m rithwy am dwy pen kawell.

- to produce a possible reading of "Our Lord, chief of the sanctuary, transforms me."

However, I've since taken another look at the very troublesome 'pen kawell' of this line.  While chief of the sanctuary was acceptable, what I wondered is whether Pen Kawell could actually be a place-name. I did not expect this line of inquiry to produce any results, but was surprised by what I found.

Kingscavil - Pen Kawell? - and Surrounding Manau Place-Names

In West Lothian, Scotland, there is a place called Kingscavil.  This place-name may well derive from an earlier British Pen Kawell!  Noted North British place-name expert Alan James, through private communication with colleague John Wilkinson, was kind enough to provide me with this information on the etymology for Kingscavil.  I've taken the liberty of highlighting the most important passage in this entry.

Cf Snowdonia’s Llyn Cwellyn (cawell + llyn) ‘creel lake’ (Jones 1998).

†*Hill of KINGSCAVIL, Linlithgow c450ft/137m (Hill of Kuikauil [sic = Kinkauil]

1630) An earlier name for the Parklycraigs ridge, tipped by Nancy’s Hill. It may be the feature which gave Kingscavil its original name [NT0276].

NANCY’S Hill, Linlithgow c450ft/137m (Hill of Kuikauil [sic = Kinkauil] 1636

Pont, sic OS1) Again presumably literal, with the sort of name (John and Ann) that could commemorate myth, legend or at least folklore. Along the Parkly Craigs ridge to the east of Jock’s Hill with which it makes a lovely couple of humps, even if quarried to the north. Perhaps earlier †*Hill of Kingscavil [NT024759]. Also tree-covered by Nancy’s Hill Plantation (sic OS1), really two but named as one, as OSNB insist on telling us.

KINGSCAVIL, Linlithgow (Kincauill 1307, Kyncaville 1315-21, Kyncawel 1325,

Kingcavill 1378, Kingscavill 1457, Kincawill 1531, Kincauil c1590, Kingcavell 1688 Ret ii, 265, Kingcavill 1690 Ret ii, 270, sic x 3 OS1; locally Kings-CAVE-ull /kɪŋz'ke:vl/) It may be nothing to do with kings or cavils (ie Sc cavil ‘allotment of land’) as some think (GTSS, 107-9), but perhaps ScG ceann ‘headland, bluff’ + ScG cabhuil ‘creel’: ‘fishing-creel-head, or end’ with reference to the former loch (see PNWL, 60). Yet this too may be from Welsh, W pen ‘head’+ W cawell ‘creel’ ie *Pen(n)kauell: ‘head of creel(-ridge)’ or perhaps W cefn/cein ‘ridge’ + W cawell, and referent to the humped ridge tipped by Nancy’s Hill (hil of kincauil c1590, Hill of Kuikauil [sic for Kinkauil] 1636): Macdonald records ‘several references to saxum de Kincavill’ L saxum ‘rock’ and Kincavill Quarry (sic 1986) provided stone for James VI’s reconstruction of Linlithgow Palace (DWL, 87): see WLQR. In the early sources it is often linked to Caldorcler: see East Calder.The first OS maps offer three locations, the second being today’s [NT028767; NT030764; NT031763]. Also †*Easter Kingscavil (Easter Kincavill 1691, Easter-Kinkavil 1710) Sc easter ‘east’ [lost], †*Wester Kingscavil (Wester Kingkavill 1647) Sc wester ‘west’ [lost], †Mains (Mains of Kincavill 1569) Sc mains ‘home farm’ [lost]. See Park.

If Kingscavil is Pen Kawell, I would revise my reading of the poem's line to read:

"Our Lord transforms me at Pen Kawell."

Why might this be significant?

Well, Kingscavil lies between Clackmannan, Slamannan and Dalmeny.  All three place-names are believed to contain the element designating Manau or Manau Gododdin.  Dalmeny is not certainly a Manau  place-name, but the chance it is can be considered fairly high:

303 Watson 1926, 354. Dalmeny WLO, Dunmanyn 1214. Watson 1926, 104, 354, 515 n104, Macdonald 1941, 3‒4, is a very puzzling name. Perhaps + *mejni, plural of *majn ‘stone’, but it does not show forms with -meny until 1587. Alternatively, perhaps it involves a saint’s or other personal name (Taylor’s discussion of Kilmany FIF, Taylor 2010, 456‒57, should be taken into consideration). The territorial name Manau cannot be ruled out: Watson’s and Macdonald’s rejection of this possibility implies greater certainty than seems justified regarding the boundaries of that territory  

http://www.clanntuirc.co.uk/JSNS/V7/JSNS7.pdf

Dalmeny WLo CPNS pp. 104 and 515 n104, PNWLo pp. 3-4 ? + -maɣn- (which see) ? + -īn, or else the territorial name -*Mannan , see *man- 

  *man- 

IE *mṇ- (zero-grade of *men- ‘jut, project’, see mönïδ, *mönju and *mönǭg) > eCelt *mon- > Br * Mon-, Man- (in p-ns), cf. (< IE participial *mṇ-t-) W mant ‘mouth, lip’; OIr Man- (in p-ns); cf. (< IE o-grade *mon-) O-MnIr, G moniu ‘upper back’; cf. (IE *men-) Latin mentum ‘chin’, prōmineō ‘I project’. The Indo-European status of this root is supported by Hittite and Avestan forms, see OIPrIE §18.5 at p. 298, but cf. Sims-Williams (2000) at pp 3-4. See also mönïδ. The root implies ‘projecting’, especially of facial and other bodily features: in place-names, the sense is presumably ‘outstanding, prominent, high’. With the suffix –awā-, it is seen in the North in the territorial name Manaw HB14.62, CT59(V) (and probably CT29(XI)), and in OIr forms at AU[582]583, AT[579]583, AU[710]711, AT[710]711, but see LHEB §47(1), pp. 375-6, YGod(KJ) pp. 69 – 75, and discussion of Clackmannan under *clog. Elsewhere, a similar form underlies the Isle of Man, Ellan Vannin (see PNRB pp. 410-11 and DMxPN p xi) and Ynys Môn, Anglesey (see PNRB pp. 419-20, DPNW p. 17). There are as many as fourteen related place-names in Ireland (Anglicised Mannin etc.: D MacG Easpaig at SNSBI Conference, Douglas IoM, 7.4.2001). Manaw, like Ynys Môn and some of the Irish places, is not outstandingly mountainous, and some other sense seems needed. A deity-name, perhaps associated with water, might be indicated – cf. the legendary personal name Manawydan/ Manannán (see PCB pp. 412 ets, DCML pp. 139-40, DCM pp. 285- 6) – or else an ethnic name: see Muhr (2002) at p. 41.  

http://spns.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2017/04/Alan_James_Brittonic_Language_in_the_Old_North_BLITON_Volume_II_Dictionary.pdf

As is well known to students of Dark Age Britain, the great Cunedda, whose son was the Ceredig/Cerdic of Wessex I have put forward as a good candidate for Arthur, is said to have hailed from Manau Gododdin.  In reality, as I have proven conclusively, Cunedda was from Drumanagh in Ireland, but the Welsh tradition about Cunedda's origin in the North persisted.  Yet regardless of where he came from, he is said to have brought Ceredig with him.

In Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudo-history, the transformation of Uther into Gorlois (= the gorlassar description Uther claims for himself in the elegy) took place at Tintagel in Cornwall.  Many writers, including myself, have dealt rather exhaustively with the political motivation behind Geoffrey's selection of Tintagel as Arthur's birthplace.  It has always been my belief that Arthur was born elsewhere.

Could it be that at some point in the development of the legend of Cunedda it was thought that he had come from Kingcavil in Manau Gododdin?  And that, at least in terms of the revised history of the Cunedda clan, Ceredig/Cerdic/Arthur had been born at Kingscavil?

Sure, we could propose that the Uther Pen who was present at Pen Kawell/Kingscavil was Urien of Rheged, whose head is memorialized in the CANU LLYWARCH HEN.  But Kingscavil seems more than a bit outside of the expected range of Urien's victories.  Instead, it seems logical to see an Uther Pen[dragon] of Kingscavil as Cunedda of Gwynedd with its well-known dragon associations.  

Please bear in mind that I've not yet determined how to properly appraise an identification of 'pen kawell' with Kingscavil. I merely cite the possible equivalency of the elegy words with a known place-name in the far North.  Clearly, I will need to think on this matter some more...

NOTE: There is a St. Michael's Penkevil and Penkevel in Cornwall ('Sanctus Michael of Penkevel’ 1261, 1264).  According to Cornish place-name expert Professor Oliver Padel, this is the 'Headland of the Horse' (cf. Welsh ceffyl).  The place does not seem very significant, and there is no fort or other noteworthy ancient site in the vicinity.  

THE TEXT OF 'PEN URIEN' FROM CANU LLYWARCH HEN

Celtic Head From Burgh-By-Sands, Cumbria

https://archive.org/details/canullywarchhen00llyw/page/12

The only truly good modern translation is in Jenny Rowland's EARLY WELSH SAGA POETRY.  Alas, I've not been able to obtain a copy of this book.  Early translations, like those of Skene, are woefully inadequate.  I did find this one online, but cannot vouch for its accuracy:

http://www.ronnowpoetry.com/contents/hen/HeadUrien.html

Again, it is my opinion that Uther Pen was originally the Dreadful Head of Urien Rheged, speaking its own elegy.  The word gorlassar is used only three times in early Welsh literature - twice of Urien and once of Uther.  Etc. As the Elegy of Uther Pen contains the following line -

neu vi a ledeis cant pen,
it was I who cut off a hundred heads,

- it would be extremely ironic if the speaker of the poem were the head of Urien. 

To summarize, I'm here supplying a passage written by Professor John Koch in CELTIC CULTURE: A HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA:

"One possibility is that the strange and strangely named
yspyªawt urªawl benn (feast of the stately head) around
Brân’s living severed head in the Mabinogi represents
a garbling of a more appropriate ‘feast of the uncanny
head’ (uthr benn); the marwnad [of Uther Pen] would make
sense as the words of the living-dead Brân mourning himself.
For Geoffrey, the epithet Pendragon is ‘dragon’s head’,
an explanation of a celestial wonder by Merlin (see
Myrddin)."

On Urien's head, P.C. Bartram has this:

"It appears that Urien's head was cut off to save it from insult. Compare the case of Edwin after the battle of Haethfelth (Bede, Hist.Eccles., II.20). At any rate Llywarch Hen is represented carrying Urien's head by his side in the poem (Ifor Williams, ‘The Poems of Llywarch Hen’, Proc.Brit.Academy, 18 (1932) p.23)."

In my last post, I proposed that Gorlassar (the later romance Gorlois) was for the comet, metaphorically identified as Uther himself (see https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-transformation-of-uther-pendragon.html).

UTHER AND THE GOD VETERES: MORE EVIDENCE FOR THE PENDRAGON IN THE NORTH?

Serpent on Veteres Altar

Boar on Veteres Altar

In my book THE MYSTERIES OF AVALON, I made an argument for the Gwythyr or Gwythur of Arthurian tradition being the god Veteres, worshipped in North Britain during the Roman period.  While it is true that strictly from a linguistic standpoint Gwythyr should be from Latin Victor, in this instance the name seems to have been substituted for that of the deity.

In the Elegy of Uther Pen, we are told

Neur ordyfneis-i waet am Wythur,
I was used to blood[shed] around Gwythur,

The following listing on Gwythyr is from P.C. Bartram's A CLASSICAL WELSH DICTIONARY:

"GWYTHYR ap GREIDIOL. (Legendary). He is mentioned in the tale of ‘Culhwch and Olwen’. Before Culhwch's story begins, Creiddylad ferch Lludd Llaw Ereint had been going with Gwythyr ap Greidiol, but before he had slept with her Gwyn ap Nudd came and carried her away by force. Gwythyr gathered a host and went to fight Gwyn, but Gwyn prevailed, took many prisoners and ill-treated them. When Arthur heard of this, he went to the North [emphasis mine], summoned Gwyn, set free the prisoners, and made peace between Gwyn and Gwythyr. This is the A WELSH CLASSICAL DICTIONARY 407 peace that was made: ‘the maiden to remain in her father's house, unmolested, and Gwyn and Gwythyr to do battle every calends of May for ever and ever till doomsday; and the one who should be victor on doomsday, let him have the maiden.’ (RM 134). It is perhaps not inconsistent with this that Gwythyr and Gwyn are both named among those at Arthur's Court when Culhwch arrived (WM 460, RM 106). It is later told that while Gwythyr ap Greidiol was walking across a mountain he heard a grievous lamentation, and saved an anthill from fire by smiting it off level with the ground with his sword. In gratitude for this good deed the ants helped Arthur to achieve one of the tasks set by Ysbaddaden Pencawr, namely to collect nine hestors of flax seed from a tilled field and resow it in new land (RM 132; WM 481, RM 121). The grave of Gwythur is mentioned in the Stanzas of the Graves in the Black Book of Carmarthen, but the site is not given (No 44 in SG p.126). The horse of Gwythur is mentioned in a poem in the Book of Taliesin (BT 48 l.6). See TYP p.c. In these two cases no patronymic is given to Gwythur. According to the triad of ‘Arthur's Three Great Queens’ all named Gwenhwyfar, Gwythyr ap Greidiol was the father of the second one listed (TYP no.56). His genealogy is given in the expanded ‘Hanesyn Hen’ tract. See Greidiol Galofydd. The name Gwythyr is equivalent to Latin Victor (John Rhys, Hib. Lect., p.561; TYP p.403)."

I've pasted below the entire section on the god Veteres from my book.  If I'm right about Gwythyr/Gwythur or 'Victor' being a substitute for the god name, then Uther's fighting alongside Gwythur would be yet more evidence for the former's presence in the North.

NOTE:  There is a Victor featured in the story of St. Paul of Leon.  He was a lord of Domnonia in Brittany and was of 5th-6th century date.  See the entry for Paul in P.C. Bartram's A CLASSICAL WELSH DICTIONARY, pp. 604-606.  We should also not forget Victor son of Magnus Maximus, yet another in a string of British usurpers.  

Vitiris

The god Veteres is found in North Britain, especially in the area of Hadrian’s Wall.  My interest in this deity stems from his being conflated with Mogons at Netherby, site of the Roman fort Castra Exploratum hard by Liddel Strength, the Arderydd fort of Myrddin/Merlin.  In an earlier version of this book, I attempted to relate this god’s name to an ancient British name for a willow branch.

While authorities have thought the name rather transparently drew upon the Latin veteres or veteris, meaning in this context something like “the Old One”, there is a significant problem with this interpretation.  Some of the spellings of this deity's name have an initial H-.  Now, the H- could be intrusive, i.e. merely something German-speaking worshippers of a Celtic god added to the beginning of the name.  If this is so, I thought it might be possible to derive the god’s name from a known Celtic root meaning ‘to hunt’.  My query on this possibility was answered by Dr. Simon Rodway of The University of Wales as follows:

“Welsh gwid derives from a participle *wi-to- 'hunted, desired' or *wi-ti- 'the hunt, enjoyment (of food)' according to GPC. The second form looks compatible with the forms in Viti-, but does not explain those in *Vete- (unless these are examples of Vulgar Latin <e> for <i>). As for the ending -ris, it could be from -ri:x 'king'. Kenneth Jackson (LHEB 535, 625) states that -x (i.e. /xs/) had become -s in Brittonic 'by the fifth century'. This is rather late, and at any rate it has been challenged by Patrick Sims-Williams. However, one might compare a 3rd century inscription from Housesteads on Hadrian's Wall: CVNARIS < *Cunori:x 'hound-like king'. Here the change of composition vowel /o/ > /a/ suggests this is probably an Irish name. So, Irish influence could account for -x > -s in your name too. Alternatively, there are Vulgar Latin examples of -s for -x, e.g. felis for felix.”

If this is so, we might suppose Veteres to be something like “Hunter-king”. 

However, attractive as this idea is, I think there is a better etymology for this particular god-name.  Recent correspondence with Professor Ranko Matasovic, a leading Celticist, helped open the way to this more attractive meaning.

The H- spellings of Veteris are listed in Guy de la Bedoyere’s “Gods and Goddesses of Roman Britain”:

Hveterus/Hviteres, and variants.

Carrawburgh: altar to the Hviteres. RIB 1549

Hadrian's Wall (exact location unknown): altar to the Hvitires. RIB 2069

Housesteads: altar to Hveteris by Superstes and Regulus. RIB 1602

Housesteads: altar to Hvitris by Aspuanis. RIB 1603

Netherby: altars to Hveterus and Hvetirus. RIB 969 and 973

The other forms/spellings, and distribution of the dedications (from the same source), are as follows:

Veter/Veteres/Vheteris/Viter/Vitiris/Votris, variously male or female, singular or plural, and numerous other variants.

Benwell: altar to Vetris. RIB 1335

Benwell: altar to the Vitires. RIB 1336

Carrawburgh: altar to Veteris by Uccus. RIB 1548

Carvoran: altar to Veteris by Necalames. RIB 1793

Carvoran: altar to Veteris by Necalames. RIB 1794

Carvoran: altar to Vetiris by Julius Pastor, imaginifer of cohors II Delmatarum. RIB 1795

Carvoran: altar to Vetiris by Andiatis. RIB 1796

Carvoran: altar to Veteris. RIB 1797

Carvoran: altar to Viteris. RIB 1798

Carvoran: altar to Vitiris by Menius Dada. RIB 1799

Carvoran: altar to Vitiris by Milus and Aurides. RIB 1800

Carvoran: altar to Vitiris by Ne[ca]limes (sic, but see 1793-4 above). RIB 1801

Carvoran: altars to the Veteres. RIB 1802-4

Carvoran: altar to the Vitires by Deccius. RIB 1805

Catterick: altar to Vheteris by Aurelius Mucianus. RIB 727

Chester-le-Street: altar to Vitiris by Duihno. RIB 1046

Chester-le-Street: altar to the goddesses the Vitires by Vitalis. RIB 1047

Chester-le-Street: altar to the goddesses the Vit(ires). RIB 1048

Chesters: altar to Vitiris by Tertulus. RIB 1455

Chesters: altar to the Veteres. RIB 1456

Chesters: altar to Vitiris. RIB 1457

Chesters: altar to Votris. RIB 1458

Corbridge: altar to Vetiris. RIB 1139

Corbridge: altar to Vitiris. RIB 1140

Corbridge: altar to Vit(iris) by Mitius. RIB 1141

Ebchester: altar to Vitiris by Maximus. RIB 1103

Ebchester: altar to Vitiris. RIB 1104

Greatchesters: altar to Vetiris. RIB 1728

Greatchesters: altar to the Veteres by Romana. RIB 1729

Greatchesters: altar to the Veteres. RIB 1730

Hadrian's Wall (exact location unknown): altar to Veteris. RIB 2068

Housesteads: altar to the Veteres. RIB 1604

Housesteads: altar to the Veteres. RIB 1605

Housesteads: altar to the Veteres by Aurelius Victor. RIB 1606

Lanchester: altar to Vit(iris). RIB 1087

Lanchester: altar to Vitiris by [....], princeps. RIB 1088

Piercebridge: altar to Veteris. Brit. v (1974), 461, no. 3

South Shields: altar to Vitiris by Cr[...]. Brit. xviii (1987), 368, no. 7

Thistleton: silver plaque to Vete[ris] by Mocux[s]oma. RIB 2431.3

Vindolanda: altar to [V]ete[r]is. RIB 1697

Vindolanda: altar to Veteris. RIB 1698

Vindolanda: altar to the Veteres by Senaculus. RIB 1699

Vindolanda: altar to the Veteres by Longinus. Brit. iv (1973), 329, no. 11

Vindolanda: altar to the Veteres by Senilis. Brit. iv (1973), 329, no. 12

Vindolanda: altar to Vetir. Brit. vi (1975), 285, no. 6

Vindolanda: altar to Ve[ter]. Brit. vi (1975), 285, no. 7

Vindolanda: altar to the Vitirum. Brit. x (1979), 346, no. 8

York: altar to Veter by Primulus. RIB 660

This is the inscription with the conflation with Mogons at Netherby:

971 (altar)

DEO

MOGONT

VITIRE SAN

AEL SECUND

V S L M

And the dedications at Netherby to Hveterus and Hvetirus, alluded to already above:

969 (altar; secondary inscription)

D[EO] HV[E}TER[I]

973 (altar)

DEO HVETIRI

When I looked at the initial H-, I first thought of an aspirate, such as the H- we now use conventionally for the Greek name Hekate, originally ‘ekata.  I also thought about the Irish H-prothesis.  Neither of these ideas seemed very helpful, but I did have one last possibility come to mind: what about something akin to Old English hwyttre, hwitere, forms of the word hwit, meaning “white”? I thought of this because the Chesterholm Roman fort was called Vindolanda, the ‘White Moor/Heath’.  This fort has the second highest concentration of dedications to Veteris; only Carvoran has more.  And this means Vindolanda could, conceivably, be the cult center of Veteres.  Netherby, where we find Mogons Veteres, is hard by the ‘White Dales’ (Gwenddolau) of Myrddin.  His sister was named Gwenddydd, and Gwythyr was the father of one of the Gwenhyfars.  Gwen-, of course, is the feminine form of Gwyn, 'White.'

Old English hwīt (comparative hwītra, superlative hwītost),  “white”

Proto-Germanic *hwītaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kweit-. Cognate with Old High German wīz (German weiß), Old Norse hvítr (Swedish vit).

Spellings in declension such as hwitre, etc.

When I wrote to Professor Matasovic about this, he responded thusly:

“OE hwitere is a good formal match to Viteris. But the word for 'white' is inherited in Germanic, of course (cf. its correspondent in Lith. kviečiai 'wheat'); it is not a borrowing from Celtic. Irish h-prothesis is much older, and in Greek h- is from *s- or *sw-, so the spelling hv- in Vitires probably indicates that the name is not Celtic. The connection with Vindolanda seems attractive, if this god was really worshipped there, but the etymology will work only if the name is Germanic. Were there Germanic mercenaries or auxiliary troops in Vindolanda and other places where Vitires is attested? If so, the connection of Vitiris with 'white' is quite convincing, as far as etymologies of proper names go.”

The answer to his question about Germanic units being present at Vindolanda, etc., could be answered with a resounding YES.

Here is a nice summary regarding the Germanic Tungri and Batavii at Vindolanda (from ‘Archaeological and Historical Aspects of West-European Societies”, ed. Marc Lodewuckx, 1996):

“… from AD 90 at the latest the cohors I Tungrorum was stationed in the fort at Vindolanda.  The unit remained there, with only a brief interruption, most likely until 122 or possibly even until AD 140… It was originally assumed that very soon after AD 90 the Cohors I Tungrorum was relieved from Vindolanda by the Cohors IX Batavorum under the command of Flavius Cerialis… It was not clear, however, exactly where the Cohors I Tungrorum was stationed.  A. K. Bowman and J.D. Thomas do not rule out the possibility that the Cohors I Tungrorum and the Cohors VIIII Batavorum were partially stationed together at Vindolanda.”

Other sources confirm the long-term presence of these two Germanic units at Vindolanda.  The excellent Website roman-britain.org has considerable information on these Germanic tribes and their connection with Vindolanda:

“Timber Fort 2 - Built hastily and with poor quality timber upon the site of Timber Fort 1 which was demolished in preparation, this new fort extended more to the west and covered an area of just over 5 acres (c.2ha); possibly garrisoned by Cohors IX Batavorum.  …from the period AD 97-103, when the fort was occupied by IX Batavorum and its sister unit III Batavorum, both 'quingenary' units approximately 500 strong.

Cohors Primae Tungrorum - The First Cohort of Tungri

The original garrison of Vindolanda is not known, and the earliest identified unit at the site has only recently been revealed on one of the Vindolanda writing tablets. The garrison of the mid-second century was Cohors I Tungrorum, an infantry unit from the Tungri tribe who inhabited the north-western fringes of the Arduenna Silva in Gallia Belgica (the Ardennes Forest on the border between Belgium and Germany). This unit had been active in the campaigns of Agricola in Central Scotland, and saw action in the final battle at Mons Graupius which resulted in the near-total destruction of the Caledonian tribes. During this time the First Cohort of Tungrians was known to be a cohors quingenaria peditata, a five-hundred strong infantry unit, but by the mid-second century the complement had been increased by half again to a total strength of over 750 men (vide supra).

Cohors Primae Tungrorum [milliaria]

The First Cohort of Tungri, (one-thousand strong)

This was a regiment of tribesmen from the Tungri tribe of eastern Belgica who inhabited the western fringes of the Arduinna Silva, in the Brabant and Hainailt districts of Belgium south-east of Brussels. Their capital was Atuatuca, now Tongres or Tongeren near Maastricht in Belgium. They are mentioned on four military diplomata dating to the beginning of the second century and are first attested on stone at the Carrawburgh fort on Hadrian's Wall in the period AD122-138 also nearby at Chesterholm/Vindolanda on the Stanegate, and it appears likely that the unit was split between these two forts during Hadrianic times. They are next recorded on the Antonine Wall in the Central region of Scotland between AD139-161, seemingly again split between the forts at Cramond and Castlecary. They are finally recorded back on Hadrian's frontier at Housesteads on a building inscription dated to AD205-208, and were to remain there until the end of the fourth century as recorded in the Notitia Dignitatum.

Evidence for the Cohort in Britain

CIL XIII.3606; Ager Nerviorum - Diploma, dated c.AD98.

Burn 95; CIL XVI.48; military diploma dated January 19th AD103.

Burn 100; CIL XVI.65; military diploma dated July 17th AD122.

CIL VII.1195 privilegia militvm, dated September 16th AD124.

L'Année Épigraphique 1997.1779b diploma dated c.AD126.

Chesterholm (Vindolanda writing tablet; Hadrianic).

Carrawburgh (RIB 1563b AD122-138).

Castlecary (RIB 2155 AD139-161).

Cramond (RIB 2135 altar).

Housesteads (RIB 1578-1580, 1584-1586, 1591, 1598, all altars; 1618/1619 tombstones; 1631b AD205-208; Notitia Dignitatum).”

An important inscription occurs at Vindolanda, and this may be significant for the Mogont Vitire dedication found at Netherby:

DEO MOGVNTI ET GENIO LOCI LVPVL V S M

"For the god Moguns and the Guardian Spirit of This Place, Lupulus deservedly fulfils his vow." (RIB 1722d; altarstone; Britannia iv (1973), p.329, no.10)

The Romans portrayed the “Guardian Spirit” of a place IN SERPENT FORM.  I have proposed that the Arthurian period northern hero Gwythyr, who fights an eternal May Day battle with Gwyn (from Celtic Vindo, ‘White’), may not be from the Latin name Victor, as is usually claimed.  Instead, I chose to see in Gwythyr a late Welsh form of the god Vitires.  As the battle between Gwythyr and Gwyn matched that of the battle of the Red and White Dragons/pigs as found in the story of “Lludd and Llevelys”, and the altars to Vitires/Veteres show a serpent and a boar (and perhaps a serpent and a bird; see Chesters 829/CH309/CSIR 280), I quite naturally identified Gwythyr/Vitires with the Red Dragon. 

However, if Hviteres is the “White One”, and was associated with the Vindo- of Vindolanda as the Genius of the Place, then it is tempting to identify the White Serpent/Dragon with the the White Dragon/Genius of the Saxons found in Welsh tradition. 

NOTE:  Further research on the Batavians has brought to light their connection with a town called "Castra Vetera" on the Continent.  The name of this fort suggests another possible origin of Veteris/Vitiris, who otherwise seems to have been associated with Vindolanda in Britain.

Civilis and the Batavians initiated the siege of Castra Vetera in September of 69 A.D. The siege was abandoned for a short period, and Civilis threatened to attack Mogontiacum. He then besieged Castra Vetera once more and the town surrendered to him in AD 70.

Some of the Batavians who ended up at Vindolanda may have brought with them the genius of Castra Vetera, whom they immediately identified with that of the British fort.