ARTHUR THE STONE-KING (EVIDENCE FOR THE NAME ARTHUR FROM *ARTORIGOS)

Dumbarton Rock

Now that I have shown what I hold to be a clear and certain relationship between the Irish material on St. Patrick and Ceredig Wledig of Strathclyde and the sudden and otherwise totally mysterious appearance of Arthur after St. Patrick in the HISTORIA BRITTONUM, I have noticed something odd about a few of the early occurrences of the name Arthur.

In the Irish sources on St. Patrick and Ceredig, the latter is referred to as 'regis Aloo' or 'regem Aloo'.  This is generally accepted as meaning 'King of the Rock', i.e. the Al- of Alclud, the Rock of Clyde, now Dumbarton Rock or Dumbarton Castle.  The eDIL has the following listing for ail:

1 ail

Cite this: eDIL s.v. 1 ail or dil.ie/954

Forms: oil, oili

n i and k, f. (See Thurn. Gramm. § 320 and ZCP xvi p. 183 ). oil f. (g s. and n p. oili), IGT Decl. § 14 .

(a) boulder, rock: cid armbad spiritalis ind a.¤ . . . isi ede ind a.¤ rúnde, Wb. 11a19 . asind a.¤ `out of the rock', Ml. 93b9 . in lind . . ./ do ḟuc doib asind ailig (: maig), SR 4068 . dind a.¤ tuargabad asin tiprait, Trip.² 1067 . co mmemaid a chenn frisin n-ailich, 1507 . cobsaide ailech `firmness of rock', Thes. ii 356.4 . a.¤ (.i. cloch) trom, LU 9949 . petra lasin Laitneoir, a.¤ lasin nGaedel, Auraic. 1087 . dobertha ailge arda foa doitib, RC xii 434 § 37 . mo shuidiugad amal cech nailig ele isin múr clochisea, LB 157b8 . bás Mongāin . . . don a.¤ doteilcc Artūir air, ZCP vi 269 § 7 . enghuba esa ra ha.¤ , SG 366.25 . do bhí an oil ar muin Mhuire / far loigh tuir na trócaire (of the stone at the mouth of Christ's tomb), DDána 20.42 . atā foillicht a choss issin ailigh, Fl. Earls 208.22 . a.¤ .i. cloch, O'Cl. a.¤ áobhta .i. ail aithbhe .i. cloch frith ar tráigh, ib. With defining gen.: a.¤ chloiche large stone: ro bai a.¤ chloche ar a cind, IT i 82.2 . trascraid . . . oilche cloch forru, Aen. 2209 . darsin oilig cloiche, LB 126b23 . a.¤ adartha see 1 adrad. Fig. a a.¤ na sonairte (in a litany to the Trinity), Hib. Min. 43.12 . uathmar a.¤ (of God), SR 4773 . Of persons: ind a.¤ bratha . . . in t-occlaech ard allata, CCath. 2917 . in a.¤ mbratha nach fuilget nerta trenmiled, BB 419b16 . a.¤ coth- aighthe gacha comlainn, FM v 1340.17 . a.¤ ollaman a firmly established teacher, ZCP iv 237.27 . a.¤ firindi, Anecd. ii 8.24 ( Airne F. 272 ). ?Moisi mo cech n-a.¤ / i toisigecht in popail, SR 4451 . Aron ba amru cech n-a.¤ , 4513 .

In n.loc.: Colmán Alo, Thes. ii 269.41 (Ardm.) aduersum Coirthech regem Aloo C. king of Ail (Clúade), 271.33 . See also Hog. Onom.

Compd. ¤-bla stone boundary-mark, Laws iv 142.16 .

(b) grave-stone (cf. 3 oil): cu fil a ailcha imbi, Fianaig. 38.12 . cid glic fri ailchi uara `though he be cunning at carving cold stones', Fél. 188.9 . oil adhmaid a stone of remembrance, Ériu x 80 § 42 . beim fri ailchi aicetail .i. co mbi aicetul anma in fir nod cren accomul noguim .i. ogum na creca do beth illic firt, O'C. 484 ( H. 3.18, 251 ). iomdha oil úir san eing-se, DDána 92.2 . ail leachta grave-stone , Laws iv 142.17 Comm.

(c) monument, memorial(?) (cf. ailad?): forácaib ailgi ┐ airisni da márgnímaib, LL 221a33 ( TTr. 299 ). rolín in domun uili d'algib a nirt ┐ a níachais, 222a46 (ib. 380). d'ailgib ┐ d'air[is]nib a nirt, 225b45 (635). ailche ┐ airise a gnim, BB 414b45 . dia ailgib ┐ día gaiscedhaib, TTr.² 1501 .

(d) foundation, basis (of law, etc.): is and do-n-icfad na duba digeanna cen a.¤ cen fasach `without foundation without precedent', Laws v 480.20 . co nailchib roscud ┐ fasach ┐ testemuin, O'D. 2211 (Nero A vii 145b). breth cen ailig, Triads 244 .i. gan hailche 'na timchioll, .i. rosg ┐ fasach, p. 43 . Sencha . . . ni conberedh breth ngua gin teora ailche astudha cacha bretha, Laws i 24.23 . sruth do aill . . . do foxla ailche . . . imtha samlaidh in fer samailter fris; baidhidh droch leighniudha fortabhraidsi co nailchib testemna ┐ cedfaidhi, iv 356.12 . ni íadat iubaili for étechti a.¤ , LU 3473 `prescriptive periods should not close upon a foundation of illegality', SC p. 34 . is ae fo a.¤ .i. iubaile tsaorratha inso, Laws ii 198.2 Comm. ?laighidh a.¤ for naesaib, iii 220.21, 24 , 226.21 . a.¤ .i. dliged no briathra, O'Dav. 631 . a.¤ .i. dliged (B. na f.), ZCP v 486 § 6 . a.¤ (also ailech) anscui(ch) the lit. immoveable rock i.e. unshakeable testimony: for-toing a.¤ anscuichthe lais (.i. for-toing airdi no aimseir . . . no laid no litteir . . . it hē mairb in sin fortongat for biu, nī fortongar cenaib) an immoveable rock testifies along with him (i.e. a sign or time . . . or a lay or letter . . ., those are the dead that testify against the living, without them there is no over-ruling testimony) ZCP xv 361 § 46 (xvi 228) . feitheam for-toing fir fri hailche andscuithe, O'C. 1890 ( 23 P 3, 22 ). it he a secht in sin con- osnat cach n-imt[h]aithbech: fiadnaisi inraici, ailig anscui[ch]- thi . . ., Bürgschaft 21 § 62 . tri filidecht techtai, tri ailge anscuichthi, tri airmitin sen, ZCP xii 363.35 . ni ruc C. breth riam cen teora ailig ancsui[ch]thi breth occa .i. ailig aicnid gaisi etc., CF 73.4 ( SG 89.30 ). ?do fuair . . . a liomhdha (= líomhadh?) an algaibh `in the noble arts', Oss. v 146.5 . See also under 1 all

Cf. 1 ailech.

In Irish we find the following word for stone (the entry is from Professor Ranko Matasovic's AN ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF PROTO-CELTIC):

*arto- 'stone' [Noun]

GOlD: Mlr. art

GAUL: artuass 'stones' (Todi)

ETYM: This is a rather weak etymology, since the Mlr. word is known only

from glossaries (its gender and stem formation are unknown), and the

meaning of the Gaulish noun is not ascertained (cf. Lambert 1994: 74).

REF: LEIA A-91.

And from the eDIL:

2 art

Cite this: eDIL s.v. 2 art or dil.ie/4322

Forms: a.

n expld. in glossaries as stone: a.¤ .i. cloch nō leac ligi cuius diminutiu[um] artēne .i. cloichēne, Corm. Y 26 . a.¤ .i. aill, Ält. Ir. Dicht. ii 27 § 1 (reading of BB). fúigfe an lása é 'na Art / acht grása Dé 's a dhaonnacht (pun on the name Art), L. Cl. A. Buidhe 243.11 . a.¤ solid, strong, stout, a stone . Also dim. airtine pebble , P. O'C. Note also compds. artchaireal or artchailéar a quarry or stone pit . artghaineam stony sand, coarse gravel , P. O'C. Note also (perh. merely an inference from anart): crúaid `a.¤' a ṡenainm go fír is `anart' ainm do mhaoithmhín, Met. Gl. 15 § 34 . a.¤ ┐ anart cruaid ┐ maoth, O'Mulc. 56 .

There have been attempts in the past to derive the Arthur name from *Arto-rigos, 'Stone-king.'  These attempts don't really work very well, but as with a 'Bear-king' original from the Irish or British, Arthur/Artorius could well have been chosen as a decknamen for Stone-king.  

Two additional points need to mentioned, as I feel they cannot be stressed highly enough.  

First, Arthur son of Bicoir the Briton (almost certainly an Irish corruption of Petuir, one of the spellings for Petr/Pedr of Dyfed) is said to have slain the Irish king Mongan with a stone (lapide).  

Second, Pedr is itself from Latin Petrus, from the Greek petra, 'a rock, a crag, stone'.  

Now, we might reasonably ask ourselves why Arthur was chosen as the name of Pedr's son.  Could it not be that Arthur's original name, in the Irish, was from *Artorigos, and meant 'Stone-king'?  One could think of no more appropriate name for the son of a man named "Rock/Stone", i.e. Pedr.

But if this is all so, then do we have the wrong Ceredig for Arthur in Ceredig son of Cunedda?  Was Arthur, in reality, the regis/regem Aloo Ceredig Wledig of Strathclyde?

We must remember that Aedan of Dalriada named his son Arthur, and the latter name is known to have come from the British.  Aedan had very close relations, peaceful and otherwise, with Strathclyde.  What more reasonable assumption to make than that Arthur of Dalriada was named for Arthur of Strathclyde, i.e. Ceredig Wledig the Stone-king?

Granted, we must be careful here.  As stated above in the listing for *arto-, the actual existence of the word is not confirmed outside of Irish glossaries.  Still, I have tried in a number of ways to account for the name Arthur in Chapter 56 of Nennius.  There are really only two possibilities.  One I have discussed in detail in my book THE BEAR KING and in various blog posts. If we opt for Arthur as a decknamen of a 'Bear-king' title or name, then we are looking at Ceredig son of Cunedda.  The Afon Arth in Ceredig's Ceredigion seems to have been viewed as a holy river, and we have three Arto- or 'bear' names in the genealogy of Ceredig's close descendants. 

But here is the problem with that scenario.  NOWHERE is Ceredig son of Cunedda called the Bear-king or Arthur/Artorius.  At least not in any of our extant sources.  On the other hand, Ceredig of Strathclyde, the king with whom Patrick had dealings, was referred to as the 'King of the Rock.' This title might easily have been associated with an *Artorigos/'Stone-king' and thus with Arthur/Artorius.

Ancient and modern authorities have confused the two Ceredigs.  It is thus possible to make a case for either one of them being the Arthur of the HISTORIA BRITTONUM.  

So, how do we decide between them?  I am, of course, limiting my choice of Arthurian candidates here, but to be honest, I feel strongly that the 'Patrician testimony' in regards to a Ceredig is sufficient to account for the appearance of Arthur in Nennius.

What we can say about Ceredig Wledig of Strathclyde is this: wledig, according to the GPC, means

"lord, king, prince, ruler; term applied to a number of early British rulers and princes who were prominent in the defence of Britain about the time of the Roman withdrawal; (possibly) commander of the native militia (in a Romano-British province)."

In other words, this answers nicely for Arthur as the 'dux erat bellorum.'

Well, we should go to the battle list.  Alas, as I've shown in my two books THE ARTHUR OF HISTORY and THE BEAR KING, the Arthurian battles can be placed in the North or the South. If in the south, we are looking at an Irish or Hiberno-Irish mercenary (or 'federate') allying with the English against Britons who were enemies of the High King of Wales.  If in the north, we are looking at a war-leader who may have genuinely led campaigns against the English from Northumberland to Derbyshire. Certainly, the Strathclyde kings were powerful; Rhydderch, a descendant of Ceredig Wledig, attacked the English in SW Scotland (see https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2018/12/a-new-and-certain-identification-of.html). 

However, we must not forget that the HISTORIA BRITTONUM was written in Gwynedd, where the royal family traced its descent to Cunedda and his sons.  One of those sons was reputedly Ceredig. Still, Gwynedd, in its desire to idenitfy Ceredig of the Patrician tradition with its own Ceredig, may have taken undue liberties.  It would not be at all unreasonable to assume that they had 'co-opted' Ceredig of Strathclyde by choosing to make him one of their own.

At the same time, the Irish may have co-opted a Bear-king of Ceredigion by interpreting Ceredig son of Cunedda's name/title as being falsely derived from *arto-, 'stone.' 

I cannot emphasize enough the difficulty here in deciding between Ceredig of Strathclyde and Ceredig son of Cunedda as the true, original Arthur. However, for me at least, the deciding factor is the ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE'S entries on Cerdic of the Gewissei.  There is no doubt in my mind that this Cerdic is Ceredig son of Cunedda.  The Gewissei battles do appear to correspond with those of Arthur in the HISTORIA BRITTONUM.  The respective chronologies match nicely as well. The Arthur name for Ceredig would have been substituted for a 'Bear-king' original.  An association of the name Arthur with a 'Stone-king' looks to be a clever play on words or simply a mistaken interpretation derived from an Irish source.