UTHER PENDRAGON AS A POETIC TITLE FOR AMBROSIUS AURELIANUS (An Old Idea Refloated)

Vortigern, Ambrosius and the Dragons

Years ago I wrote the following, suggesting later that Uther Pendragon as a doublet for Ambrosius Aurelianus was merely a 'chronological gap filler' in Arthurian story.  In other words, with Ambrosius being a contemporary of Vortigern, and Arthur's father being unknown, it was found necessary to "pad out" the relevant genealogy with an intervening generation.  At the time I was not particularly happy with the revelation.  Like most Arthurians, I wanted Uther to be a real person and the real father of Arthur.

In reality, of course, the temporal dislocation of Ambrosius relative to Arthur is much more profound than the medieval writers believed.  For I have shown conclusively that Ambrosius was of the 4th century, not the 5th, and that he probably never even set foot in Britain (although see https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2020/05/why-ambrosius-aurelianus-was-put-in.html).  

Given the prominence of Ambrosius in both Gildas and Nennius, it is not surprising that Arthur should have been made his descendant. In fact, in terms of the development of heroic legend, this makes perfect sense. Yet there may be more to it than this.  

Having carefully reconsidered the idea that Uther = Ambrosius, I must say that it is a very elegant solution to an extremely difficult problem.  It does make more sense to me, at least, than any other proposed identification for Uther.  This does not mean it's correct, of course.  Only that it adequately explains the inconsistencies embedded in the garbled, distorted historical traditions of the earliest British sources.

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In Geoffrey of Monmouth’s account of the comet that appears on the death of Aurelius Ambrosius (the Ambrosius Aurelianus of Gildas), Merlin tells Uther that the dragon star signifies himself.  This is NOT in accord with the prevailing medieval view.  Simply expressed, a comet heralded the death of the king – something that Geoffrey does start out saying in his account.  But such a star DID NOT represent, in any way, the dead king’s successor.  And Geoffrey certainly would have (should have?) known this.

Uther had nothing to do with the dragons of Dinas Emrys. Beginning with the account of Emrys Guletic (Ambrosius the Prince) in Nennius, it is ONLY Aurelius who has to do with the dragons.  In Geoffrey’s History, Merlin is intruded and here wrongly identified with Ambrosius.  Uther is placed in charge of obtaining the stones from Ireland with Merlin Ambrosius’s help, but all this is done by order of Aurelius.  In the original Dinas Emrys story it was Emrys/Ambrosius who revealed the dragons under the fort and who was then given the site to rule from by Vortigern.  In fact, we are told Vortigern “gave him [Emrys] the fortress, with all the kingdoms of the western part of Britain.”  This is omitted, of course, when Geoffrey divides the Dinas Emrys episode from the Amesbury/Stonehenge one.  Uther is buried with Ambrosius at Stonehenge.

One more point is important here.  According to Nennius (Chapter 31), Vortigern was in FEAR or DREAD (timore in the Latin text) of Ambrosius, who is called the “great king” (rex magnus) “among all the kings of the British nation”.  This title is a Latin rendering for his Welsh rank of guletic.  In Welsh, uthr is an adjective and has the meanings of ‘FEARFUL, DREADFUL’ (see the Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru).  Thus the great king who was the terror of Vortigern could have become, quite naturally, the Terrible Dragon/Pen.  Uther Dragon/Pen would then merely be a doublet for Ambrosius.[1]

This possibility is reinforced by the fact that the late French Vulgate refers to Ambrosius as Pendragon. In the words of Bruce's THE ARTHURIAN NAME DICTIONARY: 

"After Geoffrey's chronicle, Ambrosius disappeared from legend and romance for some time. The authors of the Prose MERLIN and the Vulgate Cycle renamed him PENDRAGON. He resurfaces in the seventeenth century...

In the Prose abd Vulgate Merlin, the name Pendragon is given to the character elsewhere called AMBROSIUS AURELIANUS... Uther is said to have adopted his brother's name as a surname in memory of the slain king." 

If Uther is Ambrosius, we could account for the former's association with Gwythur (Gwythyr) or Victor in the elegy MARWNAT VTHYR PEN.  For St. Ambrose, son of the Ambrosius who was a governor of Gaul in the 4th century, was a contemporary of the usurping British emperor, Flavius Victor.  In fact, he had been influential is helping Victor's father, Magnus Maximus, take over the rule of Gaul, Britain, and Hispania.

Thus it would appear that as far as the post-Galfridian writers were concerned, Ambrosius = Uther Pendragon.  Modern scholars and enthusiasts have misinterpreted this identification as meaning instead that Pendragon was a hereditary title belonging to Arthur's family.

The question then becomes: if Uther was not Arthur's father, who was?

[1]  A much better Welsh rendering of rex magnus would have utilized the words mawr and brenin.  Accepting Pendragon for rex magnus thus demands major poetic license. If the former does apply to Ambrosius, the epithet may have to do with the Red Dragon of Dinas Emrys - which in the Gwarchan Maeldderw belongs to Vortigern. It is not known whether the Red Dragon in this context refers to a standard or symbolically to the Britons over whom Vortigern ruled. An important thing to recognize is that according to Geoffrey of Monmouth Ambrosius had nothing whatsoever to do with a draco.  Only Uther was associated with that particular Roman standard.

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