Arthur's Battles in the North, Along with Magnis of the Dalmatian Garrison, Banna of the Dacian Draco and Dea Latis/Lake Goddess, Camboglanna/Camlann and Aballava/Avalon, also of Dea Latis (Not Labelled is Concavata Just West of Aballava, a Possible Prototypical G9orail Castle)
A few days ago I wrote the following piece in which I asked myself whether I could use a reading for Pen Cawell that would support a theory identifying Uther Pendragon with Cunedda:
After reviewing all my past work on the subject, and considering the best possible reading for the critical lines MARWNAT VTHYR PEN, I've come to the conclusion that, in all likelihood, Uther's placement at Caer Dathal/Dinas Emrys in Gwynedd is a folklore or literary invention relocation.
Before I get into why Uther was situated at Dinas Emrys, a quick review of how I think the elegy lines should be rendered.:
Neu vi tywyssawc yn tywyll:
It is I who’s a leader in darkness:
a’m rithwy am dwy pen kawell.
‘May our God, the Chief of the Sanctuary, transform me’ or
(with yn adwy) ‘May the Chief of the Sanctuary transform me in the
breach’ or (with yn ardwy) 'May the Chief of the Sanctuary transform me
as a defence'
Neu vi eil kawyl yn ardu:
It's I who's like a candle (luminary, transf. of star, sun, moon, lamp; fig. of leader) in the gloom.
There is little doubt in my mind that the Pen Cawell of the second line does, indeed, refer to God. As Dr. Simon Rodway of The University of Wales pointed out to me, cawell could here have the meaning of later cafell, 'sanctuary', as both words derived from the same Latin word and at an early enough period cawell could well have carried a double semantic meaning. When Geoffrey of Monmouth told the transformation story he utilized an earlier line of the poem in which Uther calls himself gorlassar, a heroic epithet from which Geoffrey conjured his Gorlois. But Geoffrey also has Merlin, called Ambrosius (the 'divine/immortal one') do the transforming. So Merlin here stands in for God.
Line 3 was used by Geoffrey to create the story of the dragon-comet, which he says represents Uther himself. The figurative meaning of leader for cannwyll ties back to the tywyssawc/leader of the first line.
This is simply the best rendering of these elegy lines and also has the benefit of requiring the least amount of emendation. A reading that makes good sense that requires the least amount of emendation has the best chance of being correct.
Now, as for Uther's relocation to Wales...
I have made my case for Banna on Hadrian's Wall being Uther's ruling center. The Roman fort was garrisoned right up until the end of Britain by a Dacian force. A sub-Roman royal hall complex is in evidence at the site. The Dacians were noted for their own version of the draco standard, and if I'm right about the inscription on the Ilam Pan the fort itself was alluded to as 'the Aelian Dragon.' Professor Roger Tomlin has told me that it is quite possible that this garrison may have continued to use its own draco as a sort of unit emblem, similar to their falx weapon which appears on carved stones at Birdoswald. A ruler who descended from a mixed Dacian-British population may well have been referred to as the Chief Dragon. Or Pendragon may be a relic of the late Roman rank of magister draconum.
If we allow for Uther being from Banna, transplanting him to NW Wales would be an easy matter. Gwynedd, ever since Gildas referred to Maelgwn as the Dragon of the Isle, was replete with serpent symbolism. I've written many articles on this fact, and a few of them may be found here:
We must also consider the source from which we obtain information on Uther's presence at Caer Dathal in Wales: the Mabinogion tale CULHWCH AC OLWEN. This is hardly a reliable historical account of Arthur.
It is for these reasons that I've decided to forsake any attempt to identify Uther with an entity whose origin lies in Gwynedd. Instead, I will be sticking with a father for Arthur based on Hadrian's Wall.
My book THE BATTLE-LEADER OF THE NORTH will be my final expression of that theory.
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