Medrawd: a Cymric Arthurian Hero (The Able)

Synonyms: Mordred, Modrot
Cym: Able

Medrawd occurs as a character in several Cymric sources and from these two very different images of this character emerge. Of the poems naming him he is encountered in five verses of the Trioedd Ynys Prydein.

The first of these, Triad 51 relates the Galfridian tradition of Medrawd, but with some native elements. In this verse Medrawd is named as one of the 'Three Dishonoured men of the Island of Britain'. Indeed, he is the third and worst of the threesome named in the poem. For when Arthur left the governance of Britain in his care to voyage in opposition to Lles, emperor of Rome [Arthur is victorious and saves the Island from paying tax to Rome but his best men are slain] and Medrawd hears this he turns against Arthur, raising a host of Saxons, Picts and Scots to hold the Island against Arthur. The host of Arthur and he manages to take back the Island but the two opposing force meet at Camlan and Arthur slew Medrawd but was mortally wounded himself. The next triad is the Peniarth 50 version of Triad 53 which names the third 'Harmful Blow of the Island of Britain' as that struck by Arthur on Medrawd. The next triad, Triad 54 names the first 'Unrestrained Ravaging of the Island of Britain' as that which occurred when Medrawd came to Arthur's court at Celliwig in Cronwall where he left 'neither food nor drink in the court' unconsumed. Then he dragged Gwenhwyfar from her throne and struck a blow upon her. Triad 59 names the 'Three Unfortunate Counsels of the Island of Britain'; the third of these being the three-fold division by Arthur of his men with Medrawd at Camlan. All these poems refer to the Galfridian tradition of the emnity between Arthur and Medrawd as first mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae. There is also an allusion here to Arthur's generosity to Medrawd before the battle (the division of hosts in Triad 59 being an example) which may be pre-Galfridian in origin. The same theme is also found the the Mabinogion of Breuddwyd Rhonabwy in which Iddawg Cordd Prydein claims to have gained his epithet by distorting the messages sent by Arthur to Medrawd before the battle and thus engendering the battle itself.

Appendix IV of the Trioedd Ynys Prydein show us a glimpse of the other Medrawd. Here his is named as one of the 'Twenty-four Knights of Arthur's Court' where Medrawd [given as Medrod in the poem] is named as one of the 'Three Royal Knights of Arthur's Court' and he was named thus because no king or emperor could refuse them on account of their beauty and wisdom in peace; whilst in war no champion could withstand them. Here Medrawd's ancestry is given as Medrawb ap Llew ap Cynfarch. In the Annales Cambriae (circa 970) it is said only that Arthur and Medrawd died in Gueith Camlann (The Battle of Camlan). Thus Medrawd obviously was known in the pre-Galfridian tradition. This is also bourne out by the early twelfth century bards who mention Medrawd quite frequently. Yet they mention Medrawd as a paragon of valour and courtesy with comments such as the bard Cynddelw's moes Medravt (The virtue of Medrawd) and there is no allusion to his treachery by the early bards. The mention of Medrawd in the appendix IV poem of the Trioedd seems to fall into this earlier category of allusion though the patronymic given is later and betrays the influence of Geoffrey of Monmouth who gave Modredus' (Medrawd's) ancestry as being the son of Loth de Lodensia (Lleu ap Cynfarch) and made him the son of Arthur's sister, Anna and thus the brother of Gualguanus (Gwalchmei).

Based on the evidence of linguistic shift (see Rachel Bromwich, Trioedd Ynys Prydein) the Geoffrey's Modredus was derived from either a Cornish or British source. The Old Brythonic form of the name would be Modrot and with the accent shift in Cornish and Breton by the mid eleventh century this would have become Modret with a Latinized form of Modredus. The name certainly survived in Cornwall and a Tre-Modret was noted in the Domesday book. There is also the place-name Carveddras (derived from the Kaervodred [The fortress of Modret] near Truro). It may therefore be that Medrawd was localized to Cornwall which may explain why in the later romances Mrodred (to use the Normanized form of the name) became associated with this region of Britain.

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