by M. K. Hume
Incidentally, if you want to learn what happens to Merlin, Dragon’s Child will answer most of your questions.
Morgan and Ulfin were two particularly difficult characters to place within my version of the legend. Ulfin assisted Merlin to inveigle Uther into Tintagel for the specific purpose of the rape of Ygerne, so he becomes a person of importance. Yet anyone who served under Uther Pendragon when he was at his murderous worst could not be a benevolent character. Hence, Ulfin becomes very like the guards at Belsen or Auschwitz. He is not entirely monstrous, because he lacks the intelligence to be truly evil, but he is a born follower who gains all his status and respect by sheltering in a powerful man’s shadow. If such a flawed character should lose the approval of Uther, it would be much like losing the ability to breathe, so Ulfin would have searched for Ruadh until he found both her and Artorex. Only death could stop him from completing this quest. I decided he should die appropriately, at the hands of a woman and during an attempted rape.
Morgan did not become wicked overnight. I hope I showed that her desire for power pre-dated her father’s death. In many ways, she would have made an excellent man, but as the warrior’s role was denied to her, she takes power in the only way she can. After all, she lacks the glamour and beauty of her mother while possessing Gorlois’s strength and determination. Perhaps, out of love for her father, she would have rejected the role of fabled witch eventually if he had survived to old age, and might have chosen the more benevolent role of wise woman and herbmaster. Hence, Gorlois’s death sent her into a dangerous new search for power and revenge that would ultimately poison her life.
Botha is another matter entirely. His terrible fate in King Arthur: Dragon’s Child and the lessons that his loyalty to the High King teaches Artor makes him a pivotal figure in my version of the Arthuriad. Botha is the only person who actually loves Uther Pendragon, although he is aware of the dark side of his master’s nature. To a certain extent, The High King protects Botha and his precious honour from Uther’s excesses. I found it extremely difficult to create a character who serves with Ulfin, but who is as decent as Ulfin is vile. As with Myrddion’s character, I had to analyse Botha’s difficult situation, which rose to a crescendo with the murder of the little girls, and marked the end of Botha’s more privileged position with his master.
Readers of Dragon’s Child will see a notable difference in Uther’s treatment of Botha. The High King no longer has a brute such as Ulfin to serve as a buffer between himself and his most loyal servant.
What can be said of Uther Pendragon? In modern times, his lack of conscience would mark him as a sociopath or a high-functioning psychopath whose excesses are kept in check by his obsessive love for his brother. But that love becomes a two-edged sword, and Uther would have considered it a weakness. An oath can be manipulated, so that he feeds his demons while, ostensibly, remaining true to his promises to his brother. His one saving grace as a monarch is his brilliance in warfare and his steadfast hatred of the Saxons. Ultimately, because of his childhood banishment and the travails in his youth, Uther becomes the man he is because he has grown stunted and angry.
Today, we recognise the damage done to children if security and love are taken from them at an early age. They never recover from this early loss. Uther is as he was made by Vortigern when he lost his mother and his brother at one fell swoop and was cast away from his home, left only with another brother to provide any sense of stability. The same could be said of Myrddion Merlinus, but the healer is loved passionately by his grandmother, Olwen, who is a grown person rather than the child Ambrosius is when he becomes Uther’s sole support. Just as Myrddion grows to be assailable because he needs friends, so Uther turns more brutal as he actively rejects the need for a companion. Under his vices, Uther is an impotent figure, like Morgan, because he rejects love and beauty.
The problem of his hatred of any heir is another odd part of the legend, in that transference of power from father to son was of paramount importance in those dark and unpredictable ages. Uther seems to hate the very thought of being replaced by anyone, least of all a child who is a tangible reminder of his murder of Gorlois and his treatment of Ygerne. Even Uther was capable of shame, and the birth of such an heir at such an inopportune time would have opened him to suspicion and ridicule. Besides, my Uther is a megalomaniac who hates the idea of a son who is as capable and competent as he is. He aspires to being remembered as the greatest of the Celtic war chiefs, one who can rival the feats of his ancestors. No one, not even a child of his own blood, can be permitted to eclipse or weaken his reputation. Today, he would be diagnosed as a dangerous narcissist: but then he was a man of the times, ideally suited to keeping the Saxons at bay.
Andrewina Ruadh is a complete invention sparked by a woman I saw modelling nude for a room of painters at an artists’ colony is Montville, Australia. I have rarely met anyone who embodies the Celtic look so accurately. This woman also radiated an aura of steadfast loyalty and strength of character. We met briefly and, if she should read this book, I hope she recognises something of herself in the character. Unfortunately, I can’t remember her name.
Ultimately, Andrewina Ruadh, the ultimate tragic outsider and heroine, has her opposite: the fragile and sometimes irritating Ygerne.
Ygerne’s beauty is a vital part of the legend, for Uther Pendragon becomes obsessed with possessing her. He risks his throne to murder her husband, and uses a disguise to breach her fortress, thereby also risking his life. I once knew a woman who was very beautiful, but utterly ignorant of the nature of her looks or the effect they had on others. I confess I used this woman as a starting point in my descriptions of Ygerne.
Ygerne is not totally weak and helpless. In fact, despite appearances, she has considerable fortitude, although her relatively charmed life becomes less so when she accompanies her husband to Venta Belgarum. After all, because she is certain that her new husband has killed her son, she aborts three other unborn children. This is a mortal sin that she knows will weigh heavily on her soul. Nor does she kill herself, although she longs for death.
Sometimes it takes more courage to live.
How such a pious woman could produce Morgan and Morgause seems impossible, but the girls have certainly been spoiled by their parents. She also tries to accept her gift of the Sight, although she is appalled by it. Ygerne, in my Arthurian world, is a special innocent who is also a very tragic figure.
Men ruled the Dark Ages; women could only hack out a place for themselves if they were very beautiful or very skilled. But great, good or infamous, time washed over them and they vanished from the pages of history. Only the odd, old name remains to remind us of the faint perfume of their skins, or the sheen of their hair by torchlight.
Vale, brave hearts.
GLOSSARY OF PLACE NAMES
The following is a list of place names in post-Roman Britain with their present-day equivalents.
Anderida
Pevensey, East Sussex
Anderida Silva
A forest north of Anderida
Aquae Sulis
Bath, Avon
Bravoniacum
Kirkby Thore, Cumbria
Brocavum
Brougham, Cumbria
Caer Fyrddin
Carmarthen, Wales
Caer Gai
Llanuwchllyn, Gwynedd
Calcaria
Tadcaster, Yorkshire
Calleva Atrebatum
Silchester, Hampshire
Cataractonium
Catterick, Yorkshire
Corinium
Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Deva
Chester, Cheshire
Dinas Emrys
Ffestiniog, Snowdonia, Gwynedd
Dubris
Dover, Kent
Durnovaria
Dorchester, Dorset
Durobrivae
Water Newton, Cambridgeshire (Fort bridge)
Durobrivae, Cantii
Rochester, Kent (The walled to
wn of bridges)
Durocobrivae
Dunstable, Bedfordshire
Durovernum
Canterbury, Kent
Eburacum
York, North Yorkshire
Forest of Dean
Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire
Gesoriacum
Boulogne, France
Glastonbury
Glastonbury, Somerset
Glevum
Gloucester, Gloucestershire
Isca
Caerleon, Gwent
Lactodorum
Towcester, Northamptonshire
Lagentium
Castleford, Yorkshire
Lavatrae
Bowes, Durham
Lindum
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Londinium
London, Greater London
Magnus Portus
Portsmouth, England
Melandra
Glossop, Derbyshire
Mona island
Anglesea
Moridunum
Carmarthen, Dyfed
Nidum
Neath, West Glamorgan
Olicana
Ilkley, Yorkshire
Petrianae
Stanwix, Cumbria
Petuaria
Brough on Humber, Yorkshire
Portus Udurni
Portchester, Hampshire
Ratae
Leicester, Leicestershire
Segontium
Caernarfon, Gwynedd
Seteia Aest
Dee and Mersey Rivers
Tamesis River
River Thames
Templebrough
Templeborough
Tintagel
Tintagel, Cornwall
Tomen-y-Mur
Llyn Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd
Towy
Towy, Wales
Vallum Antonini
Antonine Wall
Vallum Hadriani
Hadrian’s Wall
Vectis Island
The Isle of Wight
Venonae
High Cross, Leicestershire
Venta Belgarum
Winchester, Hampshire
Venta Silurum
Caerwent, Gwent
Verlucio
Sandy Lane, Wiltshire
Verterae
Brough, Cumbria
Verulamium
St Albans, Hertfordshire
Viroconium
Wroxeter, Shropshire