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King Uther Pendragon was the father of Arthur. He was the brother of Ambrosius
whom he succeeded as King of Britain. Falling in love with Igraine, he went
to war
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| Uther Pendragon vows to
deliver the child to Merlin. |
with her husband, Gorlois. During the war, Merlin
magically made Uther assume the likeness of Gorlois and in this guise he
visited Igraine and became the father of Arthur. When Gorlois died, Uther
married Igraine. He died in battle and was supposedly buried at Stonehenge.
The Prose Tristan says Uther was once in love with the wife of Argan who
defeated him and made him build a castle. The Petit Brut tells how
he fought a dragon-serpent in Westmorland (now part of Cumbria). Henry of
Huntingdon calls him Arthur's brother while a Cumbrian legend makes him
a giant. In Cumbria, he is said to have founded his kingdom in Mallerstang
and to have tried to divert the River Eden to make a moat around his castle.
It has been suggested that Uther is a chimerical character created by a
misunderstanding of the Welsh phrase: Arthur mab Uther, which was taken
to mean 'Arthur son of Uther' but actually means 'Arthur, terrible son'.
However, there is evidence for independent tradition regarding Uther.
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