Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon,in the Arthurian legend, king of the Britons and father of Arthur . Pendragon means ‘chief dragon’, and Uther has been variously explained; it may be a misreading as a proper name of the Welsh word uthr, ‘terrible’ (an interpretation that squares with Geoffrey of Monmouth's calling him ‘Utherpendragon’, undivided). After he became king of the Britons, he lusted after Igraine , wife of Gorlois , duke of Cornwall. He picked a quarrel with Gorlois and was transformed by Merlin's magic into his shape, whereupon he slept with Igraine. After the death of Gorlois he married Igraine who bore him two children, Arthur and Anna. See Geoffrey of Monmouth , The History of the Kings of Britain, trans. L. Thorpe ( 1966 ), 151–211 (summary 368–9).
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