Arthurian characters

Merlin () is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a prophet and a magician, along with several other main roles. The familiar depiction of Merlin, based on an amalgamation of historical and legendary figures, was introduced by the 12th-century Catholic cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth and then built on by the French poet Robert de Boron and prose successors in the 13th century. Geoffrey's account presented Merlin as a prophet and royal advisor to Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon.

disciple of Jesus, donated his heart for the burial of Jesus

late 4th-century Roman emperor of Britain and usurper of the West

Western Roman Emperor from 407 to 411

enchantress in Arthurian legend

Gildas (English pronunciation: , Breton: Gweltaz; ) – also known as , (in Middle Welsh texts and antiquarian works) and (Gildas the Wise) – was a 6th-century British monk best known for his religious polemic , which recounts the history of the Britons before and during the coming of the Saxons. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during the sub-Roman period, and was renowned for his Biblical knowledge and literary style. In his later life, he emigrated to Brittany, where he founded a monastery known as Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys.

thumb|Vortigern and Rowena by William Harvey

ruler of Avalon in the Arthurian legend

Cynric () was King of Wessex from 534 to 560. Everything known about him comes from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. There, he is stated to have been the son of Cerdic, who is considered the founder of the kingdom of Wessex. However, the Anglian King-list and parts of the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List (which may partly derive from the Anglian King-list and was a source for the Chronicle), instead says that Cynric was the son of Cerdic's son Creoda. Similarly, the paternal genealogy of Alfred the Great given in Asser's The Life of King Alfred, includes the name Creoda, while the account of the

post-Roman leader in Britain

Western Roman Emperor from 409 to 411

Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the Book of Taliesin. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to have sung at the courts of at least three kings. Taliesin means "shining brow" in Welsh.

Step brother of king Arthur, a knight of the Round Table

thumb|Lohengrin by Walter Crane, 1895

thumb|King Karados' attributed arms in medieval French prose romances Caradoc Vreichvras (; Modern , ) was a semi-legendary ancestor to the kings of Gwent. He may have lived during the 5th or 6th century. He is remembered in the Matter of Britain as a Knight of the Round Table, under the names King Carados and Carados Briefbras (French for "Carados Shortarm").

Husband of Iseault in Arthurian legend

Keeper of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend

1937 comic strip by Hal Foster

Wikimedia list article

character in literature

thumb|Howard Pyle's illustration for [[The Story of the Grail and the Passing of King Arthur (1910)]]

500-543

thumb|Igraine and Gorlois in [[Władysław T. Benda's illustration for Uther and Igraine by Warwick Deeping (1903). In much of modern Arthurian tradition (a prominent example is 1983's The Mists of Avalon), he is portrayed as a jealous and abusive husband]]

6th-century king of Rheged

the father of Sir Kay and the foster father of King Arthur in the Arthurian legend

king of Dumnonia and a legendary King of Britain

Illtud ( also spelled Illtyd, Eltut, and, in Latin, Hildutus), also known as Illtud Farchog or Illtud the Knight, is venerated as the abbot teacher of the divinity school, Bangor Illtyd, located in Llanilltud Fawr (Llantwit Major) in Glamorgan, Wales. He founded the monastery and college in the 6th century, and the school is believed to be Britain's earliest centre of learning. At its height, it had over a thousand pupils and schooled many of the great saints of the age, such as David, Samson of Dol, and the historian Gildas.

mythical giant and king (17-69)

Saint Cadoc, also spelled Cadog (; also Modern Welsh: Catawg or Catwg; born or before), was a 5th–6th-century abbot of Llancarfan, near Cowbridge in Glamorgan, Wales, a monastery famous from the era of the Celtic church as a centre of learning, where Illtud spent the first period of his religious life under Cadoc's tutelage. Cadoc is credited with the establishment of many churches in Cornwall, Brittany, Dyfed and Scotland. He is known as Cattwg Ddoeth, "the Wise", and a large collection of his maxims and moral sayings were included in Volume III of the Myvyrian Archaiology. He is listed in th

legendary king of Brittany

mythical character

fictional character

thumb|La Belle Iseult by William Morris (1858)

Welsh mythological character

legendary Northern British poet

Vortimer (Old Welsh Guorthemir, ), also known as Saint Vortimer (,  "Vortimer the Blessed"), is a figure in British tradition, a son of the 5th-century Britonnic ruler Vortigern. He is remembered for his fierce opposition to his father's Saxon allies. In Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, he overthrows his father and reigns as King of Britain for a brief period before his death restores Vortigern to power.

Maleagant (alternatively Malagant, Meleagan, Meleagant, Meleagraunce, Meliagant, Meliagaunt, Meliagant, Meliaganz, Meliagrance, Meliagrant, Mellegrans, Mellyagraunce) is an often otherworldly villain from the Arthurian legend. In a popular Arthurian episode recorded in several different versions, Maleagant abducts King Arthur’s wife, Queen Guinevere, necessitating her rescue by Arthur and his knights, later notably Lancelot. The earliest surviving version of this episode names the abductor Melwas in Welsh tales. As Maleagant, he debuts as Lancelot's archenemy in Chrétien de Troyes' French roma

figure in Arthurian legend

Modron ("mother") is a figure in Welsh tradition, known as the mother of the hero Mabon ap Modron. Both characters may have derived from earlier divine figures, in her case the Gaulish goddess Matrona. She may have been a prototype for Morgan le Fay from the Arthurian legend.

mythical creature from Arthurian legend

Culhwch (, with the final consonant sounding like Scottish "loch"), in Welsh mythology, is the son of Cilydd son of Celyddon and Goleuddydd, a cousin of Arthur and the protagonist of the story Culhwch and Olwen (the earliest of the medieval Welsh tales appended to Lady Charlotte Guest's edition of the Mabinogion). In this tale the etymology of Culhwch is explained as "sow run" (cul "narrow, a narrow thing"; hwch "sow, pig"), but this is likely to be folk etymology. According to the narrative, Culhwch is born to his maddened mother Goleuddydd after she is frightened by a herd of swine. The swin

thumb|So huge is his frame, Ysbaddaden requires great forks to prop up his eyelids. Illustration by John D. Batten (1892)

legendary Arthurian king

Catigern () is a figure of Welsh tradition, said to be a son of Vortigern, the tyrannical King of the Britons, and the brother of Vortimer. A figure of this name also appears in the Welsh genealogies, though he is given different parentage. Catigern is nearly exclusively known for a tradition in which he fell in battle with the Saxons.

Gwynllyw Filwr or Gwynllyw Farfog (), known in English in a corrupted form as Woolos the Warrior or Woolos the Bearded (; 450 – 500 A.D.) was a Welsh king and religious figure.

Dubricius or Dubric (; Norman-French: Devereux; – ) was a 6th-century British ecclesiastic venerated as a saint. He was the evangelist of Ergyng () (later Archenfield, Herefordshire) and much of south-east Wales.

Morfran (Middle Welsh: Moruran "cormorant"; literally "sea crow", from môr, "sea", and brân, "crow", from Common Brittonic *mori-brannos, as in French cormoran < L corvus marinus) is a figure in Welsh mythology. Usually portrayed as a warrior under King Arthur, he is noted for the darkness of his skin and his hideousness. He appears in the narratives about the bard Taliesin and in the Welsh Triads, where he is often contrasted with the angelically handsome Sanddef.

Saint Carannog (Old Welsh:Carantog; ; ; , also anglicised as Carantoc or Carantock) was a 6th-century Welsh saint, abbot and confessor. He is the founder of the Llan at Llangrannog in Ceredigion, Wales, as well as other monastic sites across Somerset, Cornwall, Brittany and Ireland.

multiple fictional characters in Marvel Comics

character in Arthurian legend

Teneu (or Thenew (), Tannoch, Thaney, Thanea, Denw, etc.) is a legendary Christian saint who was venerated in medieval Glasgow, Scotland. Traditionally she was a sixth-century Brittonic princess of the ancient kingdom of Gododdin (in what became Lothian) and the mother of Saint Mungo, apostle to the Britons of Strathclyde and founder of the city of Glas Ghu (Glasgow). She and her son are regarded as the city's co-patrons, and Glasgow's St Enoch Square allegedly marks the site of a medieval chapel dedicated to her, built on or near her grave ("St. Enoch" is in fact a corruption of "St. Teneu").

thumb|Opening lines of the 14th c.Peredur son of Efrawg manuscript from the Red Book of Hergest

In Welsh mythology, Olwen (or Olwyn) is the daughter of the giant Ysbaddaden and cousin of Goreu. She is the heroine of the story Culhwch and Olwen in the Mabinogion. Her father is fated to die if she ever marries, so when Culhwch (sometimes spelled as Kilhwch) comes to court her, he is given a series of immensely difficult tasks which he must complete before he can win her hand. With the help of his cousin King Arthur, Culhwch succeeds and the giant dies, allowing Olwen to marry her suitor.

legendary Western Roman Emperor

character from Monty Python and the Holy Grail

6th-century Welsh Christian monk

Lanval is one of the Lais of Marie de France. Written in Anglo-Norman, it tells the story of Lanval, a knight at King Arthur's court, who is overlooked by the king, wooed by a fairy lady, given all manner of gifts by her, and subsequently refuses the advances of Queen Guinevere. The plot is complicated by Lanval's promise not to reveal the identity of his mistress, which he breaks when Guinevere accuses him of having "no desire for women". Before Arthur, Guinevere accuses Lanval of shaming her, and Arthur, in an extended judicial scene, demands that he reveal his mistress. Despite the broken p

list of characters in the BBC fantasy drama television series Merlin

monstrous cat in Welsh legend

Creiddylad (also known as Creirddylad, Creurdilad, Creudylad or Kreiddylat), daughter of King Lludd, is a minor character in the early medieval Welsh Arthurian tale Culhwch ac Olwen.