The Arthurian Name Dictionary

540 Pages·1999·9.332 MB·English

by  Christopher W. Bruce

The Arthurian
Name Dictionary
GarlandR eferenceL ibrary of the Humanities( Vol. 2063)
The Arthurian
Name Dictionary
Christopher W. Bruce
Garland Publishing, Inc.
A membero f the Taylor & FrancisG roup
New York and London
Copyright © 1999 by ChristopherW . Bruce
All rights reserved
Library of CongressC ataloging-inP- ublicationD ata
Bruce, ChristopherW .
The Arthurian named ictionary I by ChristopherW . Bruce.
p. cm. - (Garlandr eferencel ibrary of the humanities ; v. 2063)
ISBN 0-8153-2865-6( alk. paper)
1. Arthur, King-Dictionaries. 2. Great Britain-Antiquities, Celtic-Leg-
ends-Dictionaries. 3. Great Britain-History-To 1066-Legends-Dictio-
nanes. 4. Britons-Kingsa nd rulers-Folklore-Dictionaries. 5. Names,G eo·
graphical-Dictionaries. 6. Arthurian romances-Dictionaries. 7. Mythology,
Celtic-Dictionaries. 8. Names,P ersonal-Dictionaries. I. Title. II. Series:
Garlandr eferencel ibrary of the humanities ; vol. 2063.
DA152.5.A7B78 1999
942.01'4-dc21 98-37750
CIP
Printed on acid-free,2 50-year-lifep aper
Manufacturedi n the United Stateso f America
Contents
Foreword. ........................................................................................v.i.i. .....
Preface.. ............................................................................................i.x.. ......
SelectB ibliography ............................................................................x..i .....
The Arthurian NameD ictionary. .........................................................1.. ...
Sources.. .........................................................................................5..0..7. ...
Foreword
Who are AamaIlZ, Abastunagio,B ylas, Garengausa, nd Malory, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Chretien de
Iustig? Or Kinkenart and Kinlith and Nestling? And Troyes, and the Vulgate Cycle), being thereforeo f limited
although every reader of Arthurian literature knows of value to thosew orking with texts in other languagesT. hey
Morgan, who is Morgant? And if you do not happent o also tend to restrict themselvest o the most prominent
know them, how can you find out? Until now such names characterso r literary texts. (That, I shouldn ote, is also true,
might be next to impossible to locate; in most cases the by design, of Garland'sN ew Arthurian Encyclopedia,w hich
effort would require an exhaustings earch of the index- offers entriest o only ninety or so of the major characters.)
where one is provided-tot he edition of one Arthurian text In somei nstances,p revious referencev olumes identify
after another-inW elsh, French, German,I talian, English, charactersb y function or genealogy,b ut without telling us
and otherl anguagesN. ow it requiresi nsteada glancea t the in which works they appear or how their function and
pageso f ChristopherB ruce'sA rthurian NameD ictionary. identity may change from text to text. For example, the
When Chris wrote me a couple of yearsa go to tell me identification of Bedivere as the knight who returns
of his project to provide a complete guide to Arthurian Arthur's sword to the lake is informative, but it can also be
charactersf rom the beginningt hrough Tennyson,h e asked misleading if we are left to infer that such a role is
if I had any advice for him. I replied that he had set himself originally or universally assignedt o him; Bruce thus notes
an immense task and that, in order to complete it, he that it was Girflet who disposedo f the swordi n the French
should consider limiting it significantly, by imposing Vulgate Death ofA rthur. Bedivere assumedG irflet's role in
chronologicala nd perhapso ther constraints.I am delighted the English tradition. The "movability" of some Arthurian
to note that he chosen ot to take that part of my advice. roles is indeeda n essentiala specto f the legend,a nd it needs
Publishedh ere, the resulting guide to Arthurian characters to be documentedi n all name dictionaries. (In the case at
is the most ambitiousa nd most nearly completes uch name hand, it might be notedi n passingt hat the Girflet/Bedivere
dictionary available-or,I think, evenc onceivable. role is sometimest aken by yet others, such as Percevalo r
That it is neededw ill surely be obvious to any serious even Lancelot in somem odernn ovels and films. But that is
reader of Arthurian literature. The proliferation of materialf or anothert ime and anotherb ook.)
charactersi n this literature is overwhelming,a nd even the The most obvious ways that Chris Bruce's volume
most diligent and informed scholarc annote asily remember distinguishesit self from precedingo nesa re relatedt o scope,
many of the reasonablyp rominentc haractersm, uchl ess the detail, andt horoughnessI.n steado f a few hundredo r even a
legions of minor ones. For example, the name index to couple of thousande ntries,B ruce offers over 5,600. Indeed,
Garland'sL ancelot·Grail: The Old French Vulgate and Post· among the volumes mentionedh ere, Bruce's is the only
Vulgate in Translation includes well over 2000 names.A nd source of information about the charactersw hose names
there are many hundreds of surviving Arthurian works, standa t the beginningo f this foreword.
some of them rivaling or exceedingt he Vulgate and Post- But Bruce'sD ictionary is not simply a listing of names.
Vulgate in lengtha ndc omplexity. He gives considerable information about important
Namesc an also changei n bewildering ways from text charactersa nd aboutt he episodesa nd storiesi n which they
to text; for example, Perceval'sf ather, unnamedi n some appear.T he entries on Arthur, Merlin, Morgan, and other
works, may elsewhere be identified as Bliocadran, major figures run to several pages and constitute small
Gahmuret,A lain, or Pellinore, or he may bear yet another comparatives tudieso f the characterse' volving roles in the
name in another text. Given both the number and the elaborationo f the legend.S till anotherp articularly valuable
permutations of names, a comprehensive guide to feature of this book is Bruce'ss ourcet able, which provides
Arthurian characters can hardly reqwre further a quick indication of the sources and contents of a
justification. particular narrative and lists the major entries that give
Others have of coursem ade significant efforts in this information aboutt hat narrativeo r author.
direction. Ruth Minary and CharlesM oorman'sA rthurian But further description of this admirable book is
Dictionary, Phyllis Ann Karr's King Arthur Companion, unnecessaryI.t will not take long for serious scholarsa nd
and RonanC oghlan'sE ncyclopediao fA rthurian Legendsa re enthusiasticg eneralr eadersa like to discoveri ts featuresa nd
all useful volumes that will prove helpful to varying its value. They will appreciate its thoroughnessa nd its
degrees1. Yet they are all restrictedi n certain ways as well. usefulness,a nd they will also find, as I have, that it is
In some casess uch volumes draw primarily from Malory fascinating to peruse the volume even when one is not
(or at best, from the major English and Frenchr omances- seekingt o identify any particular character.A nd then they
will quickly want to make room for it, as I also have, on a
shelf that is close at hand.
1 In a discussion of Arthurian name dictionaries, it would be
inexcusablen ot to mention the two volumes by G.D. West. His ProfessorN orris J. Lacy
Index of Proper Namesi n French A rthurian Verse Romances1 150-
Departmento f French
1300 and Index ofP roper Namesi n French A rthurian ProseR omances
PennsylvaniaS tateU niversity
are thorough and accurate works of scholarship, and they are
highly recommendedY. et their scope, too, is limited in the ways August, 1998
indicatedb y his titles.
Preface
The A rthurian Name Dictionary is intendeda s a general I neverf ound him.
referencef or Arthurian scholars,f ans, and hobbyists. It My first attemptt o give Sir Petipacet he recognition
lists proper names from nearly every "Arthurian" text I thought he deserved,t he "Sir Petipaceo f Winchelsea
written betweent he sixth centurya nd the nineteenth,a nd Society" (SPWS), died a quiet death after only several
for more than half of these( the most significant texts) is monthsd espitew hat I thought was a successfu"l Petipace
comprehensivei,n cluding all charactersa nd places,m ajor PentecosPt arty" in 1995.
and minor, who appeari n the texts. (I would have liked Next, I thought that Petipace'sh ometown might
to be comprehensivef or all texts, but the lack of want to rememberh im, but repeatedp least o the officials
availability of many minor sourcesp reventedit ; for more of the town of Winchelsea,E ast Sussex,f ell on deaf ears.
information, seet he Sourcesa ppendix.)I usedT ennyson's It seemst hat Petipaceh ad beend emonizedb y thosew ho
Idylls of the King as my final source,t hough the richness judge him only by the actions at the end of his life (i.e.,
and diversity of modern authors' uses of traditional conspiring with Mordred and Agravain to expose
charactersd eservesit s own volume, down the road. Lancelot and Guinevere),w ithout any regardt o his noble
I sincerelyh ope that this book is valuablet o anyone deedsd uring his prime (i.e., the fight againstS ir Tor).
interestedi n the Arthurian legends.S cholarss hould find After that, my campaignt o promote Petipacet ook
it handy as an "Arthurian desk reference,"a nd readerso f some strange turns. If you happenedt o be watching
modernA rthurian literature should have fun looking up GameT hree of the 1996 World Series,t hat was me with
how their favorite characterso riginatedi n the traditional the Yankeesc ap and the cardboards ign that read "Malory
legend. (Read T. H. White's depictions of Pellinore and 1:3:9." ('''And my name," said the other, "is Sir Petipaceo f
the QuestingB east,t hen look up the entriesh ere!) In this Winchelsea.'")
reference,I have dedicatedm yself to providing as many Motivated by the belief that poor old Petipace
characters,p laces, objects, symbols, and themes-both deservedh is own entry, I beganc ataloguinga ll the proper
major and minor-as I could, within reasonables pace names in Le Morte Darthur, just so I could keep them
limitations. I hope, and expect,t hat what you find here is straight myself. Then, when I startedr eadingG eoffrey of
a more comprehensivec atalogue of Arthurian proper Monmouth,I addedh is charactersto the list. From there,
namest han has ever beenp ublishedb efore. I expandedt o othert exts, gatheredm omentum,a nd three
yearsl ater, this book rolled off my printer.
A Few Words from the Author Sir Petipaceo f Winchelseac an be found on page4 04.
Pay him a visit.
I've savedm ost of my acknowledgementfso r the end of
Notes on the Entries
this preface, but right away I have to thank the person
most responsible for this dictionary: Sir PETIPACE OF
WINCHELSEA. CommonlyU sedN ames
I first encounteredS ir Petipacei n Malory's Le Morte As you read the entries,y ou may note that there are
Darthur when I first read it in 1988. For somer eason,o ut a numbero f names,p laces,p hrases,a nd terms that I sling
of all the charactersli sted in the book, his name stuck in around without any explanation.F or instance,I assume
my headl ike a bad song. Years went by before I picked you know who Lancelot, Gawain, and Arthur are, and I
up anotherA rthurian book, but if someonea skedm e to assumet hat you are familiar with the Round Table, the
namea Knight of the RoundT able, I said, "Sir Petipaceo f Sword in the Stone, and the RomanW ar. I have tried to
Winchelsea". relate each entry to a familiar name, object, or situation,
About 1993, I begans tudying the Arthurian legends so you can understandth e significanceo f the entry within
in earnest,a nd to facilitate my studies,I set out to buy a only a few words.
dictionary or encyclopedia that catalogued Arthurian Therefore, I recommend that you familiarize
names. I eventually bought four, and for all of them, yourself with the following entries before you read
Petipacew as the acid test. As soon as I openeda book, I anything else. These are characters,p laces, and objects
would flip to the "P" sectiona nd try to find Sir Petipace central to the Arthurian legends,a nd most of the other
of Winchelsea. entriest ry to refer backt o one of these:
Arthur Camlann Galahad
Arthur's Battles ChastityT est Galehaut
Avalon Corbenic Gareth
Balin Culhwch Gawain
Bedivere Erec Girflet
Britain Excalibur Glastonbury
Camelot FisherK ing Grail
Guinevere Lucius Rome
Guinglain Mark RoundT able
Hectoro f the Fens Meleagant Saxons
Hengist Merlin Swordi n the Stone
Hoel Mordred Tristan
Isolde Morgan Ie Fay Urien
Josepho f Arimathea Palamedes Uther
Kay Perceval Vortigern
Lady of the Lake Picts Yvain
Lancelot Rions
Designationo fK nights invaluablel ove and support,a lso helpedm e edit the bulk
I use a numbero f phrasest o indicate that a personi s of this book.
one of Arthur's knights, including "an Arthurian knight," Second are the men and women of the
"a knight in Arthur's service," "a knight of Arthur's INTERLIBRARY LOAN OFFICE at NortheasternU niversity,
court," "one of Arthur's knights," and "Arthur's Sir. ..." Boston. I have never seen a more efficient, more
"Knight of the Round Table" is only used to describe productive group of people in my life. I put in request
knights who are specifically named,i n at least one source, forms for dozenso f books at a time, but the Interlibrary
as a membero f the RoundT able fellowship. Loan Office neverf ailed to find a single text. Someo f the
"Knight" being a medievalt erm, the early chronicles volumest hey turned up should have been in museums.I
and Welsh legends never refer to Arthur's warriors as was continually having conversationsw ith theml ike this:
"knights." Accordingly, all fighters in Arthur's suite that
are named exclusively in the Welsh texts or the early Me: "I need an 1560 edition of The Book of
chroniclesa re referredt o as "warriors" in this book. Taliesin written in Welsh, in the original
manuscript, with none of the pages missing.
SourceC odes There are only four in the world. I'd like the
At the end of each entry, in brackets,i s a series of one that was owned by Lady Charlotte Guest
codes that identify the Arthurian sourcesi n which the and has an inscription by Queen Victoria
character,p lace, object, symbol or theme mentionedi n inside the front cover."
the entry appears.U se the "Sources"t able at the back of
the book to find the full namea nd descriptiono f the text ILO Staff Person{ typing on his computer}:
basedo n the code. "It'll be here on Tuesday."
The codesa re also designeds o, if you prefer, you ~an
easily look up the full description of the source in The PROFESSOR NORRIS J. LACY has my deepest
New A rthurian Encyclopedia. Each code contains just gratitude,b oth for writing the foreword to this book and
enoughl etters to identify a unique entry, alphabetically, for encouraging me, at the beginning, to pursue this
intheNAE. project. I would also thank the scholarsa nd studentso n
ARTHURNET, and particularly MICHELLE ZIEGLER, for
Translations providing assistancea nd advice along the way. Thankst o
It has been my generalp olicy to translatet itles and JUDY SHOAF for maintaining this invaluable electronic
sobriquets, but not proper names. For instance, Le mailing list.
Chavlier de la Charrette is listed under "Knight of the My appreciation to GARLAND PUBLISHING, and
Cart," and Isolde aux blanche mains is "Isolde of the particularly my editor, KRIST! LONG, not only for
White Hands." However the knight Orguelleus, whose agreeing to publish my book, but also for making
name means "proud," is still listed under "Orguelleus" available, to countless students of Arthurian literature,
becauseit is a propern amea nd not a title. critical editionso f dozenso f texts.
The exceptiont o the translation policy is when an Finally, I thank my friends and colleagues at the
author writingi n English has chosent o give a charactera CAMBRIDGE POLICE DEPARTMENT, who, as people
foreign language title. Malory does this often (e.g., uninterestedin Arthuriana,w ere able to provide me with
"Geryne Ie Gros," "SeverauceIe Breuse"). Theset itles are a valuable "outsiders'"p oint of view, asking me thought-
only translatedi f the charactersp reviously appearedin a provoking questions like, "Aren't you done with that
non-Englishs ource. book yet?" And, "What is your book about? Again?"
They are the modern-dayK nights of the RoundT able.
Acknowledgements:
lowe thanks to a daunting number of people for
their assistancea nd supportw ith this book. First mention
goest o my wife, TERRI, who, in addition to providing me
x
SelectB ibliography
Key primary sources (i.e., the actual Arthurian texts) are -, ed. The Quest for Arthur's Britain. London: Praeger,
listed in the "Sources"t able at the back of this book. Listed 1968.
below are secondarys ources that I consulted and found
particularly valuable in explaining origins of characters, Glennie, John S. Stuart. Arthurian Localities, Their
places,o bjects,s ymbols,a ndt hemes. Historical Origin, Chief Country, and Fingalian
Relations; with a Map of A rthurian Scotland. Felinfach:
General Reference Llanerch, 1994.
Literature and Art
Coghlan, Ronan. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the
Arthurian Legends.S haftesburyD, orset: Element,1 993.
Benson, Larry D. Malory's "Morte Darthur." Cambridge:
Lacy, Norris J., ed. The New Arthurian Encyclopedia.N ew HarvardU niversity Press,1 976.
York: Garland,1 996.
-, and Geoffrey Ashe. The A rthurian Handbook. New Brinkley, Roberta F. Arthurian Legend in the Seventeenth
York: Garland,1 988. Century. Baltimore:J ohnsH opkinsP ress,1 932.
Minary, Ruth, and Charles Moorman. An Arthurian Bruce,J amesD ouglas. The Evolution ofA rthurian Romance
Dictionary. Chicago:A cademyC hicago,1 990. from the BeginningsD own to the Year 1300, 2nd ed., 2
vols. Baltimore: JohnsH opkins Press,1 928.
West, G. D. An Index ofP roper Namesi n French Arthurian
Prose RomancesT. oronto: University of Toronto Press, Gardner, Edmund G. The Arthurian Legend m Italian
1978. Literature. London: Dent, 1930.
-. An Index of Proper Names in French Arthurian Verse
Romances1 150-1300.T oronto: University of Toronto Loomis, Roger Sherman, ed. A rthurian Literature in the
Press,1 969. Middle Ages: a Collaborative History. Oxford:
Clarendon,1 959.
History and Legend -. Arthurian Tradition and Chretien de Troyes. New Yor:
ColumbiaU niversity Press,1 949.
-. The Developmento f Arthurian Romance. New York:
Alcock, Leslie, ed. Arthur's Britain. London: Penguin,1 971.
Harpera nd Row, 1963.
-. The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol.C ardiff:
Barber,R . W. King Arthur: Hero andL egend.N ew York: St.
University of Wales Press,1 963.
Martin,1986.
-, and Laura Hibbard Loomis. Arthurian Legends in
-. The Figure ofA rthur. London: Longman,1 972.
MedievalArt. London: Oxford University Press,1 938.
Chambers,E . K. A rthur of Britain. London: Sidgwick and
Lumiansky, R. M., ed. Malory's Originality. Baltimore:
Jackson,1 927.
JohnsH opkins University Press,1 964.
Fletcher,R obert Huntington. The Arthurian Material in the
Maynadier, Howard. The Arthur of the English Poets.
Chronicles, Especially Those of Great Britain and France.
Boston:H oughtonM ifflin, 1907.
Boston: Ginn, 1906.
Merriman, JamesD ouglas. The Flower of Kings: a Study of
Gilbert, Martin. Atlas ofB ritish History. New York: Oxford
the Arthurian Legendi n EnglandB etween1 485 and 1835.
University Press,1 993.
Lawrence:U niversity Presso f Kansas,1 973.
Lindsay,J ack.A rthur andH is Times. London: Muller, 1958.
Murphy, Gerard. The Ossianic Lore and RomanticT ales of
MedievalI reland. Dublin: ThreeC andles,1 961.
MacNiocaill, Gearoid. Ireland Before the Vikings. Dublin:
Gill and MacMillan, 1972.
Opie, lona and Peter. The Classic Fairy Tales. New York:
Oxford University Press,1 974.
Morris, John. The Ageo fA rthur. New York: Scribner,1 973.
Poag, James F. Wolfram von Eschenbach. New York:
Geographic and Topography
Twayne, 1972.
Ashe, Geoffrey. A Guidebook to Arthurian Britain.
Weston, Jessie. From Ritual to Romance. Cambridge:
Longman:L ondon, 1980.
CambridgeU niversity Press,1 920.
-. The Landscapeo fK ing Arthur. New York: Holt, 1988.
A
AACENA ABBEY OF THE CROSS
A forest through which Galahada nd Tristan rode during A Scottish abbey that serveda s the final resting place for
the Grail Quest.[ PostQuest] Josepho f Arimatheai n the Vulgate Estoire del Saint Graal.
[VulgEst]
AACHEN
A West German city named in the Alliterative Morte ABBLASOURE
Arthure as part of Arthur's vast empire.[ Allit] A place visited by Galahadd uring the Grail Quest, just
prior to his conquesto f the Castleo f Maidens.[ Malory]
AAMANZ
A knight whosep hysicals imilarity to Gawainl ent him the ABELLEUS [*Abelin]
nickname "the other Gawain." In pursuit of a knight The object of Tor's first quest. Abelleus stole a white
namedG igamec,w ho had slain his brother, Aamanz was brachet from Arthur's hall; Tor tracked him down and
intercepted and challenged by another knight named retrieved it. Having promised Abelleus's head to the
Zedoech. The real Gawain happeneda long and stopped hound'so wner, Tor reluctantly decapitatedh im. [PostMer,
Aamanz as he was about to beheadh is opponent.G awain Malory]
and Aamanzb attled, with Gawain emerginga s the victor.
When Aamanz refused to surrender,G awain turned him ABER DEU CLEDDYF ("Estuary of the Two
over to Zedoecha nd Gigamec,w ho cruelly murderedh im
Swords")
as soon as Gawain had left. Gigamect hen bore Aamanz's
An estuaryi n southwestD yfed (Wales) where Arthur and
head to Arthur's court, representing it as Gawain's.
his warriors journeyed to retrieve the pups of the
[Heinrich]
enchantedh ound Rhymi. Obtaining the dogs was one of
Culhwch'st asks.A rthur receivedd irectionsf rom Tringad,
AANZIM a local resident.[ Culhwch]
Steward of the castle Amonstus and the vassal of Lady
Fortune.H e hostedG awaind uring the knight's visit to the
ABERTYwI
country.[ Heinrich]
A Welsh estuary where the Tywi river empties into the
Bristol Channel.H ere Arthur and his men fought one of
AARON several battles against the boar Twrch Trwyth, and the
An ally of Thereus,A rthur's Romane nemy. He ruled the warriors Cynana nd Gwilenhin were slain. From here,t he
kingdom of Armenia. [Claris] chasem ovedo n to Glynn Y stun. [Culhwch]
ABADAN ABERERCH
A heathenk night slain by Arthur's Sir Lucan at the first The grave site of Rhydderch the Generous, king of
battle of Carhaix.[ Arthour] Cumbriaa nd brother-in-lawo f Merlin. [WelshSG]
ABAN ABESSA
A kinsman of Lancelot who joined the Round Table to A mute maidenw ho lived with her blind mother,C orceca,
emulate his famous relative. He participatedi n the Grail in Spenser'sT he Faerie Queene.I n Spenser'sa llegory, the
Quest.[ PostQuest] women are an unflattering portrayal of monasticism.T he
women lodged PrincessU na after she was abandonedb y
ABASTUNAGIO her protector, the Red Cross Knight. Abessa's lover,
Kirkrapine, was killed by Una's pet lion when he tried to
Son of Galehauti n La Tavola Ritonda. He ruled the castle
breaki nto their house.[ Spenser]
Ferelois, where he held a tournamentd uring the Grail
Quest.H is counterparti n Frenchr omanceis GALEHODIN.
[Tavola] ABILAN OF ESTRANGOT
An Arthurian knight who was unsuccessfuiln the Perilous
Passagea dventure.[ Palamedes]