Uther Pendragon

The son of King Audrien & his Queen Constantine. After Uther battled his brother Ambrosius for the crown, he continued to battle with the Celts, for the Land that we now know as England. It was at this time that Merlin gave Uther the Sword Excalibur to rule over the land with. We will not discuss all of Uthers Battles here. We will start with the War between Him & Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall. Uther had made an alliance with the Duke, after a long battle. On the eve of this alliance, is when Uther first saw Igraine, the wife of the Duke. He became infatuated with her. Sensing the lust of Uther for his wife, Gorlois left without taking the King's leave, a grave act of insubordination. this was perceived as a challenge to the authority of King Uther. Uther was so sick with love for Igraine, that one of Uther's men (Geoffrey of Monmouth as Sir Ulfin de Ridcaradoch), sought out Merlin, who said he would help if the King would reward him with whatever he desired. Merlin required that any child born for the King Uther's magical union be delivered to him to be raise. Uther agreed to Merlin's terms.

With his magical powers, Merlin called on the Dragons Breath and so, altered Uther's appearance, that when he went to Igraine in her castle a Tintagel, Igraine believed Uther to be her husband, Gorlois. That same night, while Uther was lying with Igraine, Gorlois was killed in battle with Uther's troops. When Igraine heard of her husband's death, she than wandered about the identity of the knight who had lain with her.

Igraine married Uther on the advice of his counsellors, he did not tell her that he was the knight that lain with her on the eve of her husband's death. Their son, conceived on that night, was Arthur, brother to Morgan Le Fay. As Uther had been told, Merlyn came to take the baby away.

Uther was unable to spend a long & happy life with Igraine. He had fallen sick and died, within two year after their marriage. This caused great sorrow to Igraine, who had learned to love him.

The kingdom fell into jeopardy. There was no known heir. Many lords laid claim to the throne and fought for it. Stories tell us that Uther knowing that he was going to die, drove Excalibur into a stone. That if he could not rule Excalibur no one would. The kingdom would remain in this situation for 13 years.

12 September 1999