The Birth of Arthur

I have given much thought to the birth of Arthur and there are a couple of things that puzzle me.

1. Who was Ygain? What made her so desirable as to go to war over her?
2. Why was it necessary to take the baby Arthur and hide him until king Uther’s death?

All right – we left off with Merlin and his prophecies. One of his prophecies is that the sons of Constantine would come and destroy Vortigern. According to the annals, this is precisely what happened. The two boys who had been whisked away to the mainland, Aurelianus and Uther, returned with an army and chased Vortigern into south Wales, where they were able to trap him. Vortigern’s keep burned to the ground with him in it. Aurelianus, being the older of the two boys, became king.

Aurelianus was considered among the finest kings the Bretons had had. He was brave and good. He made it a point to rebuild all the churches in the land and keep the Saxons at bay. Sadly, he only reined for 10 years before he was assassinated. Upon his death, his brother Uther takes the throne.

Apparently, it’s at Uther’s coronation that he is introduced to the king of Cornwall and his wife Ygerna, or Ygrain. She is considered quite beautiful and desirable, insomuch that Uther is willing to go to war over her.

This, to me, this is déjà vu the Trojan War! As the story goes, Paris abducts Helen (later known as the face that launched a thousand ships) from Macedonia and takes her off to Troy. There is some indication that the Trojans and the Greeks have their cultural basis in the middle-east. So, was it really the face that launched a thousand ships, or was Helen a woman of land, wealth and royal connections? Paris hauling her off was marriage by abduction. By “marrying” her, he controlled her lands and trade routes and who knows what else! Now that makes sense to go to war over. In the end, the king of Macedonia gets Helen back, but then he’s murdered, if I remember right. The whole thing is just tragic.

Back to Breton. Uther goes to war against the king of Cornwall. However, for a long time he is unsuccessful in managing to get his hands of Ygrain. According to later stories, Uther has Merlin enchant him to look like the king of Cornwall. With this subterfuge, he is able to enter the castle and rape and abduct Ygrain. Meanwhile, the king of Cornwall is killed in battle. Uther gets his prize. He marries Ygrain.

If we accept that the Bretons held to Matrilinial rights of inheritance, Uther was simply trying to consolidate his right to rule by marrying a throne princess, a woman of land, wealth and royal connections. Uther had been raised on the mainland by his Roman relatives and had Roman ideas. He would know that to keep his crown he needed to marry a throne princess, but he would want an heir of his body to succeed after him.

Up to this point, Ygrain has anywhere from two to four daughters already. Each were eventually married off to kings. Or did the men become kings because they married these daughters. It’s a right puzzle, just because we don’t really know and I’m only reading between the lines.

This we know, Ygrain then gives birth to a baby boy, and almost immediately that boy is taken by Merlin and hidden so that no one knows where he is.

That brings us to point two. Why? According to some, this was done to preserve the boy against Saxons who would kill the baby. But surely Uther would have some resources to protect his children! And why is it that the boy is not brought forward until AFTER Uther’s death some 15 years later?

Here is my theory! Ygrain was indeed a throne princess, next in line after the sister of Aurelius and Uther. (The brothers would not be so readily accepted as kings without that matrilineal right to be king, either as the brothers of the Throne Princess, or as the husband of the Throne Princess.) But what if Ygrain was already with child by the king of Cornwall? Ah, now, that would put the child in danger. Uther would want a man child of his own to be king, but if Ygrain has already given birth to a boy, then yes, that would mean Uther would have no male heir to take the throne. So, Merlin hides the child, not from the Saxons, but from Uther. Ygrain, being royal and diplomatic, marries Uther, who is now, without question, king. However, he and Ygrain only succeed in having a daughter, Anne.

If you bring in the middle-eastern matrilineal rights of inheritance into the picture, then, for me, the birth and hiding of Arthur begins to make sense. At the death of Uther, the boy, aged 15, is brought forward. Both Merlin and Ygrain vouch for his rights. The boy is hailed battle commander and given the sword Excaliber. Thus begins the rein of Arthur.

It’s just a theory, but I like it.

Next: And so, who was Mordred?