As the legendary king of Britain, Arthur Pendragon made more than a few enemies, with one of the most iconic being Mordred. Mordred had once served as one of Arthur’s knights, and had fought Arthur at the infamous Battle of Camlann. However, despite his dark reputation, he’s also popular to write about in today’s novels. For example, in Mordred, Bastard Son by Douglass Clegg, Mordred is depicted as a lonely young boy who fell in love with Lancelot. In Avalon High, by Meg Cabot, Mordred was reincarnated into the body of a high school student who wanted to terrorize his enemies and anyone else standing in his way. In Dante’s Inferno, Mordred is found in the lowest levels of hell, a place where traitors go to burn. However, what makes Mordred so fearsome? Why is he so intriguing to write about?

Mordred makes his first appearance through the works of Geoffrey of Monmouth, who recorded Mordred’s death and his sorrow. It was through this source that Mordred wasn’t a villainous man, but rather an ally of Arthur. However, like Morgan le Fay, this story changed in the later Middle Ages. 

As the tale goes, Mordred was the nephew of Arthur, and was prophesied to betray him. Arthur had to leave Mordred in charge of the throne while he engaged with war against Rome. While Arthur was gone, Mordred declared himself the new king, and carried out an affair with a rather reluctant Guinevere. Because of this, Arthur had to return to Britain and defeat Mordred in the battle of Camlann. During this fight, Mordred was killed, and Arthur was later taken to Avalon, where he died of his injuries. 

As with any old story, there have been a few variations here and there. John of Fordun, a Scottish chronicler, stated that Mordred might have been the rightful heir to the throne of Britain. In the Alliterative Morte Arthure, Mordred is shown to have happily married Guinevere, though in other stories Guinevere fled from Mordred. Unfortunately, he was replaced by Lancelot, though tales of his rather infamous reputation still remain. Many stories today, however, have less macabre portrayals of Mordred; though his name is synonymous to treason, many authors see him not as a traitor, but more of an anti-hero with opportunistic tendencies. It’s also important to remember that Mordred took the throne with the support of the citizens of Albion, simply because under Arthur’s rule, there was only war and conflict, but with Mordred, there was peace.

Mordred is a significant character that carries a lot of cultural and literary importance, even though there are vastly different interpretations with his character. He was born of an incestuous union, and was used to represent the personification of evil born from evil. Whether he took the throne either through his mother’s urging or through his own motives, he was still a complicated character. Even now, many authors have taken to analyzing Mordred. 

It’s clear that though Mordred’s main story might have already been told, there is still room for growth in the Arthurian legend, a development that I look forward to reading.