THE SCENE: Have you ever wondered how King Arthur’s father, Uther, got the surname “Pendragon”? It all goes back to day he ascended to the throne… and to one of Merlin’s early prophesies.
THE TEXT: Uther, the brother of Aurelius, convened the clergy and the people of his kingdom and took into his safe-keeping the crown of the island. With the agreement of everyone present he was appointed King. He ordered two Dragons to be fashioned in gold, in the likeness of the one which he had seen in the ray which shone from that star. As soon as the Dragons had been completed – this with the most marvelous craftsmanship – he made a present of one of them to the congregation of the cathedral church of the see of Winchester. The second one he kept for himself, so that he could carry it round to his wars. From that moment onwards he was called Utherpendragon, which in the British language means “a dragon’s head”. He had been given this title because it was by means of a Dragon that Merlin had prophesied that he would become king.
– Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain, 12th Century AD
[Image Credit: Uther Pendragon by Howard Pyle]
