Most people today know of King Arthur through a series of Disney-like filters. The Arthur we know is a saintly figure and the perfect embodiment of chivalry. Early Arthurian mythology, however, had plenty of dark aspects that Disney would never touch. Not least of them is that the original Arthur was a literal baby killer who ordered the wholesale slaughter of infants in his kingdom.
The R-Rated Original Arthur
The legend of King Arthur has fascinated people for centuries, and entertained us on film and TV for generations. A youth gets a magic sword – which he wrests from a rock or has handed to him by the Lady of the Lake, depending on tale version – and becomes king. He assembles heroic knights who meet around a round table, and they ride off to fight evil, right wrongs, and perform chivalrous acts. And to add a dash of romantic entanglement, his wife cheats on him with his best friend.
That is the more or less the wholesome and G or at least PG-rated version of King Arthur’s tale most of us are familiar with. However, the original Arthurian mythology contains plenty of R-rated – and even worse – content. For one, in early Arthurian folklore, the legendary king’s conception was quite violent and nonconsensual. As seen below, it all started when Arthur’s father, Uther, High King of the Britons, became obsessed with the beautiful Igraine, wife of his vassal Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall.
Original Arthurian Mythology Was Decidedly Not Disney
In the original Arthurian mythology, Igraine sensed that Arthur’s father had less than honorable intentions, got a bad vibe, and asked her husband to take her back to Cornwall. Gorlois does that, but it enrages Uther. So he raises an army and besieges Gorlois in one of his castles. For her safety, Igraine sheltered in another castle, but Uther got Merlin the magician to make him look like Gorlois. Thus disguised, Uther entered Igraine’s castle, who thought he was her husband Gorlois.
Igraine and the fake Gorlois get it on, and Arthur is conceived. In the meantime, Gorlois died defending his castle against Uther’s besiegers. The next day, Uther shed his disguise, and married the recently-widowed Igraine. That was not even the darkest tidbit from the original Arthurian mythology. When Arthur’s father Uther married his mother Igraine, she already had two daughters with her late husband Gorlois: Morgana le Fay, and Morgause. As seen below, they would complicate Arthur’s life to a fare thee well.
Early Arthurian Folklore Was Not Suitable for Children
As a child, Arthur was unaware that he had half-sisters: he was not raised with his parents, but anonymously in the household of some knight. When he grew up, he ran into either Morgana or Morgause, and unaware of the kinship, got it on with her and got her pregnant. The result of that incestuous affair was a son, Mordred. King Arthur’s reaction when he learned that his sister had given birth to his son was pretty extreme, and definitely not Disney.
In a British version of the biblical Massacre of the Innocents ordered by King Herod, King Arthur ordered that all babies born that day in Britain be slain. Many babies were murdered, but Mordred was not among their numbers. Understandably, he developed some serious daddy issues. When he grew up, Mordred seduced Arthur’s wife Guinevere, who thus cheated on the mythical monarch not only with his best friend Lancelot, but with his son as well. Much drama and adventure follows, until the toxic father-son relationship finally climaxes in a dramatic duel in which both sire and son are slain.
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Some Sources & Further Reading
Archaeology Magazine, September 23rd, 1998 – King Arthur Was Real?
Encyclopedia Britannica – King Arthur, Legendary King of Britain
History Halls – Folklore and Mythology: The Origins of Dragons
Malory, Thomas – Le Morte d Arthur, Book I
