Lesson plan
Pendragon
Pendragon, composed of Welsh , 'head, chief, top' and dragon, 'dragon; warriors'; borrowed from the Greco-Latin plural , 'dragons', is a Middle Welsh epithet meaning 'chief of warriors'. It is the epithet of Uther, father of King Arthur in the Matter of Britain in medieval and modern era and occasionally applied to historical Welsh heroes in medieval Welsh literature such as Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd. In the , one of the earliest texts of the Matter of Britain, only Uther is given the surname Pendragon, which is explained by the author Geoffrey of Monmouth as literally meaning dragon's head. In the prose version of Robert de Boron's Merlin, the name of Uther's elder brother Ambrosius Aurelianus is given as Pendragon, while Uter (Uther) changes his name after his brother's death to Uterpendragon.
Article summary
Pendragon, composed of Welsh , 'head, chief, top' and dragon, 'dragon; warriors'; borrowed from the Greco-Latin plural , 'dragons', is a Middle Welsh epithet meaning 'chief of warriors'. It is the epithet of Uther, father of King Arthur in the Matter of Britain in medieval and modern era and occasionally applied to historical Welsh heroes in medieval Welsh literature such as Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd. In the , one of the earliest texts of the Matter of Britain, only Uther is given the surname Pendragon, which is explained by the author Geoffrey of Monmouth as literally meaning dragon's head. In the prose version of Robert de Boron's Merlin, the name of Uther's elder brother Ambrosius Aurelianus is given as Pendragon, while Uter (Uther) changes his name after his brother's death to Uterpendragon.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.