View source for Peredur

{{Short description|Male name from historical sub-Roman Britain}}
{{Redirect|Gwrgi}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
[[File:Jesus-College-MS-111 00322 161v (cropped) Peredur.jpg|thumb|Opening lines of the 14th c.''Peredur son of Efrawg'' manuscript from the ''[[Red Book of Hergest]]'']]

'''Peredur''' ({{IPA|cy|pɛˈrɛdɨr}}, [[Old Welsh]] ''Peretur'') is the name of a number of men from the boundaries of history and legend in [[sub-Roman Britain]]. The Peredur who is most familiar to a modern audience is the character who made his entrance as a knight in the [[King Arthur|Arthur]]ian world of [[Middle Welsh]] prose literature.

==Gwrgi and Peredur, sons of Eliffer==
{{anchor|Gwrgi|Gurgi|Peredur|Gwrgi and Peredur|Gurgi and Peredur|sons of Eliffer}}

'''Gwrgi''' and '''Peredur''' are listed as sons of Eliffer (Old Welsh: ''Elidir'' or ''Eleuther'') "of the great warband" (''cascord maur'') and as sons of the [[Coel Hen|Coeling]] dynasty in the [[Harleian genealogies]], making them first cousins of [[Urien]].<ref name=KochP>Koch, "Peredur fab Efrawg", pp. 1437–8.</ref> Likewise, a pedigree from [[Genealogies from Jesus College MS 20|Jesus College MS 20]] includes Gwrgi and Peredur as brothers together with one Arthur ''penuchel''.<ref>Genealogies from Jesus College MS 20, ed. Phillimore, § 3; Lovecy, "''Historia Peredur''", p. 175.</ref> Their principal claim to fame rests on their having fought in the [[Battle of Arfderydd]]. The ''[[Annales Cambriae]]'' report that this battle (''bellum Armterid'') was fought in 573, but gives no further detail.<ref name=KochA>Koch, "Arfderydd", pp. 82–3.</ref> A later expansion of the entry names Gwrgi and Peredur, both described as sons of Eliffer, as the chieftains on the victorious side and tells that [[Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio]] was defeated and slain in the battle.<ref name=KochA /> Under the year 580, the ''Annales Cambriae'' record the deaths of Gwrgi (''Guurci'') and his brother Peredur (''Peretur'').<ref name=KochP /> These references give them a place as heroes in the [[Hen Ogledd]] of the late 6th century.<ref>Lovecy, "''Historia Peredur''", p. 175.</ref>

Further detail is supplied in later legendary traditions, notably those represented by the [[Welsh Triads]] (''Trioedd Ynys Prydein'').<ref name=KochA /> One listing the three "Horse-Burdens" of Britain relates that Gwrgi, Peredur, [[Dynod Bwr]] and Cynfelyn Drwsgl were carried by a horse called Corvan, which enabled them to watch the clouds of dust ("battle-fog") coming from Gwenddoleu and his (mounted) forces in the battle of Arfderydd.<ref name=KochA /><ref>Welsh Triads, ed. Bromwich, no. 44.</ref> The circumstances in which Gwrgi and Peredur died are alluded to in a Triad which explains that they had one of "Three Faithless Warbands of the Island of Britain". Their warband abandoned them at Caer Greu on the day before a battle with Eda ''Glinmaur'' ("Great-Knee") and so they were slain.<ref>Welsh Triads, ed. Bromwich, no. 30.</ref> The Welsh Triads also refer to family relations. One on the "Three Fair Womb-Burdens" of Britain, preserved incompletely in Peniarth MS 47, suggests that Peredur and Gwrgi had a sister called Arddun, while a variant version in Peniarth MS 50 calls the third sibling Ceindrech Pen Asgell ("Wing-head") and names the mother Efrddyl verch Gynfarch.<ref>Welsh Triads, ed. Bromwich, no. 70.</ref> Peredur is said to have had a son by the name of Gwgon Gwron, called one of the three "Prostrate Chieftains" (''Lledyf Vnben'') because "they would not seek a dominion, which nobody could deny to them".<ref>Welsh Triads, ed. Bromwich, no. 8.</ref>

Still further allusions are found in early Welsh poetry. The poem ''Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin'', which assumes the form of a dialogue between [[Myrddin Wyllt]] (the prototype of [[Merlin]]) and the poet [[Taliesin]], deals out praise to the brave "sons of Eliffer", saying that they did not avoid spears in the heat of battle. The apparent context is the battle of Arfderydd, where Myrddin fought as one of Gwenddoleu's warriors, went mad from terror and in this way, acquired the gift of prophecy (see also ''Vita Merlini'' below).<ref name=KochA /> For some unknown reason, however, the poem extends the number of sons to seven.<ref>''Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin'', ed. Jarman, lines 29–30.</ref> A warrior called Peredur is also listed in one of the younger sections of ''[[Y Gododdin]]'' (''awdl'' A.31), which shows him as one of the heroes to have died fighting in battle as a member of the warband of [[Mynyddog Mwynfawr]], chieftain of the [[Gododdin]] in [[Hen Ogledd|"the Old North"]]. It has been argued that Peredur's appearance here may have been due to a tendency in the growth of the poem to draw personages known from such sources as the ''Annales Cambriae'' into the orbit of its subject matter,<ref name=KochP /> assuming he is the same Peredur.

==Geoffrey of Monmouth's Peredurus==
[[Geoffrey of Monmouth]], the author of the ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'', mentions a Peredur in his ''[[Vita Merlini]]'' (''The Life of Merlin''), an account of [[Merlin]] drawing heavily on narrative traditions about Myrddin Wyllt. In an early episode based clearly on the story of the [[Battle of Arfderydd]], Peredur (''Peredurus'') is joined by his allies Merlin, king of the South Welsh, and [[Rhydderch Hael]], king of the [[Cumbria]]ns, when he engages Gwenddoleu (''Guennolus''), king of Scotland, in a battle at an unnamed site. Merlin loses three brothers and driven mad from grief, takes refuge in the woods. Peredur is here presented as prince of the North Welsh (''dux [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|Venedotorum]]'') rather than a ruler in the British North.

In his earlier and more famous work, ''Historia regum Britanniae'', Geoffrey of Monmouth also used the name ''[[Peredurus]]'' for a legendary ruler of Britain who was the fifth and youngest son born to the legendary [[Morvidus]], king of the Britons. He is said to have conspired with his brother [[Ingenius of Britain|Ingenius]] to capture and oust their brother [[Elidurus]], locking him up in [[Trinovantum]]. When the brothers divided the kingdom between them, Peredur became ruler over the part north of the Humber, including '[[Alba]]ny' (Scotland), and following Elidurus' death, succeeded to the entire kingdom.<ref>Geoffrey of Monmouth, ''Historia regum Britanniae'', ed. Griscom, III ch. 16-8.</ref> In the same work, Geoffrey also includes one Peredur map Peridur among the leading magnates of the realm who attended King Arthur's plenary Court in the [[Caerleon|City of the Legion]].<ref>Geoffrey of Monmouth, ''Historia regum Britanniae'', ed. Griscom, IX ch. 12.</ref>

==Peredur son of Efrawg (Middle Welsh Arthurian romance)==
{{Further|Perceval<!--#Arthurian_legend-->#Peredur|Peredur son of Efrawg}}
A Peredur is also the hero of the Welsh romance ''Peredur son of Efrawg'', where he claims the role performed by the Arthurian knight Percival in the works of [[Chrétien de Troyes]] and other non-Welsh sources.

==Other==
In the ''[[Englynion y Beddau]]'', another Peredur, called Peredur of [[Penweddig]] (a [[cantref]] of [[Ceredigion]]), occurs as the father of the legendary hero Môr.<ref>''Englynion y Beddau'', ed. and tr. Jones, pp. 122–3.</ref>

In the syndicated U.S. comic strip ''[[Prince Valiant]]'', Sir Peredur The Rover is a notorious mercenary knight who is hired to fight Gawain in a contest of champions in a March 2021 story line.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schultz, Mark and Yates, Thomas |title=Prince Valiant |url=https://www.comicskingdom.com/prince-valiant/2021-03-14 | access-date=14 March 2021}}</ref>

Peredur appears as a mythic archetype in [[Robert Holdstock]]'s novel ''[[Mythago Wood]]''.

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Primary sources===
{{refbegin}}
*''[[Annales Cambriae]]'' (Recension A), ed. {{Cite journal |last=Egerton Phillimore |year=1888 |title=The Annales Cambriae and Old Welsh Genealogies, from Harleian MS. 3859 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aFMrAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA141 |journal=Y Cymmrodor |volume=9 |publisher=Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion |publication-date=1888 |pages=141–183}}.
*[[Harleian genealogies]], ed. {{Cite journal |last=Egerton Phillimore |year=1888 |title=The Annales Cambriae and Old Welsh Genealogies, from Harleian MS. 3859 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aFMrAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA141 |journal=Y Cymmrodor |volume=9 |publisher=Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion |publication-date=1888 |pages=141–183}}.
*[[Welsh Triads]], ed. and tr. [[Rachel Bromwich]] (1978, revised ed. 1991). ''Trioedd Ynys Prydein''. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1978.
*''[[Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin]]'', ed. A.O.H. Jarman and E.D. Jones, ''Llyfr du Caerfyrddin''. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1982.
*Geoffrey of Monmouth, ''Vita Merlini'', ed. and tr. Basil Clarke, ''The Life of Merlin''. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1973. Translation reproduced online at [https://web.archive.org/web/20120206220803/http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/merlini.html Celtic Literature Collective].
*Geoffrey of Monmouth, ''Historia regum Britanniae'', ed.  Acton Griscom and J.R. Ellis, ''The Historia regum Britanniæ of Geoffrey of Monmouth with contributions to the study of its place in early British history''. London, 1929; tr. Lewis Thorpe, ''Geoffrey of Monmouth. The History of the Kings of Britain''. London, 1966.
*''[[Peredur son of Efrawg]]'', ed. Glenys W. Goetinck, ''Historia Peredur vab Efrawc''. University of Wales, 1976.
*''[[Englynion y Beddau]]'', ed. and tr. Thomas Jones, "The Black Book of Carmarthen 'Stanzas of the Graves'." ''[[Proceedings of the British Academy]]'' 53 (1967). pp.&nbsp;97–137. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110716214513/http://www.proc.britac.ac.uk/cgi-bin/somsid.cgi?page=53p097&session=639851A&type=header External link].
{{refend}}

===Secondary sources===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite journal |author=Breeze, Andrew |title=''Peredur son of Efrawg'' and windmills |journal=Celtica |year=2003 |volume=24 |pages=58–64 |url=http://www.celt.dias.ie/publications/celtica/c24/c24-58-64.pdf}}
* {{cite book |last=Carey |first=John |author-link=John Carey (Celticist) |title=Ireland and the Grail |publisher=Celtic Studies Publications 11 |location=Aberystwyth |year=2007 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Koch, John T. |title=Arfderydd |encyclopedia=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |editor=John T. Koch |year=2006 |location=Santa Barbara et al |pages=82–3}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Koch, John T. |title=Peredur fab Efrawg |encyclopedia=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |editor=John T. Koch |year=2006 |location=Santa Barbara et al|pages=1437–8}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Lovecy, Ian |title=''Historia Peredur ab Efrawg'' |editor1= Rachel Bromwich |editor2=A. O. H. Jarman |editor3=B. F. Roberts |encyclopedia=The Arthur of the Welsh: the Arthurian legend in medieval Welsh literature |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff |year=1991 |pages=171–82 }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Foster, Idris Llewelyn |title=Peredur |encyclopedia=Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages |editor=R. S. Loomis |year=1959 |location=Oxford |pages=199–205}}
* {{cite book |author=Goetinck, Glenys W. |title=Peredur: A Study of Welsh Traditions in the Grail Legends |location=Cardiff |year=1975 }}
* {{cite book |author=Loomis, R.S. |author-link=Roger Sherman Loomis|title=Arthurian tradition and Chrétien de Troyes |location=New York and London |year=1949 }}
* {{cite book |author=Vitt, Anthony M. |url=https://pure.aber.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/peredur-vab-efrawc(7955b6f7-c596-4224-8e76-43ff72ef1591).html |title=''Peredur vab Efrawc:'' Edited Texts and Translations of the MSS Peniarth 7 and 14 Versions |location=MPhil Thesis, Aberystwyth University |year=2011 }}
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{{Celtic mythology (Welsh)}}
{{Geoffrey of Monmouth}}

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[[Category:Northern Brythonic monarchs]]
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[[Category:Welsh mythology]]