Arthur is the son of Uther Pendragon, conceived at Tintagel through Merlin's magic when Uther took the form of Gorlois to lie with Igerna.
Arthur and Gwenhwyfar are husband and wife, named among the great couples of Britain in the Welsh Triads. She presides over his court alongside him in Culhwch ac Olwen.
Arthur, Cei, and Bedwyr formed the core of Arthur's warband in the earliest Welsh traditions, fighting side by side against witches, giants, and monsters. Cei and Bedwyr accompanied Arthur on every impossible task set by Ysbaddaden in Culhwch ac Olwen.
Culhwch came to Arthur's court and invoked his kinship to claim a boon — Arthur pledged his warband to help win Olwen, sending Cei, Bedwyr, and his finest warriors to fulfil the impossible tasks set by the Chief Giant Ysbaddaden.
Morgan le Fay waged a long campaign of sorcery against her half-brother Arthur, stealing the enchanted scabbard of Excalibur that shielded him from mortal wounds and hurling it into a lake beyond recovery.
Arthur hunted the great boar Twrch Trwyth across Ireland, Wales, and Cornwall to seize the comb, shears, and razor from between his ears. The chase cost Arthur many of his finest warriors before the beast was driven into the sea.
Arthur and Medraut slew each other at the Battle of Camlann — Arthur struck down the usurper but received his own mortal wound, after which he was borne away to Avalon.
⚠ The Annales Cambriae (s.a. 537) say only that both Arthur and Medraut 'fell' at Camlann, without specifying who killed whom or casting either as villain. Geoffrey of Monmouth first made Medraut the traitor and narrated the mutual killing.
Arthur sailed to Annwn with three shiploads of warriors aboard Prydwen to seize the pearl-rimmed cauldron that would not boil the food of a coward. Of all who went, only seven returned.
Arthur was borne to Avalon after his mortal wounding at Camlann, carried across the water to the isle where he might be healed. Welsh tradition holds he sleeps there still, awaiting Britain's hour of greatest need.
Arthur bore the sword Caledfwlch (Excalibur) into battle, its blade capable of cleaving any foe. In Welsh tradition it is named among his possessions in Culhwch ac Olwen alongside his ship Prydwen and his spear Rhongomyniad.
When Mordred struck Arthur down at Camlann, Morgan le Fay came aboard a black barge with weeping queens and bore her dying half-brother across the water to Avalon, where she tended his mortal wounds.
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