Mordred Mordred Mordred or Modred (; ) is a character in the Arthurian legend. Based on a possibly historical figure, Mordred is most commonly known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur was fatally wounded. In the popular version, he is the bastard son of Arthur and Arthur's half-sister, Morgause. The name "Mordred" (found as Modredus in Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia Regum Britanniae") comes from Old Welsh "Medraut" (comparable to Old Cornish "Modred" and Old Breton "Modrot") and is ultimately derived from Latin "Moderātus" meaning "within bounds, observing moderation,
The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon was completed when Morris was in vigorous health. Morris died in 1896; Burne-Jones lived for two more years and died before the painting was complete. Just one day before his death Burne-Jones continued work on "Arthur". Towards the end of his life he wrote, "I need nothing but my hands and my brain to fashion myself a world to live in that nothing can disturb. In my own land I am king of it." His widow described "Arthur" as a "task of love to which [the artist] put no limit of time or labor." Following the artist's death, the painting