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,
Historicity of King Arthur date ascribed to the "Historia Brittonum" which is usually attributed to Nennius, a Welsh ecclesiastic. "Historia Brittonum" lists 12 battles fought by Arthur and gives him the title of "dux bellorum" (war commander or leader), saying that Arthur fought "alongside the kings of the Britons", rather than that Arthur was himself a king. The list is inserted between the death of Hengist and the reign of Ida of Bernicia. Other accounts associating Arthur with the Battle of Badon can be shown to be derived directly or indirectly from the "Historia Brittonum". The earliest version of the "Annales Cambriae" was composed