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,
King Arthur King Arthur" (1880) reaching wide audiences and providing inspiration for Mark Twain's satiric "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (1889). Although the 'Arthur of romance' was sometimes central to these new Arthurian works (as he was in Burne-Jones's "The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon", 1881-1898), on other occasions he reverted to his medieval status and is either marginalized or even missing entirely, with Wagner's Arthurian operas providing a notable instance of the latter. Furthermore, the revival of interest in Arthur and the Arthurian tales did not continue unabated. By the end of the 19th century, it was confined mainly