Digital Commons Network^™

Mordred: Treachery, Transference, And Border Pressure In British Arthurian Romance, George Gregory Molchan

LSU Master's Theses

This study focuses on the question of how Mordred comes to be portrayed as a traitor within the British Arthurian context. Chapter 1 introduces the question of Mordred’s treachery. Chapter 2 charts Mordred’s origins and development in Welsh and British literature. Chapter 3 focuses on the themes of unity, kinship, loyalty, adultery, and incest that emerge in connection with Mordred’s character. Chapter 4 deals with the idea that Mordred’s treacherous characteristics have been transferred upon him in the course of the British Arthurian narrative’s development. Chapter 5 discusses the possibility that Mordred’s development is in part due to Geoffrey of …