From: "Todd Jensen" Date: Thu, 09 Jan 1997 11:36:16 +0000 To: Peter Corless "Saint Gildas" is copyright (c) Todd Jensen 1997. Excerpted from the work in progress "The Courts of King Arthur", Peter Corless, Editor. (Written for future publication by the Chaosium) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Saint Gildas. In the year 518, King Arthur broke the Saxon war-bands conclusively at the Battle of Badon. That same year, in a hill-fort in Sugales, Gildas was born as one of the many sons of the chieftain Caw. Caw had been a Cymric warlord in Strangore, who had carried out many raids on his neighbors and generally made life in that part of Britain extremely turbulent. After King Arthur defeated the Saxons in the Battle of the Caledonian Wood in 517, he turned his attention to Caw, and defeated his forces in battle in turn. Caw yielded, and Arthur, merciful in victory as ever, accepted his surrender. However, unwilling to leave Caw in the north where he could continue his brigand ways, he had him and his brood of sons relocated to Sugales, where he could keep a closer eye upon him. Most of Caw's sons were warriors like their father, but Gildas was different. He showed a passion for learning and the Christian faith, and went to school at Llanilltud Fawr, where he was taught by St. Illtud himself, one of the greatest educators in Britain at that time. He did well in his studies, and soon became a monk. At first, Gildas was a loyal subject of King Arthur, and prayed nightly for the preservation of the High King and the Round Table. But then, at some point in the late 530's, the rift sprang up between them. Hueil, the wildest and most unruly of Caw's sons, quarreled with his nephew Gwydre, and suddenly stabbed him, delivering him a fatal wound. For this act of murder, he was promptly declared outlaw by King Arthur, and fled to the north, where he gathered together a band of ruffian warriors and bandits, and began to burn and pillage the lands about in the manner that his father had once done. Arthur marched north, overthrew Hueil's forces in battle, and took him prisoner. Hueil refused to beg for pardon, and so was beheaded. Gildas was horrified at this deed. The fact that Hueil had been a robber and murderer meant less to him than the fact that Hueil was his older brother. Though not yet twenty, he protested the execution, and took revenge against King Arthur in the way best suited for a monk. He had been writing a chronicle of Arthur's reign, but now threw it into the sea, where it was lost forever. For his father's part Caw seems to have forgiven Arthur for Hueil's death, though his son did not. When Arthur hunted the boar Ysgithyrwyn (a lesser cousin of the Troit Boar) in 548, as part of the marriage-tasks of Culhwch, Caw was there by his side, and actually took part in the kill. Gildas began to hurridly write another book, "De Excidio Britanniae" ("On the Ruin of Britain"), and published it around 540, not long after Hueil's execution. In it, he condemned the vices of Arthur's people, their greed, tyranny, luxury, and general poor behavior, dedicating his greatest assaults to five under-kings especially noted for their sinful living, chief of whom was King Maelgwn of Gwynedd (who had, incidentally, been a former schoolmate of his at Llanilltud Fawr). Another one of these five kings is Constantine of Cornwall. [Author's Note: This presents a slight problem in Pendragon chronology, as Constantine doesn't achieve a prominent royal position until after Camlann, in 565.] The remaining three are Vortipore of Dyfed (Estregales), Cynglas (who is apparently the ruler of Sugales/Powys), and Aurelius Caninus (apparently the ruler of Escavalon). Gildas did not mention Arthur's name in it once; he could not actually condemn the king because of all that he had done for Britain, but neither could he bring himself to praise the man who had put his brother to death. He mentioned the Battle of Badon, but not the name of the man who won the victory there. To this day, "De Excidio Britanniae" is the only surviving work written in Britain during King Arthur's reign. Gildas's path crossed with Arthur's a second time, years later. Guinevere had been abducted by Prince Melwas of the Summer Country (Somerset) and was being held by him at Glastonbury. King Arthur besieged Melwas there, but the Abbot of Glastonbury urged both sides to make peace. By this time, Gildas had joined the monastery at Glastonbury, and played a leading role in the negotiations that ensued. In the end, Melwas returned Guinevere to her husband, and Arthur agreed to seek no vengeance upon him. Both parties then bestowed rich lands upon the abbey. [Author's Note: This is clearly an alternate version of the abduction of Guinevere by Meliagaunce, and clashes rather badly with the descriptions given by both Chretien de Troyes and Malory. An alternate would be to place the event not in Somerset with Melwas, but in the North with Meliagaunt.] Gildas quarreled not only with Arthur, but also with Saint David, the Archbishop of Menevia and Primate of Britain. He considered David's more ascetic standards for monks far too strict, siding with Saint Cadoc, the Abbot of Llancarvan, with his more generous rulings on monastic life. In his writings, he denounced this asceticism as putting fasting and abstinence above more active holy works as charity, and considered it a form of spiritual pride. In his later years, Gildas is said to have gone to Brittany, where he founded the monastery of Rhuys. He died around 570. Gildas's title of "saint" reflects not any actual papal canonization, but stems rather from the Celtic Christian tendency in Arthurian Britain to name all noteworthy (in a good sense) churchmen "saints". STATISTICS Name Gildas Homeland Sugales Culture Cymric Religion Christian Father's Name Caw Son No. 19 Father's Class Chieftain Year born 518 Lord St Illtud (early) Abbot of Glastonbury (later) Current Class Monk Current Home Glastonbury Chaste 19/ 1 Lustful Energetic 16/ 4 Lazy Forgiving 7/13 Vengeful Generous 16/ 4 Selfish Honest 19/ 1 Deceitful Just 16/ 4 Arbitrary Merciful 16/ 4 Cruel Modest 5/15 Proud Pious 19/ 1 Worldly Prudent 6/14 Reckless Temperate 19/ 1 Indulgent Trusting 8/12 Suspicious Valorous 19/ 1 Cowardly PASSIONS Love (family) 18 Love (God) 18 SIZ 10 DEX 12 STR 9 CON 12 APP 10 Awareness 12 Boating 2 Chirurgery 10 Compose 0 Courtesy 3 Dancing 2 Faerie Lore 1 Falconry 0 First Aid 15 Flirting 0 Folklore 10 Gaming 0 Heraldry 0 Hunting 0 Industry 15 Intrigue 3 Orate 16 Play () 0 Read (Latin) 16 Recognize 3 Religion (Christian) 17 Romance 0 Singing 5 Stewardship 2 Swimming 2 Tourney 0