In the Historia Brittonum, Nennius writes of some of the wonders of England. Included among them is a "marvel in the region which is called Ercing.
"There is found at that place a tomb near a fountain, which is called Licat Anir, adn the name of the man who is buried in the sepulchral mound was thus designated Anir. He was the son of Arthur the soldier, and he was the one who killed him in the same place and buried him."
This son is apparently a separate figure from the Medraut mentioned briefly in the Annales Cambriae (penned by an anonymous writer around 950): In the year 537 occured "The Battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut fell; and there was death in Britain and in Ireland."
The two men Anir and Medraut may have been combined in later versions of the legend to form the sinister Mordred.
More about Mordred
[Brengle, R.L., ed. Arthur King of Britain: History, Chronicle, Romance, & Criticism. Meredith Publishing Co.; New York, 1964.]
Return to Arthurian Origins.