Geraint () is a character from

Welsh folklore Welsh folklore is the collective term for the folklore of the Welsh people. It encompasses topics related to Welsh mythology, but also include the nation's folk tales, customs, and oral tradition. Welsh folklore is related to Irish folklore and Sc ...

and

Arthurian legend The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Wester ...

, a valiant warrior possibly related to the historical

Geraint Geraint () is a character from Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a valiant warrior possibly related to the historical Geraint, an early 8th-century king of Dumnonia. It is also the name of a 6th-century Dumnonian saint king from Briton hag ...

, an early 8th-century king of

Dumnonia Dumnonia is the Latinised name for a Brythonic kingdom that existed in Sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries CE in the more westerly parts of present-day South West England. It was centred in the area of modern Devon, ...

. It is also the name of a 6th-century Dumnonian saint king from Briton hagiographies, who may have lived during or shortly prior to the reign of the historical Arthur. The name Geraint is a Welsh form of the Latin Gerontius, meaning "old man".

Early sources

A "Geraint of the South" appears at the

Battle of Catraeth The Battle of Catraeth was fought around AD 600 between a force raised by the Gododdin, a Brythonic people of the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" of Britain, and the Angles of Bernicia and Deira. It was evidently an assault by the Gododdin party on ...

(circa 600) in the poem ''

Y Gododdin ''Y Gododdin'' () is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia a ...

'', attributed to

Aneirin Aneirin , Aneurin or Neirin was an early Medieval Brythonic war poet. He is believed to have been a bard or court poet in one of the Cumbric kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd, probably that of Gododdin at Edinburgh, in modern Scotland. From the 17th c ...

. This is conceivably a reference to Geraint mab Erbin, son of the 5th-century king

Erbin of Dumnonia Erbin of Dumnonia (Latin: Urbanus; c. 427 – c. 480) was a 5th-century King of Dumnonia (now Cornwall and Devon) and saint of Wales. Monarch Traditionally, Erbin was a King of Dumnonia, the son of Constantine Corneu and the father of Ge ...

. Geraint is also mentioned as one of the "Three Seafarers of the Isle of Britain" in the

Welsh Triads The Welsh Triads ( cy, Trioedd Ynys Prydein, "Triads of the Island of Britain") are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, mythology and traditional history in groups of three. The triad is a ...

. Geraint's deeds at the Battle of Llongborth are celebrated in the poem "

Geraint son of Erbin ''Geraint son of Erbin'' (Middle Welsh ''Geraint uab Erbin'') is a medieval Welsh poem celebrating the hero Geraint and his deeds at the Battle of Llongborth. The poem consists of three-line ''englyn'' stanzas and exists in several versions all i ...

", which was written probably in the 10th or 11th century and traditionally attributed to Llywarch Hen. However, Derek Bryce, following other scholars, suggests that the later, historical

Geraint of Dumnonia Geraint (; died 710), known in Latin as Gerontius, was a King of Dumnonia who ruled in the early 8th century. During his reign, it is believed that Dumnonia came repeatedly into conflict with the neighbouring Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex. Gerain ...

(d. 710) may be identified as the real warrior eulogised in connection with the Battle of Llongborth in the poem, despite its title. Bryce identifies Llongborth with the 710 battle between that Geraint and Saxon leader

Ine of Wessex Ine, also rendered Ini or Ina, ( la, Inus; c. AD 670 – after 726) was King of Wessex from 689 to 726. At Ine's accession, his kingdom dominated much of southern England. However, he was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecesso ...

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...

had rulers named Geraint and Erbin/Elfin in the same era, and was also known as Damnonia, after the

Dumnonii The Dumnonii or Dumnones were a British tribe who inhabited Dumnonia, the area now known as Devon and Cornwall (and some areas of present-day Dorset and Somerset) in the further parts of the South West peninsula of Britain, from at least the Ir ...

tribe of the area in

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

times, and thus easily confused with

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. The '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' says: "Port and his two sons, Bieda and Maegla, came to Britain at the place called

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, and slew a young Welshman, a very noble man." Scholars believe that the Llongborth mentioned in the poem "Geraint son of Erbin" is the Portsmouth of the ''Chronicle'' entry and that Geraint is the "young Welshman" who was killed there."Elegy for Geraint", Britannia.com
/ref>

Arthurian legend

Geraint is most famous as the protagonist in the Welsh tale ''

Geraint and Enid Geraint () is a character from Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a valiant warrior possibly related to the historical Geraint, an early 8th-century king of Dumnonia. It is also the name of a 6th-century Dumnonian saint king from Briton h ...

'', where he becomes the lover of Enid. ''Geraint and Enid'' is one of the three

Welsh Romances The Three Welsh Romances ( Welsh: ') are three Middle Welsh tales associated with the '' Mabinogion''. They are versions of Arthurian tales that also appear in the work of Chrétien de Troyes. Critics have debated whether the Welsh Romances are b ...

associated with the '' Mabinogion''. Its story closely parallels the French writer Chrétien de Troyes's ''

Erec and Enide , original_title_lang = fro , translator = , written = c. 1170 , country = , language = Old French , subject = Arthurian legend , genre = Chivalric romance , form ...

''. Some scholars feel both works derived from a common lost source, but most believe the Welsh version derives directly or indirectly from Chrétien. In this case, the renowned figure of Geraint would have been added to the story to suit Welsh audiences unfamiliar with Chrétien's protagonist,

Erec The Knights of the Round Table ( cy, Marchogion y Ford Gron, kw, Marghekyon an Moos Krenn, br, Marc'hegien an Daol Grenn) are the knights of the fellowship of King Arthur in the literary cycle of the Matter of Britain. First appearing in lit ...

. In ''Geraint and Enid'', Geraint's father was said to be a shepherd named Erbin. According to Chrétien's ''

Culhwch and Olwen ''Culhwch and Olwen'' ( cy, Culhwch ac Olwen) is a Welsh tale that survives in only two manuscripts about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, c. 1400, and a fragmented version in the Whi ...

'', Geraint had brothers Ermind and Dywel. ''Geraint and Enid'' was reworked by

Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

into the poems ''The Marriage of Geraint'' and ''Geraint and Enid'', part of his '' Idylls of the King''. The Arthurian character in later works is often referred to as Sir Geraint.

Saint Geraint

According to the ''vita'' of

Saint Teilo Saint Teilo ( la, Teliarus or '; br, TeliauWainewright, John. in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', Vol. XIV. Robert Appleton Co. (New York), 1912. Accessed 20 July 2013. or '; french: Télo or '; – 9 February ), also known by his ...

, in 549, in order to avoid the

Plague of Justinian The plague of Justinian or Justinianic plague (541–549 AD) was the first recorded major outbreak of the first plague pandemic, the first Old World pandemic of plague, the contagious disease caused by the bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. The dis ...

("peste gialla del 547")Salsano, Mario. "San Geraint II King of Cornwall", Santi e Beati, June 11, 2008
/ref> then sweeping through Britain, Teilo, with a small group of monks, left

Llandaff Llandaff (; cy, Llandaf ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of ...

to join

Samson of Dol Samson of Dol (also Samsun; born late 5th century) was a Cornish saint, who is also counted among the seven founder saints of Brittany with Pol Aurelian, Tugdual or Tudwal, Brieuc, Malo, Patern (Paternus) and Corentin. Born in southern Wal ...

in Brittany. Passing through Dumnonia, they were received hospitably by King Geraint at Din Gerrein. In gratitude, Teilo promised the King his spiritual assistance at the hour of death. Seven years later, Teilo returned to give the King the last rites. Perhaps because of the relationships that bound him to Teilo, he too was proclaimed holy.Salsano, Mario. "San Geraint II King of Cornwall", Santi e Beati, June 11, 2008
/ref> Near Falmouth, local legends of the

folk saint Folk saints are dead people or other spiritually powerful entities (such as indigenous spirits) venerated as saints, but not officially canonized. Since they are saints of the "folk", or the ''populus'', they are also called popular saints. Like o ...

King Geraint,

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

Gerrans Gerrans ( kw, Gerens) is a coastal civil parish and village on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village adjoins Portscatho (the villages have almost merged into one but retain their identities) on the east side of ...

, claim he was buried on Carne Beacon near

Veryan Veryan ( Cornish: ''Elerghi'') is a coastal civil parish and village on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village has been described as one of Cornwall's loveliest inland villages and as ′a mild tropic garden′ ...

."Porthscatho & Gerrans Bay", South West Coast Path National Trail
/ref> Gerrans celebrates his festival on the second Sunday in August. His feast day is 10 August.

References

{{authority control 6th-century Christian saints Arthurian characters Knights of the Round Table Medieval English saints Medieval Welsh saints Monarchs of Dumnonia Southwestern Brythonic saints