King Arthur’s Shield

In Castello Guinnion
We find the earliest mention of Arthur’s shield in the early 9th-century Cambro-Latin text Historia Brittonum. Several manuscript versions exist of this text with slight variants of the so-called Arthurian battle list, a short chapter that details the twelve battles of Arthur who here is referred to as the Dux Bellorum (leader of battles), not a king. The Historia Brittonum is often cited as historical evidence for Arthur yet modern historians tend to dismiss its historical value. However, a deconstruction of the Arthurian battle list is beyond the scope of this article; suffice to say that debate continues as to whether it was the work of the author was part of a carefully constructed synthetic history for the political purposes of the house of Gwynedd, or, at the other end of the spectrum, the battle may be the remnant of an Old Welsh poem as witnessed by the rhyming structure of battle site names; Dubglas with Bassas; Cat Coit Celidon with Castell Guinnion; Cair Legion with Bregion. 

Binchester (Vinovia) Roman Fort;
was this the site of Arthur's eighth battle at Castle Guinnion?

Here we are concerned with the iconography on Arthur’s shield; was it a Christian cross or a representation of the Virgin Mary from its inception in the Historia Brittonum:

“The eighth battle was in Guinnion fort, and in it Arthur carried the image of the holy Mary, the everlasting Virgin, on his shield and the heathen were put to flight on that day, and there was a great slaughter upon them, through the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the holy Virgin Mary, his mother.” [Nennius: British History and the Welsh Annals, John Morris (Editor , Translator), Arthurian Period Sources Vol 8, Philimore, 1980]

The description of the eighth battle is by far the longest in the battle list, from 193 words in the passage, nearly a third, 60, are found in the record of the battle at castello guinnion; the centrality of the event in the passage clearly underlines its significance, yet  the location of the eighth battle is unknown beyond the Arthurian battle list. 

The description of the battle at Castle Guinnion has a legendary feel to it, similar to the reference to the battle of Badon in the same passage in the Historia Brittonum:

“The twelfth battle was on Badon Hill and in it nine hundred and sixty men fell in one day, from a single charge of Arthur's, and no one laid them low save he alone..” [Morris]

Debate goes on as to whether the battle of Badon should be attributed to Arthur, or not, as the contemporary historian Gildas fails to mention him as the leader fo the British at the siege of Badon Hill. The issue appears to resolve itself when we find an entry in the 10th century Welsh Annals (Annalaes Cambriae) claiming Arthur as the victor:

516 - The Battle of Badon, in which Arthur carried the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ for three days and three nights on his shoulders and the Britons were the victors. [AC] 

The Badon entry in the Welsh Annals and the Guinnion passage in the Historia Brittonum are clearly very similar, indeed at first glance, we notice that the Badon entry looks suspiciously like it is derived directly from the eighth battle in the Arthurian battle list.

This has led to suggestions that they derive from a common source, or may indicate copying from the earlier manuscript to the later. Indeed, much discussion has been held over the years with regard to the old Welsh word scuit / scuid used in both entries and whether Arthur carried the religious icon, be it the Cross or the Virgin, on his 'shield' or 'shoulder'. Shoulder makes no sense; this must be a reference to the icon on his shield.

But no earlier source has been found; it is therefore likely the chronicler had knowledge of the account of Arthur's battle at Guinnion as contained within the Historia Brittonum and used it to put a Christian slant to the Badon entry when it was inserted into the Annals. It certainly seems unlikely that the same error for 'shield' or 'shoulder' would be committed twice and does suggest that the compiler of the Welsh Annals had the Historia Brittonum in front of him when he made the Badon entry.

The battle at castle Guinnion may well record a ‘Christian victory’ or a battle claimed as such in later years when the author of the Historia Brittonum wrote. Yet, it is doubtful that devotion to the Virgin Mother had reached Britain by Arthurian times, the first half of the 6th century. Marian devotion developed in the Eastern Empire, yet the oldest portrayal in the West is thought to be that of a mother and child from the catacomb of Priscilla (3d century). Western iconography of the Virgin borrowed heavily from Byzantium.

However, there is no evidence that Mariolatry reached Britain until later with the earliest Marian shrines not known until the early 8th century, such as Evesham (700 AD) and Tewkesbury (715 AD). Arthur had fought about two hundred years before this; Badon is generally accepted as having been fought around the turn of the 6th century, within 10 years of 500 AD, thereby accepting Arthur as the leader of the triumphant Britons at Badon fixes the date of his floruit.

According to Gildas the siege at Badon Hill was the culmination of the Britons fightback against the  Saxons. This is reflected in the Arthurian battle list in the Historia Brittonum which puts the battle of Badon at the end of the Arthurian campaign. The battle of castle Guinnion must therefore have taken place before 500 AD. It is unlikely that veneration of the Virgin was common in Britain as early as the late 5th century, but certainly more common by the time the Historia Brittonum was compiled in the 9th century as evidenced by the growth of Marian shrines. This suggests the passage was enhanced with the reference to the Virgin at the time of its composition. Further, early references to the shields of Dark Age Celtic warriors simply limewashed their shields which would shed dust on impact in battle.

The next mention of Arthur’s shield is found in the 11th century Welsh prose work, Culhwch and Olwen:

"excepting only my ship, my mantle, my sword Caledfwlch, my spear Rhongomyniad, my shield Wynebgwrthucher, my knife Carnwennan and my wife Gwenhwyvar."

Wynebgwrthucher (= face of evening) is not recorded in any other source and no description is provided of its decoration. But clearly later writers understood Arthur's shield to be decorated with an icon of the Virgin.

According to Geoffrey of Monmouth in his 12th century Historia regum Britanniae, Arthur's shield bore an image of the Virgin; “upon which the picture of the blessed Mary, mother of God, was painted, in order to put him frequently in mind of her.” But strangely, Geoffrey names the shield as Prydwen (or Pridwen) meaning 'fair face'. However, in Culhwch and Olwen and the Preiddeu Annwfn (Spoils of Annwfn), an early Welsh poem from the Book of Taliesin, Prydwen was the name given to Arthur's ship. It wouldn’t be the first, or last, time Geoffrey confused native interpretations.

After Geoffrey, writing in the 12th century in his De Principis Instructione, Gerald of Wales failed to record the name of Arthur’s shield but claimed that the image of the Virgin was painted inside the shield and Arthur would kiss the feet going into battle:

“Indeed, more than all other churches of his realm he prized the Glastonbury church of Holy Mary, mother of God, and sponsored it with greater devotion by far than he did for the rest. When that man went forth for war, depicted on the inside part of his shield was the image of the Blessed Virgin, so that he would always have her before his eyes in battle, and whenever he found himself in a dangerous encounter he was accustomed to kiss her feet with the greatest devotion.” [Gerald of Wales, Liber de Principis Instructione, 1193]

Gerald is not considered the most reliable of witnesses, being somewhat of a medieval spin doctor. Of course after Geoffrey, the Continental Romancers took Arthur in to the world of Chivalry and the fellowship of the Round Table were adorned with shields displaying contemporary heraldic devices.

The Clawing Cat
Old French and Anglo-Norman sources mention a monstrous cat known as chapalu. The name means “bog cat” alluding to the creature’s association with water. The cat is recorded as fighting King Arthur; in the Vulgate Cycle the cat is nameless and Arthur is victorious but in L’estoire de Merlin the beast is referred to as the Devil Cat of the lake of Lausanne. In this version, Arthur kills the beast with his shield. Yet, in other French accounts the chapalu kills Arthur and then goes to Britain to claim the throne. It has been suggested that this is the scene depicted on the Otranto mosaic, seen below Arthur mounted on a goat, which sees Arthur being mauled by the chapalu and must have been in circulation as an oral tale before the cathedral floor was laid c.1165 AD.

The Otranto Mosaic

A similar account of conflict with a monstrous cat is recorded in the poem "Pa Gur yv y Porthaur" ("What man is the porter"), recording a dialogue between Arthur and the gate-keeper Glewlwyd, found in the 13th century Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin (The Black Book of Carmarthen). The date of composition of this poem is considered to be much older than the manuscript and portrays Arthur and his retinue in a similar vein to that of Culhwch and Olwen in which they are in a fantasy world pitched against supernatural monsters. Yet the poem details many of Cei’s achievements, last included in the incomplete poem is Cei’s fight against the monstrous cat the Cath Palug. In Welsh this means the “clawing cat” but over time has become interpreted as the name of the beast. As the poem breaks off here we do not know the final outcome but we assume it was Cei who pierced the creature with his spear.

In the Welsh Triads (Trioedd Ynys Prydein), under the title of the Three Great Swineherds of the Isles of Britain, the third Swineherd, Coll son of Collfrewy, has a pregnant swine named Henwen who gives birth to a wolf cub, an eagle, and a kitten. The kitten is thrown into the Menai Strait by Coll but she swims across to the island of Mon (Anglesey) where she becomes known as the Cat of Palug, one of the Three Great Oppressions of Anglesey. 

The poem Pa Gur tells us how Cei goes to Anglessey specifically to fight lions and, as with Arthur, fights the Cat of Palug with his shield:

Cai the fair went to Mona,
to devistate Llewon.
His shield was ready
Against Cath Palug
When people welcomed him.
Who pierced the Cath Palug? 

In these accounts the monstrous cat (Cath Palug or the chapula) is killed with the shield, either Arthur’s or Cei’s. In some obscure accounts Arthur’s shield is described as made of glass in others it is described simply as “polished” without mention of the Virgin.

The Valley of Woe
It is claimed that a fragment of Arthur's shield was preserved in the church of St Mary of Wedale, at Stow, a Scottish village about 20 mile south of Edinburgh. [See for example: Battle 8 in King Arthur: The Mystery Unravelled by Chris Barber] However, once again the icon on Arthur’s shield is confused with the Cross.

The tradition of Arthurian relics held at Stow is recorded in the Sawley glosses, marginal additions, attached to a late version of the Historia Brittonum (Corpus Christi College Cambridge Manuscript 139 (CCCC 139). This version of the Historia was produced by several different hands from the monks of the Abbey of St Mary at Sawley, Yorkshire, dating from the late 12th or early 13th century. One of the glosses claims:

"Then Arthur went to Jerusalem. There he made a cross of the same measure as the health-bringing Cross. And there it was consecrated. And for three continuous days he fasted and kept vigil, praying in the presence of the Lord's Cross, so that the Lord gave victory by his sign over the pagans, so was it done. And he himself carried the image of Holy Mary, fragments of which were saved and greatly venerated at Wedale."

Here, as we have seen before, the Cross and image of the Virgin seem to be confused. The gloss clearly states that Arthur carried the image of Holy Mary, fragments of which were saved at Wedale. The three day vigil is reminiscent of Arthur’s battle at Badon as recorded in the Welsh Annals, which states that Arthur carried the cross for three days and three nights. Moreover, the website of the Parish Church of Stow St Mary of Wedale claims it was endowed with fragments of the True Cross, the symbol of Christianity, but associated with Christ more than the Virgin. [The website of the Parish Church of Stow St Mary of Wedale ]

Stow of Wedale is remembered as the site of a great battle, indeed a local tradition remembers it as one of Arthur's battles, with the name interpreted as The Dale of Woe. There may be something in this, as Stow is said to derive from the OE for Holy Place and Wedale from the OE for valley of the shrine. The first church here was apparently built around 600 AD, but claims that it was dedicated to the Virgin seem unlikely, as we have seen the oldest recorded shrines to Mary date to around a century later. 

And the story goes that after his victory, Arthur founded the first church, dedicated it to the Virgin Mary, and endowed it with fragments of the True Cross. The site of the original chapel is said to lie a mile south of Stow near St Mary's Well. 

Oddly enough, another marginal addition to the same manuscript states that '"Arthur" translated into Latin means "horrible bear"...' from the Welsh ‘arth’ = ‘bear’ and ‘uthr’ = ‘horrible’ and refers to Arthur as “the breaker of the jaws of lions”. So here the search for Arthur’s shield brings us once more to a strange association with fighting lions.

Edmund Chambers summarises; “No doubt the gloss referring to the journey to Jerusalem was inspired by the Crusades, some 13th century manuscripts of the Historia Brittonum include glosses and marginalia in an attempt to explain the carrying of the Holy icon into battle which claim that the relic of the Virgin was preserved at Wedale after the legendary King Arthur brought it back to Britain after a journey to Jerusalem with a relic of the True Cross through which he achieved his victories.” [Edmund Chambers, Arthur of Britain, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1927, reprinted 1966]

Thus, Chambers interprets the Sawley gloss as meaning that Arthur brought back from Jerusalem a relic of the Virgin AND a relic of the True Cross.

The Change of Arms
However, there is a late text that describes Arthur’s shield in detail and explains why Arthur adopted a new Christian coat-of-arms which replaced the Red Dragon. This episode has been termed "King Arthur’s Chapel Ride".

In the Perlesvaus (The High Book of the Grail), written around 1202 AD probably by a monk at Glastonbury Abbey, we find a strange account of King Arthur’s visit to St Augustine's chapel in the White Forest. One night Arthur’s squire dreams that he visits the chapel and sees a dead body on a bier squared by four gold candlesticks. The squire takes one of the candlesticks but is stabbed as he leaves by one of the Black Knights that guards the chapel. He cries out is his sleep which wakes Arthur and he finds the Black Knight’s knife in the squire’s side and then also the candlestick. Arthur presents the candlestick to the newly founded church of St. Paul in London.

Later Arthur visits the chapel and finds a hermit lying in rest. He overhears angels and devils vying for ownership of the hermit’s soul. He then witnesses a strange mass in which the Virgin and Child appear.

A very similar account appears in John of Glastonbury's 14th century Cronica sive Antiquitates Glastoniensis Ecclesie (Chronicle of Glastonbury Abbey) but the tale, unsurprisingly, is placed within a Glastonbury context. In the Cronica, King Arthur is staying at a nunnery on Wearyall Hill and the chapel is that of St. Mary Magdalene at nearby Beckery.

In John’s account Arthur’s squire has a similar dream to that in the Perlesvaus, then Arthur visits the chapel at Beckery and again witnesses a strange mass with the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child. Following mass the Virgin presents Arthur with a crystal cross (now lost) which was said to be processed at the Abbey during Lent. The candlestick and knife were both presented to Westminster Abbey.

The Cronica claims that this event caused Arthur to change the arms on his shield to a Christian icon of a crystal cross on a green background with an image of the Virgin and Child in the top left hand corner substantiating the account given in the 9th century account in the Historia Brittonum of the 8th battle at Castle Guinnion. 

In studying the two episodes Alfred Nitze concluded that John did not use Perlesvaus as his source, but thought both accounts derived independently from a lost Latin text at Glastonbury, which would have been therefore the Latin source to which the author of Perlesvaus alluded to in a colophon at the end of his work:

“The Latin from whence this history was drawn into Romance was taken in the Isle of Avalon, in a holy house of religion that standeth at the head of the Moors Adventurous, there where King Arthur and Queen Guenievre lie”

However, John Carley’s edition of the Cronica has shown that John made much more imaginative use of his source material than Nitze was willing to concede and it is fairly certain that John borrowed heavily from the Perlesvaus in the episode of King Arthur’s Chapel Ride with some poetic creativity. [The Chronicle of Glastonbury Abbey: An edition and translation, James P Carley]

So finally, in John’s Cronica, some five hundred years after the event was first recorded, we find a clear description of the device on Arthur’s shield; it bears both a cross and an image of the Virgin. This explains the entry for Arthur’s 8th battle at Guinnion in the Historia Brittonum, an image of the Virgin, and the entry in the Welsh Annals for the battle at Badon, a cross.

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