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Historical person
Arthurian legend
Early Welsh tradition associates Medraut with Camlann, while later chronicles and romances make Mordred Arthur’s nephew or incest-born son. He is commonly said to seize the kingdom during Arthur’s absence and to die with Arthur in their final battle.
The Wicked Day gives Mordred a full interior life, presenting him as an intelligent young man shaped by secrecy, divided loyalties and hostile prophecy. Stewart retains the tragic ending while resisting the simple picture of an innately evil traitor.
In Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Road to Camlann, The fellowship of Camelot begins to fracture as Mordred exploits old grievances and the forbidden love between Lancelot and Guinevere. In Mary Stewart’s The Wicked Day, Mordred grows up in Orkney under the shadow of a prophecy that names him as Arthur’s destroyer.
Series
Mary Stewart’s Arthurian Saga retells the rise and fall of King Arthur through a Britain emerging from Roman rule and threatened by rival kings and Saxon expansion. The first three novels are narrated by Merlin, whose prophetic gift is presented as a form of second sight supported by…
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The King Arthur Trilogy retells the central movement of the medieval Arthurian tradition from the rise of Camelot to its destruction. The Sword and the Circle gathers Arthur’s early victories and the adventures through which the Round Table fellowship is formed. The Light Beyond the Forest follows the…
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