The Modena Archivolt
These are the named figures on the famous Modena Archivolt, listed from left to right. Those who are easily identifiable are provided with their more well-known names.
- Isdernus (Idern/Edernus/Yder)
- Artus de Britania (King Arthur)
- Burmaltus
- Winlogee (Guenevere)
- Mardoc
- Carrado (Caradog/Caradoc; interestingly, there is a Caradoc of the Dolorous Tower who abducts Guinevere!)
- Galvagin (Gualwanus/Gawain)
- Calvariun
- Che (Cai/Kay)
The mysterious figures are thus Burmaltus, Mardoc and Calvariun.
Mardoc is often identified with Mordred, as that character does appear in a Guinevere abduction story.
The name instead seems more closely akin linguistically to Meriadoc. And, indeed, in the MERIADEUC romance the protagonist prevents Queen Guinevere from being taken by King Ris (https://www.yorku.ca/inpar/Knight_Two_Swords.pdf). Another, earlier Caradoc is made the father of Conan Meriadoc.
If Richard Barber is right about Burmaltus being Durmart of the romance DURMART LE GALLOIS, the thought had occurred to me that Mardoc might be a major corruption of the Morais title of Brun de Morais, who is the Guinevere abductor of that story. But I don't really think this is worth considering.
In passing, though, Burmaltus betrays a more original spelling of Durmart. I connect the former with the early abbot of Glastonbury, Beorthwald (Bertwald, Berwald), who is associated with the claimed Arthurian land grant of Brent Marsh at Brent Knoll
(https://d3hgrlq6yacptf.cloudfront.net/5faea5ef35230/content/pages/documents/2-early-history-211122.pdf, https://geoffreyofmonmouth.com/king-arthur-burial-glastonbury-legend-joseph-of-arimathea/).
There is absolutely no problem with allowing a /m/ for /w/ copying error, as this was quite common in MSS. and would have been even easier to fall victim to when crossing different languages.
But I would go further: Brun de Morais (with Morais standing in for Old French marais, 'marsh') is not a person, but an obvious personification of Brent Marsh:
The Charters of the Early West Saxon kingdom,”[BAR British Series 198, 1988] concludes that “every Glastonbury record of charters or lands attributes to Ine the grant of either 10 hides at ‘Brente’ or 20 hides at ‘Brentemerse’” The latter, often referred to as ‘Brentemarais,’ agrees with the total quoted in Domesday Book. “Since each record mentions one estate or the other, but not both,” she deduces, “it seems that there are two versions of one grant, not two distinct grants of two estates, and that ‘Brentmarais’ is to be identified with ‘Brente’.” A proof of this does appear to be shown by William of Malmesbury, who mentions “Brentacnolle qui nunc Brentamirse decitur.” (Brent Knoll which is now known as Brent Marsh.)
This supposed land grant was originally made by Arthur in remembrance of Yder (= Isdernus), who fell fighting the three giants at Brent Knoll.
Now, it is not totally possible that Mardoc preserves an attempt at Morais. We may look at the Middle English forms for the word 'marsh':
mersh n.
Forms mersh n. Also mershe, merch(e, mers(s(e, merse, mersc, mersk(e, merish, marsh(e, marsk, maresc, (error) morsh.
Etymology OE mersc, merisc.
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
Note: Cp. mareis.
mareis n. singular & plural
Forms mareis n. singular & plural Also marreis, marais, mares(se, maris(se, marise, marissi, marice, maries, mar(r)as(se, marace & (error) moresse.
Etymology OF marois, mar(r)eis, marais, mares.
Note that in the truly English word we do find a /ch/ or /k/ sound as a terminal, which would accord with the /c/ of Mardoc. It's the intrusive /d/ and broad vowel /o/ in the second syllable that is the problem.
Finally, what of Calvariun?
I'd say this was Valerin. From https://nightbringer.se/nightbringer/a_guenevereabduction.html:
In Ulrich’s Lanzelet (c. 1200), Guinevere’s abductor is King Valerin of the Tangled Wood. Valerin had lost, in combat against Lancelot, a claim that Guinevere should be his because of a promise of marriage made when Guinevere was a girl. Unsatisfied with his loss, Valerin kidnapped Guinevere and hauled her back to his fortress of the Tangled Wood. Arthur besieged the magic fortress - an effort that proved futile until he enlisted the aid of the wizard Malduc, who destroyed the palace’s defenses and allowed Arthur and his knights to seize the castle. Guinevere’s son Loüt (Loholt) played an important role in the rescue.
The development process may have gone something like this: Valerin was subjected to Welsh influence, becoming a Gwal- formation similar to that of Gualwanus. Then, as with the latter, it became Cal-.
I should note in passing that the Valerin story includes a wizard named MALDUC. This wizard destroys Valerin's defenses, allowing Arthur to rescue the queen. As /r/ can substitute for /l/, it is possible, I suppose, that Mardoc of the Modena Archivolt is the Malduc.
The other candidate for Calvariun is the well-known knight Calogrenant. His name has manyh variants in the sources. From https://nightbringer.se/the-legend-of-king-arthur/arthurian-characters/c-arthurian-persons/calogrenat/:
Atalogrenant, Calogrenans, Calogrenant, Calogrenanz, Calogrenaus, Calogreuand, Calogrevant, Calogrinant, Colegrevaunt, Colgrevance, Colgrevaunce, Colgrevnce, Colgrevunce, Galogrevant, Galogrinans, Galogrinant, Kalebrant, Kalocreant, Kalogrenant, Kalogreuant, Kalogrian, Qualogrenans, Qualogrenaus
We need only allow for the dropping of the medial /g/:
Calogrenant is not involved in a Queen Guinevere abduction story. He is, however, from GORRE. This place has been plausibly identified with Glastonbury as the Isle of Glass. Here is something I wrote on the subject many years ago:
In Chretien's early romance The Knight of the Cart, Lancelot travels to the land of Gorre, which is ruled over by Bademagu of Bade, whose son is named Meleagant. Scholars have for some time been seeking a historical identification for Lancelot and have sought various identifications for Gorre (e.g. Gower, the Island of Man, Gowrie, Glastonbury). Yet most have realized that the Meleagant story is but a poetic elaboration of the early Melwas-Glastonbury story first recorded c.1130 by the Welsh monk Caradoc of Llancarfan.
When Guinevere is kidnapped by Meleagant and taken to Gorre, Gawain and Lancelot (the latter travelling incognito) leave Camelot and pursue the evil knight. In order to reach Gorre, Lancelot must make it through the Stone Passage and cross over the deadly Sword Bridge (pont espee). Gawain, taking another way into Gorre, must cross the Water Bridge (pont evage).
Since we know Camelot in Chretien is Campus Elleti near Caerleon (see “Who was Arthur?” above) and Meleagant as Melwas in Caradoc's tale is from Somerset, we must assume Lancelot is travelling southeast. Gorre, as was proposed long ago, is probably a Cymracized form of Voire (cf. modern French verre, "glass"). As such, it is a designation for Glastonbury, the Glass-town. The fact that the capital of Gorre is said to be Bath and Meleagant's father is called Bademagus (possibly a reflection of Gildas’s Badonici montis or Mount Badon, which from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s time on was identified with Bath) tells us that Chretien was aware that at his time Glastonbury was at the center of a Somerset which included the city of Bath. The modern county of Avon was made out of that part of Somerset which stretched north of the Mendips and from the southern part of Gloucestershire. So while Gorre is Glastonbury, the kingdom of Gorre is Somerset, the Summer Land of Melwas/Meleagant.
So where are the Stone Passage and the two bridges? I suspect the Stone Passage is a reference to Cheddar Gorge, the spectacular limestone ravine that cuts through the Mendip Hills. The Sword Bridge is probably Axbridge on the Axe, on the south side of the Mendips. While the name Axe actually stems from an ancient Isca, the later spelling may have suggested ax or axe from ME, fr. OE aex, aecus, acus; akin to OHG ackus, acchus, "ax", ON ox, etc., and perhaps to OE ecg, "edge, sword". Edge is from ME egge, fr. OE ecg; akin to OS eggia, "edge of a blade, edge", OHG ecka, L. acies, "sharp edge, sharpness". The Water Bridge is certainly Bridgwater on the Parrett.
