Epithet
Uther's epithet Pendragon literally means "Chief-Dragon", but in a figurative sense, "foremost leader" or "chief of warriors". The name was misinterpreted by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the Historia to mean "dragon's head", and further misinterpreted in the Lancelot-Grail Cycle to mean "hanging dragon". According to Geoffrey and works based on his version, Uther acquired the epithet when he witnessed a portentous dragon-shaped comet, which inspired him to use dragons on his standards. According to the Grail cycle, it was Uther's older brother (elsewhere called Ambrosius Aurelianus) who saw the comet and received the name "Pendragon", Uther taking his epithet after his death.
Read more about this topic: Uther Pendragon
Famous quotes containing the word epithet:
“The truth is, that common-sense, or thought as it first emerges above the level of the narrowly practical, is deeply imbued with that bad logical quality to which the epithet metaphysical is commonly applied; and nothing can clear it up but a severe course of logic.”
—Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914)
“I think I have done well, if I have acquired a new word from a good author; and my business with him is to find my own, though it were only to melt him down into an epithet or an image for daily use.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)