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Geraint
 
 
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Geraint is a character from Welsh
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
 folklore and Arthurian legend, a king of Dumnonia
Dumnonia

Dumnonia was a Brythonic kingdom of sub-Roman Britain, located in the West Country of modern England and covering Devon, most of Somerset and possibly part of Dorset, its eastern boundary being uncertain....
 and a valiant warrior. He may have lived during or shortly prior to the reign of the historical Arthur
Historical basis for King Arthur

The historical basis of King Arthur is a source of considerable debate among historians. The King Arthur of Arthurian legend appears in many legends but it has not been decisively established whether his origin was entirely mythical or whether he was based on one or more historical figures....
, but some scholars doubt he ever existed. The name is a Welsh form of the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 Gerontius
Gerontius

The name Gerontius, which is derived from a Greek word meaning old man, can refer to:* Gerontius , an early 5th century Roman general who was a key supporter of Constantine III , then rebelled against him...
.

int's father was Erbin
Erbin of Dumnonia

Erbin of Dumnonia was a 5th century King of Dumnonia and saint of Wales....
, a herder of sheep
Sheep

#REDIRECT Domestic sheep...
, and according to Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen

Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh literature tale about a hero connected with King Arthur and his warriors that survives in only two manuscripts: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, ca....
, he had brothers named Ermind and Dywel. It is uncertain whether other records of a similar period refer to the same or another man.






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Geraint is a character from Welsh
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
 folklore and Arthurian legend, a king of Dumnonia
Dumnonia

Dumnonia was a Brythonic kingdom of sub-Roman Britain, located in the West Country of modern England and covering Devon, most of Somerset and possibly part of Dorset, its eastern boundary being uncertain....
 and a valiant warrior. He may have lived during or shortly prior to the reign of the historical Arthur
Historical basis for King Arthur

The historical basis of King Arthur is a source of considerable debate among historians. The King Arthur of Arthurian legend appears in many legends but it has not been decisively established whether his origin was entirely mythical or whether he was based on one or more historical figures....
, but some scholars doubt he ever existed. The name is a Welsh form of the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 Gerontius
Gerontius

The name Gerontius, which is derived from a Greek word meaning old man, can refer to:* Gerontius , an early 5th century Roman general who was a key supporter of Constantine III , then rebelled against him...
.

Historical character

Geraint's father was Erbin
Erbin of Dumnonia

Erbin of Dumnonia was a 5th century King of Dumnonia and saint of Wales....
, a herder of sheep
Sheep

#REDIRECT Domestic sheep...
, and according to Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen

Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh literature tale about a hero connected with King Arthur and his warriors that survives in only two manuscripts: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, ca....
, he had brothers named Ermind and Dywel. It is uncertain whether other records of a similar period refer to the same or another man. David Nash Ford suggests they were two people. A 'Geraint of the South' appears at the Battle of Catraeth (circa 600) in the poem Y Gododdin
Y Gododdin

Y Gododdin is a medieval Welsh language poem consisting of a series of elegy to the men of the Britons kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia at a place named Catraeth....
, attributed to Aneirin
Aneirin

Aneirin or Neirin was a late 6th century Brythonic poet. He is believed to have been a bard or 'court poet' in one of the Cumbric kingdoms of the Old North or Hen Ogledd, probably that of Gododdin at Edinburgh, in modern Scotland....
. Geraint was one of the "Three Seafarers of the Isle of Britain" according to the Welsh Triads
Welsh Triads

The Welsh Triads are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, Welsh mythology and traditional history in groups of three....
. His death may be that recorded in the Elegy for Geraint at the Battle of Llongborth
Battle of Llongborth

The Battle of Llongborth was an ancient battle in Great Britain mentioned in a poem of the same name, traditionally attributed to Llywarch Hen. The poem in question, also known as Elegy for Geraint, celebrates Geraint ab Erbin from Dumnonia, who died in the battle....
, although this is also attributed to the 8th century man of the same name
Geraint of Dumnonia

Geraint 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 neighbouring Anglo-Saxon Wessex....
. A King Geraint also appears in the 'Life of Saint Teilo
Teilo

Saint Teilo was a leader of the Celtic Christianity church in Wales during the 6th century. His exact dates of birth and death are unknown but Penally in Pembrokeshire is considered his birthplace....
' and there are local legends of a King Geraint, the patron saint
Patron saint

A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, or person. Patron saints, because they have already transcended to the metaphysical, are able to intercede effectively for the needs of their special charges....
 of Gerrans
Gerrans

Gerrans is a civil parish and village in the Carrick, Cornwall district of Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. It is one of four parishes in the Roseland district....
, near Falmouth
Falmouth, Cornwall

Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port in the Carrick, Cornwall District on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, UK. It has a total resident population of 21,635....
, being buried on Carne Beacon near Veryan
Veryan

Veryan is a village and civil parish on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The main settlements are at Veryan Churchtown, Veryan Green, Portloe and the smaller hamlets of Trewartha, Treviskey, Carne and Camels....
. His feast day is 10 August.

Arthurian legend

He is probably most famous as the protagonist in the Welsh tale Geraint and Enid
Geraint and Enid

Geraint and Enid, also known by the title Geraint, son of Erbin of Dumnonia, is a one of the Three Welsh Romances typically associated with the Mabinogion....
, where he becomes the lover of Enid
Enide

Enide or Enid is a character from Arthurian legend. She is Erec's wife in Chr?tien de Troyes' Erec and Enide, and Geraint's in the Welsh Romance Geraint and Enid, analogous to Chr?tien's version....
. Geraint and Enid is one of the three Welsh Romances
Welsh Romances

The Three Welsh Romances are three tales associated with the Mabinogion. They are versions of Arthurian tales that also appear in the work of Chr?tien de Troyes....
 associated with the Mabinogion
Mabinogion

The Mabinogion is a collection of eleven prose stories from medieval Welsh manuscripts. They draw on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, international folktale motifs, and on early medieval historical traditions....
. Its story closely parallels the French writer Chrétien de Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes

Chr?tien de Troyes was a France poet and trouv?re who flourished in the late 12th century in poetry. Little is known of his life, but he seems to have been from Troyes, or at least intimately connected with it, and between 1160 and 1172 he served at the court of his patroness Count of Champagne Marie de Champagne, daughter of Eleanor of Aquit...
' Erec and Enide
Erec and Enide

Erec and Enide is Chr?tien de Troyes' first Romance , completed around 1170. Consisting of 7000 lines written in Old French, the poem is the earliest known Arthurian romance in any language besides the Welsh language Culhwch and Olwen, which likely predates its surviving manuscripts....
. 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. Geraint and Enid was reworked by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and remains one of the most popular English poets.Tennyson excelled at penning short lyrics, including "In the valley of Cauteretz", "Break, break, break", "The Charge of the Light Brigade ", "Tears, Idle Tears" and "Crossing the Bar"....
 into the poems The Marriage of Geraint and Geraint and Enid, part of his Idylls of the King
Idylls of the King

File:Idylls of the King 1.jpgIdylls of the King, published between 1856 and 1885, is a Literature cycle of twelve narrative poems by the English poet Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson which retells the legend of King Arthur, his knights, his love for Guinevere and her tragic betrayal of him, following the rise and fall of Arthur and...
.

See also


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