I need a character description (appearance, habits.etc,) of King Uther. I haven’t been able to find a good site tho. all efforts will be greatly appreciated.
King Uther is just a name in most texts. You can find a reasonable short account by looking for the entry “Uther Pendragon” under “U” on this page: http://www.celtic-twilight.com/camelot/bruce_dictionary/index_s.htm .
Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote the first account of Uther’s career. See Giles’ translation at http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_the_Kings_of_Britain and search on “Uther”. An expanded version of Geoffrey’s history was created by Wace, and Wace’s history was in turn expanded by the Englishman Laȝamon. The Arthurian portions of their works (which includes all that they wrote on Uther) is available at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10472 and at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14305 .
Geoffrey’s account, probably both from Geoffrey and from Wace, entered oral tradition and was simplified in some ways and complicated in others. This oral version has come down to us as a prose version of a poem attributed to Robert de Boron, a work called “Merlin”. It is available on the web in an archaic English translation as the first part of an expanded work now often called the “Vulgate Merlin”. It appears as Chapter I to Chapter VI here: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=cme;cc=cme;rgn=main;view=toc;idno=Merlin .
Robert de Boron’s “Merlin” was also included in a later compilation sometimes today called the “Post-Vulgate Arthurian Cycle”. The section corresponding to the Robert de Boron’s work and the material immediately following appears in medieval Spanish as “El baladro del sabio Merlin”. A modern English translation appears at http://members.terracom.net/~dorothea/baladro/index.html . The part corresponding to Robert’s work is from Prologue 3 to the first part of chapter 19.
Note that in this version Hengest (Aungis, Angis, Augys) is slain by Uther Pendragon.
A Welsh medieval poem claiming to be by Uthyr Pendragon is found here: http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/t48.html . A dialogue between Arthur and Eliwlod son of Madoc son of Uthyr appears at http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/eagle.html . This is really only important in indicating that Uthyr had another son besides Arthur.
Triad 28 of the Welsh Triads (http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/sechard/492triad.htm) refers to: “And the enchantment of Uther Pendragon and he taught it to Menw son of Teirgwaedd.” Menw son of Teigwaedd appears in the story of “Culhwch and Olwen” as a shape-changer, so it would appear that possibly in a variant version of the begetting of Arthur Uther Pendragon was a shape-changer himself, and Merlin did not appear.
Uther appears occasionally in other texts, but I can’t think of anything too important now. He takes part in the tournament at Kanvoleis in Wolfram von Eschanbach’s “Parzival”. See http://books.google.com/books?id=hCt4uq3YvGAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Parzival+Wolfram+von+Eschenbach&ei=imzhSNftOYnojgGcwPnnDg&sig=ACfU3U3U0ig_kNChkIMAci_Ma5B4VeYpsQ#PPA21,M1 , page 21 and page 24. In Heinrich von dem Türlim’s “Diu Krône” he is unusually made a great conquerer, said vaguely to have fought and conquered the Valois, Parthians, French, Normans, Angles, and the people of Naples and to have died before Arthur was six years old.
In the beginning of the “Prose Lancelot’ Uther aids a King of Little Britain named Aramont, surnamed Hoël,who is overlord of King Ban of Benoic and King Bors of Gaunes, to conquer King Claudas of the city of Bourges and surrounding lands. Uther declares that he was born in Bourges, and so spares that city from destruction.
And alternate genealogy from Geoffrey’s appears in Wolfram von Eschanbach’s “Parzival”. A knight named Mazadan joined with a fay named Terdelashoyee in the land of Feimorgen, Or is this a corruption of some account of Mazadan joining with a fay in the “Land of Joy” that is (“Terre de la Joie”) also known as the land of Morgaine the Fay? Or should the fay’s name be Morgaine?
In any case, they have two sons named Lazieliez and Brickus. Brickus is father of Uther Pendragon, while Lazieliez is father of Addanz, father of Gandin king of Anjou, father of Gahmuret, the father of Pazival/Perceval.
Four rough drafts of a late medieval romance about Pendragus, Uther’s elder brother in Robert de Boron’s account, were written by a man named Bauduin Butor.