Bedwyr In early Welsh sources, Bedwyr Bedrydant ("Bedwyr of the Perfect Sinew") is a handsome, one-handed warrior under
Arthur's command. His father is given as Pedrawd or Bedrawd, and his children as Amhren and Eneuawg, both members of Arthur's court. One of the earliest direct references to Bedwyr can be found in the 10th-century poem
Pa gur which recounts the exploits of a number of Arthur's men, including Bedwyr, Cei (
Kay) and
Manawydan. Of Bedwyr, this narration says: The 9th-century version of
Englynion y Beddau ("The Stanzas of the Graves") gives Bedwyr's final resting place on
Tryfan. A catchphrase often quipped by Cei, "by the hand of my friend" is possibly a reference to Bedwyr's disability. Bedwyr is a prominent character in the tale of
Culhwch and Olwen, in which he appears at the head of Arthur's court list with his friend Cei and is described as one of the most handsome men in the world (save for Arthur and Drych fab Cibddar), and is the wielder of a magical spear with the ability to separate the tip of the shaft to attack and that all the wounds caused by the spear were equal to nine wounds. He is called upon to accompany
Culhwch on his quest to win
Olwen's hand in marriage and is the first to strike the giant
Ysbaddaden with the poisoned spear meant for Culhwch. Bedwyr goes on to assist Culhwch in completing the impossible tasks given to him by Ysbaddaden; he helps Cei and
Goreu fab Custennin kill Wrnach the Giant, rescues
Mabon ap Modron from his imprisonment, retrieves the hairs of Dillus the Bearded, captures the
Cauldron of Diwrnach during Arthur's raid on Ireland, and takes part in the hunting of the monstrous boar
Twrch Trwyth with Arthur's dog
Cavall at his side. The tale ends with the completion of the tasks, the humiliation and death of Ysbaddaden, and the marriage of Culhwch and Olwen.
Bedivere 's illustration for
Legends of King Arthur and His Knights (1914), adapted from
Thomas Malory by Janet Macdonald: "Sir Bedivere put King Arthur gently into the barge." Bedivere is one of Arthur's loyal allies in
Geoffrey of Monmouth's
Historia Regum Britanniae (appearing there as
Beduerus) and its adaptations (for example, as
Beduer in ''
Layamon's Brut''), and maintains this position in much later Arthurian literature. He is Arthur's royal
butler and is rewarded the province of Estrusia (
Normandy) after the British conquest of the
Roman Gaul. (In the Icelandic version,
Breta sögur, this is changed to "[Arthur] gave his daughter Beduerus to his cup bearer Estrusia".) He helps Arthur and
Kay fight the Giant of
Mont Saint-Michel, and joins Arthur in his war against
Emperor Lucius of Rome, in which he dies fighting. In the English
Alliterative Morte Arthure, he and Kay are mortally wounded while heroically fighting against the Romans in the Battle of Sessye. In
Thomas Malory's ''
Le Morte d'Arthur'', 'Bedwyr' (as he is initially known) plays a similar role against the Giant, and is seriously wounded in a battle in an episode taken probably from the
Vulgate Suite, In the original French romances, this final role belonged to a cousin of Bedevere (
Bedoier),
Griflet. In Malory's version and the
Stanzaic Morte Arthur, Bedivere and Arthur are among the few survivors of the
Battle of Camlann (or of
Salisbury). After the battle, at the request of the mortally wounded king, Bedivere casts away the sword
Excalibur that Arthur had received from the
Lady of the Lake. However, he does this only after twice thinking the sword too valuable to Britain to throw into the water. When he reports that nothing in particular happened, King Arthur admonishes him, for Arthur knows that the mystical sword would create some supernatural event. Finally, Bedivere casts the sword into the water, at which a hand arises and catches the sword mid-air, then sinks into the waters, and Arthur is thus assured that the sword has been returned. In Malory's telling, this act summons
Morgan and
Nimue, who take the king to
Avalon. Upon the presumed death of Arthur, Bedivere enters a
hermitage led by the
Mordred-ousted
Archbishop of Canterbury, where he spends the remainder of his life. There he will be joined by Lancelot and some of his kindred knights, who will resort to it in their own penitence. ==Modern culture==