Yr arth olaf yng nghymru:
The last bear in Wales

Y/Yr: the
Arth: bear
Eirth: bears
Olaf: last
Yn: in
Cymru: Wales

Arthur: Arther

Arth(bear) + gwr (man/husband) – Arthwr- Arther

(But probably not unfortunately since all Welsh accounts are Arthur not Arthwr)

Illustration from
sketchywelsh.com

Anyone know anymore about the Arthur / Arth link?

by SketchyWelsh

1 comment

  1. Spelling has changed over the years. In medieval Welsh *gwr/-wr* was generally spelt *gur/-ur*. So yes, it does indeed mean ‘bear-man’.

    ‘Pendragon’, or *pendreic* in Middle Welsh, is ‘chief dragon’. A dragon being a poetic term for a war leader, probably going back to the Romans using dragon standards in battle.

    So Arthur Pendragon means ‘Bear-Man Chief War-Leader’.

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