Meaning and history
From Welsh Medraut, possibly from Latin moderatus, meaning “controlled” or “moderated,” Mordred is a figure in Arthurian legend who is usually described as King Arthur’s illegitimate son, though in some versions he is Arthur’s nephew. He first appears briefly as Medraut in the 10th-century Annales Cambriae, but was not cast as a traitor until Geoffrey of Monmouth’s 12th-century chronicles. In the legend, while Arthur is away, Mordred seduces Guinevere and declares himself king, provoking the battle of Camlann, in which both he and Arthur die.