Arthurian Name Dictionary

Jack the Giant Killer

A popular fairy-tale hero whose story was probably first developed in the Elizabethan age, though it has only reached us in complete form from publications in the eighteenth century. It was said that Jack was born in Cornwall, the son of a farmer, during the reign of King Arthur. Cornwall was, at the time, terrorized by a giant who lived on a mountaintop. Hearing that anyone who slew the giant would have all his treasures as a reward, Jack dug a pit for the monster and buried a pick-axe it its head when it tumbled in. Word of his accomplishment spread, and he was commissioned to slay a number of other giants, which he always accomplished through wit, skill, and trickery. Jack eventually fell in to the company of Arthur’s son, saved him from a devil, visited Arthur’s court, and, for his bravery, was appointed to the Round Table. Thereafter, Jack sent the heads of all the giants he killed to the King Arthur. Eventually, Jack married the daughter of a duke, retired to a house built for him by Arthur, and lived happily ever after (Opie, 47–65).

Jacob of Estriguel

A knight who fought on the side of King Mark of Cornwall during Mark’s tournament at the city of Lancien. [Contin4]

Jaffa [Jaffe]

A port in Israel, named in the Alliterative Morte Arthure as the home of some of the pagans in the Roman army defeated by Arthur. According to the Middle English Sir Degrevant, Arthur’s knight Degrevant was slain there during a Crusade. [Allit, SirDeg]

Jaidons

An Arthurian knight who joined Gawain’s quest to conquer Rigomer castle. [Merveil]

Jakobsland

Home of Tristan the Stranger, who was deposed by seven wicked brothers. Tristan the Stranger sought out his famous namesake, and the two were able to re-conquer the land. [SagaTI]

Jandree

A pagan princess who was the sister of King Madaglan of Oriande. Madaglan suggested that Arthur take Jandree as his queen after Guinevere’s untimely death. Jandree loved Arthur but despised his religion; Arthur likewise balked at the thought of marrying a heathen. Because of these religious differences, the match never took place. After her brother died, and after Perceval began to destroy paganism in her lands, Jandree began to question her own faith. She received a holy vision and subsequently converted to Christianity, taking the baptismal name Salubre. She lived out the rest of her days in penitence and died in a hermitage. [Perlesvaus]

Janduz of Lann

A lady at Arthur’s court who failed a chastity test. [Heinrich]

Janfrüege

A castle ruled by the mighty warrior Laamorz. The castle had the power to render any knight who entered helpless to Laamorz’s will. Gawain was led there through the deception of a malevolent goddess named Giramphiel, but advice given by Lady Fortune allowed Gawain to avoid the enchantment and to defeat Laamorz in single combat. [Heinrich]

Janfuse

An African kingdom ruled in Arthur’s time by Queen Ekuba, a lover of Perceval’s brother Feirefiz. Later, through Feirefiz’s appointment or through some other means, Count Fristines became the ruler of the land. [Wolfram]

Janphie

Lancelot’s sweetheart in Heinrich von dem Türlin’s Diu Crône. With the other ladies at Arthur’s court, she failed a chastity test. [Heinrich]

Janphis

The kingdom ruled by Guiromelant, Gawain’s brother-in-law. [Heinrich]

Japhite

The faithful and devoted wife of the evil King Roaz of Glois. She was a beautiful Asian woman. When Wigalois (Gawain’s son) killed her husband, she died from sorrow. Her brothers, Zaradech and Panschavar, came from Asia to retrieve her body, and they became Wigalois’s companions. [Wirnt]

Jare with the Golden Hair

In Diu Crône, a lady at Arthur’s court who, with all the other ladies, failed a chastity test. Her sister was named Amerclie. [Heinrich]

Jascaphin of Orcaine

Father of Gawain and Clarissant in Heinrich von dem Türlin’s Diu Crône. His wife was Queen Morcades (Morgause). When King Jascaphin died, his brother banished Morcades from Orcaine. Gawain’s father is usually named as Lot. [Heinrich]

Jaufré

One of Arthur’s knights, perhaps identical to Girflet, who avenged a wrong done against Arthur by the evil knight Taulat. In the course of this adventure, he fell in love with Lady Brunissen of the Castle Monbrun—who had been oppressed by Taulat—and married her. Another adventure took him through an enchanted fountain to the fairyland of Gibel, where he killed a monster called Felons of Albarua. [Jaufre]

Jecoine of the Clearing

A loyal knight who served King Evalach (Mordrains) of Sarras in the war against King Tholomer of Babylonia. [VulgEst]

Jeconias

A Knight of the Round Table whom Yvain, his cousin, appointed as the seneschal of Vambieres. He joined Arthur’s war agains the Saxons. [Livre]

Jemsetir

The land that Tristan, calling himself “Pro,” claimed as his homeland when he first arrived in Ireland. He knew Ireland and Cornwall were at war and he could thus not claim to be from Cornwall. [Eilhart]

Jenephus of Angus

A duke in Arthur’s service. [Heinrich]

Jenover of Beumont

One of Arthur’s noblemen. [Heinrich]

Jentaneon

A nobleman in Arthur’s service. His brothers were Earl Gorgun of Flandrisborg and Garse. [Erex]

Jeraphin

A land next to the Red Sea ruled by King Rial. It was seized by the evil King Roaz of Glois. When Wigalois (Gawain’s son) killed Roaz, he won the rights to the kingdom, and he returned it to Rial. [Wirnt]

Jerneganz of Jeroplis

A duke who served Perceval’s brother, Feirefiz. [Wolfram]

Jernis of Ryl

A count who served Arthur. His daughter, Ampflise, was a Grail Maiden. [HartmannE, Wolfram]

Jerusalem

As an extension of its biblical role, Jerusalem is the setting for the early Grail history, including the origins of the Grail, the adventures and trials of Joseph of Arimathea, the Roman Emperor Vespasian’s campaign to avenge Christ’s death, and, eventually, Joseph’s departure for western lands. Christians from Jerusalem followed Joseph of Arimathea and populated Britain.
   In the Vulgate Merlin, Merlin visits Jerusalem and accurately depicts the Saracen King Flualis’s defeat at the hands of Christians, followed by his own conversion to Christianity. In De Ortu Waluuanii, Jerusalem serves as the site of Gawain’s first triumph: the city became the object of a dispute between Rome and Persia, and it was ruled that the matter would be decided by a single combat. The Persians put forth their best warrior, Gormundus, while the Emperor of Rome sent the young and untried Gawain. After a three-day battle, Gawain killed Gormundus and settled the conflict in Rome’s favor.
   Jerusalem is one of the many cities and lands that Arthur conquers in Jean D’Outremeuse’s Ly Myreur des Histors. [VulgMer, VulgEst, DeOrtu, Jean]

Jeschute

Daughter of King Lac and sister of Erec in Wolfram’s Parzival. She married Duke Orilus of Lalander. A young Perceval visited her pavilion in the forest of Brizljan. Misinterpreting advice given to him by his mother, he kissed her and took one of her rings. When Orilus came home and found out Perceval had been there, he ignored his wife’s protests and accused her of adultery. He forced her to embark on a grueling ride with him, without allowing her to change her clothes or her mount for months. When they finally encountered Perceval again, Perceval defeated Orilus in a duel and forced him to reconcile with his wife. The same character appears in Chrétien’s Perceval but is unnamed. [Wolfram]

Jesmeladant

A knight who served Arthur in the wars against King Rions. [VulgMer]

Jetakranc of Gampfassache

An infidel count who served Perceval’s half-brother Feirefiz. His land was known for its fine fabrics. [Wolfram]

Joachim

A duke of Manaheim whom Erec saved after he had been kidnapped by seven robbers. Joachim’s brothers, Juben, Perant, and Malcheus, were also abducted and freed. Erec sent them to Arthur’s court to relate the adventure. [Erex]

Joan Go-Too’t [Jone]

Merlin’s mother in the Elizabethan play The Birth of Merlin. She was impregnated by the Devil, who came to her in human form. She was convinced that the father was a nobleman at Aurelius Ambrosius’s court until the Devil revealed himself again to her. Her brother was named Clown. [Birth]

Joene

Wife of King Cichoriades of Cornwall. Her husband locked her up in a tower because she was adulterous. Joene’s lover appeared at the foot of the tower, and Cichoriades started climbing down the tower from a rope in order to fight with him. The crafty Joene cut the rope from the top, and her husband fell to his death. With her lover, she fled to North Wales. Joene’s father was King Gonosor of Ireland and her sister was Queen Gloriande of Lyonesse. [ProsTris]

Joflanze

A dueling ground where Gawain and King Gramoflanz agreed to fight a duel. The meadow lay between the Sabins and Poynzaclins rivers near the city of Roche Sabins. Perceval and Gawain, and then Perceval and Gramoflanz, fought here, but the duel between Gramoflanz and Gawain was called off through the intervention of Arthur. [Wolfram]

Johenis

During a speech Heinrich von dem Türlin’s Diu Crône, Gawain talks of an episode in which he “defeated twenty knights in freeing Johenis from the dungeon.” This episode is not found in existing Arthurian texts. [Heinrich]

Johfrit [Joferit, Jofreit]

Lord of Liez, son of Idœl, and maternal relative of Arthur. Johfrit encountered Lancelot shortly after Lancelot arrived in the world of men from the enchanted island of his upbringing. Lancelot was inexperienced in horseback riding and was faring rather poorly. Johfrit met and befriended him, and showed him the proper way to use the reins. He gave lodging to Lancelot at his castle, and his wife sponsored a tournament in which Lancelot participated. His name is probably a variation of Jaufre or Girflet, who, according to R. S. Loomis, comes from the Welsh Gilfaethwy. Interestingly, as Loomis points out, Welsh tradition has Gilfaethwy or his brother Gwydion teaching Lleu how to ride a horse. (Lleu may be a literary precursor of Lancelot.) [UlrichZ, Wolfram]

John¹

Servant of the Greek knight Cliges. John built the special tomb in which Cliges’ love, Empress Fenice, was buried after she faked her own death. The tomb was designed to keep Fenice alive until Cliges could excavate her. John then gave Cliges and Fenice asylum in his tower. Later, John was captured by Cliges’s uncle (and Fenice’s husband) Alis, after Alis learned of the trick. John protested his innocence, saying that he had only been doing the bidding of his master. Alis agreed and pardoned him. [ChretienC]

John² the Baptist [Jehan]

The biblical priest who baptized Jesus Christ and was beheaded by Herod. The sword used in this decapitation is identified with the Grail Sword in Perlesvaus. [Perlesvaus]

Joli

A page who served Blanchandine, a princess who married Gawain. [Floriant]

Jolies of Tintagel

A knight who fought on the side of King Mark of Cornwall during Mark’s tournament at the city of Lancien. [Contin4]

Jolïete

A maidservant of Bloiesine, Gawain’s lover. [Contin4]

Jolyan [Jubaunce]

A Genoese giant who fought against Arthur’s forces in the Roman War. He served the Duke of Lorraine. In battle, he slew Arthur’s Sir Gerard. [Allit, Malory]

Jon

A nephew of Arthur and brother of Howe. Jon and Howe accompanied Sir Launfal when Launfal fled to Caerleon to escape Guinevere’s disfavor. When Launfal fell into poverty and depravity in Caerleon, Jon and Howe returned to Arthur’s court. [ChestreLvl]

Jonah [Jona(an)s]

An ancestor of Lancelot and Galahad, descended from Joseph of Arimathea. His father was named Isaiah, and his son, Lancelot, was Sir Lancelot of the Lake’s grandfather. He was a noble and valiant king. He married the daughter of King Maronel of Gaul, inherited the kingdom, and established his posterity in France. [VulgQuest, VulgEst, Malory]

Jonap [Ionap(es)]

A Saxon giant who joined King Rions’ invasion of Carmelide. Arthur wounded him at the battle of Aneblayse. [VulgMer, Arthour]

Jonas¹

A hermit priest encountered by Perceval in a forest. His companion was named Alecys. [Perlesvaus]

Jonas²

King of Tiberias and ally of Emperor Filimenis of Constantinople, Floriant’s father. [Floriant]

Jonathal [Ionas, Jonathan, Jonathas]

Earl of Dorset or Dorchester under King Arthur. He fought for Arthur in the Roman War and led half a legion of warriors at Soissons. [GeoffHR, Wace, Layamon, Allit]

Joram¹

A wise man and sage who served Vortigern. When Vortigern was having problems building his fortress at Snowden, it was Joram who advised him to sprinkle the foundation with the blood of a child with no father. This led to the arrival of Merlin, who humiliated Joram by showing Vortigern the real reason for the fortress’s failure. [Layamon]

Joram²

The King of Syria. He arrived at Arthur’s court at Caridoel and offered Guinevere a magical belt. When Guinevere refused the gift, Joram challenged all of Arthur’s knights. Through the powers of the belt, he defeated all of the Knights of the Round Table in turn. Gawain was the last to fall. Joram took Gawain prisoner and led him back to Syria. There, Gawain married Joram’s niece, Florie, and their union produced Wigalois. [Wirnt]

Jorans li Febles

The Irish champion of Rigomer castle, also known as the Knight of the Triple Arms. He guarded a heath at the entrance to Rigomer, and was defeated by both Lancelot and Gawain during their attempts to conquer the castle. [Merveil]

Joranz of Belrapeire

A nobleman in Arthur’s service. [Heinrich]

Joraphas

A castle in the country of Korntin. It was ruled by Count Moral and Countess Beleare. Wigalois (Gawain’s son) recovered at Joraphas after defeating a dragon named Pfetan, and before fighting the evil King Roaz of Glois. [Wirnt]

Jordain

Son of the King of Spain, killed by Gawain or Bedivere in the Roman War. [Didot]

Jordan [Iordains, Iurdains, Jordanus]

Chamberlain of Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall. Merlin magically disguised either himself or Ulfin as Jordan to help sneak Uther and Ulfin into the castle of Tintagel so that Uther Pendragon could sleep with the Duke’s wife, Igerne. Jordan eventually became one of Arthur’s knights and participated in the war against the Saxons. [GeoffHR, Wace, Layamon, VulgMer, Malory]

Jorel

A king of Korntin who received a magical suit of armor from a knight named Brian. Jorel passed the armor on to Count Moral of Joraphas, who in turn gave it to Wigalois (Gawain’s son) for use in a battle against King Roaz of Glois. [Wirnt]

Josefent [Josephent, Jozefent]

King of Wales. He married Andelise, queen of Denmark, and fathered Sir Durmart, who became an Arthurian knight. [Durmart]

Joseph of Arimathea [Giuseppe, Iosepes, Josep]

A former soldier of Pontius Pilate who brought the Grail to Britain. His story is told in Robert de Boron’s Joseph d’Arimathie and the Vulgate Estoire del Saint Graal. Each of the four Gospels mentions Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man and member of the Council of Sadducees who secretly became a disciple of Christ. He obtained Jesus’s body from Pontius Pilate and had it entombed. The Grail histories, drawing on some information from the Christian apocrypha (e.g., The Gospel of Nichodemus), enhanced the status of this minor Biblical character.
   After the crucifixion, Joseph sought to preserve the artifacts that the Savior had touched. The most important of these was the Grail—the cup or bowl used by Christ at the Last Supper—in which Joseph caught some of Jesus’s blood. Some stories say that he also obtained the Bleeding Lance, with which a Roman soldier named Longinus had stabbed Christ in the side.
   He was thrown in prison by the Jews and left to rot, but the Grail sustained him for over forty years. He was freed by the Roman Emperor Vespasian, who had come to Jerusalem to avenge Christ’s death. (This is based in part on the Gospel of Nichodemus, in which Joseph is imprisoned but is freed by the risen Christ, allowing him to return to Arimathea.)
   Joseph gathered a sizable number of followers and departed with the Grail for western lands. Along the way, they stopped at the kingdom of Sarras. Joseph converted King Evalach (later Mordrain) and Duke Seraphe (later Nascien) to Christianity, and they later joined his fellowship in Britain. Lancelot was Nascien’s descendant. Another follower, Peter, was an ancestor of Gawain. To separate the sinful from the pious among his fellowship, Joseph founded the Grail Table, modeled after the table of the Last Supper and precursor to Arthur’s Round Table.
   In Robert de Boron’s romance, he remains childless, but in the Vulgate Estoire del Saint Graal, he has two sons by his wife Elyab: Josephus, the first Christian bishop and Joseph’s successor as Grail keeper; and Galahad, the first king of Christian Wales. Urien and Yvain descended from Joseph through Galahad. His sister Havingues married Bron, whose sons became the Grail Kings.
   Robert de Boron says that after entrusting the Grail to Bron, Joseph returned to Arimathea while his followers journeyed to Britain. In the Vulgate Estoire and later versions, however, he arrives in Britain himself and begins converting the local rulers. Duke Ganor, his first convert, provided a home for his followers in the city of Galafort. Imprisoned for a time by the pagan King Crudel, he was rescued by his friend Mordrain. With his followers firmly rooted in Britain, Joseph passed on, leaving the Grail to his son Josephus. In the Italian La Tavola Ritonda, he is slain by a pagan giant named Dilantes. The French Perlesvaus tells us that he was buried in a tomb at the Grail Castle, while in the Vulgate Estoire he is entombed in Scotland. In the Post-Vulgate and Malory’s Le Morte Darthur, his body occupies an enchanted chamber in the Grail Castle, along with the Bleeding Lance and the Grail.
   Centuries later, the spirit of either Joseph or Josephus presided over a mass held in the Grail Castle, attended by Galahad, Perceval, and Bors. He instructed the knights to take the Grail to Sarras, where he again appeared at a mass the culminated in the Grail’s ascension into heaven.
   Aside from the Grail stories, there are a number of traditions concerning Joseph of Arimathea as a missionary in England. According to one, he founded the abbey at Glastonbury after King Arviragus gave him the land. Another, found in an interpolation in William of Malmesbury’s chronicle, says that St. Phillip, who was spreading Christianity in Gaul, sent him to Britain. Various continental legends have him chumming about with Mary Magdalene and Lazarus. In one notable non-Arthurian romance, Sone de Nausay, Joseph is the Fisher King himself, having ascended to the throne of Norway after conquering the heathens there and marrying the country’s princess. [RobertBorJ, Perlesvaus, LancLac, VulgLanc, VulgQuest, VulgEst, Joseph, Malory, DeSancto, HereJOA, LyfeJOA]

Josephus [Giosefette, Josafas, Josaphas, Josephe(s), Josephet]

The son of Joseph of Arimathea, introduced in the Vulgate Queste del Saint Graal and Estoire del Saint Graal, in which he takes on many of the characteristics assigned to Joseph by Robert de Boron. The author of the Queste probably invented him to provide a pure, virginal precursor to Galahad. Joseph’s wife Elyab bore him while his father languished in a Jewish prison for four decades. After his father’s release, the family led an expedition to western lands. Josephus became the first Christian bishop and the leader of Joseph’s followers. He sat in the Perilous Seat at the Grail Table. Josephus helped convert the kingdom of Sarras, in which he baptized Mordrain and Nascien, and the various sovereignties in Britain. He died unmarried and childless after passing the Grail onto the sons of Bron. At the culmination of the Grail Quest, the spirit of either Josephus or his father presided over a mass held for Galahad, Perceval, and Bors—the successful Grail Knights. [VulgQuest, VulgEst, PostQuest]

Joseus [Josep(h)(s), Josex]

In Perlesvaus, the son of King Pelles. His mother told him that he would be a monk rather than a king, which made Joseus so angry that he killed her. He spent the rest of his life as a hermit, doing penance for this crime, although he would have been a great knight. Lancelot helped him clear his forest of robber knights. Joseus picked up arms only once, to help Perceval re-conquer the Grail Castle from the evil King of the Castle Mortal. He became the caretaker of the Grail Castle and died there. [Perlesvaus]

Joshua [Joseus, Josué]

Son of Bron, brother of Alain, and follower of Joseph of Arimathea in the Grail histories. With Alain, he journeyed to the Strange Land, converted King Calafes, and established Corbenic, the Grail Castle. He inherited the land upon Calafes’s death, and became the first Grail King. He married Calafes’s daughter and passed the throne to his son, Aminadap. His descendants included Pellehan, Pelles, Elaine, and Galahad. John of Glastonbury makes him an ancestor of Arthur himself, through Igerne. [VulgEst, JohnG]

Josimas

A holy man, formerly a knight, who lodged Perceval and Gawain in his hermitage. [Perlesvaus]

Jovedast of Arles

A knight defeated in combat by Perceval. [Wolfram]

Jovelin

Father of Kahedins and Isolde of the White Hands (Tristan’s wife) in Gottfried’s Tristan. As the Duke of Arundel, he was attacked by enemies, but was saved by Tristan. In return, he encouraged the marriage between Tristan and his daughter. He appears in Eilhart’s Tristrant as the similar-sounding Havelin, and in later legend as Hoel. [Gottfried]

Joy of the Court [*Joie de la Cort, Schoydelakurt]

An extremely dangerous adventure in King Evrain’s town of Brandigan. It is found in Chrétien’s Erec and its adaptations. No knight who ever sought the adventure returned alive. Erec decided to assume the adventure when he came to the town at the end of his journey with Enide, much to the distress of Enide and Evrain. Making his way past a row of heads spiked on spears, Erec entered a wooded area. He followed a path and found a lady (called Elena in the Norse Erex Saga) sleeping on a bed under a sycamore tree. Shortly thereafter, the lady’s knight, Mabonagrain, arrived and challenged Erec to a fight. After a long battle, Erec defeated Mabonagrain, who gratefully told Erec his story: long ago, he had foolishly promised the lady to come to the spot and guard it with his life until he was finally defeated in combat. Thus, Mabonagrain had killed every knight who came that way. Since Erec had defeated him, however, he was free. Having won the adventure, Erec blew a horn, thus altering the town of his victory. The court rejoiced, and King Evrain threw a celebration in Erec’s honor. The ladies of the town composed a song about the adventure called the Lay of Joy. It’s odd name may be a corruption of jeu del cor, or “game of the horn” (Loomis, Romance, 196). Wolfram von Eschenbach transformed the name into Schoydelakurt, which he seems to think is a land, once ruled by Mabonagrain and eventually by Erec. [ChretienE, HartmannE, Wolfram, Erex]

Joyous Guard [Gioiosa Guardia, *Joieuse Garde]

Lancelot’s castle, formerly called Dolorous Guard, but renamed after Lancelot conquered it. In the Prose Tristan and its adaptations, Lancelot allows Tristan and Isolde to live in the castle after their flight from King Mark’s court. During the Grail Quest, when Tristan was away, Mark attacked Joyous Guard and took back Isolde. Lancelot returned the castle to its former name (Dolorous Guard) after his affair with Guinevere was exposed and he was expelled from Camelot. Arthur besieged the castle until Lancelot returned to France. Some sources say that Arthur had Joyous Guard razed. As for its location, the Vulgate Mort Artu places it in Northumberland, and Malory more specifically suggests the castle of Bamburgh. Bamburgh sits upon the ruins of an earlier British castle. [LancLac, VulgLanc, ProsTris, Tavola, Stanz, Malory]

Juan of Castille

The king whom Tristan the Younger, Tristan’s son, eventually served. Tristan the Younger married Infanta Maria, Juan’s daughter, after rescuing her from the Moors. Juan married Isolde, Tristan the Younger’s sister. [DueTris]

Juben

A duke of Forckheim who Erec saved after he had been kidnapped by seven robbers. His brothers, Joachim, Perant, and Malcheus, were also abducted and liberated. Erec sent them to Arthur’s court to relate the adventure. [Erex]

Judas Maccabees

A biblical figure who successfully revolted against the Syrians around 175b.c. and reclaimed Palestine for the Jews. Medieval legend also names him as the inventor of falconry. In Perlesvaus, Gawain obtains a splendid shield which had supposedly belonged to Judas, and in the First Continuation of Chrétien’s Perceval, he is named as the original owner of the fabulous Sword with the Strange Hangings. In the Vulgate Merlin and the Livre d’Artus he is said to have established the adventure of the Ugly Appearance in either the Land of the Grazing Grounds or the realm of the Wise Lady. [Contin1, Perlesvaus, VulgMer, Livre]

Judgement Field

A tournament field near the town of Dyoflê. It was an extremely versatile field, designed for any number of sports. Lot of Lothian and Gurnemans fought a tournament here, in which Lancelot participated. [UlrichZ]

Jugein [Iuegyn, Vigenin, Wigein]

The Earl of Leicester under King Arthur. He fought in the Roman war and led half a legion of troops at the battle of Soissons. [GeoffHR, Wace, Layamon]

Julian¹

A Knight of the Round Table who participated in the Grail Quest. [PostQuest]

Julian²

An Arthurian knight who joined Gawain’s quest to conquer Rigomer castle. [Merveil]

Julian³

A knight who, at the inisistance of a lady, swore to slay any knight who passed his castle. He was conquered by Floriant, the foster-son of Morgan le Fay, and became Floriant’s companion. The two knights helped to save Rome from a siege by Saracens. Afterwards, Julian visited Arthur’s court and became a Knight of the Round Table. [Floriant]

Julius¹

A Roman senator and warrior who joined King Claudas’s second war with Arthur. [VulgLanc]

Julius² Caesar

History holds that Julius Caesar led the first Roman conquest of Britain, subduing the tribal chief Cassivellaunus, in roughly 54b.c. Nennius, among other chroniclers, recognizes this fact but places the date in 44a.d. Nevertheless, in the Vulgate Merlin, Caesar is Arthur’s contemporary. King Claudas became Caesar’s vassal in return for Roman reinforcements in the wars against Arthur, Ban, and Bors. Caesar, with his eye on Benoic, sent Pontius Anthony and an army to aid Claudas. Despite his aid, Claudas was defeated by Arthur. Merlin visited him and exposed the lechery of Caesar’s wife (she had a dozen male concubines, disguised as women), whom Caesar then executed. On Merlin’s advice, Caesar married Avenable, a maiden who had come to his court seeking help. His daughter married Patrick, Avenable’s brother. Within a few chapters of this episode, however, Lucius is the Emperor of Rome, and Caesar is mentioned, correctly, as a figure in distant history. In the French Huon de Bordeaux, Caesar has a son by Morgan le Fay named Huon. [Nennius, VulgMer, Huon, ProsMer2]

Julius³ the Martyr

According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Guinevere fled to the nunnery of Julius the Martyr in Caerleon after Arthur’s death. [GeoffHR, Wace]

Juran

An evil dwarf in Der Stricker’s Daniel. Armed with a magic sword that defied all armor, Juran terrorized the land of the Dark Mountain. He wanted to marry the maiden of the Dark Mountain, so he killed her father. No knight could oppose him. Daniel of the Blossoming Valley, one of Arthur’s knights, cunningly convinced Juran to show his true prowess by fighting him without the sword, and Juran was slain. Daniel used his sword to kill the two giants of Cluse. [Stricker]

Jurans of Blemunzin

An infidel count who served Perceval’s half-brother Feirefiz. [Wolfram]

Just Knights

A trio of Arthur’s knights—Blaes, Cadog, and Pedrog—who appear in Welsh legend. They were noted for enforcing justice in Arthur’s realm, each in his own fashion: Blaes endeavored to uphold secular law; Cadog preserved canonical law; and Pedrog defended military law. [Triads]

Justin I

Ruler of the Byzantine Empire from 519 to 527. He succeeded his father, Anastsius, and was succeeded by Justinian the Great. In Jean D’Outremeuse’s Ly Myreur des Histors, he invades Britain and is defeated by Arthur. [Jean]

Jute

A member of ancient Germanic tribes, living in what is now Denmark and northern Germany, who invaded southeast England in the fifth century, settling in Kent.

Jutland

A peninsula of northern Europe, forming the mainland of Denmark and part of what is now northern Germany. (Geoffrey calls this area Gothland.) The King of Jutland, Doldavius, voluntarily subjugated himself to Arthur in exchange for Arthur’s protection from invasion. Arthur commandeered warriors from Jutland for the invasion of Gaul and the Roman War. [GeoffHR, Wace, Layamon]

Juvenal¹ [Juveneaus]

A Christian bishop appointed to King Nascien’s Orberica by Joseph of Arimathea. [VulgEst]

Juvenal²

A doctor who healed the wounds that Gawain and Brandelis inflicted upon each other in combat. [Contin1]

Copyright Christopher Bruce. All Rights Reserved. Provided here by his kind permission. Layout of book modified to fit the Celtic Twilight format.