Editing Uther Pendragon (section)

==Epithet==
Uther's epithet ''[[Pendragon]]'' literally means "head dragon" in its original Brittonic,<ref name="Matthaeus 1853">{{Cite book |last=Matthaeus (Westmonasteriensis.) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7TEIAAAAQAAJ |title=The flowers of history, especially such as relate to the affairs of Britain, tr. by C.D. Yonge |date=1853  |language=en}}</ref>{{rp|249}} though it was used figuratively to mean "highest commander; head leader; top of the command chain."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=September 2021|title="Pendragon, n.1."|url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/140052|access-date=October 9, 2021|website=OED Online}}</ref> [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]] in ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]''<ref name=":0" /> misinterpreted it as "the head of a dragon" and invented an origin to explain it away: Uther acquired the epithet when he witnessed a portentous dragon-shaped comet, which inspired him to use dragons on his [[Vexillological symbol|standards]].<ref name="Bromwich512">[[Bromwich]], ''Trioedd Ynys Prydein'', p. 512–513.</ref> According to [[Robert de Boron]]<ref>de Boron, Robert. ''Merlin and the Grail''. Tr. Nigel Bryant. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2001.</ref> and the cycles based on his work, it was Uther's older brother (elsewhere called Aurelius Ambrosius and likely based on [[Ambrosius Aurelianus]]) who saw the comet and received the name "Pendragon", Uther taking his epithet after his death. An alternative possibility is it stems from adopting the use of the [[Draco (military standard)|draco military standard]] of the [[Roman cavalry]], but this is likely a historical conjecture.<ref name=":1" />

The title ''Pendragon'' was borrowed into [[Middle English]] from [[Welsh language|Welsh]], where it originally indicated a literal dragon of great power or size but was eventually used figuratively to mean "a great leader; the highest commander". It is composed of the [[Old Welsh]] prefix ''pen-'' "a tall hill; headlands; great heights",<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 2021|title='pen, n. 1' : Oxford English Dictionary|url=https://www.oed.com/start;jsessionid=B8B505EF7A220A2FE55046090C7F9557?authRejection=true&url=%2Fview%2FEntry%2F139977|access-date=2021-10-09|website=Oxford English Dictionary|language=en}}</ref> which is still used for place names in [[Wales]] and [[Cornwall]] (as in the famous Cornish town ''[[Penzance]]'', or "holy headland"<ref>{{Cite web|title=penzance {{!}} Origin and meaning of penzance by Online Etymology Dictionary|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/penzance|access-date=2021-10-09|website=www.etymonline.com|language=en}}</ref>) combined with the Old English ''[[European dragon|dragoun]]'' "dragon" which was borrowed from the Old French ''dragon'' (originally the Latin accusative noun ''draconem'' "a massive serpent or sea creature", which was itself based on ancient [[Dragons in Greek mythology|Greek mythological dragons]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=dragon {{!}} Origin and meaning of dragon by Online Etymology Dictionary|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/dragon|access-date=2021-10-09|website=www.etymonline.com|language=en}}</ref>).