Bladud
The Flying King of Bath
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8934115 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Arthur Fear (Jesus University, corresponding author), A T Fear |
| Year | 1992 |
| Volume | 103 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 222-224 |
| Publication date | 1992-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Folklore (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0015-587X • E-ISSN: 1469-8315 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0015587x.1992.9715844 |
| OpenAlex | W2069039057 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
THE tale of Bladud, the flying king of Bath, one of the most curious legends of Britain, is first found in Geoffrey of Monmouth. According to Geoffrey, Bladud was the son of King Rud Hud Ludibras, who lived in the ninth century B.C. His claim to fame was to build the town of Caerbadum, or Bath, and the hot baths found there.2 These he dedicated to the goddess Minerva. Geoffrey then describes the temple to the goddess in an account which has been taken from the minor classical writer Solinus.3 Geoffrey goes on to relate how King Bladud was a magician who 'did teach nigromancy throughout the realm of Britain'. In the course of his experiments he built for himself a pair of wings and succeeded in flying as far as the Temple of Apollo in the town of Trinovantum, or London, where he crashed and 'was dashed into countless fragments'. Apart from Geoffrey's account, local legend, and a brief revival by Dickens,4 Bladud has languished in obscurity. However, he left his kingdom to a son of considerably more enduring literary fame: King Lear. Bladud's story was augmented in succeeding ages,5 and a statue of the mythical monarch, with an account of his deeds, authenticated by the local worthies of the day, still presides over the King's Bath in the town he founded. But how did this strange legend arise, why was Bladud the only British king to fly?6 It has been suggested that Bladud was an early Celtic deity, an echo of whom can be found in the extraordinary sculpture of the Gorgoneion, a male gorgon from the tympanum of the classical temple
Ancient history · Apollo · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Kingdom · Legend · Literature · Realm · Statue · Classics · History · Medieval Literature and History · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
| Citations per year | 0.09 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1994 - 2021 (28) |
| Highly cited | No |