著者

不破 有理

出版者

慶應義塾大学日吉紀要刊行委員会

雑誌

慶応義塾大学日吉紀要 英語英米文学 (ISSN:09117180)

巻号頁・発行日

no.52, pp.1-24[含 英語文要旨], 2008

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The Red Dragon has closely been associated with the Welsh national identity, but this symbol does not appear in actual form in the Union Jack today. This paper fi rst traces the changes of the dragon both in meaning and form, and then discusses its political connotations in early Arthurian chronicles. The "dragon" in the Old Testament denotes a variety of animals such asfox and whale, while in Greek and Latin it simply refers to a serpent without wings. In the Ancient Roman period, the "dragon" came to have a meaning of "a battle standard" as well as "a mythical creature." But as British Latin sources such as Gildas demonstrates, only the Welsh language adds the meaning of "a war leader" to the word, as is seen in the example of KingArthur's father, Uther Pendragon, "the chief of the war leaders." The Red Dragon in Nennius is emblematic of the British people. The red dragon is, in short, the symbol of military resistance. On the other hand the White Dragon stands for the Saxons who eventually defeat the Britons. It is generally believed that Arthur fought against the Saxons and wore the dragon on his helmet. However, neither of Arthurian chroniclers such as Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace, and La3amon mentions the red dragon as Arthur's standard. Both the red and white dragon suffered arbitrary interpretations during the twelfth-century under the Norman rule. The present paper argues that Cadwaladr, the last British King, who is also the last Breton hope and thereby linked with the resistance of the red dragon, was the Norman's main political concern. Their suppression of the symbolic power of the red dragonas British icon was more concerned about Cadwaladr than about Arthur.