Ancient Legends Retold: The Legend of Vortigern

Simon Heywood retells the legend of Vortigern, the British ruler whose story belongs to the troubled generations before Arthur. Speaking in his own voice, Vortigern looks back on a life shaped by ambition, warfare and the collapse of Roman authority in Britain. His rise from modest origins leads him into conflicts with rival princes, church leaders and Saxon newcomers, while questions of loyalty and betrayal shadow his rule.

The narrative brings together political upheaval, personal loves and losses, and the crimes that helped turn Vortigern into a condemned figure in later tradition. Based chiefly on Geoffrey of Monmouth’s medieval account, it follows the ruler towards his final encounter with destiny on a mountain in the Welsh landscape.