uther pendragon is the father of king arthur in the arthurian legend. his name, "pendragon", means the "chief-dragon", which means he is the "foremost leader" or "chief of warriors". he is mentioned briefly in old welsh poems, but his biography was first written down by geoffrey of monmouth in his "historia regum britanniae" ("history of the kings of britain"). geoffrey's description of him has been used in most later stories.