This is the synopsis for the play Y Cylch Am Y Cleddyf (The Circle of the Sword): The Sorcerer. Italicized words enclosed by parentheses (Prologue: The Legend of the Sword) are song titles.
PROLOGUE
Somewhere in Prydain in the Dark Ages, Beda the Storyteller appears and relates the early history of the Sword, which will become known as Excalibur (Prologue: The Legend of the Sword). As he tells his tale, the scene changes to Stonehenge in the autumn of 472 AD, and Beda becomes Myrddin. The old King, Ambrosius – now old and infirm – is ritually sacrificed to the soldiers’ god Mithras using the Sword of Prydain (Prologue: Fire, Blood, and the Sword). The future is read by Myrddin from the sacrifice. After the celebrants depart, Myrddin swears that the sacrifice will be avenged against Ambrosius’ brother, Uthwr Pendreic (Prologue: The Oath).
ACT I
The scene moves back in time to April, 470 AD, in Vortigern’s hill fort at Callefa in Prydain. He and his son Osca reveal that Vortigern murdered Constantius, the brother of Ambrosius and Uthwr and the previous High King of Prydain, some twenty years earlier in order to seize the throne of Prydain (Forty Years Ago). Vortigern has hired Saxon mercenaries to maintain the peace, but they have become a thorn in his side. Rumors of an invasion led by Ambrosius to reclaim the throne have persisted for twenty years; however, Myrddin has prophesied this to be the year and Ambrosius to be the victor in the struggle. The scene transforms into Ambrosius’ army encampment in Llydaw, Gallia (Brittany, France). The soldiers and others in the camp request that Beda tell them a story (Beda). Ambrosius specifies that Beda should relate the story of the Sword of Prydain. Beda obliges (The Legend of the Sword). As the encampment settles in for the night, Ambrosius and Uthwrreflect on the coming day’s invasion of Prydain. Uthwr goes to bed, leaving Ambrosius to reflect on the invasion (When I Arise in the Morning) and to settle in for the night. Later, the camp begins to stir as the women send their men off to war (Invasion: A Woman’s Lot). The soldiers cross the Narrow Sea (the English Channel) (Invasion: The Narrow Sea), disembarking on the shores of Prydain (Invasion: Homeland). The army begins to march through the countryside, joined by loyal Celts who support Ambrosius. They are met by Vortigern and his forces, engaging in fierce battle until Vortigern is driven into the safety of the hill fort Callefa (Invasion: War). In the midst of Vortigern’s final battle, Myrddin appears. Ambrosius commands that the archers shoot flaming arrows into Callefa; the wooden hill fort falls (Vortigern’s Defeat). Vortigern is beheaded, his head tied under his arm, and his body sent to the Saxons.The soldiers praise Myrddin, who appeared at the opportune moment (Myrddin) and exit to pillage the remains of the fort. Ambrosius and Myrddin talk about Myrddin’s mother Niniane, a woman whom Ambrosius loved and by whom he sired Myrddin (The Summer of Content) – Myrddin had visited her en route to Callefa. Myrddin then prophesies that Ambrosius’ time for glory has arrived at last (Your Time Has Come), but unfortunately, this is limited to two years – following Ambrosius will be Uthwr and then the glory of Prydain thereafter. Ambrosius sends Myrddin to fetch Niniane and bring her to Wintancaester. After Myrddin leaves, Ambrosius forecasts his own success in uniting Prydain into one kingdom (Diverse Tribes and People). Ambrosius and Niniane are reunited (Reunion and Union: Rendezvous). Ambrosius describes his vision of a unified Prydain to his love, a dream which begins to materialize (Reunion and Union: I Have A Dream). As Ambrosius pursues his dream, Niniane reveals to Myrddin that her health is failing (A Fragile Rose). Ambrosius succeeds in the unification of Prydain but is still harassed by the Saxons on the eastern shore (The Saxon Scourge) – an enemy with whom he is becoming obsessed. Myrddin describes his father’s actions, wondering if Ambrosius would be so driven if he did not know that he has only two years to complete his mission (A Man Possessed). Niniane dies (Niniane’s Death: A Fragile Rose), driving Ambrosius close to the edge (Niniane’s Death: What Do I Do?). As Ambrosius’ erratic behavior becomes more pronounced, it is noticed by his general staff (Rumors of Madness). Knowing his two years is almost at an end, Ambrosius laments that he wants more time (Ambrosius’ Lament). Finally Ambrosius goes over the edge (The King’s Malaise). Uthwr and Myrddin have a violent disagreement about what should be done (Showdown: What To Do?); Uthwr prevails in his argument that the tradition of ritually sacrificing an infirm king to Mithras must be followed. Myrddin, as pater patrum, must perform the rite – executing his own father. Myrddin wonders whether Uthwr is arguing for the good of Prydain or for the sake of seizing the throne (Showdown: For the Common Good). After the execution, Myrddin buries his father at the Henge on the Sarum Plain, laying over the grave a massive monolithic stone monument (The King Stone) and the curtain falls on Act I.
ACT II
With Ambrosius’ death, Uthwr assumes the throne. A coronation involving the people of Prydain is held (Coronation: A Christian King). As the coronation proceeds, the Christian ceremony merges into a more primitive crowning by the Mithraic cult in which the Sword is bestowed upon Uthwr (Coronation: A Mithraic King). Myrddin sneers at the Christian ceremony and Uthwr’s insistence upon it, reminding Uthwr that he is merely filling a gap until the great king comes to unite Prydain and provide the great Pax Pretannicus (Coronation: A Caretaker King). The scene dissolves into Osca’s encampment on the Saxon Shore where he is meeting with his cadre of officers and kinsmen, discussing plans for raising a Saxon army to attack the new King Uthwr while he is complacent about what remains of Ambrosius’ peace (Strike While the Iron is Hot).Back at Uthwr’s compound in Wintancaester, the rumors of coming war circulate (War in the Wind). Uthwr succeeds in rallying the other rulers around the Sword to fight against the Saxon threat (Bound to the Sword). The confrontation in the spring is brief and one-sided (War), and Osca and his remaining force flee to hide out among their allies in the north (Strategic Retreat). To celebrate the peace, Uthwr assembles his allies (Celebration) and once again sees Ygraine. The people cheer Myrddin’s part in the victory, an act which enrages Uthwr (Jealousy: Myrddin) and causes him to split with his nephew (Jealousy: A Caretaker King). Myrddin returns to Wales where he surveys the passage of time in his fire (Eyes on the Flame). During this time of peace, Uthwr grows more and more bored, fussing and fuming at the prosperity surrounding him (The Christmas Court: What Good is Peace?). He decides to summon the Circle of the Sword to Wintancaester at Christmas so that the soldiers can plan a campaign for the following spring. Among those who attend are Cernyw and Ygraine, and Ygraine once again meets Uthwr (The Christmas Court). In her rooms at Uthwr’s compound in Wintancaester, Ygraine and her servant Cadi prepare Ygraine’s daughter Morgause to go riding with her father. When Cernyw and Morgause leave, Ygraine talks about her marriage to Cernyw, ending with the revelation that she feels a strong attraction for King Uthwr (He Is My Dream). Uthwr becomes obsessed with Cernyw’s wife (Soul on Fire) and sends for Myrddin to aid him in seducing her. When Myrddin arrives from Wales, Uthwr, Cernyw, and Ygraine ask his aid in achieving specific goals: Uthwr wants to bed Ygraine; Cernyw wants to protect his wife Ygraine from Uthwr’s advances; and Ygraine wants to be with Uthwr (Always A Price). Cernyw leaves the court with Ygraine, without Uthwr’s permission. Cernyw sequesters Ygraine in his hill fort at Tintagel and sets out with a small army to meet Uthwr’s pursuit. Myrddin disguises Uthwr and himself as Cernyw and his captain Rhys and gains admittance to Cernyw’s stronghold, where Uthwr and Ygraine fall into each other’s arms and copulate (The Conception of Arthwr: A Dream Made Flesh). Myrddin and Morgause, Ygraine’s thirteen-year-old daughter by Cernyw, spy on the scene and reflect on their views of it (The Conception of Arthwr: Deception/Conception). As Uthwr and Ygraine reappear (The Conception of Arthwr: A Dream Made Flesh), Rhys and Lot arrive to report that Cernyw has attacked Uthwr’s forces during the night and has fallen in battle. They catch Uthwr and Ygraine in flagrante delicto (The Conception of Arthwr: Caught in the Act). A fight ensues in which Rhys is killed, Lot is wounded, and Uthwr and Myrddin escape – leaving Ygraine and Morgause huddled together in Ygraine’s bed (The Conception of Arthwr: Deception/Conception). Ygraine laments her husband’s death (Ygraine’s Lament). Back at Uthwr’s encampment, the king flies into a rage at Myrddin because he realizes that Ygraine could have been his without the deception if he had waited until the next day (One More Night). Myrddin responds that Uthwr, Ygraine, and Cernyw all got what they wished for and that, if they had waited, the prophesy of the coming savior of Prydain would not have been fulfilled. Uthwr swears that he will never acknowledge the child as his own even though all Prydain may know that he is. Two months later, Uthwr and Ygraine are wed (The Wedding Feast). During the feast Ygraine’s pregnancy is a topic of gossip. One of Vortigern’s sons attacks from the north, leading Uthwr into a summer-long campaign to rid Prydain of the would-be usurper. In the ensuing battle, Uthwr is felled by a sword wound to the groin. Myrddin tells Uthwr he will father no more children, while Ygraine and her servant Cadi – who will be Arthwr’s wet-nurse – await the birth of the child (Awaiting the King). Uthwr and Myrddin journey to Tintagel as the time of the child’s birth nears, having struck a truce with the Saxons. Myrddin enters into a conspiracy with Cadi to take Ygraine’s child when it is born, ensuring the child does not die by Uthwr’s hand should a clearly legitimate heir be born (The Conspiracy). He then secretly meets Luc at an inn near Tintagel and orders him to be at the Henge on the Sarum Plain in one week’s time at dusk, bringing two horses. Luc is not told what is expected of him beyond that. Ygraine gives her child, Arthwr, and the Sword to Myrddin’s keeping (Myrddin’s Demand). Myrddin and Cadi steal away into the night with the infant and the Sword.
EPILOGUE
Luc is at Stonehenge, awaiting the arrival of Myrddin. Myrddin and Cadi appear, bearing the infant Arthwr. Myrddin gives the infant to Luc for safekeeping (Epilogue: Hiding the Child). Luc and Cadi ride away with the infant moments before Uthwr arrives to reclaim his child. In the confrontation that follows, Myrddin reveals that he has possession of the Sword of Prydain (Epilogue: Into the Stone), which he plunges deep into the central stone over his father’s burial site to keep it from Uthwr’s grasp. Uthwr tries to pull the Sword from the stone and fails; Lightning strikes the Sword, knocking Uthwr unconscious. Myrddin brings the story of the Sword up to date (Epilogue: The Legend of the Sword).