Brastias
Sir Brastias is a knight in the service of the Duke of Cornwall and later of King Arthur, attested across five chapters of Le Morte d'Arthur with 10 citations.
Sir Brastias is a knight in the service of the Duke of Cornwall and later of King Arthur, attested across five chapters of Le Morte d'Arthur with 10 citations. He first appears in Merlin's deception at Tintagil, where Ulfius is made to resemble Brastias so that Uther Pendragon can enter the castle in the duke's guise (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter II). The duchess later recalls that on the night her lord died, "there came into my castle of Tintagil a man like my lord in speech and in countenance, and two knights with him in likeness of his two knights Brastias and Jordanus" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter III).
Brastias subsequently becomes a trusted agent of Arthur. Together with Ulfius, he serves as messenger to King Ban and King Bors: "Ulfius and Brastias were made the messengers, and so rode forth well horsed and well armed" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter X). On the road they encountered hostile knights, and "Ulfius and Brastias dressed their spears, and ran together with great raundon," defeating multiple opponents before reaching their destination (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter X).
In the battle against the eleven kings, Brastias commands troops alongside Ulfius: "to Ulfius and Brastias were delivered three thousand men of arms, and they set on them fiercely in the passage" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XIV). Brastias personally strikes down a duke with a spear (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XIV), slays a knight to provide a horse for the unhorsed Griflet (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XIV), and is present at the battle's end when Merlin reveals himself, at which "Ulfius and Brastias knew him well enough, and smiled" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XVII).
Brastias occupies an unusual position in Le Morte d'Arthur: he begins as a knight of the enemy household whose identity is borrowed for a deception, then transitions seamlessly into loyal service under the very king that deception produced. The text never addresses this transition directly. In the Tintagil episode he is merely a template -- Ulfius takes his likeness -- but by the time Arthur sends messengers to France, Brastias has become a trusted warrior in his own right.
The Ulfius-Brastias partnership is the most consistent feature of his record. They ride together, fight together, and command together. When Brastias acts independently -- killing a knight to horse Griflet, unhorsing a duke -- these are brief moments within the larger paired dynamic. Their shared smile at recognizing the disguised Merlin suggests a bond of experienced complicity.
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Le Morte d'Arthur, British Tradition