Who were the Women in the Legend of King Arthur?
There are several women who play a role in the undying legend of King Arthur.
The most well known is Guinevere, Arthur's Queen, who is said to have caused the downfall of Camelot. Another is Morgan le Fay, his half sister.
His mother, the often-overlooked Ygraine, appears briefly at the beginning, her only part is to give birth to Arthur. There are also mystical women, such as the Lady of the Lake.
We also meet ordinary women in Arthur, women who are not Queens or great women of magic. Love seems to always bring them tragedy, like Isolde of Ireland, or Elaine the Fair, whom Tennyson immortalised as the Lady of Shalott.
But when the feats are recounted and the stories retold, what do we say of the women in this story? The portrayals of these women tell us much more about the attitude of the storytellers than about the women themselves.
-
Arthur and Britain : Lensography of Legends
-
Who was King Arthur? Well, to begin with, there was not one Arthur, but many. There was an historical Arthur, or, if you prefer, a folkloric or mythological Arthur who came to be mistaken for a living person. Christopher Snyder : The World of King A...
Ygraine, the Mother of Arthur
TNT mini-series "The Mists of Avalon".
We hear first of Ygraine from Geoffrey of Monmouth, a 12th century translator from a religious order .
Now this Geoffrey translated Welsh manuscripts into Latin in about 1136. His work was intended to be an historical record of the Welsh kingdoms but also meant a significant advancement in the church hierarchy for Geoffrey. In compiling his History of the Kings of Britain, Geoffrey utilised material from British legend and folklore. He also borrowed from earlier Latin accounts of the Britons but treated all his sources with great imaginative freedom - such as tracing the descent of British princes from the Trojans.
It's not really surprising that we don't hear much on the subject of women from a cloistered monk, apart from brief and negative portrayals, and his mention of Ygraine is no exception. The deceit practiced on Ygraine was her own fault for being beautiful and, besides, is of no account as her only reason for existence is to be the mother of Arthur..
Geoffrey said that, in an attempt to stop the advancing and destructive Saxons, Uther Pendragon called together all of the British leaders to form a plan of attack. One of the nobles at the gathering is Gorlois of Cornwall with his wife Ygraine, the "most beautiful woman in Britain".
When he sees Ygraine, Uther falls immediately in love. Gorlois, angry with the flirtatious attention directed at his wife, storms off and hides her away at the fortress of Tintagel.
Merlin casts a spell which makes Uther look like Gorlois and the King is then able to enter Tintagel and deceive Ygraine into believing he is her husband. That night, two events occur which effect the future of all of Britain.
Gorlois dies in battle outside of the castle of Dimilioc and Arthur is conceived in Tintagel.
And that's all there is from Geoffrey on Ygraine.
Tintagel Castle, Cornwall : Buy at AllPosters.com
The Young Ygraine
The Last Legion
Sword-and-sandal epic offering a mix of Imperial Rome and Arthurian England. Questionable casting with the excellent Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley who both deserve a better script, but also features the gloriously beautiful Aishwarya Rai. For costumed-epic lovers.
Amazon Price: $10.49 (as of 07/04/2009) 
Guinevere, Wife of Arthur
The Medieval Story
Guinevere : Buy at AllPosters.com
For most of human history, the written word has been largely a male preserve, so we almost always perceive women through the eyes of men.
The church was the most powerful cultural arbiter in medieval times, and clerical opinion the highest authority of the day.
Guinevere is portrayed as a woman who defies the laws, she commits the worse sin possible in the eyes of the church. She has a love affair with another man - and while she is married!
Therefore it's Guinevere's fault that the wondrous Camelot, the saintly knights and Arthur himself is destroyed.
She is the daughter of Leodegrance of Cameliard, previous owner of the Round Table, which she brings as part of her dowry to Arthur. It is her love affair with Lancelot which causes the downfall of Camelot.
Whatever the truth may be, she is also beautiful and desirable and her forced, or chosen, affair with Lancelot condemns her, according to law.
Whatever Guinevere was or was not, she has been a useful tool in the hands of the romancers throughout the centuries and has greatly enhanced the legends of Arthur.
Another view of Guinevere
Through the eyes of a woman
The Idylls of the Queen
The Idylls of the Queen: A Tale of Queen Guenevere
In The Idylls of the Queen, Phyllis Ann Karr takes an incident (the murder of Sir Patrise) from Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and creates an intelligent, complex, and fascinating mystery novel perfect for fans of historical mysteries, of British legends, and of fantasy.
Amazon Price: $15.00 (as of 07/04/2009)
Morgan le Fay, Sister of Arthur
Two opposing views
Almost always portrayed as an adversary of Arthur's, Morgan le Fay is his half sister, daughter of their mother Ygraine and Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall.Despite the motif of Morgan's enmity towards Arthur and Guinevere, she is also presented as one of the women who takes Arthur in a barge to Avalon to be healed.
How did this view of Morgan as a healer find its way into the story of Arthur? Because it's older than the story of Arthur, older than Geoffrey's stories written in the male monastic enclave, Morgan's story has its roots in Celtic mythology.
Not much is heard of Morgan after the 12th century, but 800 years later there is a renewed interest in her literary character. Marion Zimmer Bradley gives Morgan these words ..
And now, when the world has changed and Arthur- my brother, my lover, king who was and king who shall be- lies dead (the common folk say sleeping) in the Holy Isle of Avalon, the tale should be told as it was before the priests of the White Christ come to cover it all with their saints and legends.......
Helen Mirren plays the evil and beautiful sister in the 1981 film Excalibur.
Morgan le Fay in Modern Fiction
Book One : Wise Woman's Telling.
Book Two : Nun's Telling
Book Three : Blacksmith's Telling
Book Four : Taleisins' Telling :
Book Five : Herself .....
"'I am Morgan the Fay. The wicked witch, the embodiment of evil. And yet. I am the queen who takes Arthur in my arms for healing. Some editing of the story will clearly be necessary.'".
Elaine
Buy at AllPosters.comElaine the fair, Elaine the loveable,
Elaine, the lily maid of Astolat,
High in her chamber up a tower to the east
Guarded the sacred shield of Lancelot;
Elaine the Fair of Astolat is a maiden who dies of grief when Lancelot can not love her.
So Elaine is the other type of woman in Arthurian legend (there are only two types - desirable and therefore evil, or desirable and not yet fully evil)
In some accounts, she is the mother of Galahad, and some also say she was the mother of King Ban, another of Lancelot's sons.
Regardless of who she mothered, the tragedy of Elaine is the same. She loved Lancelot, a love which Lancelot did not deserve and, when Elaine was made aware of the affair between Guinevere and Lancelot, the poor maiden died of a broken heart.
The best-known retelling is Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott", which inspired dozens of images of the maiden weaving in her bower, or setting out heart-broken on the barge that will bear her dead body to Camelot.
The Lady of Shalott
Based on The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
It starts off innocently
Elaine's father organises a jousting tournament, attended by King Arthur and his knights. Elaine falls in love with Lancelot and begs him to wear her token at the coming tournament. Explaining that Guenevere would be at the tournament, he consents to wear the token but says that he will have to fight in disguise so as not to be recognised.
Elaine is Insulted
Lancelot goes on to win the tournament but receives a serious injury. Elaine then urges her father to let her bring the wounded Lancelot to her chambers, where she nurses him.
When Lancelot is well, he makes ready to leave, and offers to pay Elaine for her services. He attempts to pay her!
Insulted, Elaine brings him his shield, which she had been guarding, and a wary Lancelot leaves the castle, never to return but now aware of her feelings for him.
Ten days later, Elaine dies of heartbreak.
Her body is placed in a small barge, clutching a lily in one hand, and her final letter in the other. She then floats down the Thames to Camelot, where she is discovered by King Arthur's court.
But Lancelot mused a little space
He said, "She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott."
Isolde of Ireland
Lancelot and Tristan are called the two greatest knights and greatest lovers by Merlin, and the fairness of the two ladies whom these men love is often compared.
The basic outline of their tales is similar in that both knights are caught in a dangerous triangle of emotion that pits their love for their ladies against their loyalty to their king. It's never the fault of the men involved.
Tristan, the heroic nephew of King Mark of Cornwall, is sent to Ireland to escort the Irish king's daughter, the beautiful Isolde, to Cornwall to become his uncle's bride. During the return voyage the young couple accidentally consume a love potion (meant to ensure Isolde's happiness with Mark) together, and fall in love.
Because her betrothal to Mark cannot be broken, Isolde marries the king despite her love for Tristan, and the two lovers spend the rest of their lives attempting to satisfy their desire for each other without revealing that desire to the Cornish court.
When Mark finds out, Tristan leaves the court, marries Isolde of Brittany and subsequently neglects her, as he feels that his marriage is a betrayal of Isolde of Ireland.
Not surprisingly, his callous treatment of Isolde of Brittany is brushed aside by the chroniclers. It is the men, after all, who are important.
-
Tristan and Isolde : Legendary Love Stories
-
The story of Tristan and Isolde is often held up as an example of true and perfect love. All the ingredients for a satisfactory narrative are present; the lightning bolt of desire, the inevitable tragedy, ritual sacrifice, the denial of satisfaction...
Isolde
Through the eyes of a woman
The Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake was known by many names. Most often she is Nimue.It was she who gave the sword Excalibur to Arthur and regained it when he died.
in Malory's Morte d'Arthur, Nimue is responsible for the downfall of Merlin.
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful.
She gave the King his huge cross-hilted sword,
Whereby to drive the heathen out.
A mist Of incense curl'd about her, and her face
Well nigh was hidden in the minster gloom;
The Lady of the Lake is either the woman responsible for destroying the great wizard, Merlin, or she is an almost disembodied arm.
Mists of Avalon
The Mists of Avalon
Amazon Price: $8.49 (as of 07/04/2009)
All Info About Arthur is a collection of lenses on the legend of Arthur and the Matter of Britain.
Further Reading
-
Best Books on the Legend of King Arthur
-
From the faraway days of Britain come the stories rooted in ancient Celtic and Germanic imagination, stories of the strongest, the bravest and the best. Tales that have been told and endlessly retold, tales of a chivalrous knight, a powerful warrior...
Like This Lens?
- Rate this lens:
- Email it
- Favorite it
- Lensroll it
Feedback for the Women of Arthur
MiaBellezza wrote...
Great lens on King Arthur and Guinevere 5* and lensrolled into Dragon Coloring Pages!
Posted May 25, 2009
spirituality wrote...
Great lens - you may like mine about Marion Zimmer Bradley. - blessed btw & lensrolled
Posted April 06, 2009
EverythingMouse wrote...
Informative, well illustrated and interesting. Blessed by an Angel
Posted March 08, 2009
Snozzle wrote...
King Arthur and his Knights have fascinated me since a child. I now live in Cornwall, England quite near to his supposed castle at Tintagel. Most enjoyable lens.
Mike.
Posted February 25, 2009
10% of my income goes to continue the work of Fred Hollows in treating avoidable blindness and improving indigenous health.Photo : Khim Rath, who can now see after a successful cataract operation, Kampong Chhnang province, Cambodia.
Blindness is a significant public health issue in Cambodia. Over 160,000 people are blind and an additional 20,000 become blind each year. The main cause of blindness is cataract, which can be treated by a simple 15 minute operation at an average cost of $25 (AUD$35).
Thanks for dropping by ..
Thanks very much for dropping to read about Arthur's Women. You're more than welcome to leave a note in the guest book above and, if you're a member of Squidoo, you can also rate this lens :)It's all much appreciated, Susanna
For more pages like this, my lens collection is at Susanna's Lensography
About Susanna Duffy
My Bio
G'day from Melbourne, Australia where I write about King Arthur, Mythology, Legendary Beasts, Ancient Rome, Books, Fairy Creatures, Australiana and Adventures in my Kitchen. And now I'm an Angel (Please bear with me as I test the new wings). I'm also the GroupLeader of these vibrant communities -
Epicure
The Bookworms
All About Arthur
Wander Downunder
Legends and Lore
The Goddess
Feline Friends
More in Susanna's Lensography
Check out these great lenses...
-
- I Love Red Handbags
A Red Handbag is a necessity in every wardrobe. No fashion item could be more versatile. The rich vibrant colour is bold, sexy and fun on a young woman and dramatically elegant for the mature woman. It livens up any outfit, casual or formal, from je... view lens -
- No Angel
At least not in the sense I imagine angels to be. I would like to clear up a few points. Firstly, angels are sexless creatures. This just isn't true in my case, I'm definitely a woman. I did once read that angels are composed of ethereal matter, an... view lens -
- My Angel Blessings
Have you just received a cryptic comment in your guestbook about an angel blessing? That's because I've seen your work and recognise the merit in it. It's a way of letting you know that your efforts have been worthwhile and of encouraging you to con... view lens
Make your own lens!
Everybody has a favourite subject, everyone is an expert in something, Get your own revenue generating page about your favourite.
All you need is an email address, no complicated forms! Making a Squidoo Lens is a great way to get the word out about any topic, a garden gnome collection, your passion for scuba-diving, that recipe from your grandmother, tips for pruning hibiscus or tuning a truck, how to start a celebrity fan club or how to supplement your home income.
The first step is to think of your topic and make your first lens now. Come and join the Squidoo community!
High Five
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byThe Feral Squid
Through a lens darkly
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byBlog Posts from Google
- Merlin on NBC - 5 new articles/reviews [2009-06-19]
- As it is known, Merlin is the legendary wizard who is most-often associated with the tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table in Camelot. The truth to the character is hard to even put into words. ...
- Todd's Blog » Blog Archive » Creating DRAWING THE SWORD Part 1
- Many familiar elements of the Arthurian legend are told, from the gathering of the Knights of the Round Table to the search for the Holy Grail, to Guinevere and Lancelot to the final battle of Arthur and Mordred, but all rewritten for children in an .... The Once and Future King was used as the basis for the Broadway musical and film Camelot by Lerner and Lowe, though not much of White's text made it into the show. A fifth volume, The Book of Merlyn, was written but never ...
