85-617: Bors ( / ˈ b ɔːr z / ; French: Bohort ) is the name of two knights in Arthurian legend , an elder and a younger. The two first appear in the 13th-century Lancelot-Grail romance prose cycle. Bors the Elder is the King of Gaunnes (Gannes/Gaunes/Ganis) during the early period of King Arthur 's reign, and is the brother of King Ban of Benoic and the father of Bors the Younger and Lionel . His son Bors
170-782: A King of the Britons , whose daughter, Helena marries Constantius Chlorus and gives birth to a son who becomes the Emperor Constantine the Great , tracing the Roman imperial line to British ancestors. It has been suggested that Leir of Britain, who later became King Lear, was originally the Welsh sea-god Llŷr , related to the Irish Ler . Various Celtic deities have been identified with characters from Arthurian literature as well: for example Morgan le Fay
255-475: A lady approaches Bors vowing to commit suicide unless he sleeps with her. He refuses to break his vow of celibacy; the lady and her maidens threaten to throw themselves off the castle battlements. As the ladies jump off, they reveal themselves to be demons set on deceiving him by playing to his sense of compassion. In another, Bors faces a dilemma where he must choose between rescuing his brother Lionel, being whipped with thorns by villains in one direction, and saving
340-570: A recurring ' Hades -snatches-Persephone' theme, positing that Guinevere is similar to the Celtic Otherworld bride Étaín , whom Midir , king of the Underworld, carries off from her earthly life. According to Kenneth G. T. Webster , a scenario such as the one from Diu Crône may be an echo of a more ancient lore in which Guinevere is "a fairy queen ravished from her supernatural husband by Arthur of this world and therefore subject to raids which
425-427: A struggle for power that reminds scholars of her prescient connections to the fertility and sovereignty of Britain. Arthur's company saves her, but Valerin kidnaps her again and places her in a magical sleep inside another castle surrounded by snakes, where only the powerful sorcerer Malduc can rescue her. In Heinrich's Diu Crône , Guinevere's captor is her own brother Gotegrim, intending to kill her for refusing to marry
510-456: A successor to Arthur after the King's death. In Thomas Malory 's Le Morte d'Arthur , based on the French prose romance tradition, Sir Bors reluctantly agrees to fight as Queen Guinevere 's champion in a trial by combat after she is accused of poisoning a cousin of Sir Mador de la Porte. Refusing at first, as her usual champion Lancelot had left Camelot earlier because of her, Bors relents after
595-462: A theme of special importance for writers trying to find unity in the mixture of their land's Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Roman and Norse inheritance." Geoffrey of Monmouth 's Historia Regum Britanniae is a central component of the Matter of Britain. Geoffrey drew on a number of ancient British texts, including the 9th-century Historia Brittonum . The Historia Brittonum is the earliest known source of
680-518: A tower in which Mardoc is holding Winlogee , while on the other side Carrado (most likely Caradoc) fights Galvagin (Gawain) as the knights Galvariun and Che (Kay) approach. Isdernus is most certainly an incarnation of Yder ( Edern ap Nudd ), a Celtic hero whose name appears in Culhwch and Olwen . Yeder is actually Guinevere's lover in a nearly-forgotten tradition mentioned in Béroul 's 12th-century Tristan . This
765-500: A way that "many in the court spoke of it." Guinevere is charged with adultery on three occasions, including once when she is also accused of sorcery. Their now not-so secret affair is finally exposed by Guinevere's sworn enemy and Arthur's half-sister, the enchantress Morgan le Fay who had schemed against her on various occasions (sometimes being foiled in that by Lancelot, who had also defended Guinevere on many other occasions and performed assorted feats in her honour), and proven by two of
850-616: A young girl who has been abducted by a rogue knight in the other. Bors chooses to help the maiden, but prays for his brother's safety. Lionel escapes his tormentors and tries to murder Bors, and Bors does not defend himself, refusing to raise a weapon against his kinsman. Fellow Knight of the Round Table Calogrenant and a hermit try to intervene, but Lionel slays them both when they get in the way. Before he can kill his brother, however, God strikes him down with an immobilising column of fire. Bors, Galahad, and Percival go on to achieve
935-413: Is Culhwch and Olwen , in which she is mentioned as Arthur's wife Gwenhwyfar and listed among his most prized possessions, but little more is said about her. It can not be securely dated; one recent assessment of the language by linguist Simon Rodway places it in the second half of the 12th century. The works of Chrétien de Troyes were some of the first to elaborate on the character Guinevere beyond simply
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#17328511586561020-462: Is Guiomar , an early lover of Arthur's half-sister Morgan in several French romances; other cousins of Guinevere include her confidante Elyzabel (Elibel) and Morgan's knight Carrant (or Garaunt, apparently Geraint ). In Perlesvaus , after the death of Guinevere, her relative King Madaglan(s) d'Oriande is a major villain who invades Arthur's lands, trying to force him to abandon Christianity and to marry his sister, Queen Jandree. In Perceforest ,
1105-776: Is Jennifer , from Cornish . The name is given as Guennuuar ( Guennuvar ) in an early Latin text Vita Gildae . Geoffrey of Monmouth rendered it in a Latinized form as Guenhuuara ( Guenhuvara – but some manuscripts and thus modern editions also spell it with an M as in Guenhumara or Ganhumara , possibly stemming from scribal error confusing "uu/uv" for "um") in his Historia Regum Britanniae , further turned into Wenhauer ( Wenhaiuer ) by Layamon ( Gwenayfer in one manuscript) and into both Genoivre and Gahunmare in Wace 's Roman de Brut . Chronicler Gerald of Wales refers to her as Wenneuereia ( Wenneveria ) and
1190-596: Is a wicked queen who rules with the victorious Mordred until she is killed by Lancelot, here the last of the Knights of the Round Table ; her corpse is then entombed with the captured Mordred who eats it before starving to death. Layamon's Brut ( c. 1200 ) features a prophetic dream sequence in which Arthur himself hacks Guinevere to pieces after beheading Mordred. Historically, the bones of Guinevere were claimed to have been found buried alongside those of Arthur during
1275-729: Is also possible to read the Arthurian literature, particularly the Grail tradition, as an allegory of human development and spiritual growth, a theme explored by mythologist Joseph Campbell amongst others. Guinevere Guinevere ( / ˈ ɡ w ɪ n ɪ v ɪər / GWIN -iv-eer ; Welsh : Gwenhwyfar pronunciation ; Breton : Gwenivar , Cornish : Gwynnever ), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever , was, according to Arthurian legend , an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and
1360-410: Is buried beside Arthur. Medievalist Roger Sherman Loomis suggested that this recurring motif shows that Guinevere "had inherited the role of a Celtic Persephone " (a figure from Greek mythology ). All of these similar tales of abduction by another suitor – and this allegory includes Lancelot, who saves her when she is condemned by Arthur to burn at the stake for her adultery – are demonstrative of
1445-677: Is mentioned elsewhere (besides the Vulgate-inspired tradition). While later romances almost always named King Leodegrance as Guinevere's father, her mother was usually unmentioned, although she was sometimes said to be dead (this is the case in the Middle English romance The Adventures of Arthur , in which the ghost of Guinevere's mother appears to her and Gawain in Inglewood Forest ). Some works name cousins of note, though these too do not usually appear more than once. One of such cousins
1530-599: Is reflected in the later Romance of King Yder , where his lover is Queen Guenloie of Carvain (possibly Caerwent in Wales ). Chrétien de Troyes tells another version of Guinevere's abduction, this time by Meliagant ( Maleagant , derived from Melwas) in the 12th-century Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart . The abduction sequence is largely a reworking of that recorded in Caradoc's work, but here
1615-742: Is silent regarding Guinevere's feelings for Arthur but goes so far as to suggest she uses charms or enchantments to win Lancelot's love. Years later, following the Grail Quest , Malory tells his readers that the pair started behaving carelessly in public, stating that "Launcelot began to resort unto the Queene Guinevere again and forget the promise and the perfection that he made in the Quest... and so they loved together more hotter than they did beforehand." They indulged in "privy draughts together" and behaved in such
1700-479: Is taken to the isle of Avalon by Morgan. During the civil war, Guinevere is portrayed as a scapegoat for violence without developing her perspective or motivation. However, after Arthur's death, Guinevere retires to a convent in penitence for her infidelity. (Malory was familiar with the Fontevraud daughter house at Nuneaton, and given the royal connections of its sister house at Amesbury, he chose Amesbury Priory as
1785-650: Is the best-known part of the Matter of Britain. It has succeeded largely because it tells two interlocking stories that have intrigued many later authors. One concerns Camelot , usually envisioned as a doomed utopia of chivalric virtue, undone by the fatal flaws of the heroes like Arthur, Gawain and Lancelot . The other concerns the quests of the various knights to achieve the Holy Grail ; some succeed ( Galahad , Percival ), and others fail. The Arthurian tales have been changed throughout time, and other characters have been added to add backstory and expand on other Knights of
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#17328511586561870-472: The aithed in which a mysterious stranger kidnaps a married woman and takes her to his home; the husband of the woman then rescues her against insurmountable odds. A seemingly related account was carved into the archivolt of Modena Cathedral in Italy, which most likely predates that telling (as well as any other known written account of Guinevere in Arthurian legend). Here, Artus de Bretania and Isdernus approach
1955-715: The Middle German romances by Hartmann von Aue and Ulrich von Zatzikhoven but was written Jenover by Der Pleier , and the audience of Italian romances got to know her as Ginevra ( Zenevra , Zenibra ). In the 15th-century Britain, she was called Gwynnever in the Middle Cornish play Bewnans Ke , while the Middle English author Thomas Malory originally wrote her name as Gwenever or Gwenivere ( Guenever , Guenivere ) in his seminal compilation Le Morte d'Arthur . Some assorted other forms of her name in
2040-415: The "Summer Country" ( Aestiva Regio , perhaps meaning Somerset ), and held prisoner at his stronghold at Glastonbury . The story states that Arthur (depicted there as a tyrannical ruler) spent a year searching for her and assembling an army to storm Melwas' fort when Gildas negotiates a peaceful resolution and reunites husband and wife. The episode seems to be related to an Old Irish abduction motif called
2125-527: The 12th to the 16th century. The three "matters" were first described in the 12th century by French poet Jean Bodel , whose epic Chanson des Saisnes [ fr ] ("Song of the Saxons") contains the lines: Ne sont que III matières à nul homme atandant: De France et de Bretaigne et de Rome la grant There are only three subject matters for any discerning man: That of France, that of Britain, and that of great Rome. The name distinguishes and relates
2210-480: The Alliterative Morte Arthure , Guinevere willingly becomes Mordred 's consort and bears him two sons, although the dying Arthur commands her and Mordred's infant children to be secretly killed and their bodies tossed into the sea (yet Guinevere, who unlike Mordred seems to show little care for the safety of their children, herself to be spared, as he forgives her). There are mentions of Arthur's sons in
2295-742: The English poems Alliterative Morte Arthure and The Awntyrs off Arthure , Genure ( Gaynor ) in the Stanzaic Morte Arthur , Guenloie in the Romanz du reis Yder , Guenore in Sir Gawayn and þe Grene Knyȝt , Gwenvere ( Guennevere , Guenera , Gwenner ) in the Polychronicon , and Gwendoloena ( Gwendolen ) in De Ortu Waluuanii . Her name is invariably Ginover ( Ginovere ) in
2380-625: The Holy Grail and accompany it to Sarras , a mystical island in the Holy Land , where then Galahad and Percival pass away while there. Bors is the only one to return, and the text of the Vulgate Queste is presented as a purported written record of Bors telling the full story of the quest back in Camelot. At the end of the entire Vulgate Cycle , Bors further emerges as the only surviving main character and
2465-607: The Kings of Britain) is a central component of the Matter of Britain. It was one of the three great Western story cycles recalled repeatedly in medieval literature, together with the Matter of France , which concerned the legends of Charlemagne and his companions , as well as the Matter of Rome , which included material derived from or inspired by classical mythology and classical history . Its pseudo- chronicle and chivalric romance works, written both in prose and verse, flourished from
2550-515: The Matter of Britain from the mythological themes taken from classical antiquity , the " Matter of Rome ", and the tales of the Paladins of Charlemagne and their wars with the Moors and Saracens , which constituted the " Matter of France ". King Arthur is the chief subject of the Matter of Britain, along with stories related to the legendary kings of Britain , as well as lesser-known topics related to
2635-520: The Middle Ages and Renaissance literature of various countries and languages have included Ganor , Ganora , Gainor , Gainovere , Geneura , Guanora , Gueneour , Guenevera , Gwenore , Gwinore , Ntzenebra , Vanour , Vanore ( Wanore ). In one of the Welsh Triads ( Trioedd Ynys Prydein , no. 56), the 13th-century series of texts based on the earlier oral tales of
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2720-462: The Roman leader Lucius Tiberius . While her husband is absent, Guinevere is seduced by Modredus and marries him, and Modredus declares himself king and takes Arthur's throne. Consequently, Arthur returns to Britain and fights Modredus at the fatal Battle of Camlann. The Roman de Brut ( Geste des Bretons ) makes Mordred's love for Guinevere the very motive of his rebellion. Early texts tend to portray her inauspiciously or hardly at all. One of them
2805-433: The Round Table . The medieval legend of Arthur and his knights is full of Christian themes; those themes involve the destruction of human plans for virtue by the moral failures of their characters, and the quest for an important Christian relic. Finally, the relationships between the characters invited treatment in the tradition of courtly love , such as Lancelot and Guinevere , or Tristan and Iseult . In more recent years,
2890-585: The Welsh Triads, though their exact parentage is not clear. Besides the issue of her biological children, or lack thereof, Guinevere also raises the illegitimate daughter of Sagramore and Senehaut in the Livre d'Artus . Other relations are equally obscure. A half-sister and a brother named Gotegin play the antagonistic roles in the Vulgate Cycle ( Lancelot–Grail ) and Diu Crône respectively, but neither character
2975-558: The White when the beautiful daughter of King Brandegoris, Claire, tricks him into sleeping with her by way of a magic ring ; he later introduces his son into the Round Table . Sir Bors is always portrayed as one of the Round Table's finest, but his real glory comes on the Grail Quest , where he proves himself worthy enough to witness the Grail's mysteries alongside Galahad and Percival . Several episodes display his virtuous character; in one,
3060-650: The Younger later becomes one of the best Knights of the Round Table and participates in the achievement of the Holy Grail . Bors the Elder is the brother of King Ban and the uncle of Hector de Maris and Lancelot . He marries Evaine , the sister of Ban's wife Elaine . He has two sons: Bors the Younger and Lionel . Ban and Bors become King Arthur's early allies in his fight against eleven rebel kings in Britain, including Lot , Urien , and Caradoc , Arthur vows in return to help them against their Frankish enemy, King Claudas , who has been threatening their lands back in
3145-602: The bards of Wales, there are three Gwenhwyfars married to King Arthur . The first is the daughter of Cywryd of Gwent, the second of Gwythyr ap Greidawl , and the third of (G)ogrfan Gawr ("the Giant"). In a variant of another Welsh Triad ( Trioedd Ynys Prydein , no. 54), only the daughter of Gogfran Gawr is mentioned. There was once a popular folk rhyme known in Wales concerning Gwenhwyfar: " Gwenhwyfar ferch Ogrfan Gawr / Drwg yn fechan, gwaeth yn fawr (Gwenhwyfar, daughter of Ogrfan Gawr / Bad when little, worse when great)." An echo of
3230-570: The battle, Mordred's elder son, Meleon or Melehan, mortally wounds Lionel. Bors kills Melehan with one blow, avenging his brother. Lancelot kills Mordred's second, unnamed son. Arthurian legend By century The Matter of Britain ( French : matière de Bretagne ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur . The 12th-century writer Geoffrey of Monmouth 's Historia Regum Britanniae ( History of
3315-568: The boys are rescued by a servant of the Lady of the Lake and are spirited off to be raised with their cousin Lancelot. They all grow up to be excellent knights and go to Camelot to join King Arthur's retinue. Bors is recognisable by a distinctive scar on his forehead, and participates in most of the King's conflicts, including the eventual battle with Claudas which liberates his father's lands. Bors fathers Elyan
3400-544: The continent. Arthur is late on his promise, though, and Claudas succeeds in his invasion, resulting in both kings' deaths. Ban's son Lancelot is taken by the Lady of the Lake , but Bors's children are raised in captivity by Claudas's retainers. Sir Bors the Younger is better known than King Bors throughout Arthurian studies . Sir Bors and Lionel live for several years at Claudas's court, but they eventually rebel against him and even slay his cruel son Dorin. Before Claudas can retaliate,
3485-503: The death of Arthur and the downfall of the kingdom. This motif had originally appeared in nascent form in the poem Lancelot prior to its vast expansion in the prose cycle Lancelot-Grail , consequently forming much of the narrative core of Thomas Malory 's seminal English compilation Le Morte d'Arthur . Other themes found in Malory and other texts include Guinevere's usual barrenness, the scheme of Guinevere's evil twin to replace her, and
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3570-583: The desperate Guinevere kneels before him. He is about to joust with Mador for her sake when Lancelot arrives to take his place incognito. Along with the rest of their family, Bors later takes Lancelot's side after Lancelot's affair with Guinevere is exposed and Arthur sentenced her to death. He helps to rescue the Queen from her execution at the stake and is one of Lancelot's kinsmen who then accompany him into exile from England. Together with his brother Lionel, Bors becomes one of Lancelot's most valorous and trusted aides in
3655-599: The different daughters of Lyonnel of Glat (the greatest knight of the ancient Britain) and Queen Blanche of the Forest of Marvels (also known as Blanchete, daughter of the Maimed King and the Fairy Queen) are distant ancestors of both Guinevere and Lancelot , as well of as Tristan . In Geoffrey's Historia , Arthur leaves her as a regent in the care of his nephew Modredus (Mordred) when he crosses over to Europe to go to war with
3740-593: The early 13th-century France. However, their affair was soon afterwards directly condemned as sinful, especially in the Post-Vulgate Cycle retelling. Guinevere's role in their relationship in the Vulgate Lancelot is that of Lancelot's "female lord", just as the Lady of the Lake is his "female master". Regarding her characterisation by Malory, she has been described by modern critics as "jealous, unreasonable, possessive, and headstrong," at least through most of
3825-599: The early Arthurian and pseudo-historical sources of the Matter of Britain. The Scots , for instance, formulated a mythical history in the Pictish and the Dál Riata royal lines. While they do eventually become factual lines, unlike those of Geoffrey, their origins are vague and often incorporate both aspects of mythical British history and mythical Irish history. The story of Gabrán mac Domangairt especially incorporates elements of both those histories. The Arthurian literary cycle
3910-420: The ensuing war, during which he barely survives his horseback duel with Arthur's second-in-command Gawain . On another occasion, Bors has an opportunity to kill the dehorsed Arthur himself, but is stopped by Lancelot. In return for his service, Lancelot crowns Lionel the King of France, while Sir Bors becomes the ruler of King Claudas' lands. While the factions are still fighting, Mordred betrays Arthur and takes
3995-429: The exhumation of their purported graves by the monks of Glastonbury Abbey in 1091. A major and long-running Arthurian story trope features Guinevere being kidnapped and then tells of her rescue by either her husband or her lover. Welsh cleric and author Caradoc of Llancarfan , who wrote his Life of Gildas sometime between 1130 and 1150, recounts her being taken and raped ( violatam et raptam ) by Melwas , king of
4080-576: The fairy knight Gasozein , who falsely claims to be her lover and rightful husband (and who also appears as the young Guinevere's human lover named Gosangos in the Livre d'Artus ), and her saviour is Gawain. In Durmart le Gallois , Guinevere is delivered from her peril by the eponymous hero. In the Livre d'Artus , she is briefly taken prisoner by King Urien during his rebellion against Arthur. The 14th-century Welsh poet Dafydd ap Gwilym alludes to Guinevere's abduction in two of his poems. Another version of
4165-466: The fathering of Galahad ) causes Lancelot to fall into his longest period of madness (which only Elaine is able to eventually cure with the power of the Holy Grail itself). The episode of Lancelot's exile and madness is also included in the Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin , where it instead serves to accent the pathetic and humiliating nature of Lancelot's illicit relationship with the queen. Malory
4250-637: The figure of Morgan ). Guinevere herself wields magical powers in The Rise of Gawain, Nephew of Arthur . The Alliterative Morte Arthure has Guinevere commit the greatest treason by giving Arthur's sword kept in her possession to her lover Mordred in order to be used against her husband. Throughout most of Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur , a late-medieval compilation highly influential for a common perception of Guinevere and many other characters today, she figures as "a conventional lady of [chivalric] romance, imperious, jealous, and demanding, with an occasional trait such as
4335-430: The forceful advances of the sorceress Annowre for her sake, except as a victim of a spell in a variant of the "False Guinevere" case. On her side, Guinevere is often greatly jealous for Lancelot, especially in the case of Elaine of Corbenic , when her reaction to learning about their relationship (which, unknown to her, by this time has been limited only to him being raped-by-deceit by Elaine, including an earlier act of
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#17328511586564420-657: The giantess-Guinevere tradition appears in a local legend regarding the Queen's Crag boulder at Simonburn in England. The earliest datable mention of Guinevere (as Guenhuvara, with numerous spelling variations in the surviving manuscripts) is in Geoffrey's Historia , written c. 1136. It relates that Guinevere, described as one of the great beauties of Britain, was educated under Cador , Duke of Cornwall . The other chronicles typically have Cador as her guardian and sometimes relative. According to Wace, who calls Cador an earl , Guinevere
4505-413: The history of Great Britain and Brittany , such as the stories of Brutus of Troy , Coel Hen , Leir of Britain (King Lear), and Gogmagog . The legendary history of Britain was created partly to form a body of patriotic myth for the country. Several agendas thus can be seen in this body of literature. According to John J. Davenport, the question of Britain's identity and significance in the world "was
4590-462: The late King Lot 's sons, Agravain and Mordred. Revealed as a betrayer of his king and friend, Lancelot kills several of Arthur's knights and escapes. Incited to defend honour, Arthur reluctantly sentences his wife to be burnt at the stake. Knowing Lancelot and his family would try to stop the execution, the king sends many of his knights to defend the pyre, though Gawain refuses to participate. Lancelot arrives with his kinsmen and followers and rescues
4675-532: The latter appearing as Guinevere's evil twin in some later prose romances. German romance Diu Crône gives Guinevere two other sisters by their father, King Garlin of Gore: Gawain 's love interest Flori and Queen Lenomie of Alexandria . Guinevere is childless in most stories. The few exceptions to that include Arthur's son named Loholt or Ilinot in Perlesvaus and Parzival (first mentioned in Erec and Enide ). In
4760-442: The lovers spend their first night together just as Arthur sleeps with the beautiful Saxon princess named Camille or Gamille (an evil enchantress whom he later continues to love even after she betrays and imprisons him, though it was suggested that he was enchanted ). Arthur is also further unfaithful during the episode of the " False Guinevere " (who had Arthur drink a love potion to betray Guinevere), her own twin half-sister (born on
4845-647: The monastery to which Guinevere retires as "abbas and rular", to find her salvation in a life of penance. ) Her contrition is sincere and permanent; Lancelot is unable to sway her to come away with him. Guinevere meets Lancelot one last time, refusing to kiss him, then returns to the convent. She spends the remainder of her life as an abbess in joyless sorrow, contrasting with her earlier merry nature. Following her death, Lancelot buries her next to Arthur's (real or symbolic) grave. Modern adaptations of Arthurian legend vary greatly in their depiction of Guinevere, largely because certain aspects of her story must be fleshed out by
4930-532: The mysterious White Knight (Lancelot) arrives from the continent, Guinevere is instantly smitten. The teenage Lancelot first joins the Queen's Knights to serve Guinevere after having been knighted by her. Following Lancelot's early rescue of Guinevere from Maleagant (in Le Morte d'Arthur this episode only happens much later on) and his admission into the Round Table, and with the Lady of the Lake's and Galehaut 's assistance,
5015-566: The name is Gwenhwyfar (also Guenhuibhar , Gwenhwyvar ), which seems to be cognate with the Irish name Findabar (the name of the daughter of Queen Medb and Ailill mac Máta in the Ulster Cycle ); Gwenhwyfar can be translated as "The White Fay/Ghost", from Proto-Celtic *Windo- "white" + *sēbro "phantom" (cognate with Old Irish síabar "a spectre, phantom, supernatural being [usually in pejorative sense]"). Some have suggested that
5100-596: The name may derive from Gwenhwy-fawr , or "Gwenhwy the Great", as a contrast to Gwenhwy-fach , or "Gwenhwy the less". Gwenhwyfach (also spelled Gwenhwyach ) appears in Welsh literature as a sister of Gwenhwyfar, but Welsh scholars Melville Richards and Rachel Bromwich both dismiss this etymology (with Richards suggesting that Gwenhwyfach was a back-formation derived from an incorrect interpretation of Gwenwhy-far as Gwenhwy-fawr ). A cognate name in Modern English
5185-641: The narrative is associated in local folklore with Meigle in Scotland, known for its carved Pictish stones . One of the stones, now in the Meigle Sculptured Stone Museum , is said to depict Vanora , the local name for Guinevere. She is said to have been abducted by King Modred (Mordred). When she is eventually returned to Arthur, he has her condemned to death for infidelity and orders that she be torn to pieces by wild beasts, an event said to be shown on Meigle Stone 2 (Queen Venora's Stone). This stone
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#17328511586565270-497: The other hand, in Marie de France 's probably late-12th-century Anglo-Norman poem Lanval (and Thomas Chestre 's later Middle English version, Sir Launfal ), Guinevere is a viciously vindictive adulteress and temptress who plots the titular protagonist's death after failing to seduce him. She ends up punished when she is magically blinded by his secret true love from Avalon , the fairy princess Lady Tryamour (identified by some as
5355-493: The other world would regard as rescues, but which to the Arthurian world appear as abductions." The following narrative is largely based on the Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate) prose cycle and, consequently, Le Morte d'Arthur as abridged by Thomas Malory with some of his changes. It tells the story of the forbidden romance of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere, initially in accordance to the courtly love conventions still popular in
5440-427: The particular hostility displayed towards Guinevere by her sister-in-law Morgan . Guinevere has continued to be a popular character featured in numerous adaptations of the legend since the 19th-century Arthurian revival. Many modern authors, usually following or inspired by Malory's telling, typically still show Guinevere in her illicit relationship with Lancelot as defining her character. The original Welsh form of
5525-409: The popular romancer Chrétien de Troyes calls her Guenievre ( Guenièvre ). The latter form was retained by the authors of Chrétien-influenced French prose cycles, who would use also its variants such as Genievre ( Genièvre ) or Gueneure . Her many other various names appearing through the different periods and regions of medieval Europe include both Gaynour and Waynour ( Waynor[e] ) in
5610-511: The queen himself and take Arthur's throne. While in some versions of the legend (like the Alliterative Morte Arthure , which removed French romantic additions) Guinevere assents to Mordred's proposal, in the tales of Lancelot she hides in the Tower of London , where she withstands Mordred's siege, and later takes refuge in a nun convent . Hearing of the treachery, Arthur returns to Britain and slays Mordred at Camlann, but his wounds are so severe that he
5695-446: The queen's rescuer is not Arthur (or Yder) but Lancelot, whose adultery with the queen is dealt with for the first time in this poem. In Chrétien's love triangle of Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot, Lancelot rescues her from the land of Gorre. It has been suggested that Chrétien invented their affair to supply Guinevere with a courtly extramarital lover (as requested by his patroness, Princess Marie ); Mordred could not be used as his reputation
5780-426: The queen's sister Gwenhwyfach and records the enmity between them. Two Triads ( Trioedd Ynys Prydein , no. 53, 84) mention Gwenhwyfar's contention with her sister, which was believed to be the cause of the disastrous Battle of Camlann . In the Welsh prose Culhwch and Olwen (possibly the first known text featuring Guinevere if indeed correctly dated c. 1100 ), Gwenhwyfach is also mentioned alongside Gwenhwyfar,
5865-491: The queen. Gawain's unarmed brothers Gaheris and Gareth are killed in the battle (among others, including fellow Knights of the Round Aglovale , Segwarides and Tor , and originally also Gawain's third brother Agravain), sending Gawain into a rage so great that he pressures Arthur into a direct confrontation with Lancelot. When Arthur goes after Lancelot to France, he leaves her in the care of Mordred, who plans to marry
5950-687: The same day but from a different mother) whom Arthur takes as his second wife in a very unpopular bigamous move, even refusing to obey the Pope's order for him not to do it, as Guinevere escapes to live with Lancelot in Galehaut's kingdom of Sorelais. The French prose cyclical authors thus intended to justify Guinevere and Lancelot's adultery by blackening Arthur's reputation and thus making it acceptable and sympathetic for their medieval courtly French audience. Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur , however, portrays Arthur as absolutely faithful to Guinevere, even successfully resisting
6035-533: The sense of humor," until she acquires more depth and undergoes major changes to her character at the end of the book, arguably (in the words of Derek Brewer ), becoming "the most fascinating, exasperating, and human of all medieval heroines." Such varied tellings may be radically different in not just their depictions of Guinevere but also the manners of her demise. In the Italian 15th-century romance La Tavola Ritonda , Guinevere drops dead from grief upon learning of her husband's fate after Lancelot rescues her from
6120-480: The siege by Arthur's slayer Mordred. In Perlesvaus , it is Kay 's murder of her son Loholt that causes Guinevere to die of anguish; she is then buried in Avalon, together with her son's severed head. Alternatively, in what Arthurian scholars Geoffrey Ashe and Norris J. Lacy call one of "strange episodes" of Ly Myreur des Histors , a romanticized historical/legendary work by Belgian author Jean d'Outremeuse , Guinevere
6205-596: The story of Brutus of Troy . Traditionally attributed to Nennius , its actual compiler is unknown; it exists in several recensions. This tale went on to achieve greater currency because its inventor linked Brutus to the diaspora of heroes that followed the Trojan War . As such, this material could be used for patriotic myth-making just as Virgil linked the founding of Rome to the Trojan War in The Æneid . Geoffrey lists Coel Hen as
6290-490: The tale. The earliest datable appearance of Guinevere is in Geoffrey of Monmouth 's pseudo-historical British chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae , in which she is seduced by Mordred during his ill-fated rebellion against Arthur. In a later medieval Arthurian romance tradition from France, a prominent story arc is the queen's tragic love affair with her husband's chief knight and trusted friend, Lancelot , indirectly causing
6375-629: The throne. Lancelot hears of this and goes to aid Arthur, but arrives too late. Lancelot searches for Guinevere; after some time without news, Lionel goes looking for him and is killed. Sir Bors sends most of the army home, and goes to look for Lancelot with a few other of their kinsmen. They eventually find him living as a priest and decide to join him. In the Lancelot-Grail and the Post-Vulgate Mort d'Artu , Lancelot and his men return to Britain to fight Mordred's sons, who have taken over. In
6460-401: The trend has been to attempt to link the tales of King Arthur and his knights with Celtic mythology , usually in highly romanticized, 20th-century reconstructed versions. The work of Jessie Weston , in particular From Ritual to Romance , traced Arthurian imagery through Christianity to roots in early nature worship and vegetation rites, though this interpretation is no longer fashionable. It
6545-490: The two then begin an escalating romantic affair that in the end will inadvertently lead to Arthur's fall. Lancelot refuses the love of many other ladies, dedicates all his heroic deeds to Guinevere's honor, and sends her the redeemable knights he has defeated in battle and who must appeal to her for forgiveness. In the Vulgate Cycle, Lancelot's stepmother Ninianne, the Lady of the Lake, gifts them an identical pair of magic rings of protection against enchantements. In this version,
6630-401: The wife of King Arthur . First mentioned in popular literature in the early 12th century, nearly 700 years after the purported times of Arthur, Guinevere has since been portrayed as everything from a fatally flawed, villainous, and opportunistic traitor to a noble and virtuous lady. Many records of the legend also feature the variably recounted story of her abduction and rescue as a major part of
6715-488: The wife of Arthur. This was likely due to Chrétien's audience at the time, the court of Marie, Countess of Champagne , which was composed of courtly ladies who played highly social roles. Later authors use her good and bad qualities to construct a deeper character who plays a larger role in the stories. In Chrétien's Yvain, the Knight of the Lion , for instance, she is praised for her intelligence, friendliness, and gentility. On
6800-529: The work before the final book, and some of these traits may be related to her political qualities and actions. In the 13th-century French cyclical chivalric romances and the later works based on them, including Malory's, Guinevere is the daughter of King Leodegrance of Carmelide (Cameliard), who had served Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon , and was entrusted with the Round Table after Uther's death. The newly-crowned King Arthur defends Leodegrance by defeating King Rience , which leads to his first meeting with
6885-427: The young Guinevere. An arranged marriage of state soon commences, and Arthur receives the Round Table as Guinevere's dowry, having ignored Merlin 's prophetic advice warning him not to marry her. This version of her legend has her betrothed to Arthur early in his career, while he was garnering support and being pressured to produce an heir (which Guinevere, barren as in most other versions, will fail to deliver). When
6970-502: Was beyond saving, and Yder had been forgotten entirely. This version has become lastingly popular. Today it is most familiar from its expansion in the prose cycles , where Lancelot comes to her rescue on more than one occasion. There are furthermore several other variants of this motif in medieval literature. In Ulrich's Lanzelet , Valerin, the King of the Tangled Wood, claims the right to marry her and carries her off to his castle in
7055-512: Was descended from a noble Roman family on her mother's side; Layamon too describes her as of Roman descent, as well as being related to Cador. Much later English chroniclers, Thomas Gray in Scalacronica and John Stow in The Chronicles of England , both identify Cador as her cousin and an unnamed King of Biscay (the historical Basque country) as her father. Welsh tradition remembers
7140-966: Was often thought to have originally been the Welsh goddess Modron or Irish the Morrígan . Many of these identifications come from the speculative comparative religion of the late 19th century and have been questioned in more recent years. William Shakespeare was interested in the legendary history of Britain, and was familiar with some of its more obscure byways. Shakespeare's plays contain several tales relating to these legendary kings, such as King Lear and Cymbeline . It has been suggested that Shakespeare's Welsh schoolmaster Thomas Jenkins introduced him to this material. These tales also figure in Raphael Holinshed 's The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland , which also appears in Shakespeare's sources for Macbeth . Other early authors also drew from
7225-664: Was one of two that originally stood near a mound that is identified as Vanora's grave. Modern scholars interpret the Meigle Stone 2 as a depiction of the Biblical tale of Daniel in the lions' den . One Scotland-related story takes place in Hector Boece 's Historia Gentis Scotorum , where Guinevere is taken north by the Picts following Mordred's and Arthur's deaths at Camlann and spends the rest of her life in their captivity; after her death, she
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