In her book, mists of avalon, marion zimmer bradley portrays morgaine as a defender of the old pagan religion of britain against the. At one point in time i desperately wanted to author a book on arthurian legend and history, but for now ive settled for this web site. The arthurian legend features many characters, including the knights of the round table and members of king arthurs family. Vivian, the lady of the lake in arthurian legend from the world goddess oracle by thalia took. If after all that, you still want more and could use a little lightheartedness. It lists proper names from nearly every arthurian text written between the sixth century and the nineteenth, and for more than half of these the most significant texts is comprehensive, including all characters and places. In other words, its possible the entire crux of a huge portion of the arthurian romances was the result of a lady wanting to turn an adventure story into the medieval equivalent of a harlequin romance novel. There are several ladies of the lake mentioned throughout arthurian legend, with even morgan le fay being named as one of them, in particular as she is one of the maidens on the barg that takes king arthur to the mystical isle of avalon. An introduction to arthurian legend hen most western contemporaries reminisce upon arthur the king, they inevitably do so with a certain wistfulness, a sense of storybooks and wonders, ideals of justice and romance. King arthur, camelot, the wizard merlin, lancelot, arthurs wife guinevere, the sword excalibur, the knights of the round table, these are. This hall primarily serves as a bookclubstyle podcast about medieval literature and lore, whether it is norse, celtic, anglosaxon, or arthurian. Lugodocs summary of book 16 sir bors victory on the quest. Cursed is a reimagining of the arthurian legend, told through the eyes of nimue, a teenage heroine with a mysterious gift who is destined to.
I too, am a huge arthurian legend fanatic, and have been ever since i first saw the movie camelot with richard harris, and i was old enough to read a book about king arthur and the knights of the round table. Perhaps she was a combination of many imaginative tales and came to be popularized as one of the primary characters of the arthurian legends. Although she is commonly accepted as being the leader or ruler of avalon, her character has been attributed with other actions as well. The mists of avalon by marion zimmer bradley, the once and future king by t. For an analysis of arthur as an actual historic figure. The arthurian tale of elaine of astolat, lady of shalott. Dunn, an aspiring author of high fantasy with a masters degree in history who also owns a small business offering handcrafted, norseinspired tea blends. Later legends say that guinevere guenevere was the daughter of leodegan leodegraunce, king of camelide camelerd. Whites the book of merlyn was supposed to be the conclusion to the once and future king, but was published separately for some reason. In this essay we will talk about king arthur, the knights of the round table, and merlin in the famous story, the sword in the stone. At the end of the book, king arthur throws excalibur back into the lake and a hand rises to catch it.
The knights of the round table would have very little adventures if the women have no part in the arthurian literature. After leaving the company of aglovale and griflet, gawaine soon got bored with the lack of violence and the endless, pointless wandering, until after michaelmas, he met launcelots brother, sir ector, who said everyone else had the same problem too, and noone had seen launcelot, galahad, percivale, or bors. Another lady of the lake, who gave the magical sword, excalibur, to king arthur according to suite du merlin postvulgate, c. Though book 18 of le morte darthur does not begin with elaine, the reader. Their names often differ from version to version and from language to language. Arthurian legend, the body of stories and medieval romances, known as the matter of britain, centring on the legendary king arthur. Although there are innumerable variations of the arthurian legend, the basic story has remained the same.
The lady of the lake is a character of arthurian legend. The arthurian name dictionary is intended as a general reference for arthurian scholars, fans, and hobbyists. The mammoth book of arthurian legends mammoth books. The round table is the centerpiece of the arthurian world. This early history book of england and wales mentions arthur, and then geoffrey of monmouth took the stories and added his own flourishes in historia regum britanniae around 16. The lady of the lake may have been a celtic goddess in origin. The book was definitely not for elementary school kids, but probably young adults. She is called nimue, viviane, elaine, niniane, nyneve or nimueh, amongst others. Malory based his bookoriginally titled the whole book of king arthur and of his noble knights of the round tableon the various previous romance versions, in particular the vulgate cycle, and appears to have aimed at creating a comprehensive and authoritative collection of arthurian stories. Vivian is one of the many names of the lady of the lake in the arthurian legends. The lady of the lake is perhaps one of the most mysterious and ambiguous characters in arthurian folklore.
Vivian, the lady of the lake, and nimue tj green author. Its recounted version was in the thcentury italian book donna di scalotta but the poem is an 18th century work. The arthurian tale of elaine of astolat, lady of shalott ancient. Arthurs story is only told in books 9, 10, and 11 of the book, but in this. Arthur was the illegitimate son of uther pendragon, king of britain, and igraine, the wife of gorlois of cornwall. The lady of shalott and the arthurian myths freebooksummary.
They captured the imagination of the aristocracy of europe. Ulfius accused her of treason le morte darthur, book i chapter 21. Lady of the lake simple english wikipedia, the free. Scholarly retelling of the legend that i use as a reference when writing novels set in the middle ages. The literary development of the arthurian legend ancient history. The arthurian legend begins with the welsh cleric geoffrey of monmouth c. The women of camelot have often been overshadowed by the men. The mammoth book of arthurian legends mammoth books mike ashley on. The lady of the lake is perhaps one of the most mysterious and. List of works based on arthurian legends wikipedia. Lord alfred tennyson s fourpart poem is based on the arthurian legend of elaine of astolat, who died for that love that surpassed all human understanding. So, when i stumbled across mordred, bastard son by douglas clegg and read the blurb i had to check it out. At least two different sorceresses bearing the title the lady of the lake appear as separate characters in some versions and adaptations since the postvulgate cycle and consequently le morte darthur.
Elaine the fair, the lady of shalott, comes down through arthurian legend. Gathers stories about king arthur, merlyn, and the knights of the round table by howard pyle, john steinbeck. She was given no other name apart from her title as the lady of the lake, yet she was different from niniane. The arthurian legend is retold from perspective of the female. Ya books with arthurian legend a list of young adult books that feature arthurian legend in some form or other. After the death of uther, arthur, who had been reared in secrecy, won. Arthurian legend medieval literature laced with truth. The sleeve was white and i think it had the lady of the lake holding excalibur and maybe a horse on the front. Wyeth merlin, the arthurian legend lady of the lake, possessor of ex calibur, merlins lover and the enchantress who imprisoned the great wizard. Nimue reads from his book of enchantments, gleaning his usually wellkept secrets. Whites 1958 novel the once and future king as a water nymph and merlins. Vivian, the lady of the lady in the arthurian romances. So, what do i really believe about king arthur and all the stories.
Deepening into arthurian legend the lady of shalott is a return to the arthurian myths. One of my favorite books dealing with the legend of avalon and the lady of the lake, is the mists of avalon, by marion zimmer bradley. Elaine the fair, the lady of shalott, comes down through arthurian legend with seemingly only one purpose. Sir thomas malory, in his great 15thcentury novel, le mort darthur, tells us morgan was. Illustration from le morte darthur the book of king arthur and of his noble knights of the. The mists of avalon is a 1983 fantasy novel by american writer marion zimmer bradley, in which the author relates the arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters. It has been created in response to requests from readers for a print version of the site, in order to ease both the reading and referencing of. The arthurian legend belongs to the medieval literature and, more concretely, to the courteous novel, which is characterized for. Early appearances of morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a goddess, a fay, a witch, or a sorceress, generally. She plays a pivotal role in many stories, including giving arthur his sword excalibur, enchanting merlin, and raising lancelot after the death of his father.
Here we have articles concerning the arthurian women. Arthur rex is a tragicomic retelling of the arthurian legend. Women of the arthurian legend robbins library digital. Just as the men of the legend have overshadowed the women, so, too, have male authors, translators, and artists enjoyed a greater degree of recognition. Her roles include giving king arthur his sword, excalibur, taking arthur to camelot after the battle of camlann, raising lancelot after the death of his father, and of enchanting merlin. The mists of avalon is the classic of modern reinterpretations of the arthurian legend through the points of view of powerful women behind camelot, namely morgaine, gwenhwyfar, and morgause.
Arthurian legend, named for its key figure king arthur, is a blanket term for hundreds of tales of knights, ladies, squires, quests, wars, and supernatural figures, sometimes called the matter of britain. Obviously, morgan le fay couldnt be the only magical woman on this list. Reference on the famous women who appeared in the arthurian legends. In sir thomas mallorys book le morte darthur, nyneve, another of the ladies of the lake, deprives king arthur of. Arthurian legend refers to the body of works surrounding king arthur and his knights. The following is a list of characters with descriptions. Its allconsuming and the mere mention of a character from the arthurian legend or a simple sniff of camelot will get me to at least take a first glance at a book. According to the thcentury poet layamon, arthur ordered the table to be built for him by a famous cornish carpenter, who somehow made the table capable of seating 1,600 men clearly an exaggeration, yet easily portable to wherever arthur set up his mobile base of operations. This arthurian legend turned a powerful woman from healer to villain. Her various names have led to speculation that lady of the lake may have been a title that was applied to different women, perhaps in their role as priestesses. Medieval writers, especially the french, variously treated stories of arthurs birth, the adventures of his knights, and the adulterous love between his knight sir.
Old book about king arthur, excalibur, and the lady of the. Arthurian legend forms the centerpiece of the matter of britain, which is the body of medieval literature and legends associated with great britain and brittany. See more ideas about art, illustration art and king arthur legend. For lancelot and elaine story, the teacher will need book xviii 18, chapters 9 20, about 10 pages of printed text. Cursed put a twist on the king arthur legend, told through the eyes of the excaliburbestowing enchantress, the lady of the lake. Lord alfred tennysons fourpart poem is based on the arthurian legend of elaine of astolat, who died for that love that surpassed all human understanding. The arthurian legends do not take off until 1066 the battle of hastings for the reasons below. Merlin, lancelot, the lady of the lake, king arthur, and excaliber are all very important in the arthurian legend. Ya books with arthurian legend 104 books goodreads. The lady of the lake is an enchantress in the matter of britain, the body of medieval literature and legend associated with king arthur. Some of these include giving arthur the sword excalibur from the lake, enchanting merlin.
There are number of standard recommendations which are great susan coopers dark is rising series mary stewart crystal cave mists of avalon for something completely different and original check out daughter of camelot by glynis cooney. Well, that is still a matter of debate in my opinion. So, when i stumbled across mordred, bastard son by. Point out that alfred, lord tennyson began his explorations of the arthurian legends with the lady of shalott. Legend of the sword 2017 is not the first movie about the legendary british leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of britain against saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries ad. Lady of the lake legends from the court of king arthur art by george w. Lugodocs summary of book 10 odd tales the joust at the castle of the hard rock, continued and although tristram told him who the shield was from, he would not reveal his own name, puncturing both king arthur himself and sir uwaine when they became too suspicious.
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