Wednesday 18 June 2014

Lancelot and Guinevere

The story of Lancelot and Guinevere is a part of the Arthurian legend. It is thought to have been inspired or influenced by that of Tristan and Iseult. Just like the latter, Lancelot and Guinevere are adulterous lovers. Guinevere is
married to King Arthur who, just like King Mark does not suspect anything at first. He eventually finds out about his wife being unfaithful to him with one of his most loyal knights. The Knights of the Round Table split into two groups, supporting either Arthur or Lancelot. After several fierce battles between the two men, Guinevere returns to King Arthur but the destruction of the Round Table enables Mordred to challenge Arthur. The legendary king kills his rival but he is mortally wounded. Guinevere, devastated for being responsible for the destruction of the Round Table and subsequent Arthur’s downfall enters a convent. Lancelot enters a hermitage and eventually becomes a priest. Both spend the rest of their lives in repentance.

 Modern adaptations of Arthurian legend vary greatly in their depiction of Guinevere, largely because certain aspects of her story must be fleshed out by the modern author. In a number of versions, she is manipulated into her affair with Lancelot (usually by Morgan le Fay or Nimue), with Arthur being her rightful true love. In others, her love for Lancelot is presented as stemming from a relationship that existed prior to her marriage to Arthur, with Lancelot's comparatively late appearance at Camelot coming as a surprise.

In Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, Gwenhwyfar is brought up by a cold, unloving father, which left her with a deep inferiority complex and intense agoraphobia. Failing to produce an heir and unable to be with the love of her life, Lancelot, she falls into a deep depression and – hoping for salvation – becomes an increasingly fanatical Christian. Many subsequent authors have elected to use the Welsh spelling after Bradley's example.

Lavinia Collins's Guinevere: The Warrior Queen (the first part of her Guinevere trilogy) is a historical romance novel, dealing with Guinevere's marriage to Arthur and the subsequent development of her relationship with Lancelot. Along with typical themes of the romance genre, this adaptation also deals with concepts of magic and religion, and builds on Collins's reading of Le Morte d'Arthur.

In the television series Merlin Guinevere (called Gwen by most of the characters) is portrayed by Angel Coulby, and is shown as the daughter of a blacksmith and maid to Lady Morgana, along with being her best friend. At first, Guinevere is implied as the love interest of Merlin (who is far younger in the series than in usual tales), but later falls in love with Prince Arthur. She also took a fancy on Lancelot before falling for Arthur. In the series, Lancelot dies and is brought back to life by Morgana to prevent Gwen from becoming Queen. Guinevere then, under Morgana's enchantment, kissed Lancelot the night before her wedding with King Arthur. Gwen is banished, but later, after they realised they couldn't live without each other, Arthur forgave her and made her Queen of Camelot. When Arthur dies at Mordred's hand in Camlann, Gwen herself becomes Queen regnant of Camelot.

 In one of the Welsh Triads (Trioedd Ynys Prydein, no. 56), 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. Two other Triads (Trioedd Ynys Prydein, no. 53, 84) mention Gwenhwyfar's contention with her sister Gwenhwyfach, which was believed to be the cause of the Battle of Camlann. In the Welsh romance Culhwch ac Olwen, she is mentioned alongside her sister Gwenhwyfach. In Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, she is described as one of the great beauties of Britain, descended from a noble Roman family and educated under duke Cador of Cornwall.





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