Igraine bore him a son named Arthur. A year later, Igraine became the mother of Anna , who married Lot , the future king of Orkney. Though later legends after the 12th century say that Morgawse , Elaine or Blasine and Morgan la Fay were half-sisters of Arthur therefore they were daughters of Gorlois and Igraine.
It was Morgawse who was wife of King Lot. According to the Vulgate Merlin , Igraine had died two years before Uther, which means that she had died before Arthur ascended the throne.
She had been living in enchanted castle called the Rock of Champguin Otherworld , with her daughter most likely Morgawse , who was the mother of Gawain.
They did not recognised Gawain when he arrived and broke the enchantment placed on the castle. See Castle of Marvels.
According to some texts, Eigyr was the descendant of Llyr and Bran. Eigyr married Gwrlais, the Duke of Cornwall. This resulted in the conception of Arthur. See the House of Arthur and Culhwch for the Welsh version of the family tree.
Eigyr, Eigr Welsh. Arnive German. Later authors omitted Anna, saying that Arthur had two or three half-sisters, daughters of Gorlois or Hoel and Igraine. In the Vulgate Merlin chapter 4, the Micha manuscript only say that Igraine had two daughters, the eldest is wife to Lot and the other was Morgan , who Neutres of Garlot took; while the Sommer text mentioned three, Neutres marrying a different sister.
In the next chapter, Igraine has five daughters, two by her first husband, and three by Duke of Tintagel. The eldest was married to Lot, the second to Neutres, 3rd to Urien, the 4th to Caradoc father of Aguisant of Scotland and the last was in school most likely Morgan. Since there are so many women named Elaine, she was usually called Elaine of Garlot. Which mean Anna was the full sister of Arthur.
Anna was probably one and the same person as Morgawse, the half-sister of Arthur, in the later legend see Morgawse. There is even confusion of who Anna was married to. Another possibility, in the case of there being two sisters of Arthur, both are named Anna — one married to Loth and the other to Budicius of Brittany. Both are possibilities, but it is highly unlikely. Though, her name appeared several other times in other works eg The Rise of Gawain , her name was replaced with Morgawse or various other spellings.
It is believed that Gwyar was thought to be a goddess or the Sovereignty of Britain. And according to Wolfram von Eschenbach, a German poet who wrote Parzival c. Related Information Name Anna. Gwyar Welsh. Sangive German. Morgawse, Morgause?
She was probably the one and the same person as Anna , daughter of Uther and Igraine; therefore she was full sister of Arthur in the early legend. In the early legend, Anna only had two sons: Gawain and Mordred. As early as the Vulgate Merlin , it was Arthur was the father of Mordred, when Mordred betrayed him, implying that had committed incest with Morgawse. However in the Suite du Merlin , the author was explicit; Arthur had unwittingly committed incest with Morgawse see the Life of King Arthur.
Since he was brought up by his foster-father, Sir Antor Ector , he had never known that he had a sister. Mordred would grow up and betray his father, destroying Arthur and his knights. Though, Gawain found out who they were, neither Morgawse and Igraine could recognise him, since Morgawse left him when he was still a child, about twenty years ago. Morgawse was pregnant with a daughter at the time of disappearance. Gawain met his sister, who was called Clarissant. A knight named Lamorak was madly in love with Morgawse.
When her son, Sir Gaheris, found her making love to Sir Lamorak, Gaheris was outraged that his mother was making love to his mortal enemy. Morgan le Fay? Most of the time, Morgan was identified as the half-sister of Arthur. Though Chretien de Troyes and some other authors just referred her as sister of Arthur. Morgan was usually said to be a fairy, as she was known as Morgan le Fay.
Geoffrey of Monmouth mentioned Morgan as one of the nine sisters, living in Avalon [ Vita Merlini , c. She made her first appearance here under the name Morgan. She was a healer, and had the extraordinary ability to fly and transform herself to resemble anyone or anything else. Arthur was brought to Avalon by Taliesin, where the king was healed by Morgan. Here, there was no indication of any relationship between Arthur and Morgan as siblings, except that she was his healer.
Some scholars at the time say that Avalon was situated on Glastonbury, an island in the middle of marshland. Guingamar was one of the guests to the wedding of Erec and Enide. Later, in the story, Morgan was mentioned again as sister of Arthur and a great healer.
Her name was mentioned again, in Knight of the Lion , where her ointment could even heal madness from Yvain. However, in the Welsh romance, Gerient in the Mabinogion, which is basically the same story as Erec and Enide , Arthur does have a chief physician, named Morgan, who healed the hero, Gerient Erec , but this Morgan Tud is clearly a man, with no blood relation to the king.
Though, early accounts such as by Geoffrey of Monmouth and Chretien de Troyes had never said anything about Yvain Owain being her son, and there was also no indication in either account that Morgan was married to Urien. This Yvain should not be confused with another son of Urien, who was known as Yvain the Bastard. In the Arthhurian legend, Modron and Morgan le Fay became one and the same person, because they both were married to King Urien brother of King Lot , and both were mother of the hero Owain Yvain.
It is most likely that Modron was changed into Morgan when the legend arrived in Brittany. Morgan was also identified with another Breton goddess, Dahut or Ahes, the princess, who had caused the destruction of her city Ys. However, in Brittany and elsewhere Morgan was usually a male name. She was the fairy queen or one of the queens of Avalon.
She was said to have learned her magic from Merlin. There are similarities of Morgan with the great Irish goddess, Morrigan. Most of the time Morgan appeared as a beautiful young woman, sometimes as an old hag, like in Gawain and the Green Knight , c.
Morrigan also had the same ability to shape-shift between young and old, beautiful and ugly. Like Morrigan, she was able to transform herself to look like any animal or inanimate objects. Morgan had given the Green Knight the ability to survive after having had his head severed. Morgan had hoped that this event would frighten Guinevere to death. By the time of the Vulgate Cycle and Prose Tristan , her character began to change, where she became one of mortal enemies of Arthur and Guinevere.
Her role became more sinister; later writers tend to portray her as a wicked and maligned character. Morgan and the knight were lovers until Guinevere heard of her trysts, so the queen broke up their relationship, in case they cause a scandal. Morgan never forgave Guinevere this incident and she sought revenge upon the queen. After this Morgan went in search for Merlin, learning magic, in exchange for offering her love to the sorcerer.
Several times she had imprisoned Lancelot refusing to release him until the hero became her lover. Each time he had refused. See Under the Apple Trees , in the Lancelot page. According to Malory, when Arthur was dying, Morgan and three other ladies, Queen of the Northgales and Queen of the Wasteland and Nimue Niniane arrived in a black ship.
The Vulgate Mort Artu only mentioned Morgan and unspecific number of ladies on the ship. Geoffrey and Wace mentioned Arthur went to Avalon to be healed, but no mention of Morgan or ship. Layamon described Argante as a very radiant elf. Whether Morgan and Argante were one and the same person, is not very clear. As I said before about her assocation with the Irish Morrigan, this suggested that she was the goddess of death or as the goddess of the Underworld ie.
Whatever her name mean or which goddesses was identified with, Morgan was a powerful figure as the Lady of Avalon. Related Information Name Morgan, Morgain. Morgan le Fay. Fata Morgana. Morgana Italian. Modron Welsh. Morrigan Irish. Related Articles See also Modron. The French account of the Vulgate Merlin varied depending on the manuscripts.
In this chapter 9, her son Galeshin persuaded Blasine to reveal if Arthur was really her brother and his uncle or not. Galeshin revealed his intention that he preferred to be knighted by his uncle Arthur than from his own father, who was currently at war with both Arthur and the Saxon invaders.
Likewise, his cousins Gawain and his brothers and Yvain also joined him take services with Arthur. Related Information Name Blasine, Elaine. Some even say that Morgan le Fay was also the Lady of the Lake, though most often Morgan was referred to as one of nine sorceresses of Avalon. She was given no other name apart from her title as the Lady of the Lake, yet she was different from Niniane. Niniane later became the guardian of the sword, especially when the dying Arthur returned Excalibur to the lake.
The Lady of the Lake is generally said to live in the forest of Brittany. Arthur receiving a new sword from the Lady and when the dying Arthur ordered the sword to be thrown into the lake. Niniane and this first Lady of the Lake were two different persons. Dyonas was the godson of Diana, the goddess of the woods. Her father had served the Duke of Burgundy as vavasor, and was given the Forest of Briosque.
The other part of forest belonged to King Ban, which he won through serving the king as a knight. Her lake seemed to be located in Little Britain another name for Brittany , of this Forest of Briosque, and the lake was known as the Lake of Diana. It was named after the Roman goddess of the chase. Niniane was only 12 years old when she first met Merlin in this forest. Even at this young age, Merlin had fallen into her charm, which he found irresistible.
Merlin taught her some of his magic in return for her love, before he departed from her. Shortly after the wedding of Arthur and Guinevere, Niniane owned a brachet hound and she was hunting the white hart. Her hound was stolen and she was abducted. Merlin send three knights in the Quest of the White Hart , where Gawain had to fetch the hart, Tor retrieve the hound and Pellinor had to rescue the abducted huntress Niniane.
She again promised her love to him, in return for Merlin to teach her everything about magic. Before she had lured Merlin to his death, the great wizard had built her hidden domain and palace near the Lake. With his magic he hid her home, so that anyone who went by, would only see a lake instead of her home. When Niniane decided to return home, Merlin decided to accompany her, hoping to seduce the Lady of the Lake. Though, Merlin knew that his end was near, he could not control his passion or lust for Niniane.
Merlin told her that this baby would grow up to become the greatest knight in the world. By the time they reached her home, Niniane decided to get rid of Merlin, enticing the sorcerer to teach her his magic, which she would use to trap the wizard.
She used the magic she learned from him, and entomb the sorcerer in rock. The Vulgate Merlin says that imprisoned Merlin in castle made of air, which only she free him.
Whichever knight it was, he returned to Arthur with the news. Arthur lost his mentor and chief adviser. Niniane had also foiled several plots of Morgan le Fay to kill her half-brother, King Arthur. Morgan le Fay was another sorceress, who beguiled Merlin into her magic and necromancy. As Arthur was losing his duel with Accolon, it was Niniane who rescued the king. Later, when Arthur returned to Camelot, Morgan sent one of her damsels, carrying a beautiful mantle to her half-brother, as token of peace.
Niniane suspecting treachery from Morgan advised the king not to wear the robe. The damsel died when mantle was placed on her shoulders, and she was instantly burnt to a crisp. See The Conspiracy of Morgan le Fay. Niniane was responsible for raising Lancelot after the death of his father, King Ban of Banoic. Niniane revealed only that he would find his real name when he became the best knight in the world. Niniane taught Lancelot about courtly love and the duties of a true knight.
Niniane helped Lancelot several times either by herself or by many of her damsels who served her. See the page on Lancelot of the Lake. The ring allowed him to dispell any magic. No name was given of this lady fairy.
Niniane gave Queen Guinvere , a magical split shield. One half of the shield depicted a knight and woman kissing, but their lips not touching one another because of the split in the shield.
Once Lancelot and Guinevere consummate their passion, the shield will be made whole. See The Death of King Arthur. Lady of the Lake. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, when her husband died, Ganieda lived in the forest with her brother. It was she who had built a house with seventy doors and seventy windows, for Merlin.
The construction of the house allowed her brother to observe the night sky and foretell the future astrology. The legendary bard Taliesin later joined the brother and sister in the forest, where the bard shared news with Merlin. When Merlin regained his sanity by drinking water from healing spring, Ganieda gained the power of prophecy, supposedly superior to his own power.
As the Welsh Gwenddydd, the poems attributed to Myrddin Merlin , she was upset with her brother for the death of her son. Here, we find out that their father was named Morfryn, and that he and her sister were twins. Merlin said that his sister was even better than him in divinition, just as the later Merlin was supersceded by the Lady of the Lake.
It was left to Sir Mordred to reveal the two lovers in flagrante delicto, an event which led to Guinevere being sentenced to burning at the stake. She was rescued by Lancelot, but captured by Mordred when Arthur pursued her lover abroad.
As already indicated, in less sympathetic versions of the story, she was not sorry and even bore Mordred two children. She is usually said to have spent the latter days of her life in a nunnery at either Caerleon or Amesbury. A particularly horrible version has her slain by Lancelot and entombed with Mordred who is forced to turn cannibal before he dies of starvation. Local tradition adds that she was eventually torn to pieces by dogs and was buried at Meigle where her memorial can still be seen today.
However she met her end, Guinevere's body is claimed to have made its way to join Arthur at Glastonbury Abbey. According to Giraldus Cambrensis , her body was found alongside him when the monks discovered his grave in Although not mentioned by other writers, Giraldus goes on to tell how the inscription on the famous leaden burial cross, found there, recorded Guinevere as Arthur's 'second wife'. This may echo the story of the lady's half-sister, Guinevere the False alias Guinevack , born to Leodegrance's lover on the same night as Guinivere.
Merlin plays many roles in Arthurian literature, including bard, prophet, magician, advisor, and warrior. Though usually a figure who supports Arthur and his vision of Camelot, Merlin is, because of the stories in which he is said to be the son of a devil, sometimes presented as a villain.
Celtic tradition contains a number of related figures-the Welsh Myrddin, the Scottish Lailoken, and the Irish Suibhne-who have characteristics similar to those of Merlin. These characters all go mad and become wild men of the woods. After the battle, Merlin lives in exile in the forest, where he utters prophecies. Geoffrey of Monmouth combines this historical figure, who lived at a time later than that in which a historical Arthur might have lived, with the figure of the youth Ambrosius Aurelianus from Nennius Geoffrey says that Merlin's second name was Ambrosius ; in so doing, he virtually creates the now-traditional Merlin.
Geoffrey's Merlin, who is fathered by an incubus, explains why Vortigern's tower will not stand and utters a long series of prophecies. He then serves both Aurelius and Uther. After transporting the Giant's Dance from Ireland to Britain and setting it up as Stonehenge, he assists Uther in satisfying his lust for Ygerna. In Geoffrey's account, Merlin does not serve as an advisor to Arthur; but later writers expand his role to include helping Arthur become king and establish his authority.
In the works of Robert de Boron and in the Vulgate Cycle, Merlin's birth is engineered by the devils in hell. They hope to bring into the world an anti-Christ who will undo the good or, as they see it, the harm done by Christ in redeeming mankind. Merlin's mother is impregnated by an incubus; but with the advice of her confessor Blaise she baptizes her son; and he becomes a force for good, not evil.
Since he is the son of a devil, he is endowed with the knowledge of all things past, and God bestows on him the gift of knowing the future. He is also instrumental in establishing Arthur's realm and the Round Table, and he serves as an adviser to Athur. Merlin's service to Arthur ends when he is infatuated with Niniane also called Vivien and Nyneve and allows her to seal him up with a charm that he himself has taught her. Perhaps the most influential modern recasting of Merlin is in T.
White's The Once and Future King White's Merlin, who is both a comic and a philosophic figure, is a tutor who encourages Arthur to think for himself and who is gratified when Arthur arrives at the notion that might should be used for right. White's Merlin knows the future because he lives backwards in time. Who are Bedivere? What is their relationship to King Arthur? The author of Culhwch and Olwen ca. Wace says that Bedivere and Kay are Arthur's two most loyal subjects. In the late fourteenth-century Alliterative Morte Arthure and other works that tell the story of the Giant of St.
Michael's Mount, Kay and Bedivere accompany Arthur as he sets out to confront the giant. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Arthur gives Bedevere the province of Normandy for his service in the war in Gaul; later, Bedevere is slain in Arthur's continental war against Lucius.
In Malory's Morte d'Arthur , Bedivere survives the continental wars and is with Arthur at the end of his final battle. Arthur orders him to return Excalibur to the lake. Tennyson adds to Malory's account a depiction of Bedivere watching the barge bearing Arthur as it grows smaller and smaller and finally disappears.
Gawain: Gawain is Arthur's nephew, and in much Arthurian literature he is presented as the best of Arthur's knights. In a number of sources, his strength is said to increase until noon, at which point it begins to wane. According to the French Mort Artu Death of Arthur , his strength increases around noon because the priest who baptized him prayed that his strength would increase at noon, the hour he was baptized.
Malory says that a holy man gave Gawain the gift of increasing strength from undern 9 a. In Geoffrey of Monmouth's history, Gawain is one of Arthur's most valorous knights in his continental wars, and he dies in the struggle against Modred when Arthur returns to Britain. The author of The Rise of Gawain twelfth century tells of Gawain's being brought to Rome by Viamundus, the fisherman who stole the boy from the merchants to whom Anna, his mother, had entrusted him because he was born before she was married to Loth Lot.
There, he is knighted by and serves the Emperor. In this work, and in numerous others by various authors, Gawain is contrasted to Kay, whose boorishness is a foil to Gawain's courtliness. In several Dutch romances, Gawain is called the Father of Adventure, and he has great skill in healing as well as in fighting and diplomacy. In many of the French romances of the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries, Gawain is the most important hero; but Lancelot eventually replaces him in this role.
In the thirteenth-century Vulgate Cycle, Gawain is presented as the second-best worldly knight after Lancelot. He refuses to join in Agravain's accusation against Lancelot and Guinevere; later, out of grief for his brothers-particularly his favorite Gaheriet Gareth -who are slain in the rescue of the queen, he insists on pursuing and fighting with Lancelot.
Although Lancelot refuses to slay him when he has the opportunity, Gawain ultimately dies from a head wound received in their fight.
Nevertheless, before his death Gawain realizes that Lancelot was the best and most generous knight, wishes he could ask his forgiveness before his death, and advises Arthur to ask him for help. In Malory's Morte d'Arthur , Gawain is at times brave and noble and at times vengeful and treacherous. He keeps alive the feud between the house of Lot and the house of Pellinore by treacherously killing Pellinore and then Lamorak.
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