Gwenivere the Great

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King Arthur's sister Morgan shows him the room where Lancelot had painted his relationship with Guinevere in Évrard d'Espinques' illumination for the Vulgate Cycle's La Mort du roi Arthur in BNF fr. 116 f. 688 v. The story began one day in the month of May, when Guinevere called together ten Knights of the Round Table. She told them they would accompany her and ten of her ladies in the traditional seasonal activity of Maying, in place of her own elite guards known as the Queen’s Knights, who usually accompanied her everywhere. In celebration of the season and to enter into the spirit of the celebration, she insisted they leave behind their armour and wear green clothing and bear only light arms. Therefore, bright and early the next morning, the party set off to go a-Maying in the woods and fields around Westminster. The Malice of Sir Meliagrance At first, Gwen was shy and awkward and often found herself in situations she didn’t want to be in or saying things she didn’t mean to say. This usually happened around male characters, particularly Merlin and Arthur. Merlin immediately suggested that despite disliking him as a person Gwen had a crush on Arthur although this was untrue and he teased her about her attraction to "rough, tough save-the-world" types ( The Dragon's Call, Lancelot). Guinevere Pendragon • Morgana Pendragon (former, deceased) • Ygraine Pendragon (deceased) • Annis • Mithian (Princess) • Catrina (former, deceased) Guinevere and her party joyfully entertained themselves fully in the ancient custom, adorning themselves and each other with flowers, leaves, mosses, and herbs. They were all relaxed and enjoying the traditional activity so they were easily caught unawares when Meliagrance with his men came out of the woods and surrounded the happy company. Aggressively, he demanded that Guinevere should be given to him, or he would take her by force. The ten lightly armed knights, without a shields, or armour, were not prepared to allow the queen to be taken easily and vowed to fight to the death to defend her. Meliagrance sternly told them, “Prepare with what weapons you have, for I will have the queen!”

Lindahl, C. et. al. Medieval Folklore: A Guide to Myths, Legends, Tales, Beliefs, and Customs. Oxford University Press, 2002. In Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, Gwenhwyfar is brought up by a cold, unloving father, which leaves 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. Bradley's version is notable for popularising the Welsh spelling, which many subsequent writers have adopted.Mediavilla, Cindy (21 March 1999). "Arthurian fiction: an annotated bibliography". Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press – via Internet Archive.

Since Morgana's betrayal, Guinevere is the only female within Arthur's inner circle and is the 'mother' of the Knights of the Round Table and Merlin. In this story,Guinevere has been abducted and rescued, then accused of a crime and in danger of being burnt for adultery and treason. Lancelot has proven to be the strongest and most potent of her suitors, which is exactly what a goddess of sovereignty needs. As the personification of a goddess of sovereignty, her relationships with more than one powerful male should not be seen as sexual promiscuity or immoral behaviour but purely the human representative of the goddess fulfilling her role and purpose.Guinevere appears in the 2005 animated series King Arthur's Disasters, where she is voiced by Morwenna Banks.

Longley, Anne P. (2002). "Guinevere as Lord". Arthuriana. 12 (3): 49–62. doi: 10.1353/art.2002.0074. JSTOR 27870447. S2CID 161075853. After Sefa begs Gaius to let her speak to the Queen, Gwen meets with Sefa but tells her that her decision to execute her still stands. It is then revealed that Gwen is using Sefa as bait to catch the real threat to Camelot, Ruadan; Sefa's father who is an ally of Morgana. Gwen's plan to lure Ruadan to Camelot works and he is mortally wounded by Elyan. Gwen is later seen sitting on her throne beside Arthur as Mordred is knighted ( Arthur's Bane: part two). World-famous as Baroque family's fencing is, young Guinevere doesn't like it at all. Just like other girls, she is naturally fond of gorgeous things. From youth, she was sent to the Magic Academy. Relying on her own sensitive spiritual perception and anti-gravity magic, when Guinevere was 10 years old, she successfully combined mental perception with super energy and invented multiple magic effects — magic superpower. Such a breakthrough made Guinevere more passionate about magic, and she often experimented with her new magic on her brother, Lancelot. No matter how Lancelot hides, he will be found by his sister. Therefore, Lancelot is often caught in an unknown thrill. In his childhood, his sister was always causing him a headache. But anyhow, Lancelot still loves Guinevere. He always shows a smile to his beloved sister. But every time when Lancelot thinks of his little sister's magic experiment, he would wear a bitter smile. It is unclear how Gwen learns of Arthur's death. The second-to-last scene of the finale shows Gwen's coronation as queen regnant of Camelot. Gaius stands at her side as Sir Leon declares, "The king is dead. Long live the queen!" The assembled knights chant "long live the queen" in reply, swearing their allegiance to Gwen and ensuring her smooth inheritance of the kingdom. Although peace is restored to Camelot, Gwen has to look after Uther for a year as he is still shaken by Morgana’s betrayal. Gwen tells Gaius that she is only doing it for Arthur’s sake and not Uther’s. Meanwhile, Morgana attempts to take revenge on Camelot again by summoning creatures known as the Dorocha and Arthur plans to sacrifice himself to defeat them. Before leaving, he tearfully says goodbye to Uther and comforts Gwen by reminding her of the day he first kissed her. Gwen then goes to Lancelot, telling him to keep Arthur safe and he promises that he will protect Arthur with his life.Dictionary of the Irish Language (ed. E G Quin et al., Royal Irish Academy, Dublin 1913–76; Letter S, Column 205, electronic version at http://www.DIL.ie).

Hamp, Eric P. (1996). "Varia: 1. 1 sál m. '(eau de) mer'; 2. 1 sed 'cerf'; 3. slabar; 4. slice 'coquille'; 5. ta- 'obtenir, trouver, pouvoir (féad-<ét-)'; 6. 1 tadg 'poète', 1 tál 'asciam'; 7. Irish tarr, torrach; 8. tinaid; 9. tindabrad, Findabair; 10. 1 úall, úabar, úais; 11. *uern~?". Études Celtiques. 32: 87–90. doi: 10.3406/ecelt.1996.2087. In one of the Welsh Triads ( Trioedd Ynys Prydein, no. 56), the 13th-century series of texts based on the earlier oral tales of 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"). [11] 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)." [12]In the 2020 television series Cursed, Bella Dayne portrays the Viking warrior woman Red Spear also known as Guinevere. Lacy, Norris J.; Ashe, Geoffrey; Mancoff, Debra N. (2014). The Arthurian Handbook: Second Edition. Routledge. ISBN 978-1317777434. If seen in this light, Guinevere then becomes someone who is striving to fulfil her divine role as representing the goddess of sovereignty. Her relationship with Lancelot is not out of sexual promiscuity, but as a necessity to fulfil her role in the best interests of the land. The problem for her is that as a woman she does love Lancelot and she does love Arthur, and there lies the divine tragedy for she is destined to lose both in the end. 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 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. [46] 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 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 burned 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 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.