The Once and Future
Lancelot
By Carol Anne Douglas
This is the story of how I came to write:
Lancelot: Her Story and Lancelot and Guinevere.
I can't remember when the Arthurian legends first fascinated me. Certainly my interest began when I was a child. One of my first recollections of them is seeing episodes from the British television series Ivanhoe, and I probably saw some of the series The Adventures of Sir Lancelot. I also was fortunate enough to see the original Camelot on Broadway. I read T.H. White's The Once and Future King. The painful romance between Lancelot and Guinevere fascinated me. I could imagine how horrible it would be to love someone who was married to someone else in a world where divorce was impossible.
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| Accolade by Edmund Blair Leighton — Wikipedia |
I
was raised Catholic in the days of the Latin Mass and had a convent school
education, so a connection with the Middle Ages felt close to me. I write that
both honestly and with a smile.
When
I was a freshman at UCLA, an anthology in my English class included an excerpt
from a story in which Lancelot was a woman in disguise. Decades later, I tried
to find that story, but lacking its title, the name of the author, and the name
of the anthology, I was unable to do so. I knew that I wanted to write my own
version of that story.
I
have read many contemporary versions of the Arthurian legends as well as of
course Malory, Chrétien de Troyes (who introduced the
character of Lancelot), and Tennyson. I enjoyed Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, but I had already started working on my own
version of the story before I read it. Some of my favorite contemporary
Arthurian novels are Gillian Bradshaw's Kingdom
of Summer trilogy, Faye Sampson's five-volume Daughter of Tintagel
series, Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy, Rosemary Sutcliffe's Sword at Sunset, and Nancy Springer's I Am Mordred. In most versions of the
legend, Guinevere (again, I used the common form of the name rather than an
older version) is passive or slightly obnoxious. I don't care for most of the
modern versions in which Guinevere is featured as the main character—except for
Sharan Newman's Guinevere series,
which is lovely. Kim Headlee's novels, starting with Dawnlight, at least make Gyanhumara (Guinevere) active, a Pictish
warrior.
I
love Monty Python and the Holy Grail,
but I don't think it influenced me.
I
do not believe that there was a historical King Arthur, but the earliest
versions of the legend come from the Venerable Bede in the Eighth Century and
seem to be set in the Sixth Century.
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| Stitching the standard by Edmund Blair Leighton — Wikipedia |
My
book has both pagan and Christian characters, though I don't see either of them
having a monopoly on goodness or the truth.
I
try to avoid anachronisms, though I have a few, such as the Virgin Mary being
more important to Lancelot than she might have been in that century. Of course
the name "Lancelot" itself is not a name from that time, but I
decided to stick with the familiar name. I don't use the word
"knight," but I do have more of a court than there might have been in
Sixth Century Britain. I've seen some hilarious anachronisms in contemporary
Arthurian fiction, notably a well-known author showing the men of the Round
Table eating corn on the cob.
I
write my own version of numerous stories in the Arthurian legends, including
Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain and the Loathly Lady, Malory's poisoning
episode at a dinner given by Guinevere, and Elaine's hopeless love for
Lancelot.
I
see Lancelot as a woman because Lancelot is almost always a character who cares
about women and tries to help them. Lancelot is often portrayed as courteous,
even gentle, though an excellent fighter. I wanted to develop her. My Lancelot
was a child who saw her mother raped and murdered, and attacked the rapist. Her
father then decided to raise her as a boy, partly to protect her from men and
partly so that she could inherit his estate. She is anxious about being
discovered as a woman, because then she would have to leave King Arthur's
service. She is spiritual, much more so than Guinevere. She finds herself
deeply attracted to Guinevere but is shocked at the thought of the sin of
desiring her king's wife. Lancelot is of course
one
of my viewpoint characters.
I
set out to depict Guinevere as an active, intelligent, ambitious woman who
wanted to be a queen in her own right in her father's kingdom rather than King
Arthur's queen. She is immediately recognizes that Lancelot is a woman. She is
one of the viewpoint characters.
I
have always liked the character of Gawaine or Gawain. Even though White and
Bradley portray him as a dolt, other authors such as Bradshaw depict him in a
more sympathetic light. I enjoyed Thomas Berger's version of him in as jovial
in Arthur Rex. Though I am a
long-term feminist, I liked working on a male character who has many mistresses
but knows there's something wrong with his attitude toward women. He adores his
mother, Queen Morgause, who had protected him from his father. He jests and
loves to tell stories, which was my point of connection with him. He is a true
friend to both King Arthur and Lancelot, and helps Lancelot learn how to laugh.
He is also a viewpoint character.
King
Arthur has never been my favorite character in the Arthurian legends, though
it's impossible not to like him in The
Once and Future King and Camelot.
I see sole rulers as problematic. Power corrupts, and in my story that
ultimately takes a toll on Arthur.
Merlin
is a minor character in these novels, but I he plays a larger part in my two
young adult fantasy novels, Merlin's
Shakespeare, which is soon to be released, and a sequel, The Mercutio Problem, which is coming
out in 2019.
Giveaway
Carol
Anne Douglas is giving away five paperback copies of
Lancelot: Her Story.
Who
is your favourite character in the Arthurian legends?
Leave your answer in the comments at
the bottom of this post.
Giveaway
Rules
•
Leave your answer in the comments at the bottom of this post.
•
Giveaway ends at 11:59pm BST on November 30th.
You
must be 18 or older to enter.
•
Giveaway is only open to residents of the United
States.
•Only
one entry per household.
•
All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect
of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may
be disqualified at our discretion.
•Winners
will be announced in the comments.
•
Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
Lancelot: Her Story
A young girl sees a man rape and murder her mother.
She grabs a stick and puts out his eye. Her father raises her as a boy so she
will be safe from men's attacks. She practices and practices until she becomes
a great fighter - Lancelot. She wants to protect women, and she does.
Lancelot hears about King Arthur, a just king across the sea, and journeys to earn a place at Camelot. She vows to serve him, but fears that Arthur and his men will discover that she is a woman and send her away. Lancelot is shocked to realize that she is falling in love with the king's wife, Guinevere.
Guinevere is a strong woman who would have preferred to be queen in her own right, not through marriage.
Saxons attack Arthur's kingdom, and Lancelot finds out that fighting a war is far different from saving women in single combat. The savagery of war devastates her.
Lancelot hears about King Arthur, a just king across the sea, and journeys to earn a place at Camelot. She vows to serve him, but fears that Arthur and his men will discover that she is a woman and send her away. Lancelot is shocked to realize that she is falling in love with the king's wife, Guinevere.
Guinevere is a strong woman who would have preferred to be queen in her own right, not through marriage.
Saxons attack Arthur's kingdom, and Lancelot finds out that fighting a war is far different from saving women in single combat. The savagery of war devastates her.
Lancelot
and Guinevere
This sequel to LANCELOT: HER STORY puts the focus on
Guinevere as she faces King Arthur's wrath when he finds out his wife has been
in a relationship with a woman named Lancelot for years and years. Lancelot
herself is sinking under the effects of what we know now as battle-related
PTSD. Will the men who fought alongside and viewed her as their heroic leader
punish her when they realize she is female?
Carol
Anne Douglas
Carol
Anne Douglas is a female reincarnation of Lancelot, except that she is clumsy
and unathletic. She has spent many years as an editor of feminist and
traditional publications. Her next novels are Young Adult fantasy: Merlin's Shakespeare and The Mercutio Problem. 
