Friday Knights - Sir Agravain

 "Finally, you will get all that you deserve, old friend."

 Merlin

There is always one bad apple in every family - unfortunate for Arthur, the rot seems to run rather deep in his.

Sir Agravain, is yet another son of King Lot of Orkeny and Morgause (Arthur's sister), which makes him the brother of Sir Gawain, Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth as well as being a half-brother to Mordred. He is, therefore, Arthur's nephew.

Sir Agravain is a complicated character, in the early works he is described as a handsome, tall man, who was a reasonable fighter and sometimes, when the mood took him, partook in heroic deeds. He is generally considered a respectable knight from a noble family.

However...

His portrayal isn't always very flattering. In the Vulgate Cycle he is portrayed in a darker light. He has a "somewhat misshapen" body - which always reminds me of the portrayal of Ricahrd III in Shakespeare's play of the same name.  Sir Agaravin may be "...a fine knight..." but he is "...arrogant and full of evil words..." It is not surprising then, that he and Mordred get on so well.

Despite his brother, Sir Gawain's, warning - Agravain, along with Mordred, is responsible for exposing Guinevere's affair with Lancelot. Which kind of implies that Gawain probably had a good idea about what was going on, but he chose to turn a blind eye to what was, High Treason. Why? Maybe it was because he and Lancelot were such good friends.

In some versions of the story, Lancelot kills Agravain when he rescues Guinevere from the pyre at her execution. Strangely, Gawain does not seem to be to aggrieved by Agravain's death - it is only because Lancelot kills Gaheris and Gareth that Gawain seeks revenge.

In T.H.White's The once and Future King (1938), as well as the Pre-Raphaelite poem, The Defence of Guinevere, Agravain is portrayed as a murderer - he killed his own mother.

In the BBC drama, Merlin (2008 -2012) , Agravaine (a variant spelling of Agravain) is portrayed as Arthur's uncle who is secretly working with Morgana to overthrow the Pendragon's. He is manipulative, sly and cruel.

Merlin - Final confrontation with Agravaine

What hope did Arthur have, when those to closest to him were determined to see him and his kingdom...fall?

Guinevere - The Legend

The last time I talked of Guinevere, I spoke of her Welsh connections. If you missed it, you can read the post here. Today, I am going to look at the rest of her story. If you are a regular reader of my blog then some of what I am going to say may be familiar - Guinevere does tend to pop up when one talks about Arthur...or Lancelot, for that matter.

Guinevere was the daughter of King Leodegrance. Leodegrance was a loyal knight when Uther Pendragon sat on the throne and he was entrusted with the precious Round Table after Uther's death. He is sometimes referred to as The Keeper of the Table.

When Arthur took the throne, he did not have the support of all the kingdoms and he spent the early part of his reign fighting to prove his worth. Leodegrance was an ally and Arthur came to his aid when Rience attacked -- Rience wanted to control all 12 kingdoms of Britain, Arthur's Kingdom was the 12th. Once Arthur and his men had driven Rience from Leodegrance's kingdom, Leodegrance introduced Arthur to his daughter, Guinevere.

Arthur and Guinevere fall instantly in love and they married. Arthur couldn't be happier - all he needed now was for the rest of the kingdoms to recognise him, as High King and life would be perfect.

Guinevere is abducted by the evil Meleagant. Sir Gawain volunteers to rescue her. But he isn’t the only man intent on rescuing her.

It is Lancelot that finds her. It is Lancelot that saves her. How can she not love this brave and noble knight.  If you want to read the rest of this story, you can check it out here.

  

Lancelot and Guinevere by Herbert James Draper (c.1890)

 

Guinevere and Lancelot cannot help themselves. They find themselves playing a very dangerous game in the name of love.

When Arthur finds out of his wife's unfaithfulness and Lancelot’s disloyalty he accuses both his wife and his knight of High Treason. Guinevere begs Lancelot to leave before he is arrested. On her persistent urging he does. Arthur, in his rage and grief, sentences Guinevere to be burned at the stake as a traitor - what else can he do?

But let us not forget that Arthur is incredibly clever. I like to think that his sentence of Guinevere to death was merely a ploy to trap Lancelot. Arthur knew that Lancelot would find out. He knew that Lancelot would come for her. Arthur sends his most loyal knights to intercept the traitor. Lancelot must die. This treachery cannot be forgiven.

As angry as he is with Lancelot, Sir Gawain cannot bring himself to watch his Queen die, nor can he kill one of his bestfriends. He refuses to attend the execution.

Lancelot does rescue the Queen, but in doing so he kills Gawain's two brothers. Gawain will never forgive Lancelot for this - he wants revenge.

 

The Rescue of Guinevere by William Hatherell

Meanwhile Lancelot takes his lover to safety, but Guinevere is overcome with guilt and, despite everything that has happened, she loves her husband. She returns to Arthur. Lancelot reluctantly lets her go. There is nothing left for him here now, she has made her choice. He goes home to Brittany.

However, Lancelot has to pay for what he had done. Arthur will not let the insult go unpunished. Arthur takes his knights and his army across the water. He leaves Britain and Guinevere in, what he thinks, are the safe hands of Mordred. 

But while the cats away the mice will play….Mordred has an evil scheme to take over Arthur’s kingdom and marry his Queen. Guinevere finds out about Mordred's plot and flees, seeking sanctuary first at The Tower of London (because that was built then??? Correct me if I am wrong, but I was under the impression that was built after the Norman occupation) and then at a convent.  

Meanwhile, back in Brittany, Gawain, in a fit of rage, kills Lancelot's brothers in battle. He has had his revenge. But it didn’t taste as sweet as he had hoped it would. 

 News travels from Britain and Arthur learns of Mordred disloyalty. A truce is called. Lancelot tells Arthur that he will travel with him back to Britain and despite what Arthur thinks of him, his loyalty to Camelot has never wavered. Arthur refuses Lancelot’s request. But the battle between the two men is over. Arthur has to return to Camelot.

  

Arthur's army and Mordred's, meet at Camlann. Arthur kills Mordred, but he himself is gravely wounded. He is taken to the Isle of Avalon and no one knows what happened after that.

Guinevere meets Lancelot one more time. They say their farewells and she joins a convent while he joins a monastery.

That is one version of events anyway!

  
Guinevere by Henry Justice Ford (c.1910)

Guinevere - A Welsh Story??

What do we know of Guinevere?

 She was.... 

King Arthur's Wife
 Queen of Camelot

Lancelot du Lac's, Lover

Guinevere was embroiled into a love triangle that was always going to end badly. She had it all. A loving and powerful husband. A beautiful home. She was popular and loved by the people. She should have been happy and who knows, maybe she was. But her fate was sealed the day she met Lancelot.

So where forth did she come from and what has she got to do with the Welsh?

Firstly we need to check out her name. In Welsh she was called Gwenhwyfar - The White Enchantress / The White Ghost - that makes her sound kind of seductive with supernatural powers doesn't it?

 

 I want to look at  Trioedd Ynys Prydein, for those of you who don't speak Welsh - I am among your number - it translates as The Triads of the Island of Britain.

I want to specifically have a look at line 56 ( LVI - for those who prefer Roman Numerals)! Have a read.

Arthur's Three Great Queens

Gwenhwyfar daughter of (Cywryd) Gwent,
and Gwenhwyfar daughter of Gwythyr son of Greidiawl,
and Gwenhwyfar daughter of Gogfran the Giant.

So it seems that Arthur was married 3 times. Luckily all his wife's were called Gwenhwyfar.  He never found himself in a position where he said the wrong name - that must have come in handy?! 

But hey, Arthur was not content with just a wife. Oh no...  

And his Three Mistresses were these:

Indeg daughter of Garwy the Tall,

and Garwen (Fair Leg) daughter of Henin the Old,

and Gwyl (Modest) daughter of Gendawd (Big Chin). 

That is interesting...don't you think? I never think of Arthur as having mistresses. He is always portrayed as the wounded party  - I knew there was more to it than we first thought! 

I think the names (translations) are great. I wonder if Big Chin was meant as a compliment back then?

 I love reading the Triads of Britain..and I think you will like them too.  I have always been particularly interested in the...

Three Golden-Tongued Knights, Whom No One Could Refuse Whatsoever They Might Ask.

and the...

Three Golden Shoemakers of the Island of Britain

....intrigue me as well.

If you did not know already, everything in Britain comes in three's and that it a fact - well, maybe. But hey, it would hardly be a Triad if it didn't. And come to think of it - the love triangle idea is beginning to make sense - there are three points to a triangle...I know it is a very weak hypothesis. I'll shut up now.

If I have sparked your interest in the Triads then Celtic Twilight have a fabulous translation on their website.  http://www.celtic-twilight.com/camelot/triads/

There is another Triad that mentions Guinevere. The Trioedd Ynys Prydein. This states that Gwenhwyfar fell out with her sister which caused the Battle of Camlann. Typical - women always get the blame.

In my next post on Guinevere, I am going to take a look to see what are old friend, Geoffrey Monmouth, made of her. He had those lost manuscripts after all - so everything he says must be true.

Reference.

 Queen Guinevere by James Archer (c.1860)

Queen Guinevere's Maying by John Collier (1900)