The legends changed over time, and there would be a Love Triangle between Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere. Lancelot is entirely the creation of Chretien de Troyes and only appears at this date. At dinner, Guinevere, the ten wounded knights, and Sir Lavaine assumed that Lancelot had simply ridden away alone on some errand, as he had done so many times before, taking Sir Lavaine’s horse after the slaying of his own. After dinner, Sir Lavaine organized litters for the transportation of the wounded knights and then escorted Queen Guinevere and the party to Westminster. On arrival, he explained to King Arthur how Meliagrance had accused the queen of treason and how he had demanded she be burnt. He told him Sir Lancelot had taken up the gauntlet of the accuser to defend Queen Guinevere. Hopkins, Andrea (2004). The Book of Guinevere: Legendary Queen of Camelot. Saraband. ISBN 9781887354042.

Lancelot and Guinevere, illustration by N.C. Wyeth, for The Boy's King Arthur: Sir Thomas Malory's History of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, 1917, reissued 2006. (more) Guinevere is a feminine name of French or Welsh origin. The meaning of the name is "white wave" or " white phantom". Guinevere watching the mortally wounded Arthur being sailed off to Avalon in Queen Guinevere by James Archer (c. 1860)

Ground Floor

Early texts tend to portray her inauspiciously or hardly at all. One of them is Culhwch and Olwen, in which she is mentioned as Arthur's wife Gwenhwyfar and listed among his most prized possessions, [23] but little more is said about her. [24] It can not be securely dated; one recent assessment of the language by linguist Simon Rodway places it in the second half of the 12th century. [25] The works of Chrétien de Troyes were some of the first to elaborate on the character Guinevere beyond simply the wife of Arthur. This was likely due to Chrétien's audience at the time, the court of Marie, Countess of Champagne, which was composed of courtly ladies who played highly social roles. [26] Guinevere and Iseult by William Morris (1862)

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). 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. His Lancelot was popular reading and Marie's inversion of the rescue of a knight by a lady would have resonated with an audience,

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] Guinevere is the only woman to have sat at the Round Table alongside her husband, brother, Merlin, Gaius and the other knights. After Arthur’s death she fled to a nunnery where she remained until her death. The remaining living Knights of the Round Table bore her body to Arthur’s tomb where she was buried. Merlin eventually finds out after a hunting trip with Arthur, when he sees Gwen instead of the deer’s reflection. After she is hit by an arrow, he visits her and heals her wound. The next morning, Merlin and Gwen reunite and Gwen tells Merlin of Morgana and Helios’ plans to capture Camelot, and how they are aided by Agravaine.

Three years after becoming Queen, Gwen was present at Arthur's coronation anniversary dinner. Seeing that her husband was upset, she asked him if he was all right and he told her he was and kissed her on the cheek. After Arthur blew the Horn of Cathbhadh to see the spirit of his father, Uther criticised Arthur's decision to marry Gwen and make her queen. While Arthur defended his wife and said that he chose love over matters of state, Uther became angry and when his spirit was released, Gwen, in Uther's rage, became one of Uther's victims and he tried to burn Gwen alive. Lacy, Norris J.; Ashe, Geoffrey; Mancoff, Debra N. (2014). The Arthurian Handbook: Second Edition. Routledge. ISBN 978-1317777434. That night, using a ladder, he climbed up to Guinevere’s window. She was waiting for him and, after they whispered their greetings, he told her that he wanted more than anything to come into her chamber, but the window was barred with iron. Longley, Anne P. (2002). "Guinevere as Lord". Arthuriana. 12 (3): 49–62. doi: 10.1353/art.2002.0074. JSTOR 27870447. S2CID 161075853. The scholar Denis de Rougemont, among others, has suggested that courtly love poetry in general, and that of Marie de France and Chretien de Troyes in particular, are allegorical representations of the heretical sect of the Cathars who flourished in Southern France at the same time the poets were writing. The Cathars opposed the teachings of the Catholic Church claiming they were corrupt, that most of the Bible was written by Satan, and the Catholic clergy was little more than corrupt hypocrites who cared more for wealth and pleasure than serving others. Central to Cathar belief was a goddess Sophia (wisdom) and de Rougemont's claim argues that the lady character in courtly love poetry is Sophia and the knight is the devout Cathar who serves her and must protect or rescue her from her abductor, the Church. Guinevere, according to this theory, is held by Arthur, defender of the Church, and is rescued by Lancelot, the French knight who is bound only by his devotion to his lady. The Vulgate Cycle & MaloryGwen discovers Eira's treachery and has her executed, but not before sending a false lead on Arthur's whereabouts on her raven to Morgana. In the 2016 video game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, there is a playable character named Guinevere. Unlike in other stories, Guinevere is portrayed as the sister of Lancelot and is instead in a relationship with Gusion Paxley. Samples, Susann Therese (2012). "An Unlikely Hero: The Rapist-Knight Gasozein in "Diu Crône" ". Arthuriana. 22 (4): 101–119. doi: 10.1353/art.2012.a494786. JSTOR 43485991. S2CID 160239206. In the 2016 television series Legends of Tomorrow episode " Camelot/3000", Guinevere is portrayed by Elyse Levesque. [55] In the episode, she is a knight who became queen because of her loyalty to Merlin. In response to Sara letting her know of her affection for Guinevere; Sara Lance felt attraction to her, and after Merlin, who was actually Stargirl, confessed her love to King Arthur, she and Sara shared a kiss. Guinevere rightly denied the charge because it was Sir Lancelot she had slept with, but she said nothing of that. When Sir Lancelot arrived and learned of the accusation, saying nothing of where he had been in the night, he warned Meliagrance that he would fight to defend the queen against any malicious accusation. However, Meliagrance was emboldened by what he and the others had seen and declared he would take the accusation to King Arthur and, if found guilty, she would be burnt at the stake.

A long time later, Morgana enchanted Gwen so that she would fall in love with the Lancelot, whom Morgana had resurrected after his death, to prevent Guinevere from becoming queen. Gaius believed that Morgana couldn't stand the thought of a serving girl taking what Morgana believed was her rightful place on the throne. Gwen met Morgana in the woods whilst travelling to Camelot to warn them that Morgana and Helios were raising an army, and her former friend turned her into a doe so that she would be hunted by Arthur and his men. Fortunately Merlin recognised her and Arthur found her engagement ring so Gwen survived the incident, albeit with an injured leg. Gwen eventually dueled Morgana in Camelot, and asked her why she hated her so much. Morgana seemed remorseful about what had happened the their relationship and actually apologised to Gwen but felt that she had to die so that Morgana could become queen. Morgana disarmed Gwen and pointed her sword at her throat but hesitated just long enough for Merlin to rescue her before Morgana could strike the fatal blow.

Was Guinevere Modeled on a Celtic Goddess?

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 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. Korrel, Peter (1984). An Arthurian Triangle: A Study of the Origin, Development, and Characterization of Arthur, Guinevere, and Modred. Brill Archive. ISBN 978-9004072725. Although Gwen's father Tom was killed by Uther's knights when he attempted to flee the dungeons, Gwen did not hate Uther but stated that she felt nothing for him and wouldn’t kill him if she had the choice, as this would make her no better than him. Uther was the main obstacle in her and Arthur’s relationship since Uther followed the tradition that forbid royals to mate with commoners or servants. He banished her and sentenced her to death after finding out about her relationship with Arthur and being convinced by Morgana that Gwen had enchanted Arthur. He even physically slapped her across the face when she stood up for herself against his accusations of enchanting Arthur, telling Uther that he would never understand what it is like to love someone. Gwen was the only one who managed to provoke Uther to direct physical violence towards a prisoner throughout the series, probably because of her accusation that he was not able to understand real love and by that dishonouring Uther's love for Ygraine. Despite her dislike for Uther, she looked after him when he was broken by Morgana’s betrayal, but her indifference increased, which was clear when she told Gaius that she only did it for Arthur’s and not for Uther’s sake. When Uther died, Gwen happily watched Arthur being crowned king after his death.