144-455: (Redirected from White Ghost ) White ghost may refer to: Guinevere (also The White Fay/Ghost), the wife and queen of King Arthur in the Arthurian legend Ju-On: White Ghost , a 2009 Japanese supernatural horror film Ken Le Breton (also The White Ghost; 1924–1951), Australian Motorcycle speedway rider White ghost catshark ,
288-423: A "supreme aesthetic accomplishment" ( William Carlin ). For a modern audience, his prose may feel better when modernised (and perhaps especially when also dramatically performed aloud) than as it reads in its original form. Other aspects of Malory's writing style include his abrupt abridging of much of the source material, especially in the early parts concerning Arthur's backstory and his rise to power (preferring
432-513: A Japanese team, who note that "the text is imperfect, as the manuscript lacks the first and last quires and few leaves. The most striking feature of the manuscript is the extensive use of red ink ." In his 1947 publication of The Works of Sir Thomas Malory , Vinaver argued that Malory wrote not a single book, but rather a series of Arthurian tales, each of which is an internally consistent and independent work. However, William Matthews pointed out that Malory's later tales make frequent references to
576-696: A Thomas Malory. The first of these named Malory a knight and applied to participants in a campaign in Northumberland in the North of England by members of the Lancastrian faction. Field interprets these pardon-exclusions to refer to Malory of Newbold Revel, suggesting that Malory changed his allegiance from York to Lancaster, and that he was involved in a conspiracy with Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick to overthrow King Edward. William Matthews, having given evidence of this candidate's advanced age at
720-416: A different version himself for the use of his compositor, or used another version prepared by Malory. The Winchester manuscript does not appear to have been copied out by Malory himself; rather, it seems to have been a presentation copy made by two scribes who, judging from certain dialect forms which they introduced into the text, appear to have come from West Northamptonshire . Apart from these forms, both
864-459: A giant or a dwarf," and "time does not work on the heroes of Malory." According to Charles W. Moorman III , Malory intended "to set down in English a unified Arthuriad which should have as its great theme the birth, the flowering, and the decline of an almost perfect earthy civilization." Moorman identified three main motifs going through the work: Sir Lancelot 's and Queen Guinevere 's affair;
1008-516: A previously unknown manuscript copy of the work in June 1934, during the cataloguing of the college's library. Newspaper accounts announced that what Caxton had published in 1485 was not exactly what Malory had written. Oakeshott published "The Finding of the Manuscript" in 1963, chronicling the initial event and his realization that "this indeed was Malory," with "startling evidence of revision" in
1152-584: A recurring ' Hades -snatches-Persephone' theme, positing that Guinevere is similar to the Celtic Otherworld bride Étaín , whom Midir , king of the Underworld, carries off from her earthly life. According to Kenneth G. T. Webster , a scenario such as the one from Diu Crône may be an echo of a more ancient lore in which Guinevere is "a fairy queen ravished from her supernatural husband by Arthur of this world and therefore subject to raids which
1296-625: A series of trials that culminates in his rescue of the Queen from the abduction by the renegade knight Maleagant (this is also the first time the work explicitly mentions the couple's sexual adultery). Writing it, Malory combined the established material from the Vulgate Cycle's early Prose Lancelot (including its abridged retelling of Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart ), and the early parts of
1440-406: A shark of the family Scyliorhinidae found in deep water in the northeast Atlantic White Ghost , a 1988 action film about an M.I.A. US soldier who's been in hiding in the jungles of communist Vietnam. Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title White ghost . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
1584-462: A shift away from battlefield warfare towards a more mediated and virtuous form of violence. The fourth volume primarily deals with the adventures of the young Gareth ("Beaumains") in his long quest for the sibling ladies Lynette and Lioness . The youngest of Arthur's nephews by Morgause and King Lot , Gareth hides his identity as a nameless squire at Camelot as to achieve his knighthood in the most honest and honourable way. While this particular story
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#17327803265531728-427: A struggle for power that reminds scholars of her prescient connections to the fertility and sovereignty of Britain. Arthur's company saves her, but Valerin kidnaps her again and places her in a magical sleep inside another castle surrounded by snakes, where only the powerful sorcerer Malduc can rescue her. In Heinrich's Diu Crône , Guinevere's captor is her own brother Gotegrim, intending to kill her for refusing to marry
1872-527: A tower in which Mardoc is holding Winlogee , while on the other side Carrado (most likely Caradoc) fights Galvagin (Gawain) as the knights Galvariun and Che (Kay) approach. Isdernus is most certainly an incarnation of Yder ( Edern ap Nudd ), a Celtic hero whose name appears in Culhwch and Olwen . Yeder is actually Guinevere's lover in a nearly-forgotten tradition mentioned in Béroul 's 12th-century Tristan . This
2016-500: 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. 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
2160-413: Is Culhwch and Olwen , in which she is mentioned as Arthur's wife Gwenhwyfar and listed among his most prized possessions, but little more is said about her. 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. The works of Chrétien de Troyes were some of the first to elaborate on the character Guinevere beyond simply
2304-462: Is Guiomar , an early lover of Arthur's half-sister Morgan in several French romances; other cousins of Guinevere include her confidante Elyzabel (Elibel) and Morgan's knight Carrant (or Garaunt, apparently Geraint ). In Perlesvaus , after the death of Guinevere, her relative King Madaglan(s) d'Oriande is a major villain who invades Arthur's lands, trying to force him to abandon Christianity and to marry his sister, Queen Jandree. In Perceforest ,
2448-786: Is Jennifer , from Cornish . The name is given as Guennuuar ( Guennuvar ) in an early Latin text Vita Gildae . Geoffrey of Monmouth rendered it in a Latinized form as Guenhuuara ( Guenhuvara – but some manuscripts and thus modern editions also spell it with an M as in Guenhumara or Ganhumara , possibly stemming from scribal error confusing "uu/uv" for "um") in his Historia Regum Britanniae , further turned into Wenhauer ( Wenhaiuer ) by Layamon ( Gwenayfer in one manuscript) and into both Genoivre and Gahunmare in Wace 's Roman de Brut . Chronicler Gerald of Wales refers to her as Wenneuereia ( Wenneveria ) and
2592-537: Is a 15th-century Middle English prose reworking by Sir Thomas Malory of tales about the legendary King Arthur , Guinevere , Lancelot , Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table , along with their respective folklore. In order to tell a "complete" story of Arthur from his conception to his death, Malory compiled, rearranged, interpreted and modified material from various French and English sources. Today, this
2736-493: Is a wicked queen who rules with the victorious Mordred until she is killed by Lancelot, here the last of the Knights of the Round Table ; her corpse is then entombed with the captured Mordred who eats it before starving to death. Layamon's Brut ( c. 1200 ) features a prophetic dream sequence in which Arthur himself hacks Guinevere to pieces after beheading Mordred. Historically, the bones of Guinevere were claimed to have been found buried alongside those of Arthur during
2880-589: Is abridged by more than half compared to Malory's manuscript. Vinaver theorized that Malory originally wrote this part first as a standalone work, while without knowledge of French romances. In effect, there is a time lapse that includes Arthur's war against King Claudas in France. Going back to a time before Book II, Malory establishes Lancelot , a young French orphan prince, as King Arthur's most revered knight through numerous episodic adventures, some of which he presented in comedic manner. Lancelot always adheres to
3024-664: Is also a major difference both in style and content in Malory's Book II (Caxton's Book V), describing the war with the Emperor Lucius, where Caxton's version is much shorter. In addition, the Winchester manuscript has none of the customary marks indicating to the compositor where chapter headings and so on were to be added. It has therefore been argued that the Winchester manuscript was not the copy from which Caxton prepared his edition; rather it seems that Caxton either wrote out
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#17327803265533168-550: Is based on Saint Aelred 's ideas from his book Spiritual Friendship . Christianity and the Church offer a venue through which the Pentecostal Oath can be upheld, whereas the strict moral code imposed by religion foreshadows almost certain failure on the part of the knights. For instance, Gawain refuses to do penance for his sins, claiming the tribulations that coexist with knighthood as a sort of secular penance. Likewise,
3312-410: Is buried beside Arthur. Medievalist Roger Sherman Loomis suggested that this recurring motif shows that Guinevere "had inherited the role of a Celtic Persephone " (a figure from Greek mythology ). All of these similar tales of abduction by another suitor – and this allegory includes Lancelot, who saves her when she is condemned by Arthur to burn at the stake for her adultery – are demonstrative of
3456-478: Is concerned specifically with the issues relating to the subject of Lancelot and Guinevere's adultery. Prior to Caxton's reorganization, Malory's work originally consisted of eight volumes (one of them was also divided into two parts). The following list uses Winchester Manuscript (Malory's "Syr" is usually rendered "Sir" today) as well as William Caxton's print edition and modern titles by Arthurian scholars Eugène Vinaver and P. J. C. Field: Moorman attempted to put
3600-700: Is mentioned elsewhere (besides the Vulgate-inspired tradition). While later romances almost always named King Leodegrance as Guinevere's father, her mother was usually unmentioned, although she was sometimes said to be dead (this is the case in the Middle English romance The Adventures of Arthur , in which the ghost of Guinevere's mother appears to her and Gawain in Inglewood Forest ). Some works name cousins of note, though these too do not usually appear more than once. One of such cousins
3744-616: Is modernised, it reads almost like Elizabethan English. Where the Canterbury Tales are in Middle English, Malory extends "one hand to Chaucer, and one to Spenser ," by constructing a manuscript that is hard to place in one category. His writing can be divisive today, often regarded by critics (including prominent scholars such as Vinaver, George Saintsbury , Robert Lumiansky , C.S Lewis , and E. K. Chambers ) as simplistic and unsophisticated from an artistic viewpoint. Conversely, there are also opposite opinions, even regarding it
3888-620: Is no indication in the will that he was himself a knight; he died within six weeks of the will being made. It has been suggested that the fact that he appears to have been brought up in Lincolnshire may account for the traces of Lincolnshire dialect in Le Morte Darthur . To date, this candidate has not commanded the attention of scholars as the Newbold-Revel knight has. The most recent contender for authorship emerged in
4032-581: Is not directly based on any existing text unlike most of the content of previous volumes, it resembles various Arthurian romances of the Fair Unknown type. A long collection of the tales about Tristan of Lyonesse as well as a variety of other knights such as Dinadan , Lamorak , Palamedes , Alexander the Orphan (Tristan's young relative abducted by Morgan), and " La Cote de Male Tayle ". After telling of Tristan's birth and childhood, its primary focus
4176-571: Is on the doomed adulterous relationship between Tristan and the Belle Isolde , wife of his villainous uncle King Mark . It also includes the retrospective story of how Galahad was fathered by Lancelot to Princess Elaine of Corbenic , followed by Lancelot's years of madness. Based mainly on the French vast Prose Tristan , or its lost English adaptation (and possibly also the Middle English verse romance Sir Tristrem ), Malory's treatment of
4320-494: Is one of the best-known works of Arthurian literature . Many authors since the 19th-century revival of the legend have used Malory as their principal source. Apparently written in prison at the end of the medieval English era , Le Morte d'Arthur was completed by Malory around 1470 and was first published in a printed edition in 1485 by William Caxton . Until the discovery of the Winchester Manuscript in 1934,
4464-512: Is reflected in the later Romance of King Yder , where his lover is Queen Guenloie of Carvain (possibly Caerwent in Wales ). Chrétien de Troyes tells another version of Guinevere's abduction, this time by Meliagant ( Maleagant , derived from Melwas) in the 12th-century Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart . The abduction sequence is largely a reworking of that recorded in Caradoc's work, but here
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4608-765: Is silent regarding Guinevere's feelings for Arthur but goes so far as to suggest she uses charms or enchantments to win Lancelot's love. 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
4752-584: Is succeeded by Constantine, Malory provides a short epilogue about the later lives and deaths of Bedivere, Guinevere, and Lancelot and his kinsmen. Writing the eponymous final book, Malory used the version of Arthur's death derived primarily from parts of the Vulgate Mort Artu and, as a secondary source, from the English Stanzaic Morte Arthur (or, in another possibility, a hypothetical now-lost French modification of
4896-485: Is taken to the isle of Avalon by Morgan. During the civil war, Guinevere is portrayed as a scapegoat for violence without developing her perspective or motivation. However, after Arthur's death, Guinevere retires to a convent in penitence for her infidelity. (Malory was familiar with the Fontevraud daughter house at Nuneaton, and given the royal connections of its sister house at Amesbury, he chose Amesbury Priory as
5040-587: Is the servant of Jesus both day and night." As Elizabeth Bryan wrote of Malory's contribution to Arthurian legend in her introduction to a modern edition of Le Morte d'Arthur , "Malory did not invent the stories in this collection; he translated and compiled them. Malory in fact translated Arthurian stories that already existed in 13th-century French prose (the so-called Old French Vulgate romances ) and compiled them together with Middle English sources (the Alliterative Morte Arthure and
5184-402: Is uncertainly regarded as either just another of these or possibly actually Malory's own work. His assorted other sources might have included a 5th-century Roman military manual, De re militari . Le Morte d'Arthur was completed in 1469 or 1470 ("the ninth year of the reign of King Edward IV"), according to a note at the end of the book. It is believed that Malory's original title intended
5328-503: Is viewed as a text in which Malory is attempting to define the concept of knighthood, then the tale of Tristan becomes its critique, rather than Malory attempting to create an ideal knight as he does in some of the other books. Malory's primary source for this long part was the Vulgate Queste del Saint Graal , chronicling the adventures of many Knights of the Round Table in their mostly separate, pilgrimage-like journeys to find
5472-476: The aithed in which a mysterious stranger kidnaps a married woman and takes her to his home; the husband of the woman then rescues her against insurmountable odds. A seemingly related account was carved into the archivolt of Modena Cathedral in Italy, which most likely predates that telling (as well as any other known written account of Guinevere in Arthurian legend). Here, Artus de Bretania and Isdernus approach
5616-555: The Holy Grail . Gawain is the first to embark on the search for the Grail, followed by others including Lancelot who likewise undergo the quest, traveling either in small groups of changing composition or alone. Their martial and spiritual exploits are intermingled with encounters with maidens and hermits who offer advice and interpret dreams along the way. It is ultimately achieved by Galahad and his final companions, Percival and Bors
5760-736: The Middle German romances by Hartmann von Aue and Ulrich von Zatzikhoven but was written Jenover by Der Pleier , and the audience of Italian romances got to know her as Ginevra ( Zenevra , Zenibra ). In the 15th-century Britain, she was called Gwynnever in the Middle Cornish play Bewnans Ke , while the Middle English author Thomas Malory originally wrote her name as Gwenever or Gwenivere ( Guenever , Guenivere ) in his seminal compilation Le Morte d'Arthur . Some assorted other forms of her name in
5904-531: The Mort Artu was a common source of both of these texts ). In the words of George Brown , the book "celebrates the greatness of the Arthurian world on the eve of its ruin. As the magnificent fellowship turns violently upon itself, death and destruction also produce repentance, forgiveness, and salvation." Following the lapse of 182 years since the last printing, the year 1816 saw a new edition by Alexander Chalmers , illustrated by Thomas Uwins ( The History of
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6048-742: The Stanzaic Morte Arthur ) to create this text." Within his narration, Malory refers to drawing it from a singular "Freynshe booke", in addition to also unspecified "other bookis". In addition to the vast Vulgate Cycle in its different variants, as well as the English poems Morte Arthur and Morte Arthure , Malory's other original source texts were identified as several French standalone chivalric romances , including Érec et Énide , L'âtre périlleux , Perlesvaus , and Yvain ou le Chevalier au Lion (or its English version, Ywain and Gawain ), as well as John Hardyng 's English Chronicle . The English poem The Weddynge of Syr Gawen
6192-573: The " Dark Ages " times of Arthur as a familiar, High -to- Late Medieval style world of armored knights and grand castles taking place of the Post-Roman warriors and forts. Malory further modernized the legend by conflating the Celtic Britain with his own contemporary Kingdom of England (for example explicitly identifying Logres as England , Camelot as Winchester , and Astolat as Guildford ) and, completely ahistorically, replacing
6336-415: The "Summer Country" ( Aestiva Regio , perhaps meaning Somerset ), and held prisoner at his stronghold at Glastonbury . The story states that Arthur (depicted there as a tyrannical ruler) spent a year searching for her and assembling an army to storm Melwas' fort when Gildas negotiates a peaceful resolution and reunites husband and wife. The episode seems to be related to an Old Irish abduction motif called
6480-402: The 1485 edition was considered the earliest known text of Le Morte d'Arthur and that closest to Malory's original version. Modern editions under myriad titles are inevitably variable, changing spelling, grammar and pronouns for the convenience of readers of modern English, as well as often abridging or revising the material. The exact identity of the author of Le Morte d'Arthur has long been
6624-410: The 15th century, Le Morte d'Arthur was highly influenced by French writings, but Malory blends these with other English verse and prose forms. The Middle English of Le Morte d'Arthur is much closer to Early Modern English than the Middle English of Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales (the publication of Chaucer's work by Caxton was a precursor to Caxton's publication of Malory); if the spelling
6768-491: The Alliterative Morte Arthure , Guinevere willingly becomes Mordred 's consort and bears him two sons, although the dying Arthur commands her and Mordred's infant children to be secretly killed and their bodies tossed into the sea (yet Guinevere, who unlike Mordred seems to show little care for the safety of their children, herself to be spared, as he forgives her). There are mentions of Arthur's sons in
6912-598: The Caxton edition. This manuscript is now in the British Library's collection. Malory scholar Eugène Vinaver examined the manuscript shortly after its discovery. Oakeshott was encouraged to produce an edition himself, but he ceded the project to Vinaver. Based on his initial study of the manuscript, Oakeshott concluded in 1935 that the copy from which Caxton printed his edition "was already subdivided into books and sections." Vinaver made an exhaustive comparison of
7056-654: The English poems Alliterative Morte Arthure and The Awntyrs off Arthure , Genure ( Gaynor ) in the Stanzaic Morte Arthur , Guenloie in the Romanz du reis Yder , Guenore in Sir Gawayn and þe Grene Knyȝt , Gwenvere ( Guennevere , Guenera , Gwenner ) in the Polychronicon , and Gwendoloena ( Gwendolen ) in De Ortu Waluuanii . Her name is invariably Ginover ( Ginovere ) in
7200-479: The Knights of the Round Table , 1858) and Ernest Rhys ( Malory's History of King Arthur and the Quest of The Holy Grail: From The Morte D'Arthur , 1886), were also based on that by Stansby. William Upcott 's edition directly based on then-newly rediscovered Morgan copy of the first print Caxton version was published as Malory's Morte d'Arthur with Robert Southey 's introduction and notes including summaries of
7344-532: The Middle Ages and Renaissance literature of various countries and languages have included Ganor , Ganora , Gainor , Gainovere , Geneura , Guanora , Gueneour , Guenevera , Gwenore , Gwinore , Ntzenebra , Vanour , Vanore ( Wanore ). In one of the Welsh Triads ( Trioedd Ynys Prydein , no. 56), the 13th-century series of texts based on the earlier oral tales of
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#17327803265537488-708: The Moost Noble and Worthy Prince Kyng Arthur Somtyme Kyng of Grete Brytayne Now Called Englande ) by Wynkyn de Worde who succeeded to Caxton's press. Three more editions were published before the English Civil War : William Copland's The Story of the Most Noble and Worthy Kynge Arthur (1557), Thomas East 's The Story of Kynge Arthur, and also of his Knyghtes of the Rounde Table (1585), and William Stansby 's The Most Ancient and Famous History of
7632-556: The Orphan), and III (takes place between Alexander the Orphan and the Tournament of Surluse); Lancelot meets Bliant after the Tournament of Lonezep towards the end of Lancelot and Elaine section; the section of Sir Palomides takes place after Lancelot returns to Arthur's court; and finally Books VI, VII, and VIII in a straightforward sequence beginning with the closing part of Book V (the conclusion section). Like other English prose in
7776-406: The Pentecostal Oath, assisting ladies in distress and giving mercy for honourable enemies he has defeated in combat. However, the world Lancelot lives in is too complicated for simple mandates and, although Lancelot aspires to live by an ethical code, the actions of others make it difficult. Lancelot's character had previously appeared in the chronologically later Book II, fighting for Arthur against
7920-541: The Renowned Prince Arthur King of Britaine (1634), each of which contained additional changes and errors. Stansby's edition, based on East's, was also deliberately censored. Thereafter, the book went out of fashion until the Romanticist revival of interest in all things medieval. The British Library summarizes the importance of Malory's work thus: "It was probably always a popular work: it
8064-667: The Renowned Prince Arthur, King of Britain; with His Life and Death, and All His Glorious Battles. Likewise, the Noble Acts and Heroic Deeds of His Valiant Knights of the Round Table ), as well as another one by Joseph Haslewood ( La Mort D'Arthur: The Most Ancient and Famous History of the Renowned Prince Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table ); both of these were based on the 1634 Stansby's version. Several other modern editions, including these by Thomas Wright ( La Morte D'Arthure: The History of King Arthur and of
8208-514: The Roman leader Lucius Tiberius . While her husband is absent, Guinevere is seduced by Modredus and marries him, and Modredus declares himself king and takes Arthur's throne. Consequently, Arthur returns to Britain and fights Modredus at the fatal Battle of Camlann. The Roman de Brut ( Geste des Bretons ) makes Mordred's love for Guinevere the very motive of his rebellion. Early texts tend to portray her inauspiciously or hardly at all. One of them
8352-589: The Romans. In Book III, based on parts of the French Prose Lancelot (mostly its 'Agravain' section, along with the chapel perilous episode taken from Perlesvaus ), His character is widely regarded as of central importance to the entire work, representing "the very paradigm of Malorian knighthood". Malory attempts to turn the focus of courtly love from adultery to service by having Lancelot dedicate doing everything he does for Queen Guinevere,
8496-439: The Round Table , 1884) would also censor their versions for the same reason. The first "standard" popular edition, based on Caxton was Heinrich Oskar Sommer's Le Morte Darthur by Syr Thomas Malory published in 1890 with an introduction and glossary as well as an essay on Malory's prose style, followed by these by John Rhys in 1893 (Everyman's Library) and Israel Gollancz in 1897 (Temple Classics). Modernized editions update
8640-889: The Round Table fellowship as all swear to the Pentecostal Oath as a guide for knightly conduct. It also includes the tale of Balyn and Balan (a lengthy section which Malory called a "booke" in itself), as well as some other episodes, such as King Pellinore 's hunt for the Questing Beast and the treason of Arthur's sorceress half-sister Queen Morgan le Fay in the plot involving her lover Accolon . Furthermore, it tells of begetting of Arthur's incestuous son Mordred by one of his other royal half-sisters, Morgause (though Arthur did not know her as his sister). On Merlin's advice, Arthur then takes away every newborn boy in his kingdom and all of them but Mordred (who miraculously survives and eventually indeed will kill his father in
8784-476: The Vulgate Mort Artu , with his own creations (the episodes "The Great Tournament" and "The Healing of Sir Urry"). A key theme emphasised at the end of each of the book's five tales is forgiveness . A disaster strikes when King Arthur's bastard son Mordred and his half-brother Agravain succeed in revealing Queen Guinevere's adultery and Arthur sentences her to burn. Lancelot's rescue party raids
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#17327803265538928-539: The Welsh Triads, though their exact parentage is not clear. Besides the issue of her biological children, or lack thereof, Guinevere also raises the illegitimate daughter of Sagramore and Senehaut in the Livre d'Artus . Other relations are equally obscure. A half-sister and a brother named Gotegin play the antagonistic roles in the Vulgate Cycle ( Lancelot–Grail ) and Diu Crône respectively, but neither character
9072-475: The Winchester manuscript and the Caxton edition show some more northerly dialect forms which, in the judgement of the Middle English dialect expert Angus McIntosh are closest to the dialect of Lincolnshire. McIntosh argues, however, that this does not necessarily rule out the Warwickshire Malory as the possible author; he points out that it could be that the Warwickshire Malory consciously imitated
9216-516: The Younger . After the confusion of the secular moral code he manifested within the previous book, Malory attempts to construct a new mode of chivalry by placing an emphasis on religion, albeit somewhat less than his French sources did, the degree of difference depending on an interpretation. As in the Queste , the framework for the interactions between the Grail knights (Galahad, Percival, and Bors)
9360-537: The author was Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel , Warwickshire , son of Sir John Malory. According to the timeline proposed by P.J.C. Field, Sir Thomas of Newbold Revel inherited the family estate in 1434, but by 1450 he was fully engaged in a life of crime. As early as 1433, he had been accused of theft, but the more serious allegations against him included that of the attempted murder of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham , an accusation of at least two rapes, and that he had attacked and robbed Coombe Abbey . Malory
9504-606: 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"). 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)." An echo of
9648-646: The book as a history rather than as a work of fiction, therefore making it a model of order for Malory's violent and chaotic times during the Wars of the Roses , arguably resembling his contemporary John Vale's Book . The opening of the second volume finds Arthur and his kingdom without an enemy. His throne is secure, and his knights including Griflet and Tor as well as Arthur's own nephews Gawain and Ywain (sons of Morgause and Morgan, respectively) have proven themselves in various battles and fantastic quests as told in
9792-405: The book, arguably an essential reading due to how Malory foreshadows and prepares for the rest of his work by developing or forecasting a variety of characters, themes, and tales found in the later books. It can be seen as an exploration of secular chivalry and a discussion of earthly "worship" (in the meaning of glory and reputation) when it is founded in a sense of shame and honor. If Le Morte
9936-584: The books of the Winchester Manuscript in chronological order. In his analysis, Malory's intended chronology can be divided into three parts: Book I followed by a 20-year interval that includes some events of Book V (Lancelot and Elaine - from the meeting of the two to the madness of Lancelot); the 15-year-long period of Book V, also spanning Books IV (takes place after the adventure of the Cote de Mal Tale), II (takes place between King Mark and Alexander
10080-454: The death of Arthur and the downfall of the kingdom. This motif had originally appeared in nascent form in the poem Lancelot prior to its vast expansion in the prose cycle Lancelot-Grail , consequently forming much of the narrative core of Thomas Malory 's seminal English compilation Le Morte d'Arthur . Other themes found in Malory and other texts include Guinevere's usual barrenness, the scheme of Guinevere's evil twin to replace her, and
10224-615: The different daughters of Lyonnel of Glat (the greatest knight of the ancient Britain) and Queen Blanche of the Forest of Marvels (also known as Blanchete, daughter of the Maimed King and the Fairy Queen) are distant ancestors of both Guinevere and Lancelot , as well of as Tristan . In Geoffrey's Historia , Arthur leaves her as a regent in the care of his nephew Modredus (Mordred) when he crosses over to Europe to go to war with
10368-419: The earlier events, suggesting that he had wanted the tales to cohere better but had not sufficiently revised the whole text to achieve this. This was followed by much debate in the late 20th-century academia over which version is superior, Caxton's print or Malory's original vision. Caxton's edition differs from the Winchester manuscript in many places. As well as numerous small differences on every page, there
10512-710: The early 13th-century France. However, their affair was soon afterwards directly condemned as sinful, especially in the Post-Vulgate Cycle retelling. Guinevere's role in their relationship in the Vulgate Lancelot is that of Lancelot's "female lord", just as the Lady of the Lake is his "female master". Regarding her characterisation by Malory, she has been described by modern critics as "jealous, unreasonable, possessive, and headstrong," at least through most of
10656-543: The end) perish at sea; this is mentioned matter-of-factly, with no apparent moral overtone. The narrative of the first book is mainly based on the Prose Merlin in its version from the Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin (possibly the manuscript Cambridge University Library, Additional 7071 ). Malory addresses his contemporary preoccupations with legitimacy and societal unrest, which will appear throughout
10800-401: The execution, killing several loyal knights of the Round Table, including, unwittingly, Gawain's younger brothers Gareth and Gaheris . Gawain, bent on revenge, prompts Arthur into a long and bitter civil war with Lancelot. After they leave to pursue Lancelot in France, where Gawain is mortally injured in a duel with Lancelot (and later finally reconciles with him on his death bed), Mordred seizes
10944-429: The exhumation of their purported graves by the monks of Glastonbury Abbey in 1091. A major and long-running Arthurian story trope features Guinevere being kidnapped and then tells of her rescue by either her husband or her lover. Welsh cleric and author Caradoc of Llancarfan , who wrote his Life of Gildas sometime between 1130 and 1150, recounts her being taken and raped ( violatam et raptam ) by Melwas , king of
11088-580: The fairy knight Gasozein , who falsely claims to be her lover and rightful husband (and who also appears as the young Guinevere's human lover named Gosangos in the Livre d'Artus ), and her saviour is Gawain. In Durmart le Gallois , Guinevere is delivered from her peril by the eponymous hero. In the Livre d'Artus , she is briefly taken prisoner by King Urien during his rebellion against Arthur. The 14th-century Welsh poet Dafydd ap Gwilym alludes to Guinevere's abduction in two of his poems. Another version of
11232-638: The famous Agincourt campaign by 1414 or 1415; confirming Dugdale's original record and placing this knight's birth around 1393. Some late 20th-century researchers cast a doubt that this would make the Newbold Revel knight far too old to have written Le Morte : in prison in his mid-70s to early 80s, when, in Matthews' words, "the medieval view was that by sixty a man was bean fodder and forage, ready for nothing but death's pit." Because no other contemporary Thomas Malory had been shown to have been knighted,
11376-474: The fathering of Galahad ) causes Lancelot to fall into his longest period of madness (which only Elaine is able to eventually cure with the power of the Holy Grail itself). The episode of Lancelot's exile and madness is also included in the Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin , where it instead serves to accent the pathetic and humiliating nature of Lancelot's illicit relationship with the queen. Malory
11520-642: The figure of Morgan ). Guinevere herself wields magical powers in The Rise of Gawain, Nephew of Arthur . The Alliterative Morte Arthure has Guinevere commit the greatest treason by giving Arthur's sword kept in her possession to her lover Mordred in order to be used against her husband. Throughout most of Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur , a late-medieval compilation highly influential for a common perception of Guinevere and many other characters today, she figures as "a conventional lady of [chivalric] romance, imperious, jealous, and demanding, with an occasional trait such as
11664-508: The first volume. Seeking more glory, Arthur and his knights then go to the war against (fictitious) Emperor Lucius who has just demanded Britain to resume paying tribute . Departing from Geoffrey of Monmouth 's literary tradition in which Mordred is left in charge (as this happens there near the end of the story), Malory's Arthur leaves his court in the hands of Constantine of Cornwall and sails to Normandy to meet his cousin Hoel . After that,
11808-440: The flawed Lancelot, for all his sincerity, is unable to completely escape his adulterous love of Guinevere, and is thus destined to fail where Galahad will succeed. This coincides with the personification of perfection in the form of Galahad, a virgin wielding the power of God. Galahad's life, uniquely entirely without sin, makes him a model of a holy knight that cannot be emulated through secular chivalry. Nevertheless, in contrast to
11952-430: The forceful advances of the sorceress Annowre for her sake, except as a victim of a spell in a variant of the "False Guinevere" case. On her side, Guinevere is often greatly jealous for Lancelot, especially in the case of Elaine of Corbenic , when her reaction to learning about their relationship (which, unknown to her, by this time has been limited only to him being raped-by-deceit by Elaine, including an earlier act of
12096-667: The giantess-Guinevere tradition appears in a local legend regarding the Queen's Crag boulder at Simonburn in England. The earliest datable mention of Guinevere (as Guenhuvara, with numerous spelling variations in the surviving manuscripts) is in Geoffrey's Historia , written c. 1136. It relates that Guinevere, described as one of the great beauties of Britain, was educated under Cador , Duke of Cornwall . The other chronicles typically have Cador as her guardian and sometimes relative. According to Wace, who calls Cador an earl , Guinevere
12240-462: 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 burnt 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
12384-584: The late Middle English spelling, update some pronouns, and re-punctuate and re-paragraph the text. Others furthermore update the phrasing and vocabulary to contemporary Modern English . The following sentence (from Caxton's preface, addressed to the reader) is an example written in Middle English and then in Modern English: Since the 19th-century Arthurian revival, there have been numerous modern republications, retellings and adaptations of Le Morte d'Arthur . A few of them are listed below (see also
12528-418: The later adventures of the knights), apparently acting on an authorial assumption that the reader knows the story already and resulting in the problem of omitting important things "thereby often rendering his text obscure", and how he would sometimes turn descriptions of characters into proper names. Because there is so much lengthy ground to cover, Malory uses "so—and—then", often to transition his retelling of
12672-542: The latter appearing as Guinevere's evil twin in some later prose romances. German romance Diu Crône gives Guinevere two other sisters by their father, King Garlin of Gore: Gawain 's love interest Flori and Queen Lenomie of Alexandria . Guinevere is childless in most stories. The few exceptions to that include Arthur's son named Loholt or Ilinot in Perlesvaus and Parzival (first mentioned in Erec and Enide ). In
12816-410: The leaderless Britain when he removes the fated sword from the stone in the contest set up by Merlin, which proves his birthright that he himself had not been aware of. The newly crowned King Arthur and his followers including King Ban and King Bors go on to fight against rivals and rebels, ultimately winning the war in the great Battle of Bedegraine . Arthur prevails due to his military prowess and
12960-589: The legend of the young Cornish prince Tristan is the centerpiece of Le Morte d'Arthur as well as the longest of his eight books, constituting a third of the entire work. The variety of episodes, and the alleged lack of structural coherence in the Tristan narrative, raised questions about its role in Malory's text. Vinaver condemned it as "long and monotonous" and suggested it to be left for the last, his view shared by much of classic scholarship. Others, conversely, have since praised or at very least partially approved of
13104-466: The legend's Saxon invaders with the Ottoman Turks in the role of King Arthur 's foreign pagan enemies. Malory hearkens back to an age of knighthood, with chivalric codes of honour and jousting tournaments, and as noted by Ian Scott-Kilvert , characters which "consist almost entirely of fighting men, their wives or mistresses, with an occasional clerk or an enchanter, a fairy or a fiend,
13248-768: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White_ghost&oldid=1182131648 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Guinevere Guinevere ( / ˈ ɡ w ɪ n ɪ v ɪər / GWIN -iv-eer ; Welsh : Gwenhwyfar pronunciation ; Breton : Gwenivar , Cornish : Gwynnever ), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever , was, according to Arthurian legend , an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and
13392-421: The long blood feud between the families of King Lot and King Pellinore ; and the mystical Grail Quest . Each of these plots would define one of the causes of the downfall of Arthur's kingdom, namely "the failures in love, in loyalty, in religion." Beverly Kennedy opined that the central theme of the work is that of adultery , from the begetting of Arthur to the cause of his fall. Much of the Malory scholarship
13536-442: The lovers spend their first night together just as Arthur sleeps with the beautiful Saxon princess named Camille or Gamille (an evil enchantress whom he later continues to love even after she betrays and imprisons him, though it was suggested that he was enchanted ). Arthur is also further unfaithful during the episode of the " False Guinevere " (who had Arthur drink a love potion to betray Guinevere), her own twin half-sister (born on
13680-478: The manuscript with Caxton's edition and reached similar conclusions. Microscopic examination revealed that ink smudges on the Winchester manuscript are offsets of newly printed pages set in Caxton's own font, which indicates that the Winchester Manuscript was in Caxton's print shop. The manuscript is believed to be closer on the whole to Malory's original and does not have the book and chapter divisions for which Caxton takes credit in his preface. It has been digitised by
13824-702: The mid-20th century: Thomas Malory of Hutton Conyers and Studley Royal in Yorkshire . This claim was put forward in 1966 in The Ill-Framed Knight: A Skeptical Inquiry into the Identity of Sir Thomas Malory by William Matthews. Matthews' primary arguments in favor of the Yorkshire Malory were the northerly dialect of the Morte ; the likelihood that this is the Malory who was excluded from
13968-687: The modern author. In spite of her iconic doomed romance with Lancelot, a number of modern reinterpretations portray her as being manipulated into her affair with Lancelot, with Arthur being her rightful true love. Others present her love for Lancelot as stemming from a relationship that existed prior to her arranged marriage to Arthur, and some do not include the affair at all. In much of modern Arthuriana, Guinevere also assumes more active roles than in her medieval depictions, increasingly even being cast as protagonist. Le Morte d%27Arthur Le Morte d'Arthur (originally written as le morte Darthur ; Anglo-Norman French for "The Death of Arthur")
14112-647: The monastery to which Guinevere retires as "abbas and rular", to find her salvation in a life of penance. ) Her contrition is sincere and permanent; Lancelot is unable to sway her to come away with him. Guinevere meets Lancelot one last time, refusing to kiss him, then returns to the convent. She spends the remainder of her life as an abbess in joyless sorrow, contrasting with her earlier merry nature. Following her death, Lancelot buries her next to Arthur's (real or symbolic) grave. Modern adaptations of Arthurian legend vary greatly in their depiction of Guinevere, largely because certain aspects of her story must be fleshed out by
14256-592: The mysterious White Knight (Lancelot) arrives from the continent, Guinevere is instantly smitten. The teenage Lancelot first joins the Queen's Knights to serve Guinevere after having been knighted by her. Following Lancelot's early rescue of Guinevere from Maleagant (in Le Morte d'Arthur this episode only happens much later on) and his admission into the Round Table, and with the Lady of the Lake's and Galehaut 's assistance,
14400-576: The name is Gwenhwyfar (also Guenhuibhar , Gwenhwyvar ), which seems to be cognate with the Irish name Findabar (the name of the daughter of Queen Medb and Ailill mac Máta in the Ulster Cycle ); Gwenhwyfar can be translated as "The White Fay/Ghost", from Proto-Celtic *Windo- "white" + *sēbro "phantom" (cognate with Old Irish síabar "a spectre, phantom, supernatural being [usually in pejorative sense]"). Some have suggested that
14544-659: The name may derive from Gwenhwy-fawr , or "Gwenhwy the Great", as a contrast to Gwenhwy-fach , or "Gwenhwy the less". Gwenhwyfach (also spelled Gwenhwyach ) appears in Welsh literature as a sister of Gwenhwyfar, but Welsh scholars Melville Richards and Rachel Bromwich both dismiss this etymology (with Richards suggesting that Gwenhwyfach was a back-formation derived from an incorrect interpretation of Gwenwhy-far as Gwenhwy-fawr ). A cognate name in Modern English
14688-658: The narrative is associated in local folklore with Meigle in Scotland, known for its carved Pictish stones . One of the stones, now in the Meigle Sculptured Stone Museum , is said to depict Vanora , the local name for Guinevere. She is said to have been abducted by King Modred (Mordred). When she is eventually returned to Arthur, he has her condemned to death for infidelity and orders that she be torn to pieces by wild beasts, an event said to be shown on Meigle Stone 2 (Queen Venora's Stone). This stone
14832-623: The original French material from the Vulgate tradition in 1817. Afterwards, Caxton became the basis for many subsequent editions until the 1934 discovery of the Winchester Manuscript. The first mass-printed modern edition of Caxton was published in 1868 by Edward Strachey as a book for boys titled Le Morte Darthur: Sir Thomas Malory's Book of King Arthur and His Noble Knights of the Round Table , highly censored in accordance to Victorian morals. Many other 19th-century editors, abridgers and retellers such as Henry Frith ( King Arthur and His Knights of
14976-501: The other hand, in Marie de France 's probably late-12th-century Anglo-Norman poem Lanval (and Thomas Chestre 's later Middle English version, Sir Launfal ), Guinevere is a viciously vindictive adulteress and temptress who plots the titular protagonist's death after failing to seduce him. She ends up punished when she is magically blinded by his secret true love from Avalon , the fairy princess Lady Tryamour (identified by some as
15120-500: The other world would regard as rescues, but which to the Arthurian world appear as abductions." The following narrative is largely based on the Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate) prose cycle and, consequently, Le Morte d'Arthur as abridged by Thomas Malory with some of his changes. It tells the story of the forbidden romance of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere, initially in accordance to the courtly love conventions still popular in
15264-521: The pardon by Edward IV in 1468; and the fact that the Newbold Revel knight was far too old to be writing the Morte in the late 1460s. Matthews' interpretation was not widely accepted, primarily because he could not find evidence that the Yorkshireman was a knight. Cecelia Lampp Linton, however, has provided extensive detail about the Malorys of Yorkshire and offered evidence that Thomas of Yorkshire
15408-427: The particular hostility displayed towards Guinevere by her sister-in-law Morgan . Guinevere has continued to be a popular character featured in numerous adaptations of the legend since the 19th-century Arthurian revival. Many modern authors, usually following or inspired by Malory's telling, typically still show Guinevere in her illicit relationship with Lancelot as defining her character. The original Welsh form of
15552-409: The popular romancer Chrétien de Troyes calls her Guenievre ( Guenièvre ). The latter form was retained by the authors of Chrétien-influenced French prose cycles, who would use also its variants such as Genievre ( Genièvre ) or Gueneure . Her many other various names appearing through the different periods and regions of medieval Europe include both Gaynour and Waynour ( Waynor[e] ) in
15696-680: The prophetic and magical counsel of Merlin (later eliminated and replaced by the sorceress Nimue ), further helped by the sword Excalibur that Arthur received from a Lady of the Lake . With the help of reconciled rebels, Arthur also crushes a foreign invasion in the Battle of Clarence . With his throne secure, Arthur marries the also young Princess Guinevere and inherits the Round Table from her father, King Leodegrance . He then gathers his chief knights, including some of his former enemies who now joined him, at his capital Camelot and establishes
15840-515: The queen himself and take Arthur's throne. While in some versions of the legend (like the Alliterative Morte Arthure , which removed French romantic additions) Guinevere assents to Mordred's proposal, in the tales of Lancelot she hides in the Tower of London , where she withstands Mordred's siege, and later takes refuge in a nun convent . Hearing of the treachery, Arthur returns to Britain and slays Mordred at Camlann, but his wounds are so severe that he
15984-446: The queen's rescuer is not Arthur (or Yder) but Lancelot, whose adultery with the queen is dealt with for the first time in this poem. In Chrétien's love triangle of Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot, Lancelot rescues her from the land of Gorre. It has been suggested that Chrétien invented their affair to supply Guinevere with a courtly extramarital lover (as requested by his patroness, Princess Marie ); Mordred could not be used as his reputation
16128-478: The queen's sister Gwenhwyfach and records the enmity between them. Two Triads ( Trioedd Ynys Prydein , no. 53, 84) mention Gwenhwyfar's contention with her sister, which was believed to be the cause of the disastrous Battle of Camlann . In the Welsh prose Culhwch and Olwen (possibly the first known text featuring Guinevere if indeed correctly dated c. 1100 ), Gwenhwyfach is also mentioned alongside Gwenhwyfar,
16272-498: 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. When Arthur goes after Lancelot to France, he leaves her in the care of Mordred, who plans to marry
16416-724: The question remained unresolved. The second candidate to receive scholarly support as the possible author of Le Morte Darthur is Thomas Mallory of Papworth St Agnes in Huntingdonshire , whose will, written in Latin and dated 16 September 1469, was described in an article by T. A. Martin in the Athenaeum magazine in September 1897. This Mallory was born in Shropshire in 1425, the son of Sir William Mallory, although there
16560-485: The rest of Le Morte d'Arthur . His concern reflects the 15th-century England , where many were claiming their rights to power through violence and bloodshed. According to Helen Cooper in Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte D'arthur – The Winchester Manuscript , the prose style, which mimics historical documents of the time, lends an air of authority to the whole work. This allowed contemporaries to read
16704-696: The same day but from a different mother) whom Arthur takes as his second wife in a very unpopular bigamous move, even refusing to obey the Pope's order for him not to do it, as Guinevere escapes to live with Lancelot in Galehaut's kingdom of Sorelais. The French prose cyclical authors thus intended to justify Guinevere and Lancelot's adultery by blackening Arthur's reputation and thus making it acceptable and sympathetic for their medieval courtly French audience. Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur , however, portrays Arthur as absolutely faithful to Guinevere, even successfully resisting
16848-408: The sangreal, & in thende the dolorous deth & departynge out of this worlde of them al." Caxton separated Malory's eight books into 21 books, subdivided the books into a total of 506 chapters, and added a summary of each chapter as well as a colophon to the entire book. In his preface, Caxton also discussed the subject of the historicity of King Arthur . The first printing of Malory's work
16992-588: The sense of humor," until she acquires more depth and undergoes major changes to her character at the end of the book, arguably (in the words of Derek Brewer ), becoming "the most fascinating, exasperating, and human of all medieval heroines." Such varied tellings may be radically different in not just their depictions of Guinevere but also the manners of her demise. In the Italian 15th-century romance La Tavola Ritonda , Guinevere drops dead from grief upon learning of her husband's fate after Lancelot rescues her from
17136-484: The siege by Arthur's slayer Mordred. In Perlesvaus , it is Kay 's murder of her son Loholt that causes Guinevere to die of anguish; she is then buried in Avalon, together with her son's severed head. Alternatively, in what Arthurian scholars Geoffrey Ashe and Norris J. Lacy call one of "strange episodes" of Ly Myreur des Histors , a romanticized historical/legendary work by Belgian author Jean d'Outremeuse , Guinevere
17280-459: The stories that become episodes instead of instances that can stand on their own. Arthur is born to the High King of Britain (Malory's "England") Uther Pendragon and his new wife Igraine , and then taken by the wizard Merlin to be secretly fostered by Arthur's uncle Ector in the country in turmoil after the death of Uther. Years later, the now teenage Arthur suddenly becomes the ruler of
17424-581: The story details Arthur's march on Rome through Almaine (Germany) and Italy. Following a series of battles resulting in the great victory over Lucius and his allies, and the Roman Senate 's surrender, Arthur is crowned a Western Emperor but instead arranges a proxy government and returns to Britain. This book is based mostly on the first half of the Middle English heroic poem Alliterative Morte Arthure (itself heavily based on Geoffrey's pseudo-chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae ). Caxton's print version
17568-502: The striking condemnation and humiliation of Lancelot's character in the Queste , Malory's version of the Knight of the Lake continues to be the paragon of, at least, earthly honor. Following the quest for the Holy Grail, Lancelot tries to maintain his knightly virtues but finds himself drawn back into his illicit romance with Guinevere. He stays true to her, tragically rejecting the desperate love of Elaine of Ascolat , and completes
17712-541: The style and vocabulary of romance literature typical of the period. Most of the events take place in a historical fantasy version of Britain and France at an unspecified time (on occasion, the plot ventures farther afield, to Rome and Sarras , and recalls Biblical tales from the ancient Near East ). Arthurian myth is set during the 5th to 6th centuries; however, Malory's telling contains many anachronisms and makes no effort at historical accuracy–even more so than his sources. Earlier romance authors have already depicted
17856-420: The subject of speculation, as at least six historical figures bore the name of "Sir Thomas Malory" (in various spellings) during the late 15th century. In the work, the author describes himself as "Knyght presoner Thomas Malleorre" ("Sir Thomas Maleore" according to the publisher William Caxton ). Historically, this has been taken as supporting evidence for the identification most widely accepted by scholars: that
18000-495: The tale. The earliest datable appearance of Guinevere is in Geoffrey of Monmouth 's pseudo-historical British chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae , in which she is seduced by Mordred during his ill-fated rebellion against Arthur. In a later medieval Arthurian romance tradition from France, a prominent story arc is the queen's tragic love affair with her husband's chief knight and trusted friend, Lancelot , indirectly causing
18144-407: The throne and takes control of Arthur's kingdom. At the bloody final battle between Mordred's followers and Arthur's remaining loyalists in England, Arthur kills Mordred but is himself gravely wounded. As Arthur is dying, the lone survivor Bedivere casts Excalibur away, and Morgan and Nimue come together to take Arthur to Avalon . Following the disappearance and presumed passing of King Arthur, who
18288-636: The time of the Northumberland campaign and living much further to the South, interprets this record as referring to his own proposed candidate for authorship. Field proposed that it was during a final stint at Newgate Prison in London that he wrote Le Morte d'Arthur , and that Malory was released in October 1470 when Henry VI returned to the throne, dying only five months later. This Warwickshire knight
18432-490: The two then begin an escalating romantic affair that in the end will inadvertently lead to Arthur's fall. Lancelot refuses the love of many other ladies, dedicates all his heroic deeds to Guinevere's honor, and sends her the redeemable knights he has defeated in battle and who must appeal to her for forgiveness. In the Vulgate Cycle, Lancelot's stepmother Ninianne, the Lady of the Lake, gifts them an identical pair of magic rings of protection against enchantements. In this version,
18576-401: The wife of King Arthur . First mentioned in popular literature in the early 12th century, nearly 700 years after the purported times of Arthur, Guinevere has since been portrayed as everything from a fatally flawed, villainous, and opportunistic traitor to a noble and virtuous lady. Many records of the legend also feature the variably recounted story of her abduction and rescue as a major part of
18720-492: 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. Later authors use her good and bad qualities to construct a deeper character who plays a larger role in the stories. In Chrétien's Yvain, the Knight of the Lion , for instance, she is praised for her intelligence, friendliness, and gentility. On
18864-419: The wife of his lord and friend Arthur, but avoid (for a time being) to committing to an adulterous relationship with her. Nevertheless, it is still her love that is the ultimate source of Lancelot's supreme knightly qualities, something that Malory himself did not appear to be fully comfortable with as it seems to have clashed with his personal ideal of knighthood. Although a catalyst of the fall of Camelot, as it
19008-529: The work before the final book, and some of these traits may be related to her political qualities and actions. In the 13th-century French cyclical chivalric romances and the later works based on them, including Malory's, Guinevere is the daughter of King Leodegrance of Carmelide (Cameliard), who had served Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon , and was entrusted with the Round Table after Uther's death. The newly-crowned King Arthur defends Leodegrance by defeating King Rience , which leads to his first meeting with
19152-529: The work of a knight of the church than a secular repeat offender, as evidenced by Malory's own conclusion (rendered in Modern English): "... pray for me while I am in life that God send me good deliverance, and when I am dead I pray you all pray for my soul; for this book was ended the ninth year of the reign of King Edward the Fourth by Sir Thomas Maleore, knight, as Jesus help him by his great might, as he
19296-427: The young Guinevere. An arranged marriage of state soon commences, and Arthur receives the Round Table as Guinevere's dowry, having ignored Merlin 's prophetic advice warning him not to marry her. This version of her legend has her betrothed to Arthur early in his career, while he was garnering support and being pressured to produce an heir (which Guinevere, barren as in most other versions, will fail to deliver). When
19440-495: Was a Knight Hospitaller , a militant of the Catholic Church . She has also examined the provenance of some of the known sources of the Morte and has demonstrated that this Malory would have had ready access to these documents. Accepting Linton's evidence would remove the primary objection to his authorship, making the contradictions presented by the Newbold Revel knight irrelevant. The Morte itself seems to be much more
19584-559: Was beyond saving, and Yder had been forgotten entirely. This version has become lastingly popular. Today it is most familiar from its expansion in the prose cycles , where Lancelot comes to her rescue on more than one occasion. There are furthermore several other variants of this motif in medieval literature. In Ulrich's Lanzelet , Valerin, the King of the Tangled Wood, claims the right to marry her and carries her off to his castle in
19728-525: Was descended from a noble Roman family on her mother's side; Layamon too describes her as of Roman descent, as well as being related to Cador. Much later English chroniclers, Thomas Gray in Scalacronica and John Stow in The Chronicles of England , both identify Cador as her cousin and an unnamed King of Biscay (the historical Basque country) as her father. Welsh tradition remembers
19872-600: Was first arrested and imprisoned in 1451 for the ambush of Buckingham, but was released early in 1452. By March, he was back in the Marshalsea prison and then in Colchester , escaping on multiple occasions. In 1461, he was granted a pardon by King Henry VI , returning to live at his estate. After 1461, however, few records survive which scholars agree refer to Malory of Newbold Revel. In 1468–1470, King Edward IV issued four more general pardons which specifically excluded
20016-419: Was first printed by William Caxton (...) and has been read by generations of readers ever since. In a literary sense, Malory's text is the most important of all the treatments of Arthurian legend in English language, influencing writers as diverse as Edmund Spenser , Alfred, Lord Tennyson , Mark Twain and John Steinbeck ." An assistant headmaster at Winchester College , Walter Fraser Oakeshott discovered
20160-416: Was in the French romantic prose cycle tradition, the moral handling of the adultery between Lancelot and Guinevere in Le Morte implies their relationship is true and pure, as Malory focused on the ennobling aspects of courtly love. Other issues are demonstrated when Morgan enchants Lancelot, which reflects a feminization of magic, and in how the prominence of jousting tournament fighting in this tale indicates
20304-746: Was made by Caxton in 1485, becoming one of the first books to be ever printed in England. Only two copies of this original printing are known to exist, in the collections of the Morgan Library & Museum in New York and the John Rylands Library in Manchester. It proved popular and was reprinted in an illustrated form with some additions and changes in 1498 ( The Boke of Kyng Arthur Somtyme Kynge of Englande and His Noble Actes and Feates of Armes of Chyvalrye ) and 1529 ( The Boke of
20448-685: Was one of two that originally stood near a mound that is identified as Vanora's grave. Modern scholars interpret the Meigle Stone 2 as a depiction of the Biblical tale of Daniel in the lions' den . One Scotland-related story takes place in Hector Boece 's Historia Gentis Scotorum , where Guinevere is taken north by the Picts following Mordred's and Arthur's deaths at Camlann and spends the rest of her life in their captivity; after her death, she
20592-443: Was to be The hoole booke of kyng Arthur & of his noble knyghtes of the rounde table , and only its final section to be named Le Morte Darthur . At the end of the work, Caxton added: "Thus endeth this noble & joyous book entytled le morte Darthur, Notwythstondyng it treateth of the byrth, lyf, and actes of the sayd kynge Arthur; of his noble knyghtes of the rounde table, theyr meruayllous enquestes and aduentures, thachyeuyng of
20736-508: Was widely accepted as the author of the Morte until the publication of Matthews' research in 1966. This identification was widely accepted through most of the 20th century based on the assumption that this candidate was born around 1416. The 1416 date was proposed by Field, contradicting the original record of this knight's military service record by Dugdale. In 1966, Matthews published original research demonstrating that Malory of Newbold Revel had in fact been an officer under King Henry V in
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