So I am becoming casually interested in arthuriana via king arthur 2004 and I know you know a lot about the legends. Can you tell me about some of your favorite arthurian ladies? I want to learn more about the women of the legends but I'm not really sure where to start beyond like. the obvious ones like Guinevere and Morgan :D
Hiii Seagull!
I'm absolutely over the moon to hear that you're becoming interested in Arthuriana. It's a very deep rabbit hole, so be prepared to be sucked in with little chance of ever escaping.
There are so many interesting ladies that I don't quite know where to start! I will not include Guinevere, Morgan, or Nimue, since they are the most well-known Arthurian ladies who vary widely across texts/films.
Lynette from Book VII of Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur and Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King. She is on a quest to find a knight to save her sister trapped by the infamous Knight of the Red Lands. What she gets is a kitchen squire from Camelot (who is actually Arthur’s nephew, Gareth), and hijinks ensue as he fights the brothers of the Red Knight to free Lady Lyonesse. Her bluntness and banter with Gareth is really entertaining and their relationship arc is silly. She’s also a necromancer??? What is her deal.
Lunete—not to be confused with Lynette—from Chrétien de Troyes’ Yvain, The Knight with the Lion. A sassy maidservant and messenger of Laudine, the Lady of the Fountain, widowed by Yvain who killed her husband Esclados. She is the ultimate matchmaker and is later implied to have a courtly love relationship with Gawain. Her outspoken nature, cunning, and wisdom are really striking.
Braingaine/Brangien, Iseult of Ireland's maidservant and cousin. I have a soft spot for her especially in Gottfried von Straussberg's Tristan since she has to put up with so much. She accidentally leaves the love potion unattended, is ravaged by guilt over it, and is coerced into sleeping with Mark in Iseult's place. She acts as a go-between for the lovers and almost dies because of Iseult. Someone please free her.
Elaine of Astolat (or Shallot), found in Book XVIII of Le Morte d’Arthur and in the Victorian poet Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Idylls of the King. An incredibly tragic unrequited love story. She falls head over heels for Lancelot who uses her token of favour as part of his disguise for a tournament. She later nurses him after he receives an injury from his cousin Bors, and after he refuses her offer of love, she wastes away and dies :/
The Grail Heroine is an obscure favourite of mine, although unfortunately unnamed. In Book XVII of Le Morte d'Arthur, she is identified as the sister of Percival. She is a visionary with a surprising amount of agency as she accompanies the Grail heroes (Percival, Galahad, and Bors) on their quest. She donates her blood to cure a lady of leprosy but dies as a result, and her funeral barge is set adrift to float to the legendary holy city of Sarras.
I also recommend @/queer-ragnelle, @/lefresne, and @/currentlycryingaboutlancelot as very knowledgeable Arthurian bloggers who have great resources for getting into Arthurian lit! I would personally recommend starting with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (any translation, but I use Tolkien's) and Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur <3
I love your page and had fun skimming this. I only know arthurian legends from the nebraskan mythpodcast and a small book by the author of "eagle of the ninth" in mdidle school so its fun hearing of sources.
anyways I have a maybe tinfoil/disproportionate appreciation for the maid who offers sir balin's sword, as she kinda has the same motive as him (i googled her afterward and their backstories get mixed up or they are related if you take it literally?) So half shoutout and half question of whether you think she's a full character or well written or not :D
man, I didn't know mordred had snake motifs, this is great. for me. terrible for him. RIP mordred, your life is an unending misery. but the snakes are great for me personally. I can do a lot with a snake motif. anyway, an early design for mordred-- for now I've combined an old gawain design with some other thoughts, but it might change when I revisit gawain haha
“Then a wind arose, and great rains fell, and torrents swept down from the heights of Taur-nu-Fuin; and thought Gwindor cried out to Turin, warning him of their utmost peril, he made no answer, but sat unmoving and unweeping beside the body of Beleg Cuthalion, lying in the dark forest slain by the hand even as he cut the bonds of thraldom from him.”
Just saw your stuff it is very cool, also the crab lore band merch shirts seems like something I would buy .... hmm ...
My only other band merch shirt joke is that my older brother/roomate leaves a pile of [cleanithink] laundry on his bed that acts as really good natural camoflage for our tuxedo cats laying on it since its all like black-with-white-designs/text :D
