Abductions

by

The Arthurian Realm: The Divine Role of Guinevere

Guinevere A-Maying – AI Image – zteve t evans

This article was first published on #FolkloreThursday.com on 23rd August 2018, titled British Legends: The Divine Tragedy of Guinevere, written by zteve t evans and later edited and revised by zteve t evans and published in full here 15th May 2024.

The Arthurian Realm

In Arthurian legend and romance, Queen Guinevere was famous as the wife of King Arthur and the lover of her husband’s best knight, Sir Lancelot du Lac. In some stories, she is presented as being virtuous and honourable while at the same time being fatally flawed. Conversly, other stories present as an overtly immoral and sexually promiscuous woman who cheats on her husband, King Arthur, the great hero of the Britons. Rightly or wrongly, her affair with Lancelot is often blamed for the fall of Camelot and the Arthurian realm, with Guinevere unfairly shouldering most of the blame. However, it is crucial to acknowledge that the tragedy of Camelot was not solely the result of Guinevere’s actions. Several other key figures, including Arthur himself, Mordred, Sir Gawain, Sir Lancelot and various Knights of the Round Table, played significant roles in the unfolding of this disaster.

The Arthurian world is a tapestry woven with threads of heroism, adventure, and romance, all tinged with tragedy. Nowhere is this more evident than in the love triangle of Guinevere, Lancelot, and Arthur. Theirs is a story that echoes the tragic tale of Tristan, Iseult, and King Mark, but with more far-reaching consequences for themselves and the entire Arthurian world.

Many scholars of Arthurian legend and romance interpret the tales of King Arthur and his knights as dramatizations of the adventures of Celtic gods and significant natural events in Celtic mythology. They propose a unique bond between the King and the gods, as well as the King and the land. In this interpretation, the King’s marriage to the goddess of the land, who also embodies sovereignty, is a crucial element for ensuring the fertility and prosperity of the land.

Presented is a retelling of a story from Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory about how Sir Lancelot rescued Guinevere after an unwelcome suitor abducted her, how the two slept together, and how he saved her from being burnt at the take after being accused of adultery and treason. We conclude with a brief discussion of how some Arthurian scholars see Guinevere as a personification of a goddess of sovereignty and why this may influence public perception of her throughout the ages.

Queen Guinevere a-Maying by John Collier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Guinevere Goes a-Maying

The story begins one May Day after Guinevere chooses ten knights and the same number of ladies, and servants to accompany her into the countryside to take part in the traditional seasonal festivities celebrating the arrival of May and the beginning of spring. This small company of knights was chosen in place of her elite guards, known as the Queen’s Knights, who usually accompanied her everywhere. She insisted they leave behind their armour, wear green clothing, and bear only light arms to enter the spirit of the festivities spirit fully. Therefore, bright and early the following day, the party set off to go a-Maying in the woods and fields around Westminster.

The Malice of Sir Meliagrance

Sir Meliagrance, knight of immoral and dishonourable character, resided in a castle a few miles away from where Guinevere and her company were enjoying the festivities. From the moment he first laid eyes on her, at King Arthur’s court he had become infatuated with her, but never dared express his feelings for fear of Sir Lancelot, who always seemed close to her wherever she went.

Now, on this bright May morning, away from the security of the Royal Court, accompanied by only ten lightly armed knights, with Sir Lancelot absent, he saw his chance. He quickly mustered twenty of his men-at-arms and one hundred archers to aid him in the abduction of Queen Guinevere.

Ambush

Guinevere and her party joyfully entertained themselves thoroughly in the ancient custom, adorning themselves and each other with flowers, leaves, mosses, and herbs. They were all relaxed and enjoying the traditional activity. So, when Meliagrance sprang his ambush from the woods and quickly surrounded the happy company, they were caught completely unaware.


Aggressively, he demanded that Guinevere be surrendered to him, or he would take her by force. Nevertheless, even without shields or armour, the ten lightly armed knights were not prepared to allow the Queen to be taken easily vowing to fight to the death to defend her. Meliagrance warned sternly, “The prepare with what weapons you have, for I will have Queen Guinevere!”

The defenders placed themselves in a protective ring around their queen and drew their swords. Meliagrance gave the order, and his knights charged on horseback. Despite being vastly outnumbered, the ten knights defended the queen ferociously. After long and fierce fighting, six of her defenders were too severely injured to fight on. The remaining four were unhurt and still defiantly fought on. But, despite their heroic defence, they were vastly outnumbered and began receiving wounds, yet, courageously, they remained determined to uphold their vow and to fight to the bitter end like true knights.

Guinevere Surrenders

However, despite her knights’ courage in defending her, Guinevere could see their defeat was inevitable. She ordered them to surrender to prevent their slaying and brokered a truce with Meliagrance. It was agreed that her knights would not be slain and would remain together in her company. Meliagrance agreed, but only on the condition they did not try to escape or contact Sir Lancelot but foolishly failed to include her or her ladies and servants in this agreement.

Guinevere sent one of her young servants on a swift horse to find Sir Lancelot and tell him of her plight while Meliagrance was distracted attending to his wounded knights. Upon hearing the news, Sir Lancelot feared the Queen’s safety. He quickly summoned his horse, armour, and weapons to find and rescue her. As he left, he asked the servant to go to his friend, Sir Lavaine, to tell him the news of the Queen’s abduction and ask him to follow him to the castle of Meliagrance without delay.

The Knight of the Cart

Lancelot rode swiftly, making his horse swim the Thames and soon came to where Sir Meliagrance had abducted the Queen and her knights. Following their tracks, he was waylaid by the archers of Sir Meliagrance, who had been positioned to guard their lord’s back. They rained arrows down on Lancelot, slaying his horse, though he survived unharmed, thanks to his shield. Despite losing his horse and having no choice but to carry his armour, weapons, and shield himself, he set out on foot to the castle of Meliagrance, determined to free Guinevere.

As he walked, he was overtaken by a horse and cart manned by a driver and his assistant carrying wood to the castle of Meliagrance and begged for a lift. The driver refused, but Lancelot was in a hurry and would brook no delay. Fearing for the safety of the queen, he quickly commandeered the cart by forcibly removing the driver and ordering his assistant to drive him to the castle with all speed. The frightened assistant readily complied, and they soon arrived at the castle of Sir Meliagrance.

From his manner of arrival at the castle, Sir Lancelot was given the name “The Knight of the Cart” because a carriage was deemed unfit transport for a knight, but that hardly concerned him. Jumping to the ground, he cried, “Sir Meliagrance, traitor Knight of the Round Table, where are you? I, Sir Lancelot du Lac challenge you! Come, face me, and bring who you will, for I will fight you to the death!”

Jousting – N. C. Wyeth, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

On hearing Sir Lancelot had arrived and the commotion at the gates, Meliagrance ran to Guinevere saying, “Lady, I beg you have mercy upon me, I put myself at your good will!” and begged her to protect him from the angry knight. After mocking her abductor’s cowardice and hoping to prevent further violence, she persuaded Sir Lancelot to put aside his anger. She led him to see the other knights recuperating from their injuries in a partition in her chamber.

The Tryst of Guinevere and Sir Lancelot

Later, Lancelot and Guinevere found a chance to talk alone, and so glad they were to see each other again, they agreed on a secret tryst. While all were asleep in their beds, Lancelot would appear at the barred window of her chamber at midnight. Later that day, Sir Lavaine arrived at the castle gates, crying out in great anxiety for Sir Lancelot, who went down to meet him. The two talked, and Lancelot told him he would meet with Guinevere at night. Sir Lavaine warned him against this, but Sir Lancelot was adamant he would keep the tryst.

That night, at the allotted time, he used a ladder to climb up to Guinevere’s window. He whispered a greeting to her, expressing his desire to enter her chamber, but the barred window made it impossible. She told him that she wished for the same. He asked her to confirm this was what she wanted, and she reassured him it was. Grasping the window bars, he pulled them with all his might, successfully wrenching them out, but cutting his hand was cut in the process.

In his eagerness to be with Guinevere he did not noticing blood oozing from the wound, as he climbed in through the damaged window to join her. The two went quietly to her bed and stayed there all night long. Before sunrise, he climbed back through the window, replacing the bars as best he could and retiring to his chamber.

The Accusation

At 9 a.m., Sir Meliagrance went to Guinevere’s chamber and found her ladies awake and dressed, but their mistress still in bed with the curtain pulled around it. “Lady, why do you sleep so long? Are you ill?” he asked and drew back the curtains. Seeing the blood on her sheet—and upon herself—from Sir Lancelot’s wounded hand, he immediately accused her of lying with one or more of her wounded knights, who lay nearby, and called them to witness.

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 allegation. However, Meliagrance, emboldened by what he and the others had seen, declared he would take the accusation to King Arthur and, if found guilty, she would be burnt at the stake.

Lancelot again warned that he would defend the queen with his life. The accuser laid down his gauntlet, challenging him to a duel to prove her innocence. Lancelot readily agreed to meet the accuser in eight days in the fields of Westminster before King Arthur and his court, where they would fight in mortal combat to decide the issue.

With the trial by combat terms agreed upon, Meliagrance had formulated a treacherous plan. Acting in a polite and friendly, manner, he offered to show Lancelot around his castle, who accepted the offer out of courtesy as a guest to a host, as was the way of all true knights.

Betrayal

Meliagrance escorted Lancelot on a tour of his castle, showing its splendour, going from room to room and around the ramparts. With Sir Lancelot at his ease, he led him to a particular room and contrived it so that his guest stepped upon a hidden trapdoor and fell through to land in a deep, dark dungeon. As he lay unconscious, his host closed and locked the trap door, leaving his guest imprisoned. Going to the stables, he hid Sir Lavaine’s horse and met the others at dinner as if nothing had happened.

During dinner, Guinevere and her small group of wounded knights and their ladies, along with Sir Lavaine, assumed that Lancelot had ridden away alone on some errand, as he had done many times before. They assumed he had borrowed Lavaine’s horse after he his own had been killed.

After dinner, Sir Lavaine organized the transport of the wounded knights and 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.

Arthur was reluctant to put his wife on trial, being convinced of her innocence, but he did believe that—as king—he had to uphold his laws. He agreed to the trial by combat and said, “I have absolute faith in my Lady’s innocence and have no doubt Sir Meliagrance has bitten off more than he can chew, but where is Sir Lancelot?”

“We think he has taken Sir Lavaine’s horse on some errand of his own,” said Guinevere. “I am sure he will be here in due time, though I fear some treachery!” said Arthur.

Escape

Lancelot finally returned to consciousness to find himself trapped in a dark prison. Every day, he was brought food and drink by a lady who tried her best to seduce him, but he always politely refused her advances.

One day, she said, “Sir Lancelot, you will never escape this prison without my help, and Queen Guinevere is due to be burnt at the stake unless you defeat Meliagrance. All I ask for is a single kiss, and for that, would you let Queen Guinevere burn? Grant one kiss, and I will bring your armour, weapons, and a horse and set you free to do as you please.”

“If that is truly all you ask, I will grant it,” said Sir Lancelot, and he kissed her. As promised, she brought him his armour and weapons. Opening the door of his prison, she led him to the stable and told him to choose his mount. Lancelot chose a white charger and bade the stable boy saddle the horse while he donned his armour for battle. Mounting his steed, he turned to thank the lady and fully armed with spear, shield, and sword, rode to Westminster and his deadly rendezvous with Sir Meliagrance.

Trial by Combat

Sir Lancelot du Lac – N. C. Wyeth, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

On the appointed day, Guinevere was brought to the field of Westminster and tied to the stake, ready to be burnt. Meliagrance, confident in his belief that Sir Lancelot would not arrive, rode up and down, calling on King Arthur to bring forth the queen’s champion, and mocking Sir Lancelot du Lac, demanding to know what was keeping him.

At last, Sir Lavaine spoke to Arthur, “I ask permission to stand in for Sir Lancelot and do battle for the honour of our Queen unless a better knight shall come?”

“Thank you, Sir Lavaine, I give my permission and know you will do your best!” replied Arthur and Sir Lavaine put on his armour, armed himself, mounted his horse, and rode to the opposite end of the field, ready to meet Sir Meliagrance in combat. Then, to everyone’s surprise, a knight appeared riding like thunder on a white charger. King Arthur shouted, “Wait!” As the knight rode near, to his relief, Arthur saw it was Sir Lancelot. Standing before the King, Lancelot told of the betrayal of Meliagrance and his imprisonment, leaving Arthur and his knights full of disgust and Sir Lavaine left the field, saying, “A better knight has come!”

Sir Meliagrance and Sir Lancelot rode to opposite ends of the field. The signal was given, and they rode at each other like thunder. Lancelot’s spear knocked his opponent off his horse, and he leapt to the ground to have no advantage over his foe. Then, with shield and sword in hand and Sir Meliagrance likewise, they attacked one another fiercely. Both struck each other many times, but at last, Sir Lancelot caught Sir Meliagrance such a crushing blow to his helmet knocking his opponent to the ground. Meliagrance cried, “I yield to you, Sir Lancelot du Lac! Spare my life, for as you are a Knight of the Round Table you are required to spare those who have yielded as overcome!”

Sir Lancelot was at a loss for what to do. Sir Meliagrance was right, and his life should have been spared him, but he wanted to wreak vengeance on him for his treatment of the queen and himself. He looked towards Guinevere, who nodded slightly and looked at him in a way that clearly showed she wanted her accuser dead. Lancelot then told Meliagrance to get up and resume the battle to the bitter end. However, Meliagrance refused, “I will not stand until you accept, I have yielded and I will give you huge rewards for sparing me!”

Sir Lancelot said, “I will fight you without my helmet, leaving my head bare. I will take off the armour from the left side of my body, and I shall have my left hand bound behind my back. I will fight in this manner.”

Meliagrance turned to King Arthur, saying, “Sire, listen and take heed of what he says for I will fight him under these conditions!”

“Sir Lancelot, are you sure about this? Will you abide by the conditions you yourself have set?” the King asked.

“That I will, for I never go back on my word,” replied Lancelot. He removed his armour, and his left hand was tied behind his back in compliance with the conditions he had set. With only a sword in his right hand, he prepared to battle with Meliagrance, who still wore his full armour and carried his shield and sword.

Meliagrance, thinking he would be easy prey, rushed at him, swinging his sword high. Lancelot deftly stepped aside and dealt a tremendous blow to his opponent’s head, splitting his helmet asunder and killing him outright. With the death of her accuser, Sir Lancelot had proven Guinevere’s innocence of the charge in compliance with King Arthur’s laws. However, their adulterous liaison remained a secret from the king.

Nevertheless, completely unaware of their affair, the king was overjoyed his wife had been proven innocent of the charges and ordered her freed from the stake. Unaware of the seeds of doom now planted, the Guinevere and Arthur embraced Sir Lancelot in gratitude for saving her, never foreseeing the devastating fate that was to slowly unfold around this ménage à trois.

Goddess of Sovereignty

Many devotees of the Arthurian see Guinevere as representing a Celtic or earlier goddess of sovereignty, disguised, and hidden over time by various storytellers to become King Arthur’s unfaithful and promiscuous wife. There are many differing opinions on how Celtic and earlier influences were integrated into these stories.

The role of the goddess of sovereignty was to ensure the fertility of the land. She was the personification of the land, looking after its best interests. To fulfil her task, she needed a suitable male consort who was virile, strong, and dynamic. He would be the king and sovereign of the land, though never own it, but take stewardship of it on her behalf. He was replaceable as and when the need arose, such as when he grew old, became too sick, was injured, or failed for any reason to fulfil his role. This was because the health, strength and virility of the king became manifest in the land, as seen in the story of the Maimed King and the wasteland his realm became after his injury. To ensure continuing the health and fertility of the land the goddess of sovereignty bestowed kingship on the most suitable candidate.

There is a hint from Malory that Guinevere may have set up her abduction, as a test as she deliberately leaves her own company of guards, the Queen’s Knights, behind to rely on ten lightly armed knights without their armour. Some scholars speculate that King Arthur, for all his fame and greatness, was ageing and losing his former vitality and potency. Therefore, a younger, more dynamic replacement was needed to ensure the health and fertility of the land. If that was the case, this was why she sent for Lancelot, and not King Arthur, even though he was her husband, to rescue her from her abductor.

The Divine Tragedy

In the story, Guinevere has been abducted and rescued, then accused of a crime and in danger of being burnt for adultery and treason. Lancelot has proven to be the strongest and most potent of her suitors, precisely what a goddess of sovereignty needs. As the personification of a goddess of sovereignty, her relationships with more than one powerful male should not be seen as sexual promiscuity or immoral behaviour but purely the human representative of the goddess fulfilling her role and purpose.

If seen in this light, Guinevere becomes someone striving to fulfil her divine role as representative of the goddess of sovereignty. Her relationship with Lancelot is not out of sexual promiscuity but as a necessity to fulfil her role in the best interests of the land. The problem for her is that as a woman, she does love Lancelot, and she does love Arthur, and there lies the divine tragedy, for she is destined to lose both in the end.

© zteve t evans

References, Attributions and Further Reading

Copyright zteve t evans

The Arthurian Realm: The Abductions of Guinevere

The Abduction of Guinever – AI Image – zteve t evans

Coveting Guinevere

The theme of the abduction of Queen Guinevere runs throughout Arthurian tradition and is taken up by numerous medieval writers.  Caradoc of Llancarfan mentions it in his version of the Life of Gildas, as does Geoffrey of Monmouth, in Historia Regum Brittaniae, (History of the Kings of Britain).  The theme is also taken up by medieval French poets Chrétien de Troyes and Robert de Boron, and in the work of Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur.   Here we look in brief at various versions of the abduction and then discuss ideas about how they may have been influenced by pagan elements and may be distant echoes of the dramas of ancient gods and goddesses before the arrival of Christianity.

Caradoc of Llancarfan

Probably one of the earliest examples of the abduction of Guinevere comes from The Life of Gildas, By Caradoc of Llancarfan (c.1130-1150).  Guinevere’s abductor is the evil King Melwas of the Summer Country, or Somerset. He may have been an early prototype for Chrétien de Troyes Méléagant, and Malory’s Meliagrance.   In this story Guinevere is abducted and violated and Arthur, who is referred to as a tyrant, spends an entire year seeking her out.  Finally learning she was being in held by King Melwas in Glastonia, or Glastonbury. He raises a vast army intending to free his wife but as the two sides were about to clash, the cleric, Gildas and the clergy step between them. Gildas persuaded the two kings to parley and negotiated that Guinevere be returned to Arthur in peace and goodwill preventing a bloody battle to free her.

Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth names Mordred, Arthur’s nephew and illegitimate son, as the villain who attempts to covet  Guinevere. Arthur had left Britain in Mordred’s stewardship while he went off fighting the Procurator of Rome, Lucius Hiberius, leaving Guinevere at home.   While he was out of the country with most of his army, Mordred seduced Guinevere and claimed the crown from Arthur forcing him to return to Britain and fight.  This culminated in the catastrophic Battle of Camlann where Mordred was killed and the badly wounded Arthur taken across the sea to Avalon to recover and the end of the Arthurian realm.

Chrétien de Troyes

In Lancelot, Le Chevalier de la Charrette, also known as Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, by Chrétien de Troyes, Lancelot is the hero of the story who saves Guinevere from the Méléagant, the evil son of King Bagdemagus.  In this story he races to the rescue of Guinevere having a series of adventures along the way. These include having to suffer the indignity, for a knight, of riding in a horse and cart driven by a dwarf that was carrying criminals to their execution.  He then had to scramble over a sword bridge whose edge was turned upright and razor sharp. Although sustaining serious wounds crossing the bridge he was still ready to combat Méléagant, but Guinevere at the request of King Bagdemagus stopped the fight.

Later he was forced to fight Méléagant after the  badly wounded Sir Kay was accused of raping Guinevere while she slept.  Sir Kay was too bad wounded and had no strength available for such exertions and had been wrongly accused.  Blood had been found on her sheets and because he was laid recuperating in the same room as her, he was blamed.  In fact the blood was from Lancelot who had kept an illicit tryst with the queen and slept with her. Lancelot, knowing, but not admitting the truth, stepped in to fight and clear Sir Kay who was too weak to defend himself.

Malory’s, Le Morte d’Arthur

In Malory’s, Le Morte d’Arthur,  wehn the month of May came, Guinevere decided she would participate in the age old tradition of a-Maying in the woods and fields of Westminster.  Therefore, she set off with a party of ladies-in-waiting, along with servants and ten lightly armed Knights, who she insists wear all wear green. Sir Meliagrance, a name probably derived from the Méléagant in Chrétien de Troyes work,  had long lusted after the queen and with 160 men-at-arms attacked the small company. Although her knights fight valiantly they are lightly armed and hopelessly outnumbered. To prevent their slaying she agreed to surrender provided they are spared and remain by her side.  Meliagrance agrees but she manages to send a messenger boy to Lancelot telling of her abduction and requesting his aid.

On hearing the news Lancelot immediately set off in pursuit.  Meliagrance, realising he would follow, set a trap for him and archers killed his horse.  Lancelot was forced to hijack a horse and cart carrying wood for the fires of Meliagrance’s castle.  From this he was given the name, Knight of the Cart. On arrival at the castle gates he shout for Meliagrance demanding he come down and face him.  On learning Lancelot is at his gates Meliagrance begs Guinevere her forgiveness for his behaviour and begs that she protect him from the enraged knight.  She agrees and persuades Lancelot to put his sword away. Lancelot agrees and she leads him to the chamber where the ten knights are kept.

They are both so glad to see each other they agree on a secret midnight tryst. Lancelot appears at her window at midnight and Guinevere tells him she would prefer it if he was inside with her.  Although the window is barred Lancelot pulls the bars out cutting himself in the process and climbs in through the window. The two slept together that night and Lancelot stole away before Sunrise, replacing the bars of the window as he left.

The next morning Meliagrance seeing blood on the sheets of Guinevere’s bed accuses her of sleeping with one, or more, of her wounded knights.  Lancelot, without revealing the truth, challenges Meliagrance to a fight to clear the queen’s name. Meliagrance brings a charge of treason against Guinevere believing she had slept with one or more of the knights.  Although innocent of this accusation, Guinevere had slept with Lancelot which is not revealed to him, but he was not one of the individuals accused. The case is brought before King Arthur and he reluctantly agrees she must be burnt at the stake unless Lancelot proves her innocence by defeating Meliagrance. In the resulting duel Lancelot slays Meliagrance proving her innocence of the charges brought against her and freeing her.

Mordred’s Attempted Abduction

In Le Morte d’Arthur, Mordred, Arthur’s illegitimate son and nephew by his sister Morgause, covets Guinevere, but does not quite manage to abduct her.  Mordred lied to Guinevere telling her4 Arthur had been killed by Lancelot and claimed the throne for himself intending to marry her. Guinevere persuaded Mordred to  allow her to go to London so she could procure all the things a wedding needed but instead locked herself in the Tower of London with her entourage.  Although Mordred tried to persuade her to come out his efforts were cut short by the news that Arthur had arrived back in Britain with his army.  Consequently, he was forced to leave Guinevere and confront Arthur, resulting in his own death and Arthur being severely wounded and taken to Avalon.

Gods of the Round Table

Some scholars of Arthurian legend and romance see many of the stories of King Arthur and his knights, in legend and medieval romance, as being dramatizations of the adventures of Celtic gods and important natural events. They believe there was a special relationship between the king and the gods and the king and the land and to ensure the fertility of the land the king was wedded to the goddess of the land.

David Dom, in his book King Arthur and the Gods of the Round Table proposes that Arthur, Guinevere and the main companions of the Round Table to be a the distant and distorted memories of the old Celtic gods and Arthur is seen as representing a Solar God.  To complicate matters, these stories were overwritten, or influenced by various culture over time, including Roman, English, French and European medieval Christianity and modern thinking. It centers around the idea that Arthurian legends and stories originally were dramatizations of the deeds and adventures of ancient pagan gods with the King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table making up the pantheon, being a part of it.

Marriage of the Sun God and Earth Goddess – AI Image – zteve t evans

Pagan Origins

There is an intriguing idea that the stories of the abduction of Guinevere are echoes of earlier pagan traditions centered around the annual cycle of the seasons in Northern Europe. One of the ways this annual cycle may have been dramatized was in that the seasonal changes were due to the activities and adventures of the gods. In both Malory’s version and that  of Chrétien de Troyes, Guinevere is abducted in the spring, and in Malory’s it is while she is celebrating May Day, or Beltane, the time of the renewal of vegetation. Many scholars see this as evidence that the kidnapping was originally a season myth with Guinevere being a goddess and her abductor a god. In the original versions by Chrétien de Troyes , after being abducted Guinevere was take across water – an indication that she was leaving the Earthly world for the Otherworld – and her rescuers had to cross the water to reach her in that world.  After her rescue Guinevere and Lancelot became lovers which also happened in the spring, around Beltane.

This comes after the bleak barren days of winter and is seen to represent the marriage of the god and goddess heralding the end of the dark, bleak period of winter and the greatly looked forward to renewal of vegetation and fertility to the Earth.  In the Chrétien de Troyes version the entire episode takes place over one year, tying it further to the annual seasonal cycle. The abduction stories while only hinting at pagan influence on the surface have been heavily overwritten with Christian influences which tend to cover up the inherent pagan elements of the loves and romances of the gods.  To pursue this further it is worth taking a look at the annual cycle of seasons for Northern Europe and what follows is a very simplified version of one of the many versions

Winter

In winter the days are cold, dark and short.  Vegetation dies and crops do not grow and food becomes in short supply.   In some pagan northern European societies winter was thought of as the imprisonment of the eternally young, Earth goddess in the depths of the Earth by the aging winter solar god.  As winter progressed the power of the Sun god waned as the Sun rode low in the sky. As his power waned he became more like a malignant god of the underworld and feared the arrival of a young, potent Sun god who would steal the Earth goddess from him.  Desperate to preserve his own power and survive, he imprisoned the Earth goddess in the underworld to prevent anyone from stealing her. The imprisonment of the Earth Goddess resulted in a loss of fertility and renewal being withdrawn from the Earth, causing dramatic and disastrous consequences for humanity.

Spring

In spring the young Sun god arrives and takes a higher path across the sky providing longer days, more daylight and warmer weather.  His youth, strength and virility defeats and supplants the aging Sun god and frees the Earth goddess from imprisonment.  With a  more agreeable climate and the freeing of the goddess the Earth returns to life and seeds germinate, plants bud and grow and animals breed. The young Sun god takes the eternally young Earth goddess for his bride around the time of the festival of Beltane, commonly held on the 1st of May, or halfway between the March, or vernal equinox and the summer solstice, or midsummer,  when the Sun’s power is at its height.

Summer

As the  days grew longer and warmer, with the marriage of the Sun god and the Earth goddess the Earth is fertilized, plants grow and thrive and harvest time arrives which is the product of this marriage.  The young Sun god has reached the heights of his power at midsummer and the coming days will see his power decline.

Autumn

With the decline of power of the now aging Sun god there is a steadily decrease in sunlight and warmth, the days grow steadily shorter, vegetation begins to shrivel and die.  The cycle of the previous years repeats and slowly and inevitable the aging Sun god loses his strength, vigor and virility just as his predecessors had and just as those who come after him will.

Winter Returns

As his strength and potency diminish he appears lower in the sky, days become shorter and darker as winter sets in.  In a desperate attempt to keep his beautiful and eternally young wife he imprisons her in the underground. The Sun god reaches his lowest and weakest point at midwinter, or the Winter Solstice and is defeated by the young Sun god who frees and marries the Earth goddess.  This cycle must continue eternally to bring fertility, renewal and growth to the Earth.

In the version of the abduction of Guinevere by Chrétien de Troyes the drama was played out over one year with Meleagant, Guinevere’s abductor representing the doomed and aging Sun god and Lancelot the virile and potent, young Sun god.

Goddess of Sovereignty

There is also an idea that Guinevere was either an ancient Goddess of Sovereignty, or a representative of one.  A Goddess of Sovereignty was an aspect or servant of the Earth goddess, also known as the Earth Mother or Mother Earth and Goddess of the Land, in some cultures.

Those who follow this idea point to the fact that the story begins in May which is around the festival of Beltane.  It is at this time of year the everywhere is green and fertile and in celebration Malory tells how Queen Guinevere decides she will go a-Maying.  Those who see Arthurian characters as divinities, see Guinevere as representing a Goddess of Sovereignty that bestows the sovereignty of the land onto the King, who in this case is Arthur. As such his role is taking care of the land and inhabitants ensuring it remains fertile.  To do this she needs a strong, virile king but in these stories Arthur is usually portrayed as aging and losing power. Lancelot being the younger and more potent of the two may be seen by a Goddess of Sovereignty as an ideal replacement, but despite his love for Guinevere he remains loyal to Arthur not wanting the crown.

It may also be the case that simply being in possession of a representative of the goddess would be enough to give authority to the claim of kingship. This would make Guinevere a valuable prize for anyone who would be king and helps explain her numerous abductions, especially Mordred’s interest in her.  It also explain why, for the most, part Arthur appears reluctant to acknowledge, or deal with the situation of her affair with Lancelot until he is forced into it.

The affair with Lancelot may not have been about Guinevere’s alleged sexual promiscuity but more about her fulfilling her role as representing a Goddess of Sovereignty. Furthermore her abductions may not necessarily have been about love, lust or desire for her as a woman, but more about possessing the representative of the goddess. For all of that these are just ideas and theories and it is up to each person to decide what it means to them.

© 20/11/2018 zteve t evans

References, Attributions and Further Reading

Copyright November 20th, 2018 zteve t evans