The topic of Arthurian Literature is vast and intricate. Persisting from the medieval era, the Legend of King Arthur is still being rewritten into contemporary literature. The hundreds of adaptations and claims about historical accuracy[i] haunt the Legend of King Arthur and indeed, historical queries of whether King Arthur lived or not, throw into question the true origins of the real Arthurian Legend. This essay will explore the female characters whose changes in the literary representations of the Arthurian Legends are vivid and significant. Looking at the female characters through a black and white, “good or evil” viewpoint, this essay discusses the differences between Guenevere, who is usually depicted as good; and Morgan le Fay, whose reputation for evil precedes her. It is significant that although the Arthurian legend is modified the male characters have the same qualities and faults as the many versions of themselves, and indeed rarely change. The frequently altered and developing characters are not the main protagonists – King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table – as one might be lead to think. The once minuscule characters of the women, in the Court of Camelot and other backgrounds, are the most dramatically regenerated since the legends first come to be written. The developments of the legend happen more often with great time leaps in-between[ii], and of course, great changes within each of the eras that the most notable adaptations were written, and it is important to explore why these changes are made. Although there are only a handful of women in the legend, I have chosen to explore the many versions of Guenevere, as a representative of good, and Morgan le Fay (Morgan), for evil, comparing the differences between the two. Beginning with the first mention of the two women by Geoffrey of Monmouth, I will explore their characters through the works of Sir Thomas Malory. Malory’s work has been highly influential in the world of Arthurian literature, due to his many modifications from that of his sources and influences, and in particular his characterisation of Guenevere and Morgan.

With over one thousand years between now and when the Legend of King Arthur is said to have taken place (400-500 A.D.), it is easy to get lost in the many literary rewrites and adaptations that have been written in that time. The first mention of King Arthur is perhaps in the Y Goddodin, though there is no way to trace its origin or if the copy found in The Book of Aneirin, dated 1265 is the original piece (BBC). Since Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain is dated 1136(Monmouth, “The History”) and his Vita Merlini dated 1150 (Monmouth, “Vita Merlini”), this essay – since its focus is not on the origin of King Arthur – his works will be considered the first account of the Legend. The first mentions of the two women, being examined (Guenevere and Morgan), though small, paint a picture (for Morgan that is the opposite) of what they are to become in later adaptations.

Weighed against their male counterparts the women are vastly outnumbered, and minuscule compared to the males of Arthurian Literature. Until the rise in contemporary literary versions of Arthurian works, which often enlarge the female roles and tell the legend through their perspectives[iii], there are few women from which to choose. By name, there are only nineteen women in the entire history of the legends and their adaptations (Lupack). A mere twelve of these women are given a sentence or reference to whom they are married, or the sister of (The Camelot Project: Characters). Many of the women have a simple role as the wife or sister of a knight, king or nobleman and some are often being saved by their lover (a trait common in the romantic adaptations), all of the women are ultimately seen as ‘damsels’, regardless if they are sister or wife:

Anon Sir Launcelot met with the damosel, Sir Meliot’s sister. And when she saw him she clapped her hands, and wept for joy. And then they rode unto a castle thereby where lay Sir Meliot. And anon as Sir Launcelot saw him he knew him, but he was passing pale, as the earth, for bleeding. (Malory BVI CHXV)

Unnamed women also appear in Arthurian legends and their adaptations, also referred to as ‘damsels’ these characters are often placed into situations of great peril, awaiting a knight who may be charged with saving them:

And when the twelve damosels saw Sir Marhaus they fled into the turret as they were wild, so that some of them fell by the way. Then the one of the knights of the tower dressed his shield, and said on high, Sir Marhaus, defend thee. (Malory BIV CHXVII)

Only four of these women – two of whom are discussed in this essay: Guenevere and Morgan – are the most commonly written about in contemporary Arthurian Literature[iv].

Maureen Fries, a prominent voice in the research of Arthurian literature provides a grouping system for all Arthurian women: Female Heroes, Heroines (Guenevere and hereafter hero) and Female Counter-heroes (Morgan) (Fries, “Female Heroes”) which will be used in this essay and dicussed in-depth within the two character studies. While Fries states in her work that while the term ‘hero’ is normally associated with males, it is essential to break from this conformity and allow the term to be multi-gendered, to allow the role to encompass both genders, and this essay will be used as such.

All-female roles, not just our chosen two, have their characters descend or diminish into minor characters that do not have any depth during the medieval period of Arthurian literature:

To all women, philosophers, theologists, moral writers, and even romancers ascribed the sins of Adam’s partner: they were said to be weak, vain, lustful, and needful of guidance and headship of men, who were supposed to curb their pride and insubordination in order to make them pure, humble, and submissive. (Fries, “Female Heroes” 59)

This is due to the rapid decline of the view of women during the era, the women then become weak, and imperfect and their person becomes decreasingly normal in comparison to their male counterparts (Fries, “Gender” 67). Even courtly romance, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, lessened the function of the women, which not only decreased their characters’ depths but also constricted their ‘acceptable’ gender roles (Fries, “Gender” 68).

There are many romances of the Arthurian Legend, which have inspired writers to rework their narrative of the Legend of King Arthur, such as Chrétien de Troyes (1160), and The Vulgate Cycle (1215-35), however, none of these have been as influential as Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur (1469-70) (Lupack 133). During the creation of Le Morte d’Arthur Malory was influenced by the Vulgate Cycles and various other adaptations of the legend at the time. However, the difference in Malory’s work is that he created new themes and sections of the legend, while eliminating any sections that did not fit with his intended purpose for his works:

Based on French romances, Malory’s account differs from his models in its emphasis on the brotherhood of the knights rather than on courtly love and on the conflicts of loyalty (brought about by the adultery of Lancelot and Guinevere) that finally destroy the fellowship.” (E. Britannica)

Indeed, Malory continues the Vulgate Cycles’ theme of an evil Morgan; however of Malory’s additions came the importance and inclusion of Lancelot (Lupack 134), who Malory made prominent, and a feature of this work, thus elevating the importance of Guenevere. During the fifteenth century, women were heavily dependent on men, though, in Malory’s work, they often have their own power and authority (Saul 89), women controlled by their husbands during the fifteenth century and medieval era were considered ‘benevolent’ – Guenevere is included in this category though she has some power. While women who controlled themselves without a man were considered evil, which is why Morgan is considered to be so (Saul 89)[v].

In Monmouth’s legend of King Arthur, History of the Kings of Britain, only one of our two women are mentioned, Guenevere, and it is striking that one of the earliest sources for the Arthurian legends does not mention Morgan at all. ‘Guinevere’ as named in the book, is said to be the wife of Arthur:

He himself [Arthur] married a woman called Guinevere. She as descended from a noble Roman family and had been brought up in the household of Duke Cador. She was the most beautiful woman in the entire island.” (Monmouth, “The History” 221)

Guinevere only comes back into the story much later, when Mordred, Arthur’s nephew has sought to take his throne, “What is more, this treacherous tyrant was living adulterously and out of wedlock with Queen Guinevere, who had broken the vows of her earlier marriage.” (Monmouth, “The History” 257). Guinevere then flees to a nunnery to avoid her husband’s wrath when Arthur returns to reclaim his throne. Monmouth does not give a lot of thought, effort or depth to Guenevere’s role in the legend; however, in later adaptations, her character becomes far more realistic, although not much changed from this original character.

“In Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur the women play an essential role: however, they remain ever in second place to the male characters.” (Kendig 1), Guenevere is one such character that is essential to the plot; however is inevitably cast aside and given a smaller place than the male heroes are given. Since Monmouth’s first mention of Guenevere – also known as Guinevere and Gwenhwyfar (Lupack 449) – she has since been painted as a strong character. Her character, true to her first mention, has an affair when King Arthur is away in France or Rome – this is either with Mordred, as in History of the Kings of Britain; or with Lancelot, one of Arthur’s knights. In the Vulgate Cycle and Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, however, she has the affair with Lancelot, Arthur goes after him, and then Mordred tries to replace him as king and marry Guenevere (Lupack 449). In all three circumstances, however, she manages, either with Lancelot or by herself to escape King Arthur’s wrath – of being burnt at the stake – to a nunnery, where she becomes a nun and dies a holy death.

Guenevere embodies in all Arthurian literature the title of ‘Heroine’, who is the passive guide to the male hero, her “prime virtue of beauty [which we know Guenevere to have] poised for their prime function as a love object and/or wife” (Fries, “From Lady” 2) to unfold. Although with the character of Guenevere, we can say that she started in, and remains in the ‘Heroine’ category, generally, only women who are not married can constantly be a ‘heroine’ in Arthurian literature due to their ability to not be attached to a husband – though Guenevere seems to be the exception here (Fries, “Female Heroes” 67). Guenevere’s character through the legends – though her abductor often changes – is always as the damsel in distress, who is more often than not, rescued by Lancelot, and not by Arthur, until she inevitably makes her way to the nunnery for sanctuary and is able to live peacefully. Her character is always jealous and fierce in her love for Arthur and whomever she has the affair with (Lupack 449). Guenevere is usually seen as part of the ultimate downfall of Arthur’s kingdom; and yet she is seen to all as a representation of good in the larger picture of the legend.

“Functionally, Guinevere is unable to act on her own” (Fries, “Female Heroes 63). Guenevere, according to Fries, is the instrument of the action, she is the centre wheel that turns the cogs and keeps the action consistent – especially for Lancelot. Although when Guenevere and Lancelot’s love is found by Arthur in Malory’s works, Guenevere is still able –despite her marital status – to be the constant hero throughout the story. Her beauty, which on all literary accounts, far excels any other maiden in England, seems to be her safe haven, “this damosel is the most valiant and fairest lady that I know living, or yet that I could ever find” (Malory BIII CHI), and keeps her in the place of the hero and not as a counter-hero alongside Morgan.

 Guenevere’s retreat from Arthur’s wrath to become a nun and so taking a vow of chastity, also in this instance keeps her hero title alive, for this act is often seen as “self-accusation” (Fries, “Gender”69) and Gunevere’s way of keeping patriarchal stereotypes alive, after having broken them by loving someone and lying with someone other than her husband. According to Kengid, Guenevere is only seen in two lights: that she is a queenly adulteress; or that she is an innocent, one who has been ‘tempted’ by the gallant and handsome Lancelot because of his actions in rescuing her so many times.  Malory, however, by branching out on this own in the Arthurian literary world, creates her character as a “symbol of slander and strife”, these symbols are the opposition of the round table and Arthur’s court (Kendig 7).

Aside from her affair with Lancelot and her ever-demanding role as the damsel in distress, Guenevere is also given strength to her character, often thought of as male attributes. In fact, Malory’s Guenevere is his utmost realistic female in terms of character development as she starts as being the sexual desire of Arthur and gains political power in court, however, her character is flawed in that she has both the male attributes of strength and valiance, described above, but also becomes a jealous, demanding and selfish character in the latter part of Malory’s Le Morte d’Athur (Moran 71), this can be seen when Lancelot wears a sleeve of another woman during a jousting tournament:

But when Queen Guenever wist that Sir Launcelot bare the red sleeve of the Fair Maiden of Astolat she was nigh out of her mind for wrath. And then she sent for Sir Bors de Ganis in all the haste that might be. So when Sir Bors was come to-fore the queen, then she said: Ah Sir Bors, have ye heard say how falsely Sir Launcelot hath betrayed me? Alas madam, said Sir Bors, I am afeard he hath betrayed himself and us all. No force, said the queen, though he be destroyed, for he is a false traitor-knight. (Malory BXVII CHXV)

Guenevere’s role in Le Morte d’Arthur is not just as a damsel, hero, and adulteress, however, her strength comes from her political stance and the authority that Arthur bestowed upon her – that she may judge in his place at court – and gives her far more freedom than any historically accurate queen would have had access to (Hodges 55). Her adultery also does not come into concern, after being whispered of in court until after the main quest is accomplished. More historically accurate in this case, her adultery causes apprehension in that Guenevere might gain political favour – being a prominent role in the court – above Arthur, and that she might give birth to an illegitimate heir to the throne. This political anxiety may be another answer as to why Guenevere goes to become a nun, not only to avoid the wrathful Arthur but to put an end to any political authority that she may have. Although given her characteristics, it is more likely that she ran from Arthur in the guilt of her affair and becoming a nun was the easiest way at the time to evade her punishment, given that Malory’s characters are far more symbolic than fleshed out, becoming a nun was likely a far more representational way of having Guenevere revert back to a person of good character.

Guenevere’s role as an adulteress far exceeds her role as a strong woman in political power, however, and in Le Morte d’Arthur is always known to be an adulteress by Merlin. Before they are married Merlin warns Arthur of Guenevere and Lancelot: “but Merlin warned the king covertly that Gunever was not wholesome for him to take a wife, for he warned him that Lancelot should love her and she him again” (Malory BIII CHI). Despite this warning, Merlin assists Arthur to marry Guenevere, and for the majority of the plot, Guenevere is represented as, as Arthur first describes her, valiant. She is always ready to follow Arthur’s orders – as women at the time were expected – and even follows him to battle: “Sir, said she, I am at your commandment, and shall be ready what time so ye be ready” (Malory BIV CHII). Guenevere’s conflicting character leads Moran to say: “what may have been of overriding concern to Malory was his need to make her [Guenevere] look bad”, something I believe, links back to the research done by Fries and Saul, in that the image of women during Malory’s era, was worsening. Although Malory seems to want Guenevere to be the ultimate hero, due to her character coming from her very first mention in Monmouth’s work, and that of the image of women during his time, Malory is inevitably unable to. 

Guenevere’s role in Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur is a conflicting one. On one hand, she is a strong woman, who is loved by her kingdom and her king, even given political authority at court and Arthur does not question her judgement:

So Pedivere departed with the dead lady and the head, and found the queen with King Arthur at Winchester, and there he told all the truth. Sir knight, said the queen, this is an horrible deed and a shameful, and a great rebuke unto Sir Launcelot; but notwithstanding his worship is not known in many divers countries; but this shall I give you in penance. (Malory BVI CHXVII)

However, her character is still the figure that ultimately brings the Arthurian court down through her adultery with Lancelot. This brings into question, what makes a ‘counter-hero’, Guenevere, by having her affair and bringing forth the downfall of Arthur’s court, is not given the title of counter-hero, in my opinion, not only because of her beauty but because of her role in the court – where she is just as authoritative as Arthur – and her fleeing to become a nun, which brings her character, in medieval times, back into the ‘light’ or ‘good’ character category. Even in contemporary literature, Guenevere’s role and depiction have not changed, she seems to be stuck in her place and probably will never move from this (Fries, “Female Heroes” 61), while our given counter-hero, Morgan has changed a great deal.

The first Lady of the Lake, ‘Morgen’ to Monmouth in his Vita Merlini, is mentioned by Merlin and Taliesin, while the latter tells Merlin of Arthur’s wound in his final battle at Camlan:

That is a place where nine sisters exercise a kindly rule over those who come to them from our land. The one who is first among them has greater skill in healing, as her beauty surpasses that of her sisters. Her name is Morgen, and she has learned the uses of all plants in curing the ills of the body. She knows, too, the art of changing her shape, of flying through the air, like Daedalus, on strange wings. At will, she is now at Brest, now at Chartres, now at Pavia; and at will she glides down from the sky on to your shores. (Monmouth, “Vita Merlini” 101).

This character of Monmouth’s is farthest from evil as far as anyone can tell; Morgan is a healer and leader of women who are kind in their ruling over those who come to them. There is no evidence whatsoever from Monmouth’s words that Morgan is in any way evil. The only account of evil that might be evident here is Monmouth’s link to Daedalus, who killed his own nephew in a jealous rage when his nephew made the first compass (Britannica). However, the likeness to Daedalus is that of his wings, which leaves this open to personal interpretation.

Morgan le Fay is the oldest and most persistent Arthurian example of the female counter-hero, developing eventually alongside her split-off and modified avatar, the Lady of the Lake. (Fries, “From Lady”2)

The most altered Arthurian woman since her first mention in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Vita Merlini, is Morgan le Fay, whose character ranges from the simple healer to wicked queen, enchantress and ultimately the arch-nemesis of King Arthur (Lupack 462). Her character is often not central to earlier works and only mentioned in some of them, usually as the evil Arthur is facing (Lupack 462). Morgan has become a major part of the legends in numerous contemporary works, where her link to Arthur is again, as she first was, as a priestess of good instead of evil[vi]. Morgan’s character is always a very powerful witch or priestess who uses these powers for good or evil. Unlike Guenevere who can be cast as a good character who does evil, in Morgan’s character, there is usually no in-between.

In Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, Morgan has a conflicted character, which is what makes his version of her one of the most interesting. Morgan here is said to be Arthur’s half-sister, starting out as a friend, who turns against Arthur due to a forbidden love:

Saluted Sir Accolon, and said how he came from Queen Morgan le Fay, and she greeteth you well, and biddeth you be of strong heart, for ye shall fight to morrow with a knight at the hour of prime, and therefore she hath sent you here Excalibur, Arthur’s sword, and the scabbard, and she biddeth you as ye love her, that ye do the battle to the uttermost, without any mercy… (Malory BIV CHVIII)

Though it is easy to say that Malory’s role for Morgan is one of great evil power, the question as to why she is the fairy queen on the barge that takes Arthur to Avalon, and why does she ask him: “Ah, dear brother, why have ye tarried so long from me?” (Malory BXXI CHV) This is not addressed by Malory, however, this is mentioned by Theresa Crater in The Resurrection of Morgan le Fay, where Crater questions why Morgan is now calling Arthur brother, and so eager to heal him when she has tried to kill him so many times during the narrative. The fairy queen on the barge is not named Morgan; however, it is obvious that this is her, as no matter what her role is in the Arthurian legend, she is in all adaptations on the barge that takes Arthur to Avalon for healing.

Morgan in many works, Malory included, is considered the ‘Counter-hero’, who is defined by Fries as: “the male hero proper transcends and yet respects the norms of the patriarchy, the counter-hero violates them in some way.” (Fries, “Female Heroes” 60) in Arthurian literature, Arthur and his knights are the ruling patriarchy and so any attempt to destroy them, or their laws is a violation. The counter-hero takes a “role that is ordinarily attributed only to men” (Fries, “Female Heroes” 67).

As the counter-hero in Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur Morgan, according to Fries (“Female Heroes” 60) must violate the norms of the patriarchy in some way, and for the females of Arthurian literature, as a counter-hero, she must wield great magical powers. In Malory’s work, Morgan is no longer a Lady of the Lake:

“How many Ladies of the Lake there actually are in the Morte is a problematic question, but that their function is mainly pro-Arthur and Arthurian, and anti-Morgan and/ other disruptions of Arthurian harmony, is never in doubt.” (Fries, “From Lady 13).

Separating Morgan and the Ladies of the Lake allows Malory to forge Morgan as an evil being, and keep Monmouth’s idea that the Ladies of the Lake are good-natured women and are confined to the norms and expectations of the male heroes, however, Malory does not give them such great powers as Monmouth did for ‘Morgen’, and so they are not a threat to the patriarchy. Morgan is still linked to the Ladies of the Lake in more than her being on the barge to take Arthur to Avalon – they often help Arthur to deter Morgan’s plans to kill Arthur – and I believe Malory was creating a kind of good and evil within these characters. Morgan was once head of the Ladies of the Lake, but due to other’s interpretations had been written as evil, Malory in having her on the barge, can be said to have the Ladies of the Lake and Morgan a mirror of each other, one for a good, one for evil, but essentially they are the same (Fries, “Female Heroes 71).

Morgan’s change from queen healer of Avalon in Monmouth’s Vita Merlini to Arthur’s nemesis is ultimately due to the misogynistic views that were the social norm during the medieval period (Fries, “From Lady” 4). It is easy to understand from the historical studies of women during the time that Morgan’s role as a primary healer in Monmouth’s Vita Merlini, could dramatically change to a murderous queen who wants Arthur dead and who actively tries to kill him via several methods in Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. Though Guenevere can do penance for her adultery by becoming a nun, Morgan in Malory’s work is sent to a nunnery against her choice and here is where she learns her magic. “The third sister Morgan le Fay was put to school in a nunnery, and there she learned so much that she was a great clerk of necromancy” (Malory BI CHII). During the medieval period, women accused of witchcraft were often destructive, breaching the patriarchal norms of the female gender by being powerful and denouncing the church’s authority (Saul 137). Even before her turn towards the dark side, Morgan is via the societal norms in medieval times, set on its path in Monmouth’s work. As the leader of the group of women in Monmouth’s Avalon, Morgan is self-taught and she and her sisters are in no need of men, the men come to them for help and healing.

Morgan, according to Monmouth is the most beautiful of the nine sisters of Avalon, and even in Malory’s work she keeps her beauty, “Morgan le Fay, her [Igraine’s] daughter, that was as fair a lady as any might be” (Malory BI CHXX). Since beauty is seen in medieval literature as a sign of goodness (Fries, “Female Heroes” 68) and Guenevere’s beauty allows her to be seen as hero’, it is strange that Morgan’s beauty somehow does not. Guenevere, although powerful, does not wield powers that can overthrow the authority of men – although perhaps it can be argued that Guenevere’s power is her ability to love another man other than her husband.

Morgan’s power, however, does not enable her to win in any of her endeavours to kill King Arthur, which “conforms to the medieval ideas about witchcraft which maintained that witches did not attain great success through magic” (Saul 149). In Le Morte d’Arthur Morgan, though as said, never truly successful in her actions is, in fact, the only woman, and that of man – except Mordred – to try to seize as much power and authority as she does (Saul 1). This is backed up by Fries who states, “she is the most extreme villain of Arthurian romance” (Fries, “Female Heroes” 70). It is of personal opinion that Malory may have created such a character – since he was not the first to write her as evil – in a sense to gain her back the power and authority she was given by Monmouth. Though Morgan in Monmouth was the giver of life and not death, as in Malory, it becomes an easy link to make when looking back at his Guenevere, who despite her reputation, Malory made ‘whole’ again by her becoming a nun and reverting to her character from the beginning. The link here is that Malory’s Morgan is the queen fairy on the barge that takes Arthur to Avalon, this, like Guenevere becoming a nun, is Malory’s way of setting her on a path of goodness, despite any previous action.

Since Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur is so clearly a masculine book, as argued by both Fries and Saul in their research, which is why their characters are detailed, however, flawed and although they can be ultimately put into good and evil titles it is clear from the research above a far more difficult matter than a black and white characterization of the Guenevere and Morgan in Le Morte d’Arthur. Malory spends a great deal of time on the events surrounding these two women; both Guenevere and Morgan have intense characters who are, despite their evil doings – and I call Guenevere’s action here evil due to the downfall of Arthur’s court by her affair – they both are on the side of Arthur in the end. Guenevere as a nun and Morgan as a fairy queen taking him to Avalon. Interestingly, Malory should take such a focus on these women as he has when both their actions and malevolence can be put down to the social norms during Malory’s time. It may be prevalent to think of Malory, as a lady’s man, in the sense that he, compared to others in his time, saw women as human, and that there is good and evil in all.

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[i] For further information into the studies of Arthurian origins, see: Castleden 2000, Loomis 1959, Melrose 2010, Reno 2010, and White 1997.

[ii] These time leaps are usually prominent in the literary world and have given us works still influential in contemporary Arthurian literature, see; Geoffrey of Monmouth (1136-50), Chrétien de Troyes (1160), The Vulgate Cycle (1215-35), Sir Thomas Malory (1469-70), and Richard Carew (1602), later followed by Tennyson (1848).  Scholars suggest that the time leaps are due to changes in society and writing styles/ themes.

[iii] See the works of Bradley 1982, Miles 1999, Newman 1987-93, and Sampson 1995.

[iv] The other two most commonly written about women in contemporary Arthurian Literature are The Lady of the Lake and Lady Isolt.

[v] For more research into the roles of women in medieval society consult: Friedman 1975, Heer 1962, Jacob 1961, and Klapisch-Zuber 1992. As well as medieval medical journals, which do not outwardly state views on women during the time, however allude to them, see: Avicenna; Trans Shah, 1966 and Magnus/ Lemay 1992.

[vi] See the works of Bradley 1982, Ellefson 2013, Sampson 1995 Springer 2001, Weakland 2011, and Wolf 2007

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