The legend of Queen Guinevere is one of deep love and heavy heartbreak. It always ends in betrayal and death. However, the love story within is one of greatest told. She was married to King Arthur of Britain (“Guinevere.” Compton’s). However, she was not in love with him. She loved someone else named Sir Lancelot. He was King Arthur’s closest knight (“Guinevere.”
The wife of King Arthur, Guinevere, has lived an absurd life. She was the beautiful and noble queen of Britain. Her name is spelled many various ways depending on what the reader is reading. Guinevere was truly know to be a lady of Rome. Queen Guinevere was a women who was acknowledged by all of the knights, causing her to be a threat to the relationship between the knights themselves and the king of Britain. Her life began to change when she fell in love with her husbands most striking knight, Lancelot.
Here we first meet the character Merlinus ("Merdinus," a more exact Latinization of the original Welsh, was impractical because of its similarity to the Latin or French word for excrement, surely an inappropriate name for a great hero). (Bruce) Yet the Merlin of this story is not the great magician of later works. In his tale, Geoffrey uses not the Latin word "magus," which would imply that Merlin was some sort of sorcerer, but rather the word "vates," commonly indicating a poet or, often, a prophet or seer. (Tatlock) Merlin does exhibit many features of a mystic in Geoffrey's Historia: he uses clairvoyance in the familiar case, borrowed from Nennius, of Vortigern's vanishing tower; he foretells Vortigern's death and prophesies to Aurelius and Uther of Arthur's coming reign, also making several predictions about political events occuring just prior to the publication of the Historia; and he interprets to Uther Pendragon a portent of the death of the king Aurelius Ambrosius. (Bruce) Clairvoyance, prophecy, and the interpretation of dreams are all rather shamanistic actions that would fit Merlin's Welsh character as a druid.
Once his story was done, Arthur fell back against his bed. “Tell me I’m a complete fool, Merlin, to give up so much for a woman who betrayed me, for a woman I might never see again.”
Many stories of the Arthurian legend contain some reference to Merlin, as either a wizard or a prophet. As a magician, Merlin performed feats such as the moving of Stonehenge, the disguising of Uther Pendragon, and the crowning of King Arthur by the use of the sword in the stone (Fletcher 25). As a prophet, Merlin told of the defeat of the Saxons, the death of Arthur, and the one who found the Holy Grail.
Merlin is slightly arrogant and careless in this text. He throws his powers around just to be able to obtain Vivianne’s virginity. He is extremely naïve in this story. This is shown when he falls for Vivianne’s enchantments even though he is a great wizard. In truth, Merlin is completely reckless in the text because he is uncaring about what could be happening in the real world and completely focused on Vivianne. When he goes on vacation with her to ()
Queen Guinevere was turning out to be a clever and compassionate ruler, and Merlin was happy for her but...
But finally, after weeks of care, Percival found himself hovering quietly at his friend's side as Gwaine made his way to the Great Hall, slowly but on his own two feet. Gwaine carefully knelt before Guinevere and, after apologizing for his perceived failures, pledged his life and his sword to her.
I have magic." Bright gold flashed in Merlin's eyes and the fire roared into being in the hearth. Arthur took a hesitant step back as Merlin incanted a spell and a fiery dragon emerged from the flames, flapping its wings in a skyward spiral before dissolving into embers to drift silently to the floor. "All I've ever used it for was to protect you, your kingdom, our friends, and the innocent. Magic can be used for good, too."
Arthur fell in love with the beautiful Guinevere and married her. Although Merlin had predicted that his wife would be the cause of many worries, Arthur was heartbroken after learning about the affair between his queen and his beloved and most honorable knight Lancelot. Nevertheless, he is able to forgive them although he suffers tremendously. Other important
“Freya, you must tell me! On the eve of your wedding, tell me the one thing about Merlin that drives you mad,” said Guinevere. “He can’t be perfect.”
Arthur was sitting at his desk mindlessly looking of the grain stores for the coming winter. His mind strays as his eyes blurred. An unconscious thought slips into his mind, “I wish Merlin was here.”
Merlin was following Gwaine from the now-spotless kitchen when the gorgeous man stopped under the mistletoe and turned to face him. The two gazed at each other, and Merlin could see that there was now a sparkle in the depths of Gwaine's dark brown eyes that hadn't been there previously.
He makes Arthur promise to keep their meeting and the quest a secret. Arthur immediately breaks his word by telling Sir Gawain. Although our modern notions of chivalry might make us presume that the greatest medieval king would know what it is that women love best, Arthur obviously feels that he does not know. He not only enlists Sir Gawain's help in seeking the answer, he allows Gawain to wed Dame Ragnelle in order to procure that answer and save his own life. Arthur is shown to be utterly human in this tale. He begs for his life, goes back on his word, and once again allows his nephew Gawain to carry his burden.
As she dressed and applied light makeup, she thought of Arthur and how his eyes had lit up when he saw her walk into the coffee and tea shop earlier. He still looked like a man in love when his gaze stopped on her, and he had admitted as much. She recalled the devastation in his expression when she told him she was seeing Gwaine. Gwen experienced no satisfaction about his pain, and she had wanted to comfort him, but to have done so would have been misleading. She cared about Arthur, deeply, and she was in a place where a friendship seemed possible, but a relationship again?