Guinevere facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Guinevere |
|
|---|---|
| Matter of Britain character | |
Guinevere watching the mortally wounded Arthur being sailed off to Avalon in Queen Guinevere by James Archer (c. 1860)
|
|
| Information | |
| Occupation | High Queen of Britain Later tradition: Queen of Logres and Britain (or England), convent head |
| Title | Princess, Queen, Mother Superior |
| Family | Varied, including her father and her sister |
| Spouse(s) | Arthur, occasionally also Mordred |
| Children | Usually none, occasionally a son with Arthur or children with Mordred |
| Relatives | Varied, including a cousin |
| Religion | Christian |
| Nationality | British |
| Home | Malory version: Cameliard, Camelot, Tower of London, Amesbury Priory |
Guinevere was the wife of King Arthur in the Camelot stories. Part of the story is that she fell in love with Lancelot, Arthur's very close friend and greatest knight.
Life in popular tradition
Arthur Rackham's illustration from The Romance of King Arthur (1917), abridged from Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur by Alfred W. Pollard
In the 13th-century French cyclical chivalric romances, Guinevere is the daughter of King Leodegrance, who had served Arthur's father Uther Pendragon and was entrusted with the Round Table after Uther's death. In these stories, Leodegrance's kingdom typically lies near the Breton city of Carhaise (the modern Carhaix-Plouguer in Brittany, France). In the fields to the south and east of Carhaise, Arthur defends Leodegrance by defeating King Rience, which leads to his first meeting with the young Guinevere. An arranged marriage of state soon commences and Arthur receives the Round Table as Guinevere's dowry. This version of the legend has her betrothed to Arthur early in his career, while he was garnering support and being pressured to produce an heir (which Guinevere will fail to deliver).
When 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 and his admission into the Round Table, and with the Lady of the Lake's and Galehaut's assistance, the two then become romantically involved.
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.
.jpg)
When their affair is finally exposed by Guinevere's sworn enemy and Arthur's half-sister, the enchantress Morgan le Fay, Lancelot kills several of Arthur's knights and escapes. Incited to defend honour, Arthur reluctantly sentences his wife to be burned 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 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 Guinevere in the care of Mordred, who plans to marry 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 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 disloyalty. 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.
Literature
- In the Deverry Cycle book Darkspell, the character of Gweniver is a warrior priestess sworn to the Goddess of the Moon in Her Darktime, also known as She of The Sword-Struck Heart. An inspirational warleader, Gweniver is a berserker in combat.
- In Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, Gwenhwyfar is brought up by a cold, unloving father, which leaves her with a deep inferiority complex and intense agoraphobia. Failing to produce an heir and unable to be with the love of her life, Lancelot, she falls into a deep depression and – hoping for salvation – becomes an increasingly fanatical Christian. Bradley's version is notable for popularising the Welsh spelling, which many subsequent writers have adopted.
- Guinevere is a supporting character in Gerald Morris' The Squire's Tales. She starts the series as King Arthur's newly-wedded queen and ends it as Sister Arthur, peacefully living in a convent after Arthur's departure.
- Bernard Cornwell's Arthurian series of novels The Warlord Chronicles depicts Guinevere as the princess of Henis Wyren in North Wales. She is fiercely anti-Christian as a devoted follower of the Ancient Egyptian goddess Isis and has ambitions of becoming queen of Dumnonia through her marriage with Arthur, the illegitimate son of Uther Pendragon in the novels. Guinevere is the cause of a civil war in The Winter King and later conspires with Lancelot against Arthur in Enemy of God, albeit later they reconcile as she plays a vital role in the victory at Badon and eventually she and her son accompany the wounded Arthur to exile in Brittany after Camlann at the end of Excalibur.
- In Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry, the character of Jennifer/Guinevere is a central figure, gifted with great courage, strength, and love.
Other media
- Guinevere is played by Ellen Terry in the 1895 West End production King Arthur by J. Comyns Carr, with incidental music by Arthur Sullivan.
- Guinevere is a central character in the 1960 Broadway musical Camelot, in which she was initially portrayed by Julie Andrews and later by Sally Ann Howes. She was also played by Vanessa Redgrave in the 1967 film adaptation, and by Phillipa Soo in the 2023 Broadway revival.
- "Guinnevere" was a song written in 1968 by David Crosby that appears on Crosby, Stills and Nash's eponymous debut album.
- Guinevere is portrayed by Cherie Lunghi in the 1981 epic fantasy film Excalibur.
- In the 1983 DC Comics maxi-series Camelot 3000, Guinevere appears reincarnated in the body of Commander Joan Acton, American-born leader of the United Earth Defense Forces, and is reunited with King Arthur to defend Earth from a race of extraterrestrial invaders.
- In the 1992 cartoon series King Arthur and the Knights of Justice, Queen Guinevere is voiced by Kathleen Barr. She is Camelot's queen and the real King Arthur's wife who often wonders about the change in Arthur's demeanor and manner of acting, unaware of him being the time-stranded Arthur King.
- In the 1994 television film Guinevere, she is portrayed by Sheryl Lee.
- In the American original version of the 1994 cartoon series Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders, Gwenevere (Gwen) is the show's titular main heroine and protagonist, voiced by Kerry Butler in the first season and Jean Louisa Kelly in the second season.
- Guinevere is portrayed by Julia Ormond in 1995 film First Knight.
- In the 1998 television miniseries Merlin, Guinevere is played by Lena Headey.
- In the 2001 television miniseries The Mist of Avalon, an adaptation of Marion Zimmer Bradley's novel of the same name, Gwenhwyfar, Princess of Lœdekrans, is portrayed by Samantha Mathis.
- In the 2002 television series Guinevere Jones, Guinevere is reincarnated into the main protagonist Gwen Jones portrayed by Tamara Hope.
- In the 2004 film King Arthur, Guinevere, played by British actress Keira Knightley, is depicted as a Pictish princess in captivity of a Roman noble family in the far north of Britain.
- Guinevere appears in the 2005 animated series King Arthur's Disasters, where she is voiced by Morwenna Banks.
- In the 2005 French television series Kaamelott, and the 2021 film, Guinevere is a humorous and cheerful queen with a big heart, portrayed by Anne Girouard. Her story with Arthur, her true love, is one of the longest slow burns in French television.
- Guinevere, or Gwen, appears in the 2007 DreamWorks animated film Shrek the Third, as a student at Worcestershire Academy. She is voiced by Latifa Ouaou.
- In the 2008 television series Merlin, Guinevere (called "Gwen" by most of the characters) is portrayed by Angel Coulby and is shown as the daughter of a blacksmith and maid to Morgana along with being her best friend.
- In the 2011 television series Camelot, Guinevere is depicted by Tamsin Egerton.
- In the 2016 video game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, there is a playable character named Guinevere. Unlike in other stories, Guinevere is portrayed as the sister of Lancelot and is instead in a relationship with Gusion Paxley.
- In the 2016 television series Legends of Tomorrow episode "Camelot/3000", Guinevere is portrayed by Elyse Levesque.
- In the 2020 television series Cursed, Bella Dayne portrays the Viking warrior woman Red Spear, also known as Guinevere.
- In the 2020 cartoon series Wizards: Tales of Arcadia, Guinevere is Morgana's friend whose accidental death by her husband Arthur causes Morgana to turn to evil.
- In 2021 film The Green Knight based on medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Guinevere is portrayed by Kate Dickie.
- In the 2022 Pixelberry Studios' video game Guinevere, she is the main character who suffers from visions predicting the downfall of both Camelot and Arthur and Lancelot, both of whom the player can have Guinevere romance.
- In 2023 television series The Winter King, based on Bernard Cornwell's trilogy of novels The Warlord Chronicles, Guinevere is portrayed by Jordan Alexandra.
Images for kids
-
Guinevere by Henry Justice Ford (c. 1910)
-
Lady Guinevere, Howard Pyle's illustration for The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (1903)
-
Guinevere Takes Refuge in a Convent, Edmund H. Garrett's illustration for Legends of King Arthur and His Court (1911)
-
Guinevere with Enid and Vivien by George and Louis Rhead (1898)
-
Guinevere and Iseult by William Morris (1862)
-
"Winlogee" depicted on the Italian Modena Archivolt (c. 1120-1240)
-
Meigle stone detail
-
A scene preceding the kidnapping by Maleagant: "How Queen Guenever rode a maying into the woods and fields beside Westminster." Arthur Rackham's illustration from The Romance of King Arthur (1917), abridged from Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur by Alfred W. Pollard
-
The Parting of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere. 1874 photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron published in Alfred Tennyson's Idylls of the King and Other Poems (1875).
-
Ellen Terry as Guinevere in the 1895 play King Arthur by J. Comyns Carr in the Lyceum Theatre production. Portrait by Sir Edward Burne-Jones.
See also
In Spanish: Ginebra (reina) para niños
