Lady of the Lake
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The Lady of the Lake (french: Dame du Lac, Demoiselle du Lac, cy, Arglwyddes y Llyn, kw, Arloedhes an Lynn, br, Itron al Lenn, it, Dama del Lago) is a name or a title used by several either
fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...
or fairy-like but human enchantresses in the
Matter of Britain The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the list of legendary kings of Britain, legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It ...
, the body of
medieval literature Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (that is, the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of t ...
and mythology associated with the legend of
King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
. They play pivotal roles in many stories, including providing Arthur with the sword
Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...
, eliminating
Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...
, raising
Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...
after the death of his father, and helping to take the dying Arthur to
Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...
. Different sorceresses known as the Lady of the Lake appear concurrently as separate characters in some versions of the legend since at least the
Post-Vulgate Cycle The ''Post-Vulgate Cycle'', also known as the Post-Vulgate Arthuriad, the Post-Vulgate ''Roman du Graal'' (''Romance of the Grail'') or the Pseudo-Robert de Boron Cycle, is one of the major Old French prose cycles of Arthurian literature from th ...
and consequently the seminal ''
Le Morte d'Arthur ' (originally written as '; inaccurate Middle French for "The Death of Arthur") is a 15th-century Middle English prose reworking by Sir Thomas Malory of tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin and the Knights of the Rou ...
'', with the latter describing them as a hierarchical group, while some texts also give this title to either Morgan or her sister.


Name

Today, the Lady of the Lake is best known as either Nimue, or several scribal variants of Ninianne and Viviane. Medieval authors and copyists produced various forms of the latter, including: Nymenche (in addition to Ninianne / Ninienne) in the
Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
''Lancelot''; Nim ''i''ane and Ui ''n/ui''ane (in addition to Viviane) in the Vulgate ''Merlin'' (Niniane in the version ''Livre d'Artus''); Nin ''i''eve / Nivene / Niviène / Nivienne and Vivienne in the
Post-Vulgate The ''Post-Vulgate Cycle'', also known as the Post-Vulgate Arthuriad, the Post-Vulgate ''Roman du Graal'' (''Romance of the Grail'') or the Pseudo-Robert de Boron Cycle, is one of the major Old French prose cycles of Arthurian literature from the ...
''Merlin'' (Niviana in the Spanish ''Baladro del Sage Merlin''); and Nimiane / Niniame and Vivian / Vivien in '' Arthour and Merlin'' and
Henry Lovelich Henry Lovelich (fl. mid-15th c.), also known as Herry Lovelich, and Lovelich the Skinner, was an English poet of 15th-century London. He is best known as a translator into Middle English verse of Robert de Borron's lengthy Arthurian poems writte ...
's ''Merlin''. Further variations of these include alternate spellings with the letter ''i'' written as ''y'', such as in the cases of Nymanne (Nimanne as in Michel le Noir's ''Merlin'') and Nynyane (Niniane). According to Lucy Paton, the most primitive French form of this name might have been Niniane. The much later form Nimue, in which the letter ''e'' can be written as ''ë'' or ''é'', was invented and popularized by
Thomas Malory Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author of '' Le Morte d'Arthur'', the classic English-language chronicle of the Arthurian legend, compiled and in most cases translated from French sources. The most popular version of '' Le Morte d' ...
through his 15th-century ''
Le Morte d'Arthur ' (originally written as '; inaccurate Middle French for "The Death of Arthur") is a 15th-century Middle English prose reworking by Sir Thomas Malory of tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin and the Knights of the Rou ...
'' and itself has several variations: her name appears as Nymue, Nyneue, Nyneve and Nynyue in
William Caxton William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer (publisher), printer to be the first English retailer of printed boo ...
's print edition, but it had been rather Nynyve (used predominantly) and Nenyve in Malory's original
Winchester Manuscript ' (originally written as '; inaccurate Middle French for "The Death of Arthur") is a 15th-century Middle English prose reworking by Sir Thomas Malory of tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin and the Knights of the R ...
. Even though 'Nymue' (with the ''m'') appears only in the Caxton text, the modernized and standardized 'Nimue' is now the most common form of the name of Malory's character, as Caxton's edition was the only version of ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' published until 1947. Nimue is also sometimes rendered by modern writers as Nimuë since
Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...
's 19th-century poem by the same title.


Origins

Arthurian scholar A.O.H. Jarman, following suggestions first made in the 19th century, proposed that the name "Viviane" used in French Arthurian romances were ultimately derived from (and a corruption of) the
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
word ''chwyfleian'' (also spelled ''hwimleian'' and ''chwibleian'' in medieval Welsh sources), meaning "a wanderer of pallid countenance", which was originally applied as an epithet to the famous prototype of
Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...
, a prophetic "wild man" figure
Myrddin Wyllt Myrddin Wyllt (—"Myrddin the Wild", kw, Marzhin Gwyls, br, Merzhin Gueld) is a figure in medieval Welsh legend. In Middle Welsh poetry he is accounted a chief bard, the speaker of several poems in The Black Book of Carmarthen and The Red Bo ...
in
medieval Welsh poetry Medieval Welsh literature is the literature written in the Welsh language during the Middle Ages. This includes material starting from the 5th century AD, when Welsh was in the process of becoming distinct from Common Brittonic, and continuing to ...
. Due to the relative obscurity of the word, it was misunderstood as "fair wanton maiden" and taken to be the name of Myrddin's female captor. Others have linked the name "Nymenche" with the
Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by C ...
's figure Niamh (an
otherworld The concept of an otherworld in historical Indo-European religion is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other Earth/world"), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherworld ...
ly woman from the legend of
Tír na nÓg In Irish mythology Tír na nÓg (; "Land of the Young") or Tír na hÓige ("Land of Youth") is one of the names for the Celtic Otherworld, or perhaps for a part of it. Tír na nÓg is best known from the tale of Oisín and Niamh. Other Old Iri ...
), and the name "Niniane" with the
Welsh mythology Welsh mythology (Welsh: ''Mytholeg Cymru'') consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral societies Cel ...
's figure
Rhiannon Rhiannon is a major figure in the Mabinogi, the medieval Welsh story collection. She appears mainly in the First Branch of the Mabinogi, and again in the Third Branch. She is a strong-minded Otherworld woman, who chooses Pwyll, prince of Dyfe ...
(another otherworldly woman of a Celtic myth), or, as a feminine form of "Ninian", with the likes of the 5th-century saint
Ninian Ninian is a Christian saint, first mentioned in the 8th century as being an early missionary among the Pictish peoples of what is now Scotland. For this reason he is known as the Apostle to the Southern Picts, and there are numerous dedication ...
and the river
Ninian Ninian is a Christian saint, first mentioned in the 8th century as being an early missionary among the Pictish peoples of what is now Scotland. For this reason he is known as the Apostle to the Southern Picts, and there are numerous dedication ...
. Further theories connect her to the Welsh lake fairies known as the
Gwragedd Annwn In Welsh folklore the Gwragedd Annwn (singular '' cy, gwraig annwn'') are beautiful female fairies who live beneath lakes and rivers and are counted among the Tylwyth Teg or Welsh fairy folk. They are also known as Lake Maidens or Wives of the Low ...
(including a Lady of the Lake unrelated to the legend of Arthur), the
Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a ...
water goddess
Coventina Coventina was a Romano-British goddess of wells and springs. She is known from multiple inscriptions at one site in Northumberland county of England, an area surrounding a wellspring near Carrawburgh on Hadrian's Wall. It is possible that other ...
(Covienna), and the North Caucasian
Satanaya Satanaya ( Adyghe Сэтэнай ; Kabardian Сэтэней ; Ubykh ; Ossetian Сатана Satana) is a mythological figure who appears in many cycles of the Nart sagas of the North Caucasus. Satanaya is the mother of the Narts, a fertility ...
(Satana) from the
Nart sagas The Nart sagas ( Abkhaz: Нарҭаа ражәабжьқәа; ''Nartaa raƶuabƶkua''; ady, Нарт тхыдэжъхэр, translit=Nart txıdəĵxər; os, Нарты кадджытæ; ''Narty kaddžytæ''; ''Nartı kadjıtæ'') are a series of ...
: associated with water, Satana helps the
Scythia Scythia (Scythian: ; Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) or Scythica (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Pontic Scythia, was a kingdom created by the Scythians during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC in the Pontic–Caspian steppe. His ...
n hero
Batraz Batraz, Batradz, or Pataraz (Ossetian language, Ossetian: ) is a central character in the North Caucasian myths known as the Nart sagas. The Narts were the central figures of the folklore of peoples of the North Caucasus. Myth Batraz (''Бат ...
gain his magic sword. Possible prototypes include characters from
Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiograph ...
's ''
Vita Merlini ''Vita Merlini'', or ''The Life of Merlin'', is a Latin poem in 1,529 hexameter lines written around the year 1150. Though doubts have in the past been raised about its authorship it is now widely believed to be by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It tel ...
'', Merlin's one-time wife Guendoloena, and his sister Ganieda. Another possibility is Diana, the Roman goddess of hunt and nature, the spiritual descent from whom is actually explicitly stated within the French prose narratives; also the mythical Greek sea nymph
Thetis Thetis (; grc-gre, Θέτις ), is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, or one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. When described as ...
, mother of the great hero
Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's ''Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, k ...
who similarly provides
Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's ''Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, k ...
with magical weapons. Laurence Gardner interpreted the Arthurian romances' stated Biblical origins of
Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...
's bloodline by noting the belief about
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
' purported wife
Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...
's later life in
Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
(today's France) and her death at
Aquae Sextiae Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix (Old Occitan, medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a List of communes in France with ov ...
; he identified her descendant as the 6th century Comtess of
Avallon Avallon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in central-eastern France. Name Avallon, Latin ''Aballō'', ablative ''Aballone'', is ultimately derived from Gaulish languag ...
named Viviane del Acqs ("of the water"), whose three daughters (respectively the mothers of Lancelot, of Arthur, and of Gawain) would thus evolve into being known as the ‘Ladies of the Lake’.
Chrétien de Troyes Chrétien de Troyes (Modern ; fro, Crestien de Troies ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on Arthurian subjects, and for first writing of Lancelot, Percival and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's works, including ''E ...
's ''
Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart , original_title_lang = fro , translator = , written = between 1177 and 1181 , country = , language = Old French , subject = Arthurian legend , genre = Chivalric romance , fo ...
'', the first known story featuring
Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...
as a prominent character, was also the first to mention his upbringing by a fairy in a lake. If it is accepted that the French-German ''
Lanzelet ''Lanzelet'' is a medieval romance written by Ulrich von Zatzikhoven after 1194. It is the first treatment of the Lancelot tradition in German, and contains the earliest known account of the hero's childhood with the Lady of the Lake-like figure ...
'' by
Ulrich von Zatzikhoven Ulrich von Zatzikhoven was the author of the Middle High German Arthurian romance ''Lanzelet''. Ulrich's name and his place of origin (''Zezikon'' in Switzerland) are only known definitively from the work itself. However, it is generally accepted ...
contains elements of a more primitive version of this tale than Chrétien's, the infant Lancelot was spirited away to a lake by a water fairy (''merfeine'' in
Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
) known as the Lady of the Sea and then raised in her Land of Maidens (''Meide lant''). The
fairy queen In folklore and literature, the Fairy Queen or Queen of the Fairies is a female ruler of the fairies, sometimes but not always paired with a king. Depending on the work, she may be named or unnamed; Titania and Mab are two frequently used name ...
character and her paradise island in ''Lanzelet'' are reminiscent of
Morgen A morgen was a unit of measurement of land area in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania and the Dutch colonies, including South Africa and Taiwan. The size of a morgen varies from . It was also used in Old Prussia, in the Balkans, Norway ...
(Morgan) of the Island of Avallon (
Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...
) in Geoffrey's work. Furthermore, the fairy from ''Lanzelet'' has a son named Mabuz, an
Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...
form of the name of Mabon, the son of Morgan's early Welsh counterpart, and reputed prototype,
Modron Modron ("mother") is a figure in Welsh tradition, known as the mother of the hero Mabon ap Modron. Both characters may have derived from earlier divine figures, in her case the Gaulish goddess Matrona. She may have been a prototype for Morgan le ...
.


Medieval literature


Lancelot's guardian

Following the above mentioned works of Chrétien and Ulrich, the Lady of the Lake began appearing by this title in the French
chivalric romance As a literary genre, the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a chivalric k ...
prose by the early 13th century. As a
fairy godmother In fairy tales, a fairy godmother () is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's ''Cinderella'', he concludes the tale with ...
-type
foster mother Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family memb ...
of the hero Lancelot, she inherits the role of an unnamed aquatic fairy queen, her prototype from 12th-century poetry. While Ulrich's ''Lanzelet'' uses the
changeling A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found in folklore throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy that had been left in place of a human (typically a child) stolen by other fairi ...
part of the fairy abduction lore in regards to Mabuz and Lancelot, the Lady has no offspring of her own in Chrétien's and later versions. In the
Lancelot-Grail The ''Lancelot-Grail'', also known as the Vulgate Cycle or the Pseudo-Map Cycle, is an early 13th-century French Arthurian literary cycle consisting of interconnected prose episodes of chivalric romance in Old French. The cycle of unknown authors ...
(Vulgate) prose cycle, the Lady resides in an
otherworld The concept of an otherworld in historical Indo-European religion is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of ''orbis alius'' (Latin for "other Earth/world"), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherworld ...
ly enchanted realm, the entry to which is disguised as an illusion of a lake (the
Post-Vulgate The ''Post-Vulgate Cycle'', also known as the Post-Vulgate Arthuriad, the Post-Vulgate ''Roman du Graal'' (''Romance of the Grail'') or the Pseudo-Robert de Boron Cycle, is one of the major Old French prose cycles of Arthurian literature from the ...
notes it as
Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...
's work). There, she raises Lancelot from his infancy following the death of his father
King Ban Ban is the King of Benwick or Benoic in Arthurian legend. First appearing by this name in the ''Lancelot propre'' part of the Vulgate Cycle, he is the father of Sir Lancelot and Sir Hector de Maris, and is the brother of King Bors. Ban largely cor ...
, teaching Lancelot arts and writing, infusing him with wisdom and courage, and overseeing his training to become an unsurpassed warrior. She also rears his orphaned cousins Lionel and
Bors Bors (; french: link=no, Bohort) is the name of two knights in Arthurian legend, an elder and a younger. The two first appear in the 13th-century Lancelot-Grail romance prose cycle. Bors the Elder is the King of Gaunnes (Gannes/Gaunes/Ganis) du ...
after having her sorcerous damsel Seraide (Saraïde, later called Celise) rescue them from King
Claudas King Claudas is a fictional king who is an opponent to King Arthur, Lancelot, and Bors in Arthurian literature. His kingdom is situated in the Berry and is named "Terre Deserte", or "Land Laid Waste", so called because of the destruction Uther Pen ...
. All this takes her only a few years in the human world. Afterwards, she sends off the adolescent Lancelot to
King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
's court as the nameless White Knight, due to her own affinity with the color white. Through much of the Prose ''Lancelot Propre'', the Lady keeps aiding Lancelot in various ways during his early adventures to become a famed knight and discover his true identity, usually acting through her maidens serving as her agents and messengers. She gives him her magical gifts, including a
magic ring A magic ring is a mythical, folkloric or fictional piece of jewelry, usually a Ring (jewellery), finger ring, that is purported to have Magic (supernatural), supernatural properties or powers. It appears frequently in fantasy and fairy tales. M ...
of protection against enchantments in a manner similar in that to his fairy protectoress in Chrétien's version (the same of another of her magic rings also grants Lancelot's lover Queen
Guinevere Guinevere ( ; cy, Gwenhwyfar ; br, Gwenivar, kw, Gwynnever), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First ment ...
immunity from Morgan's power in the ''Prophéties de Merlin''). Later she also works to actively encourage Lancelot and Guinevere's relationship and its consummation (this includes sending Guinevere a symbolically illustrated magic shield, the crack in which closes up after the queen finally spends her first night with Lancelot), and furthermore personally arrives to restore Lancelot to sanity during some of his recurring fits of madness.


Merlin's beloved

The Vulgate Cycle is first to tell of either a different or the same Lady of the Lake in the Prose ''Merlin''-derived section. It takes place before its main Vulgate ''Lancelot'' section but was written later, linking her with the disappearance of Merlin from the romance tradition of Arthurian legend. She is given the name Viviane (or similar) and a human origin, although she is still being called a fairy. In the Vulgate ''Merlin'', Viviane refuses to give Merlin (who at this time is already old but appears to her in the guise of a handsome young man) her love until he has taught her all his secrets, after which she uses her power to seal him by making him sleep forever. The Post-Vulgate revision changes it into Viviane causing Merlin's death out of her hatred and fear of him. Though Merlin knows beforehand that this will happen due to his power of foresight, he is unable to counteract her because of the 'truth' this ability of foresight holds. He decides to do nothing for his situation other than to continue to teach her his secrets until she takes the opportunity to get rid of him. Consequently, she entraps and entombs her unresisting mentor within a tree, in a hole underneath a large stone, or inside a cave, depending on the version of this story as it is told in the different texts. In the ''Prophéties de Merlin'', for instance, Viviane is especially cruel in the way she disposes of Merlin and then takes
Tristan Tristan (Latin/ Brythonic: ''Drustanus''; cy, Trystan), also known as Tristram or Tristain and similar names, is the hero of the legend of Tristan and Iseult. In the legend, he is tasked with escorting the Irish princess Iseult to wed ...
's brother Meliadus the Younger as her actual lover. There she is proud of how Merlin had never taken her virginity, unlike what happened with his other female students such as Morgan. The Prose ''Lancelot'' explains this by a spell she put "on her groin which, as long as it lasted, prevented anyone from deflowering her and having relations with her." The ''Lancelot'' too has Viviane leave Merlin for another lover, in this case the evil king Brandin of the Isles, whom she teaches some magic that he then applies to his terrible castle Dolorous Gard; in the Vulgate ''Merlin'', an incognito Viviane abortively turns King Brandegorre's son Evadeam into the deformed Dwarf Knight for refusing her love. Conversely, the ''Livre d'Artus'', a late variant of the Prose ''Lancelot'', shows a completely peaceful scene taking place under a blooming hawthorn tree where Merlin is lovingly put to sleep by Viviane, as it is required by his destined fate that she has learned of. He then wakes up inside an impossibly high and indestructible tower, invisible from the outside, where she will come to meet him there almost every day or night (a motif reminiscent of Ganieda's visits of Merlin's house in an earlier version of his life as described by Geoffrey in ''Vita Merlini''). In any case, as a result of their usually final encounter Merlin almost always either dies or is never seen again by anyone else. Only in the recently found, alternative Bristol ''Merlin'' fragment, she resists his seduction with the help of a magic ring during the week they spend together; this particular text ends with him reuniting with Arthur. According to her backstory in the chronologically later (but happening earlier plotwise) Vulgate ''Merlin'', Viviane was a daughter of the knight Dionas (''Dyonas'') and a niece of the Duke of
Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
. She was born in Dionas' domain of Briosque near the forest
Brocéliande Brocéliande, earlier known as Brécheliant and Brécilien, is a legendary enchanted forest that had a reputation in the medieval European imagination as a place of magic and mystery. Brocéliande is featured in several medieval texts, mostly r ...
, and it was an enchantment of her fairy godmother Diana the Huntress Goddess that caused Viviane to be so alluring to Merlin when she first met him there as a young teenager. The Vulgate ''Lancelot'' informs the reader that, back "in the time of
Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
", Diana had been a Queen of
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
that was considered a goddess by her subjects. The Post-Vulgate ''Suite de Merlin'' describes how Viviane was born and lived in a magnificent castle at the foot of a mountain in
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
as a daughter of the King of
Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
. She is initially known as the beautiful 12-years-old Damsel Huntress (''Damoiselle Cacheresse'') in her introductory episode, in which she serves the role of a
damsel in distress The damsel in distress is a recurring narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has either been kidnapped or placed in general peril. Kinship, love, or lust (or a combination of those) gives the male protagonist the motiv ...
in the adventure of the three knights separately sent by Merlin to rescue her from kidnapping; the quest is soon completed by King
Pellinore King Pellinore (alternatively ''Pellinor'', ''Pellynore'' and other variants) is the king of Listenoise (possibly the Lake District) or of "the Isles" (possibly Anglesey, or perhaps the medieval kingdom of the same name) in Arthurian legend. In ...
who tracks down and kills her abductor. The Post-Vulgate rewrite also describes how Diana had killed her partner
Faunus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Faunus was the rustic god of the forest, plains and fields; when he made cattle fertile he was called Inuus. He came to be equated in literature with the Greek god Pan, after which Romans depicted him as a ...
to be with a man named Felix, but then she was herself killed by her lover at that lake, which came to be called the Lake of Diana (''Lac Diane''). This is presumably the place where Lancelot du Lac ("of the Lake") is later raised, at first not knowing his real parentage, by Viviane. Nevertheless, in the French romances only the narration of the Vulgate ''Lancelot'' actually makes it clear that its Lady of the Lake and Viviane are in fact the one and same character.Anne Berthelot, "Merlin and the Ladies of the Lake". ''Merlin: A Casebook'' (2004).


Excalibur giver

Another, unnamed Lady of the Lake appears in the Post-Vulgate tradition to bestow the magic sword
Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...
from Avalon to Arthur in a now iconic scene. She is presented as a mysterious early benefactor of King Arthur, who is directed and led to her by Merlin, granting him Excalibur and its special scabbard after his original (also unnamed) sword is damaged in the fight against King Pellinore. This takes place during the time when Merlin is still at Arthur's side and prior to the introduction of Viviane in the same story. Later in the Post-Vulgate ''Suite du Merlin'', this Lady of the Lake is suddenly beheaded at King Arthur's court by
Sir Balin Sir Balin le Savage , also known as the Knight with the Two Swords, is a character in the Arthurian legend. Like Sir Galahad, Sir Balin is a late addition to the medieval Arthurian world. His story, as told by Thomas Malory in '' Le Morte d'Arth ...
as a result of a kin feud between them (she blames Balin for the death of her brother, while he blames her for the death of his mother, who had been burned at the stake) and a dispute over another enchanted sword; her body later vanishes. Modern retellings, however, often make her the same character as Viviane and usually omit that episode.


Other identities and relations

In some cases, it is uncertain whether Morgan and the Lady of the Lake are identical or separate characters. According to Anne Berthelot, Morgan herself is "''the'' Lady of the Lake", as compared to the "upstart magician" Viviane, in the French prose cycles. The 13th/14th-century English poem ''
Of Arthour and of Merlin ''Of Arthour and of Merlin'', or ''Arthur and Merlin'', is an anonymous Middle English verse romance giving an account of the reigns of Vortigern and Uther Pendragon and the early years of King Arthur's reign, in which the magician Merlin plays ...
'' explicitly gives the role of Lady of the Lake to Morgan, explaining her association with the name "Nimiane" by just having her residing near a town by called Nimiane (Ninniane). The 15th-century Italian prose ''
La Tavola Ritonda ''La Tavola Ritonda'' (''The Round Table'') is a 15th-century Italian Arthurian romance written in the medieval Tuscan language. It is preserved in a 1446 manuscript at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence (''Codex Palatinus 556''). It wa ...
'' (''The Round Table'') makes the Lady a daughter of
Uther Pendragon Uther Pendragon (Brittonic) (; cy, Ythyr Ben Dragwn, Uthyr Pendragon, Uthyr Bendragon), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons in sub-Roman Britain (c. 6th century). Uther was also the father of King Arthur. A few m ...
and thus a sister to both Morgan (Fata Morgana) and Arthur. Here she is a character mischievous to the extent that her own brother Arthur swears to burn her at the stake (as he also threatens to do with Morgan). This version of her briefly kidnaps Lancelot when he is an adult (along with Guinevere and
Tristan and Isolde Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Based on a Celtic legend and possibly other sources, the tale is a tragedy about the illic ...
), a motif usually associated with Morgan; here it is also Morgan herself who sends the shield to Guinevere in an act recast as having malicious intent. The Lady is also described as Morgan's sister in some other Italian texts, such as the 13th-century poem ''Pulzella Gaia''. In the 14th-century French prose romance ''
Perceforest ''Perceforest'' or ''Le Roman de Perceforest'' is an anonymous prose chivalric romance, written in French around 1340, with lyrical interludes of poetry, that describes a fictional origin of Great Britain and provides an original genesis of the Art ...
'', a lengthy romance prequel to the Arthurian legend, the figures of the Lady of the Lake and of the enchantress
Sebile Sebile, alternatively written as Sedile, Sebille, Sibilla, Sibyl, Sybilla, and other similar names, is a mythical medieval queen or princess who is frequently portrayed as a fairy or an enchantress in the Arthurian legends and Italian folklore. ...
have been merged to create the character of Sebile of the Castle of the Lake, an ancestor of Arthur. The Lady of the Lake who raises Lancelot is also mentioned in ''Perceforest'', deriving her ancestry line from the descendants of an ancient fairy named Morgane, whose own source of power was the deity Zephir.


''Le Morte d'Arthur''

In Thomas Malory's 15th-century compilation of Arthurian stories, the first Lady of the Lake remains unnamed besides this epithet. When the young King Arthur, accompanied by his mentor Merlin, comes to her lake, she holds the replacement Excalibur (the original sword-from-the-stone having been recently broken in battle) out of the water and offers it to Arthur if he promises to fulfill any request from her later, to which he agrees. Later, when the Lady comes to
Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...
to receive her end of the bargain, she asks for the head of Sir Balin the Savage, whom she blames for her brother's death. However, Arthur refuses this request. Instead it is Balin, claiming that "by enchantment and sorcery she has been the destroyer of many good knights", who swiftly decapitates her with his own magic sword (a cursed blade that had been stolen by him from a mysterious lady from Avalon just a moment earlier) in front of Arthur and then sends off his squire with her severed head, much to the distress and shame of the king under whose protection she should have been there. Arthur gives the Lady a rich burial, has her slayer banished despite Merlin telling him Balin would become Arthur's greatest knight, and gives his permission for Sir Launcenor of Ireland (an Irish prince similarly named but entirely unrelated to Malory's Lancelot written as Launcelot, who is not yet introduced in the story) to go after Balin to avenge this disgrace by killing him.


Nimue (Nyneve)

The second Lady of the Lake is sometimes referred to by her title and sometimes referred to by name, Nimue (Nynyve in Malory's original Winchester Manuscript). Nimue, whom Malory describes as the "chief Lady of the Lake", plays a pivotal role in the Arthurian court throughout his story.Holbrook, S. E
"Nymue, the Chief Lady of the Lake, in Malory's Le Morte D’arthur."
''Speculum'' 53.4 (1978): 761–777. JSTOR. NCSU University Libraries, Raleigh, NC. 15 March 2009.
The first time the character named Nimue appears is at the wedding of Arthur and Guinevere, as the young huntress rescued by Pellinore. She then proceeds to perform some of the same actions as the Lady of the Lake of his sources but is different in some ways. For instance, in the Post-Vulgate ''Suite du Merlin'', Malory's source for the earlier parts of ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', the Lady of the Lake traps Merlin in a tomb, which results in his death. She does this out of cruelty and a hatred of Merlin.Larrington, Carolyne. ''King Arthur's Enchantresses: Morgan and Her Sisters in Arthurian Tradition.'' I. B. Tauris, 2006. In ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', on the other hand, Nimue is still the one to trap Merlin, but Malory gives her a sympathetic reason: Merlin falls in love with her and will not leave her alone; Malory gives no indication that Nimue loves him back. Eventually, since she cannot free herself of him otherwise, she decides to trap him under rock and makes sure he cannot escape. She is tired of his sexual advances, and afraid of his power as "a devil's son", so she does not have much of a choice but to ultimately get rid of him. After enchanting Merlin, Malory's Nimue replaces him as Arthur's magician aide and trusted adviser. When Arthur himself is in need in Malory's text, some incarnation of the Lady of the Lake, or her magic, or her agent, reaches out to help him. For instance, she saves Arthur from a magical attempt on his life made by his sister Morgan le Fay and from the death at the hands of Morgan's lover
Accolon Accolon is a character in Arthurian legends where he is a lover of Morgan le Fay who is killed by King Arthur in a duel during the plot involving the sword Excalibur. He appears in Arthurian prose romances since the Post-Vulgate Cycle, includin ...
as in the Post-Vulgate, and together with Tristan frees Arthur from the lustful sorceress
Annowre Annowre (Anouwre) is an evil enchantress who desires King Arthur in Thomas Malory's ''Le Morte d'Arthur, Le Morte d' Arthur''. Malory based her on a nameless character from the earlier Prose Tristan, Prose ''Tristan'', who was named as Elergia in t ...
in a motif taken from the Prose ''Tristan''. In Malory's version, Brandin of the Isles, renamed Brian (Bryan), is Nimue's evil cousin rather than her paramour. Nimue instead becomes the lover and eventually wife of
Pelleas Pelleas , or Pellias, is an Arthurian Knight of the Round Table whose story first appears in the Post-Vulgate Cycle. He becomes the husband of Nimue, the Lady of the Lake in '' Le Morte d'Arthur''. His character might have been connected to the ...
, a gentle young knight whom she then also puts under her protection so "that he was never slain by her days." In an analysis by Kenneth Hodges, Nimue appears through the story as the
chivalric code Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is an informal and varying code of conduct developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It was associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood; knights' and gentlemen's behaviours we ...
changes, hinting to the reader that something new will happen in order to help the author achieve the wanted interpretation of the Arthurian legend: each time the Lady reappears in ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', it is at a pivotal moment of the episode, establishing the importance of her character within Arthurian literature, as she transcends any notoriety attached to her character by aiding Arthur and other knights to succeed in their endeavors, subtly helping sway the court in the right direction. According to Hodges, when Malory was looking at other texts to find inspiration, he chose the best aspects of all the other Lady of the Lake characters, making her pragmatic, compassionate, clever, and strong-willed. However, Nimue's character is often seen as still very ambiguous by other scholars. As summarized by Amy S. Kaufman, Malory does not use Nimue's name for the Lady of the Lake associated with Lancelot, who remains unnamed as well and may be considered a third one (it is possible that Malory had only access to the ''Suite du Merlin'' part of the Post-Vulgate Cycle as a relevant source). In the end, a female hand emerging from a lake reclaims Excalibur in a miraculous scene when the sword is thrown into the water by Sir
Bedivere Bedivere ( or ; cy, Bedwyr; la, Beduerus; french: link=no, Bédoier, also Bedevere and other spellings) is one of the earliest characters to be featured in the legend of King Arthur, originally described in several Welsh texts as the one-hand ...
just after Arthur's final battle. The narration then counts Nimue among the magical queens who arrive in a black boat with Morgan. Together, they bear the mortally wounded Arthur away to Avalon. (In the original account in the Vulgate Cycle's ''Mort Artu'', the chief lady in the boat, holding hands with Morgan and calling for Arthur, is not recognised by Girflet who here is this scene's witness instead of Bedivere.)


The Lady's lake

A number of locations are traditionally associated with the Lady of the Lake's abode. Such places within Great Britain include the lakes
Dozmary Pool Dozmary Pool is a small lake, in the civil parish of Altarnun on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, UK. It is situated from the sea and lies about north-east of Bodmin and south of Bolventor. It originated in the Holocene, post-glacial period. The outfl ...
and
The Loe The Loe ( kw, An Logh), also known as Loe Pool, is the largest natural freshwater lake () in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The earliest recorded appearance of this simple name form was in 1337, when it was called "La Loo", but is mentioned as 'the ...
in Cornwall, the lakes
Llyn Llydaw Llyn Llydaw (from the Welsh meaning ''Brittany lake'') is a natural lake in Snowdonia National Park on the flanks of Snowdon, Wales' highest mountain. This long thin lake has formed in a cwm about one-third of the way up the mountain. It is one ...
and
Llyn Ogwen Llyn Ogwen (; ) is a ribbon lake in north-west Wales. It lies alongside the A5 road between two mountain ranges of Snowdonia, the Carneddau and the Glyderau. Somewhat unusually, the county boundary at this point is drawn so that the lake itsel ...
in Snowdonia,
River Brue The River Brue originates in the parish of Brewham in Somerset, England, and reaches the sea some west at Burnham-on-Sea. It originally took a different route from Glastonbury to the sea, but this was changed by Glastonbury Abbey in the twelft ...
's area of Pomparles Bridge in Somerset, and the lake Loch Arthur in Scotland. In France, Viviane is also connected with Brittany's
Paimpont forest Paimpont Forest (french: Forêt de Paimpont, br, Koad Pempont), also known as Brocéliande Forest (french: Forêt de Brocéliande), is a temperate forest located around the village of Paimpont in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany, ...
, often identified as the Arthurian enchanted forest of Brocéliande, where her lake (that is, the Lake of Diana) is said to be located at the castle
Château de Comper The Château de Comper is a former castle located in Paimpont forest (formerly known as Brocéliande), three kilometers to the east of the village of Concoret in the department of Morbihan in the region of Brittany, France. It has been rebuilt ...
. The oldest localization of the Lake is in the ''Lancelot en prose'', written around 1230: the place where Lancelot is raised is described there as to the north of Trèves-Cunault, on the
Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...
, in the middle of the (now extinct) forest of Beaufort-en-Vallée (the "Bois en Val" of the book).


Modern culture

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...
wrote an influential poem, ''
The Lady of the Lake The Lady of the Lake (french: Dame du Lac, Demoiselle du Lac, cy, Arglwyddes y Llyn, kw, Arloedhes an Lynn, br, Itron al Lenn, it, Dama del Lago) is a name or a title used by several either fairy or fairy-like but human enchantresses in the ...
'', in 1810, drawing on the romance of the legend, but with an entirely different story set around
Loch Katrine Loch Katrine (; or ) is a freshwater loch in the Trossachs area of the Scottish Highlands, east of Loch Lomond, within the historic county and registration county of Perthshire and the contemporary district of Stirling. The loch is about lon ...
in the
Trossachs The Trossachs (; gd, Na Tròiseachan) generally refers to an area of wooded glens, braes, and lochs lying to the east of Ben Lomond in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The name is taken from that of a small woodland glen that lies at the ...
of Scotland. Scott's material furnished subject matter for ''
La donna del lago ''La donna del lago'' (English: ''The Lady of the Lake'') is an opera composed by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola (whose verses are described as "limpid" by one critic) based on the French translationOsborne, Charles 19 ...
'', an 1819 opera by
Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...
.
Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
set seven songs from Walter Scott's ''Lady of the Lake'', including the three "Ellen songs" ("Ellens Gesang I", "Ellens Gesang II", and "Ellens Gesang III"), although Schubert's music to Ellen's third song has become far more famous in its later adaptation, known as "Ave Maria". The full French name of the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
, founded in 1842, is ''Notre Dame du Lac''. This is translated as "Our Lady of the Lake", making reference to
Mary, mother of Jesus Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...
as the Lady of the Lake, evidencing fusion between Arthurian legend and middle-Christian history. Modern authors of Arthurian fiction adapt the Lady of the Lake legend in various ways, often using two or more bearers of the title while others choose to emphasize a single character. Influenced by her story, fantasy writers tend to give their Merlin a sorcerous female enemy, usually either Nimue, Morgan (often perceived as more plausible in this role due to her established enmity with Arthur in much of the legend), or Morgan's sister
Morgause The Queen of Orkney, today best known as Morgause and also known as Morgawse and other spellings and names, is a character in later Arthurian traditions. In some versions of the legend, including the seminal text ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', she is ...
. In any case, versions of the Lady (or Ladies) of the Lake appear in many works, including poems, novels, films, television series, stage musicals, comics, and games. Though her identity may change, her role as a significant figure in the lives of both Arthur and Merlin remains consistent. Some examples of such works are listed below.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...
adapted several stories of the Lady of the Lake for his 1859–1885 poetic cycle ''
Idylls of the King ''Idylls of the King'', published between 1859 and 1885, is a Literature cycle, cycle of twelve narrative poems by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892; Poet Laureate from 1850) which retells the legend of King Arthur, his knig ...
''. He too splits her into two characters; Viviane is a deceitful villain who ensnares Merlin, while the Lady of the Lake is a benevolent figure who raises Lancelot and gives Arthur his sword. Nimue appears in
T. H. White Terence Hanbury "Tim" White (29 May 1906 – 17 January 1964) was an English writer best known for his Arthurian novels, published together in 1958 as ''The Once and Future King''. One of his most memorable is the first of the series, '' The Sw ...
's book series ''
The Once and Future King ''The Once and Future King'' is a collection of fantasy novels by T. H. White about the legend of King Arthur. It is loosely based upon the 1485 work '' Le Morte d'Arthur'' by Sir Thomas Malory. It was first published in 1958 as a collection ...
'' as a water nymph and Merlin's enchantress. True to the legend she traps Merlin in a cave, but White's Merlyn does not convey it as negative, and even refers to it as a holiday. They thus disappear together near the beginning of ''
The Ill-Made Knight ''The Ill-Made Knight'' is a fantasy novel by British writer T. H. White, the third book in the series ''The Once and Future King''. It was first published in 1940, but is usually found today only in collected editions of all four books of the ...
'' (1940), however Merlyn later returns in ''
The Book of Merlyn ''The Book of Merlyn'' is an Arthurian fantasy book by British writer T. H. White. It is the conclusion of ''The Once and Future King'', but it was published separately and posthumously. Plot summary The book opens as King Arthur prepares himse ...
''. Nineue ferch Afallach, "Tennyson's Vivien", is a fairy enchantress in
John Cowper Powys John Cowper Powys (; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English philosopher, lecturer, novelist, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...
's novel '' Porius: A Romance of the Dark Ages'' (1951). In Welsh mythology,
Modron Modron ("mother") is a figure in Welsh tradition, known as the mother of the hero Mabon ap Modron. Both characters may have derived from earlier divine figures, in her case the Gaulish goddess Matrona. She may have been a prototype for Morgan le ...
("divine mother") was a daughter of
Avallach Afallach ( Old Welsh Aballac) is a man's name found in several medieval Welsh genealogies, where he is made the son of Beli Mawr. According to a medieval Welsh triad, Afallach was the father of the goddess Modron. The Welsh redactions of Geoffrey ...
; she was derived from the
Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium ...
goddess Matrona and may have been the prototype of Morgan le Fay. The novel ends with the protagonist Porius saving the wizard
Myrddin Myrddin Wyllt (—"Myrddin the Wild", kw, Marzhin Gwyls, br, Merzhin Gueld) is a figure in medieval Welsh legend. In Middle Welsh poetry he is accounted a chief bard, the speaker of several poems in The Black Book of Carmarthen and The Red Bo ...
(Merlin figure) from his entombment by Nineue on the summit of
Snowdon Snowdon () or (), is the highest mountain in Wales, at an elevation of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands. It is located in Snowdonia National Park (') in Gwynedd (historic ...
, Wales' highest mountain. The 1960 musical ''
Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...
'' includes the character Nimue who has a song called "Follow Me" performed in Act I. In the play, Nimue, a beautiful water nymph, has come to draw Merlyn into her cave for an eternal sleep. He begs Nimue for answers, as he has forgotten if he has warned Arthur about Lancelot and Mordred, before his memories fade permanently and he is led away. She does not appear in the
film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
, but "Follow Me" is echoed in the notably similar "Come with Me" sung by the Lady of the Lake for
Galahad Sir Galahad (), sometimes referred to as Galeas () or Galath (), among other versions of his name, is a knight of King Arthur's Round Table and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. He is the illegitimate son of S ...
in the later musical ''
Spamalot ''Spamalot'' (also known as ''Monty Python's Spamalot'') is a musical comedy with music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, and lyrics and book by Idle. It is adapted from the 1975 film ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. Like the motion picture ...
'' (2005). The Lady of the Lake is satirized off-screen in the 1975 film ''
Monty Python and the Holy Grail ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' is a 1975 British comedy film satirizing the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) an ...
'', in which late 20th century notions are inserted into a mythic tale for comical effect. In a famous scene, a peasant named Dennis says, "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony." Arthurian scholar N. J. Higham described this iconic dialogue line as ever "immortal" in 2005. In the
DC Comics Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...
, Vivienne is the Lady of the Lake. Nimue is the good
Madame Xanadu Madame Xanadu is a comic book mysticism, mystic published by DC Comics. The character is identified with Lady of the Lake, Nimue, the magician (fantasy), sorceress from Arthurian mythology made popular by Thomas Malory, Sir Thomas Malory's ''Le Mo ...
(introduced in 1978), her youngest sister, and their middle sister is the evil
Morgaine le Fey Morgan le Fay (, meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known as Morgan , Morgain /e Morg e, Morgant Morge , and Morgue namong other names and spellings ( cy, Morgên y Dylwythen Deg, kw, Morgen an Spyrys), is a powerful ...
(given name Morgana); their surname is Inwudu. The Lady of the Lake has appeared in ''
Hellblazer ''John Constantine, Hellblazer'' is an American contemporary Horror fiction, horror comic-book series published by DC Comics since January 1988, and subsequently by its Vertigo Comics, Vertigo imprint since March 1993, when the imprint was introd ...
'', ''
Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). The character is a pastiche of Namor. Initially ...
'', and her sister's own series. In the 1983 DC Comics series ''
Camelot 3000 ''Camelot 3000'' is an American twelve-issue comic book limited series written by Mike W. Barr and penciled by Brian Bolland. It was published by DC Comics from 1982 to 1985 as one of its first direct market projects, and as its first maxi-serie ...
'', an unrelated Lady of the Lake is referred to as Nyneve, depicted as a woman with a beautiful body but wearing a mask, whom sends to confront the heroes of Camelot. When Nyneve removes the mask, Merlin, upon seeing her face, is unable to resist her and departs, thus removing him from Morgan's path. Later, when he escapes her control, it is revealed that her only facial feature is a gigantic mouth with a long serpentine tongue, ''
vagina dentata ''Vagina dentata'' (Latin for ''toothed vagina'') describes a folk tale in which a woman's vagina is said to contain teeth, with the associated implication that sexual intercourse might result in injury, emasculation, or castration for the man i ...
'' style, which Merlin turns against her. Mary Stewart (novelist), Mary Stewart's 1979 novel ''The Last Enchantment'' in her ''Arthurian Saga'' series radically recasts the story of Merlin and Niniane (Nimue), completely removing the aspect of malicious seduction and treachery dominant in the traditional version; it is the witch Morgause, the mother of Mordred (with Mordred notably undergoing a similarly revisionist treatment as Nimue), who takes Nimue's traditional role and then continues as the chief villain. In this depiction, after she saves him from being poisoned by Morgause, Merlin takes Niniane on as an apprentice, with her at first disguised as a boy named Ninian, and willingly teaches her his magic, which he had refused to Morgause. When her identity as a woman is discovered, they fall in love despite their age difference. Their love is peaceful and idyllic; even when Nimue marries Pelleas, this is not a betrayal of Merlin. As Merlin gives her the secrets of his power and how to control it, he seems to lose them himself, which he does not mind. In a depleted, weakened condition, he falls into a coma, and is believed to be dead. Nimue has him buried within his "crystal cave", from which he escapes after a few weeks, through a combination of chance luck and ingenious planning, and travels incognito to let Arthur know he is still alive and can help him against Morgause and Morgan. Nimue takes Merlin's place as the court enchanter, while Merlin retires to the crystal cave and lives a quiet and happy life as a hermit. Niniane takes his place and role to the degree she even proclaims "I am Merlin", thus creating a 'Nimue-Merlin' character. In John Boorman, John Boorman's 1981 film ''Excalibur (film), Excalibur'', an uncredited actress plays the Lady of Lake, twice holding up the fabled sword, once for Merlin to give to
Uther Pendragon Uther Pendragon (Brittonic) (; cy, Ythyr Ben Dragwn, Uthyr Pendragon, Uthyr Bendragon), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons in sub-Roman Britain (c. 6th century). Uther was also the father of King Arthur. A few m ...
, and once to return to Arthur. Separately, the Morgana character (played by Helen Mirren) takes on other parts of the traditional Lady of the Lake story, learning the occult arts from Merlin and ultimately trapping him with his own powerful "Charm of Making", the magic of shapeshifting. Marion Zimmer Bradley's 1983 novel ''The Mists of Avalon'', a feminist retelling of the legend, takes the tradition of multiple Ladies one step further, with Viviane, Niniane and Nimue all being separate characters. Furthermore still, in Bradley's works, both the 'Lady of the Lake' and the 'Merlin' are names of offices in the Ancient Celtic religion, Celtic pagan hierarchy: the Lady of the Lake is the title of the ruling priestess of Avalon, and the Merlin is a druid who has pledged his life to the protection of Britain. Various tragic characters assume the title of the Lady of the Lake, including Viviane, the initial High Priestess of Avalon, Arthur's aunt, and Lancelot's mother who ends up killed by Balin (here as her other son Balan's foster-brother); Niniane, Taliesin's daughter and yet another of Arthur's half-sisters who reluctantly becomes the Lady of the Lake after Viviane is slain and becomes Mordred's lover until he kills her; the main protagonist and narrator Morgaine (Morgan le Fay), portrayed similar as in the medieval romances but more sympathically; and Nimue, a sympathetic and tragic young priestess who falls in love with the Merlin but is duty bound by Morgaine to seduce and lure him to his death – following which she drowns herself. They are played by Anjelica Huston, Julianna Margulies and Tamsin Egerton (Morgaine), Joan Allen (Morgause), and (Nimue) in the book's 2001 The Mists of Avalon (miniseries), television adaptation. Their ancestors (the previous priestesses of Avalon and, before that, of Atlantis) are subjects of Bradley's extended ''Avalon'' universe novels, among them the direct prequel ''Lady of Avalon'' (1997), the third part of which follows the young Viviane. In his Christian themed ''The Pendragon Cycle'', Stephen Lawhead takes up the figure of the Lady of the Lake under a different name: the Faery princess Charis, daughter of Avallach, the king of Atlantis and later of Avalon. Married to the Breton prince Taliesin, she gives birth to Merlin. After Taliesin's death, Charis takes care of Merlin at Lake Logres, hence her name "Lady of the Lake". She is the protagonist and narrator of the first book in the cycle, ''Taliesin''. The figure of Nimue belongs to Charis' shapeshifting evil sister Morgian (Morgan), the main antagonist through the entire series, including the modern-day-set ''Avalon: The Return of King Arthur''. In Bernard Cornwell's 1990s novel series ''The Warlord Chronicles'', more historically grounded and realistic than usual treatments of Arthurian legend, Nimue is an Irish orphan adopted by the British druid Merlin. She is a prominent character in the books, being a childhood friend of, a major love interest for, and finally an adversary to the series' main protagonist, Arthur's warrior Derfel Cadarn. She begins as Merlin's most adept priestess and lover, but as she grows ever more brutal and fanatical, by the time of the final novel she will turns against him and imprisons him, torturing him to reveal the last of his magical secrets in her desperate obsession to bring back the Old Gods of Britain at any price. Eventually, she brings Merlin to total madness before ultimately sacrificing him to their lost gods, whose return she believes would rid the island of the Saxons and the Christians alike. As Nimue believes the key to her goal is to sacrifice King Arthur's family, Gwydre, Arthur's son with Guinevere using Excalibur (as she already did with Gawain), Derfel's final act of casting the sword away is not to return it to her but to hide it from her forever. Stephen Thomas Knight, commenting on Cornwell's vicious Nimue, with her tunnel-vision ruthlessness, vindicativeness, and frequent use of prolonged torture, opined the "pro-Celtic quasi-historian" author "links her to the Saxons as part of her hostility to decent people, including Merlin." Symbolically, both Nimue and the hypocritcal Samson of Dol, Bishop Sansum, representing the Christian side of the books' major theme of the danger of religious extremism, remain still alive as the story comes to the end. In the 1995–1996 animated series ''Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders'', the name of the first season's antagonist Lady Kale (voiced by Corinne Orr), an evil sister of the Queen of Avalon and a former student of Merlin who magically imprisons him, was created as an anagram of Lady of the Lake. She is a witch who ruthlessly tries to take control of Merlin's own magic so she can rule Avalon forever, later working together with the also evil Morgana. A good character actually named as the Lady of the Lake (or the "Spirit of Avalon" in an alternate version ''Starla and the Jewel Riders'') also briefly appears in the eponymous episode "Lady of the Lake" ("Spirit of Avalon") to help Lady Kale's good niece Princess Gwenevere defeat Kale and save Merlin and Avalon. In the 1998 miniseries ''Merlin (miniseries), Merlin,'' the characters of the Lady of the Lake (played by Miranda Richardson) and Nimue (played by Isabella Rossellini) are separated, with the former being a goddess-like beneficent fae who is the sister of the evil Queen Mab (also Richardson in a dual role), and the latter being a noblewoman damsel in distress with no supernatural powers who is the object of Merlin's affections. In the motif evoking Edwin Arlington Robinson's 1917 poem ''Merlin (Robinson), Merlin'', the Lady of the Lake and Merlin live together in another world until he leaves in order to help Arthur; in the end, however, Merlin returns to her and makes them both young again with the last of his magic. In the 2006 pseudo-sequel ''Merlin's Apprentice'', Miranda Richardson reprises her role as the Lady of the Lake, as the only returning cast member aside of Merlin's Sam Neill, though she portrays a much different characterization. In this depiction, the Lady is the main antagonist who serves as an enchanter to an army of barbarians who seek to destroy Camelot. The Lady herself wishes to punish Camelot for the way they poisoned her streams and drained her lakes. This miniseries also depicts Merlin's sleep in the cave; as he slept, the Lady used her magic to conceive a son with Merlin and then enchanted him to sleep for 50 years. In French television series ''Kaamelott'', the Lady of the Lake, played by Audrey Fleurot, is an angel sent to help King Arthur progress in the quest for the Grail. Upending the established connections, the series' Lancelot not only never interacts with the Lady but cannot even see her. The BBC 2008–2012 drama series ''Merlin (TV series), Merlin'' also features two characters based on the Lady of the Lake. Nimueh, played by Michelle Ryan, serves as the primary antagonist of the season 1. The character has no connection to Merlin beyond his opposition to her plans, and her only connection to a lake is her use of a location called the Isle of the Blessed (Thomas Wentworth Higginson's 19th-century name for Avalon). The ninth episode of the season 2 is titled "The Lady of the Lake", wherein a sorceress named Freya, played by Laura Donnelly, dies and vows to repay Merlin for his kindness to her. In the season 3 finale, Freya, now a water spirit, gives Excalibur to Merlin so that he can give it to Prince Arthur Pendragon. Nimue, the Blood Queen, appears as one of the primary antagonists in the ''Hellboy'' comic book series by Mike Mignola, influenced by the classic comics series ''Prince Valiant'', where she was introduced in 2008 as a witch who driven mad after the powers she acquired from Merlin gave her knowledge of the Ogdru Jahad, prompting the witches of Britain to dismember her and seal her away underground. Resurrected in the present day by King Arthur's last descendant, Hellboy, she assumes the mantle of the Irish triple war goddess the Morrígan and assembles an army of legendary and folkloric beings to eradicate mankind, only to stopped by Hellboy at the cost of his own life. Although having been turned into an evil creature trying to destroy the word, Nimue still had a human part "that hated and feared what she had become." She is portrayed by Milla Jovovich in the 2019 film adaptation ''Hellboy (2019 film), Hellboy''. Nimue is featured in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC 2010s fantasy series ''Once Upon a Time (TV series), Once Upon a Time'' in which Arthurian characters live in the land inhabited by other fairy tale characters. She appears as the main antagonist in the first half of Once Upon a Time (season 5), Season 5, portrayed by Caroline Ford (actress), Caroline Ford. She is introduced in the eponymous episode "Nimue" when, fleeing from Vortigan who sacked and burned her village, she meets Merlin and they fall in love; with Merlin being immortal, Nimue drinks from the Holy Grail so they can be together forever. Afterwards, she kills Vortigan, which darkens her magic and turns her into the very first Dark One. Nimue breaks Excalibur but Merlin cannot brings himself to kill her and ends up being trapped in a tree. At some point, Nimue dies but she manages to live on in all of the following Dark Ones, appearing to them as a vision. She forms an alliance with Captain Hook, manipulating him into casting the Dark Curse and reviving her and the Dark Ones, and then leads a Dark One invasion in Storybrooke, which ultimately leads to her demise at the hands of Hook, who betrays her to redeem himself and destroy her and the Dark Ones forever using Excalibur. At this time, she was played by a male actor, Guy Fauchon. The separate character of the Lady of the Lake is referenced several times as Lancelot's mother, but she never appears; even the episode titled "The Lady of the Lake" does not feature her and instead refers to Prince Charming's mother. The 2017 film ''King Arthur: Legend of the Sword'' features the Lady of the Lake as played by Jacqui Ainsley, wife of the film's director Guy Ritchie. She has bound Excalibur to the Pendragon bloodline after Merlin used it to destroy the Mage Tower and appears to catch the sword underwater after Arthur throws it into the lake in shame at his failures; she pulls Arthur underwater and motivates him to fight Vortigern before returning the sword to him. This good Lady of the Lake has her mirror image in the film's monstrous character "Syren" that replaces the two dragons in the film's revision of the legend of Vortigern's Tower. In the illustrated novel and Netflix series ''Cursed (2020 TV series), Cursed'', a feminist re-imagining of the Arthurian legend, Nimue is the protagonist, portrayed by Katherine Langford in the adaptation. Writer and showrunner Tom Wheeler (writer), Tom Wheeler said he was inspired by "this really evocative image of this young woman’s hand reaching out of this lake and offering the sword to Arthur, so that image is what captivated us. And it's a really mysterious, magical, sad image, and it begged all of these questions: Why is she giving the sword to Arthur? What was their relationship? Why him? Why does she have the sword?" (Contrary to Wheeler's stated belief, it is not Nimue who gives the sword in Malory's unrevised telling.) In ''Cursed'', before becoming the Lady of the Lake, Nimue, also known as the "Wolf-Blood Witch", is a young woman coming into her Fairy, Fey abilities, but whilst her home was ravaged by the Christian fanatics called the Red Paladins she is sent on a mission by her dying mother to deliver "The Sword of Power" (Excalibur but never named) to Merlin. Taking great liberties from the source materials, ''Curseds Lancelot (known until the finale as only "The Weeping Monk") is already adult when Nimue first meets him and is for most part just one of her enemies, Merlin is revealed to be her father, and she is instead Arthur's love interest. The story of ''Cursed'' ends abruptly when Nimue is shot with arrows by a nun named Iris (an original character with no counterpart in the legend) and falls with the sword into a body of water, where she (or her spirit, as her exact fate is left unexplained) will guard the sword until "a true king rises to claim it." Albeit the TV series adapted the entire original book, it was supposed to continue in the canceled second season.


See also

*Grendel's mother *Llyn y Fan Fach *Yeshe Tsogyal


References


External links


The Lady of the Lake
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