Guinevere

Guide Note

Guinevere was wife and queen to the legendary King Arthur. Although her character has been alternately admirable or despicable in different adaptations of the story, the most common element to Guinevere's character is her adulterous affair with Arthur's greatest knight, Lancelot. This affair is almost always directly linked to the fall of Camelot.

Fast Facts

  1. Wife of King Arthur and Queen of Camelot
  2. Daughter of King Leodegrance
  3. In love with, and often adulterous with the knight Lancelot
  4. Evil twin sister named Gwenhwyach in the Mabigonian
  5. In some legends Merlin warns Arthur of her betrayal
  6. Often portrayed at odds with Arthur's sorceress half-sister, Morgan Le Fay
  7. The abduction of Guinevere is a common trope in Arthurian Legend

Origins of the Lancelot Adultery

Although it has since become an inseparable part of the Camelot mythos, Guinevere's adulterous relationship with Lancelot was first told in the Medieval poem, Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, written by Chrétien de Troyes. This juicy addition to the story was so popular that it was incorporated into the Lancelot-Grail Cycle as well as Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.

The Mahalo Top 7

  1. Wikipedia: Guinevere
  2. Arthurian Legend: Queen Guinevere Profile
  3. The Camelot Project: Guinevere Texts, Images and Information
  4. Timeless Myths: Guinevere Profile and History
  5. University of Idaho: Guinevere Home Page
  6. Sherwood Times: Lancelot and Guinevere Online Text
  7. Video: Camelot: The Lusty Monty of May (Time: 03:59)

Guinevere in History and Legend

Guinevere Literary Evolution

Contemporary Fiction

Guinevere Images

Guinevere Videos and Media

Guinevere Books and Merchandise

Notable Guinevere Films

 WARNING: Pop-upsNote: The majority of the links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups.

Guinevere in News and Culture

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