Queen Guinevere

“ Sir Gaudeamus arrives at the court of Queen Guinevere.
Three days after the departure of Sir Geraint the Queen was riding abroad, and several of her court attendants were with her, and amongst them was the young damsel who had inquired of the dwarf concerning the name of the knight whom he followed. As they rode talking and laughing together—chattering in clear voices, like a bevy of bright and gloriously tinted birds—they perceived coming toward them a procession. First they beheld a litter borne by several bearers and on the litter was a wounded knight. ”

“ There cometh a damsel to the May party.
Now as the Queen and her Court walked in great joy among the blossoms, one of the damsels attendant upon the Lady Guinevere cried out of a sudden, “Look! Look! Who is that cometh yonder?” Thereupon Queen Guinevere lifted up her eyes, and she beheld that there came across the meadows a damsel riding upon a milk-white palfrey, accompanied by three pages clad in sky-blue raiment. ”

“ Oh, Launcelot, Launcelot! If thou wert but here to stand my champion in this quarrel! But thou art not here, for I, in my haste, have driven thee away from me, I know not whither.” So said Queen Guinevere, and with that she began weeping as though her heart would break.
Sir Bors will serve as the Queen’s champion.
Then Sir Bors was very much moved and he said, “Weep not, Lady, for thou hast yet no cause for weeping. Thou yet hast many good true knights who would defend thee. Yea; I will serve as thy champion unless a better champion arise to defend thee. ”

“ Iseult made Sir Tristram tell her of the battles he had fought, of the countries he had seen, and of the people of this new land towards which she was hastening; for all was strange to her, and a great heaviness filled her heart at the thought of King Mark and his court.
That her mind might not dwell on it, she asked him of Queen Guinevere, the fame of whose beauty had spread to all lands.
"Alas, alas for her beauty!" cried Sir Tristram. "It has been the undoing of many good men and true, who have died for love of her. Her beauty has been a sore curse to her, poor lady." ”

“ And when Queen Guinevere understood that her lord King Arthur was slain, and all the noble knights, Sir Modred and all the remnant, she stole away, and five ladies with her, and so she went to Almesbury, and there she let make herself a nun, and wore white clothes and black, and great penance she took as ever did sinful lady in this land, and never creature could make her merry, but lived in fastings, prayers, and alms-deeds, that all manner of people marvelled how virtuously she was changed. ”

“ The Queen, Guinevere, was the daughter of Leodogran, a tributary king. When Leodogran had given his consent to the marriage of his daughter Guinevere to Arthur, the king sent Lancelot, his truest and bravest knight, to bring Guinevere to the court. Guinevere, not having yet seen the king, fell in love with Lancelot, and her love was returned. This secret love was continued, and under its influence, little by little, the ideals of the knights were lowered. The incidents in the story of Enid are supposed to have taken place shortly after the marriage of Arthur and Guinevere.
35. caitiff. ”

“ In the course of it, Galiot asks Arthur what price he would pay to have the black knight’s perpetual friendship; to which Arthur replies, he would gladly share with him half of everything that he possessed, saving only Queen Guinevere. The question is then put to Gawain, who replies that, if only his health might be restored, he would wish to be the most beautiful woman in the world, so as to be always beloved by the knight. Next it is put to Guinevere, who remarks that Sir Gawain has anticipated all that a lady could possibly wish, an answer which is received with much laughter. ”

“ And traitress.' When that storm of anger brake
From Guinevere, aghast the maiden rose,
White as her veil, and stood before the Queen
As tremulously as foam upon the beach
Stands in a wind, ready to break and fly,
And when the Queen had added 'Get thee hence,'
Fled frighted. Then that other left alone
Sighed, and began to gather heart again,
Saying in herself, 'The simple, fearful child
Meant nothing, but my own too-fearful guilt,
Simpler than any child, betrays itself. ”

“ It will interest us furthermore to note how in these days of chivalry when religion, love, and deeds of arms are the topics of the chronicler how freely, though not lightly, the names of Holy Persons are invoked in conversation. The Characters whom we shall see enact the little drama are King Arthur and his lovely Queen Guinevere, several Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Kay, the gruff steward or Seneschal, Sir Bors, Sir Bleoberis, Sir Meliogrance, and Sir Gawayne about whom the story concerns itself. ”

“ And the next day Sir Gawaine and his brother, Gaheris, returned unto this Court of the King and he told King Arthur and his Court all that had befallen, hiding nothing from them.
Queen Guinevere is displeased with Sir Gawaine.
Now, Queen Guinevere was very much displeased when she heard how Sir Gawaine would show no mercy to that knight and how he had struck the lady with his sword. Wherefore she said aside to one of those who stood nigh to her, “It seems to me to be a very strange thing for a belted knight to do, to refuse to give mercy unto a fallen enemy and to strike a lady with his sword ”

“ And I find that the thing of all the world which pleaseth women best, is to have their own way in all things.”
When the knight had made this answer in a clear and manly voice, which was heard all over the audience chamber, there was much flutter and commotion among all the women present, and many were at first inclined to gainsay him. But Queen Guinevere questioned all thoroughly, and gave fair judgment, and at the end declared that the knight had solved the question, and there was no woman there who did not confess that he spoke aright. ”

“ This swift change of front, this weakening, this inconsistency, is yet so human, so subtly true to life, under such a phase of it, that the entire scene vibrates with emotion which gathers force in the declaration of Guinevere:
Love, I will fly with thee where’er thou wilt!
and reaches its climax in the sudden strength with which Lancelot meets the Queen’s weakness. During her pleading that he should leave her, his selfish wish had been uppermost; but her weakness recalls him to himself and evokes his latent loyalty to the King:
Speak not of flight ”

“ The wood-work, the tables and chairs and pedestals, are all ornamented by her artistic hand or what she has prompted her children to do. Una is full of exquisite maidenhood. Julian was away, but his beautiful illuminations lay upon the table. The one illustrating a portion of King Arthur’s address to Queen Guinevere (Tennyson) was remarkably fine.
The Offending Dedication
All this takes one back into a past sufficiently remote. ”

“ There is no happiness for Lancelot without Guinevere, no sweetness in the breath of evening nor speculation in the stars of night, no gladness in the summer, no glamour in the greenwood, no glory in the day. Her whisper lurks in the hollow of his helmet when he shouts his war-cry, her image rouses his desire for fame, and [Pg 240] points his trusty lance. But for the keen, unholy stimulant his arm would be nerveless and his courage dull, while all the time
“The great and guilty love he bare the queen,
In battle with the love he bare his lord,
Hath marred his face, and marked it ere his time.” ”

“ Oh, my dear love, as if there could be but one answer to that! All women most desire what I, most fortunate of women, have: A loving husband which is also a true and faithful knight of worship and renown!
[Many of those present concur in this, saying, “In sooth the Queen speaks for all!” and, “Now, could there be two minds about that!” and, “Gramercy, so also say I!” Others, however, differ, murmuring, “I doubt that is right!” and, “What is truth for one may not be truth for other!” and the like. Guinevere notices this and exclaims, saying] How now! It seems we are not all of one opinion! ”

“ What is it that all women do most desire? Now by my knighthood it would seem a simple quest, yet it hath set the whole Court by the ears, and put the kingdom in jeopard ... [237] and the Queen! [He sits near the window and polishes his shield.]
[Guinevere enters in sad meditation.]
Guinevere.
What is it all women do most desire? Fair Heaven, here am I a woman, with all I love in hazard for the answer, yet I know it not! [She sees Sir Gawayne in the shadow, and starts, exclaiming, then recognises him, reassured.] Sir Gawayne! ”

“ His resting-place was Joyous Gard, which, in his grief he had called Dolorous Gard; the queen was laid by her husband’s side in the island-valley. But at Llanilterne, near Cardiff, a huge quoin stone may be seen with an almost undecipherable Hic jacet, and popular tradition declares that this is Guinevere’s monument. “Through this knight and me,” said the queen, when Sir Lancelot and she met in the Almesbury convent, “all the wars were wrought, and the death of the most noble knights of the world: for through our love that we have loved together is my most noble lord slain ”

“ It is, as we all know, the story of Guinevere's abduction by Meleagant, and her rescue by Sir Lancelot.
A knight (Meleagant) appears at Arthur's court, and boasts of the Breton subjects he holds in captivity. Arthur can free them if he will commit Guinevere to the care of a knight who will fight a single combat with him; if he (Meleagant) be defeated, all the prisoners shall be freed; if he be victor, Guinevere, too, is his captive. Kay, by [Pg 41] demanding from Arthur a boon, the nature of which is unspecified, and which the king grants before hearing, obtains permission to escort the queen. ”

“ We must remember that, alike in Geoffrey, Wace, and Layamon, the account of Guinevere's relations with Mordred is totally different to that familiar to us through Malory, and borrowed by him from the Mort Artur. In the latter, the queen is no accomplice in Mordred's treason, but resists his advances vi et armis, barricading herself in the Tower of London, where the traitor vainly besieges her.
In the chronicles the whole position is different: they shall speak for themselves. ”

“ Turning around, the knight beheld a lady sweet and young, more lovely in her looks than Guinevere herself. With happy tears she related how the enchantments had been wrought which held her in the form of an ancient hag until he had helped to remove the spell. And from that time forth they lived in great content, each happy to yield equally to each other in all things. ”

“ Our hands being left behind strained far away.
Never within a yard of my bright sleeves
Had Launcelot come before: and now, so nigh!
After that day why is it Guenevere grieves?
Nevertheless you, O Sir Gauwaine, lie,
Whatever happened on through all those years,
God knows I speak truth, saying that you lie.
Being such a lady could I weep these tears
If this were true? A great queen such as I
Having sinn'd this way, straight her conscience sears ”

“ Now, that day, in the afternoon, the Lady Guinevere chanced to walk in the garden with her damsels, and with her walked those four noble knights who had been sent thither by her White Champion, to wit, Sir Gawaine, Sir Ewaine, Sir Geraint, and Sir Pellias. And the gardener’s lad was digging in the gardens; and as they passed by where he was the Lady Guinevere laughed aloud and cried out: “Look! Look! Messires and Ladies! Yonder is a very saucy fellow for to be a gardener’s lad, for he continually weareth his cap, even when he standeth in the presence of lords and ladies.” ”

“ He makes rash promises and vows, accepts charges on very slight evidence, and seems to have his knights by no means "in hand." So, too, though never a coward or weakling, he seems pretty nearly to have lost the pluck and prowess which had won Guinevere's love under the walls of Carmelide, and of which the last display is in the great fight with his sister's lover, Sir Accolon. All this may not excuse Guinevere's conduct to the moralist; it certainly makes that conduct artistically probable and legitimate to the critic, as a foundation for novel-character. ”

“ Then, true to the yearning nature of her sex, yearning ever with keenest longings for the lost and the impossible, Guinevere leaps to her feet, the tide of a new love welling up in her wayward heart, fierce, cruel, and irresistible, because it must be henceforth utterly hopeless and forlorn. With her own hand she has put away her own happiness ”

“ A golden-haired Guinevere, with blue unholy eyes and loose mouth red with kisses, looks lingeringly out of her window in the dawn to where among the grey trees of the distance the gleam of a helmet makes a faint spark of silver light. A furnace-eyed, cynical Vivien, with passionate triumph fanning the glow of her swarthy evil beauty, glides up in the gathering darkness among overhanging cypresses from where, an undistinguishable heap, lies the insensible body of the conquered Merlin. ”

“ Hinton as he puffed at his pipe.
The door of the saloon swung open, and the chubby gentleman appeared in the light, shading his eyes, and calling out that they were all waiting for the little canary-bird.
“I don’t want to go,” whispered Guinevere, shrinking back into the shadow.
The chubby gentleman peered up and down the deck, then, assailed by a gust of wind, beat a hasty retreat.
“I don’t like him,” announced Guinevere, drawing a breath of relief. “It isn’t just because he’s fat and ugly; it’s the silly way he looks at you.” ”

“ Guinevere, having become aware of the very ardent looks that were being cast upon her, said she thought the boat must be about due.
“Oh, no,” said Mr. Opp; “that is, I was about to say—why—er—say, Miss Guin-never, do you think you could ever come to keer about me?”
Guinevere, thus brought to bay, took refuge in subterfuge. “Why—Mr. Opp—I’m not old enough for you.”
“Yes, you are,” he burst forth fervently. “You are everything for me: old enough, and beautiful enough, and smart enough, and sweet enough. I never beheld a human creature that could even begin to think about comparing with you.” ”