With Arthur crowned King, married to Guinevere, and his 150 knights of the Round Table installed, Sir Thomas Malory’s account starts relating the first of many adventures of Arthur’s knights, Sir Gawain. That ended badly for the young knight when he accidentally killed another knight’s lady and had to return to Camelot in disgrace.
That is followed by further short tales concerning Sir Tor and King Pellinore, who formulated the oath of good conduct that was renewed by all the knights of the Round Table every Pentecost (Whitsuntide). Among those whom King Pellinore brought to Arthur’s court was a maid-in-waiting to the Lady of the Lake, named Nyneve, who caught Merlin’s eye and desire. Elsewhere in Arthurian legend she is known as Nimue, Nimiane or even Vivien, and rather than being an attendant to the Lady of the Lake, she is identified as that lady, and Merlin’s femme fatale and undoing.
Merlin became obsessively in love with Nyneve, who encouraged him so she could learn his magical skills. Merlin told King Arthur that his own life would be short, and that he’d be buried alive, and soon after their discussion, Nyneve left the court with Merlin chasing after her. The couple travelled to the land of Benwick, where Merlin met the young Lancelot, son of King Ban and Queen Elaine, and foretold that he would become the greatest of knights.
Frederick Sandys’ portrait of Vivien from 1863 refers to Tennyson’s version of Nyneve in his epic poem Idylls of the King, where she has trapped Merlin helpless in a hawthorn bush while he is under her spell. Her apple refers to Eve and original sin, and she wears bright red jewellery as a symbol of moral laxity. Even more appropriately, his model was Keomi Gray, with whom Sandys had a long affair resulting in four children, although his earlier marriage was never dissolved. Gray also modelled for Rossetti and other Pre-Raphaelites, but by the time that he had completed this painting, Sandys was living with an actress, Mary Emma Jones, who bore him at least nine more children.
A few years later, Edward Burne-Jones is faithful to a late mediaeval French version of the story, and shows Merlin, his face full of stupor, trapped limp in a hawthorn in full blossom. Nyneve looks down at Merlin with a powerful stare, holding a book of spells high in front of her. Her hair has black snakes in it, just like the classical monster Medusa.
From the kingdom of Benwick, Merlin and Nyneve made their way to Cornwall, but as they travelled she began to tire of his advances. One day when Merlin was showing her an enchanted cave, she lured him in and cast a spell that held him captive within for ever, then abandoned him.
King Arthur received news that five kings, including those of Denmark and Ireland, had started destroying cities and castles in his land with their large army. He made haste to leave with all the forces he could muster, including Queen Guinevere, and they made camp in a forest beside the River Humber, where his enemies caught him by surprise in a night attack.
The king and queen took to their horses and headed for the river, but the five kings reached them before they could cross. With the aid of three of his knights, Sir Gawain, Grifflet and Kay (Arthur’s step-brother), they killed all five kings, and had Guinevere rowed across to safety. Arthur and his army routed their enemy at first light, when their opponents became aware of the deaths of their leaders. Arthur had an abbey built there to commemorate the battle, and he returned with his knights to Camelot to replace the eight knights of the Round Table who had died by the Humber.
Among the replacement knights was King Uriens, who had married Arthur’s sister (or half-sister) Morgan le Fay. She had been brought up in a nunnery, where it was rumoured she had studied and practised magic.
William Henry Margetson’s illustration is based on text derived from Malory’s retelling: ‘She was known to have studied magic while she was being brought up in the nunnery’. Here she is an Arthurian Circe, standing with her wand above a temple tripod, albeit with very short legs.
Frederick Sandys’ Morgan-le-Fay from 1863-64 casts her as an alchemist-sorceress, working on mysterious spells, but without the classical references. Behind her is a large weaving loom, which may be a reference to other stories such as that of the Lady of Shalott.
Later portraits moved away from witchcraft towards the increasingly popular concept of the femme fatale, as in John Roddam Spencer Stanhope’s full-length portrait of Morgan Le Fay from about 1880, with its overwhelming reds.
Edward Burne-Jones’ first full-length portrait of Morgan le Fay from 1862 wasn’t particularly insightful or innovative, though.
By 1905, John Macallan Swan dispensed with her clothing altogether in his Nude Study for ‘Fata Morgana’.
After Uriens had joined the Round Table, he, Sir Accolon of Gaul and King Arthur went hunting, when the three of them became involved in an epic chase of a great stag. When they eventually killed the stag it was growing late, and they were taken by boat to the castle of the treasonous Sir Damas.
Arthur was imprisoned, and told that his only means of release for himself and twenty other knights was to fight for Sir Damas. Meanwhile, Sir Accolon was told a similar story, but that he would fight for Morgan le Fay in return for the hand of the woman of his choice, and was given Excalibur and its scabbard to arm himself. Accolon was then taken to Sir Damas’ brother, Sir Outlake, who had been challenged to fight Damas’ knight the following morning, but was unable to fight himself because of his wounds.
Thus combat was set up between Arthur and Accolon, with neither of them knowing their opponent. As a final touch, on the morning of their fight, one of Morgan le Fay’s maids gave Arthur a sword resembling Excalibur in its scabbard, but he didn’t know that his opponent would be armed with the real Excalibur and its protective scabbard.
Dora Curtis’s mediaeval-style painting of Morgan le Fay with Excalibur from 1905 refers to this plot to have Arthur killed with his own sword.
The following morning, Nyneve arrived, as she had become aware that Morgan le Fay had set up Arthur to be killed, and wanted to save him.
When Arthur and Accolon joined battle, the King soon discovered that his sword lacked the effectiveness of his opponent’s, and as he bled from his wounds he realised that he had been duped, with the other knight wielding Excalibur and benefiting from the protection of its scabbard. When Arthur paused for a moment, Accolon called on him to return to fight. Arthur responded with a blow of his sword that was so forceful that its blade broke. Despite his disadvantage, the King refused to yield. Nyneve then intervened, and used magic to cause Excalibur to fall from Accolon’s hand, allowing Arthur to take hold of it and drive his opponent to the ground.
As King Arthur prepared to kill Accolon, he finally recognised the knight and understood Morgan le Fay’s betrayal of them both. He revealed himself to Accolon, and they called a halt to their fight. Arthur dispossessed Sir Damas in favour of his brother Sir Outlake, and took himself and Sir Accolon to a nearby abbey for their their wounds to be healed. But within four days, Sir Accolon had died of his wounds, and Arthur directed that the knight’s body was returned to Morgan le Fay at Camelot.
Morgan wasn’t at Camelot, though, as she had assumed that Arthur had been killed, and tried to murder her own husband, King Uriens, in his sleep. The maid she sent to fetch the sword alerted Morgan’s son Sir Uwain, who stopped the killing, and made his mother promise never to do such deeds again.
Morgan le Fay returned to Camelot only to discover that it was Accolon who had died, and asked Queen Guinevere for permission to leave the country before the King could return to deal with her. Morgan then rode to the abbey where the king was recovering, with the intention of stealing Excalibur and its scabbard from him. Although she managed to get the scabbard, Arthur was asleep with the sword in his hand, so she fled without it.
When Arthur awoke, he rode with Sir Outlake to catch Morgan, but she realised that she couldn’t outpace her pursuers, and changed herself and others in her group into large stones. King Arthur returned without the stolen scabbard, and his sister went into hiding in the land of Gorre.
Later, one of Morgan le Fay’s maids arrived at Camelot bearing the gift of a mantle covered with precious stones. Nyneve warned the king that this was a trick, and told Arthur to command Morgan’s maid to don the mantle first. She tried to refuse, and when Arthur had the mantle put on her back, her body was burned to ashes.
King Arthur told King Uriens that he remained confident in his loyalty, but was suspicious of his son, Uwain, who was thus dismissed from the court.
Reference
Dorsey Armstrong (translator and editor) & Sir Thomas Malory (2009) Morte Darthur, a new modern English translation, Parlor Press. ISBN 978 1 60235 103 5. (A superb translation based on the Winchester manuscript.)