Guinevere by Henry Justice Ford c.1910

Guinevere /ˈɡwɪnɨvɪər/ was the legendary Queen consort of King Arthur. In tales and folklore, she was said to have had a love affair with Arthur's chief knight Sir Lancelot. This story first appears in Chrétien de Troyes' Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, and reappears as a common motif in numerous cyclical Arthurian literature, starting with the Lancelot-Grail Cycle of the early 13th century and carrying through the Post-Vulgate Cycle and Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. Guinevere's and Lancelot's betrayal of Arthur was often considered as having led to the downfall of the kingdom.^[1]

Name[link]

The Welsh form Gwenhwyfar, which seems to be cognate with the Irish name Findabair, can be translated as The White Enchantress, or alternately The White Fay/Ghost, from Proto-Celtic *Uindo- "white, fair, holy" + *seibarV (V=vowel) "magic" (cf. Old Irish síabar "magic").^[2][3][4] Some have suggested that the name may derive from "Gwenhwy-fawr" or Gwenhwy the Great, contrasting the character to "Gwenhwy-fach" or Gwenhwy the less; Gwenhwyfach appears in Welsh literature as a sister of Gwenhwyfar, but Welsh scholars Melville Richards and Rachel Bromwich, both dismiss this etymology (with Richards suggesting that Gwenhwyfach was a back-formation derived from an incorrect interpretation of Gwenwhy-far as Gwenhwy-fawr).^[5] Geoffrey of Monmouth renders her name Guanhumara in Latin (though there are many spelling variations to be found in the various manuscripts of his Historia Regum Britanniae). The name is spelled Guennuuar in Caradoc's Vita Gildae. Gerald of Wales calls her Wenneuereia. In the 15th century Middle Cornish play Bewnans Ke, she is called Gwynnever. The name in Modern English is spelled Jennifer, from the Cornish.^[6]

Armenian version. Guynivar = gyun+i+var. Guyn = colour, i var = to bottom. Guyn+i+var = pale, colourless. Means - highly white skinned. Guynivar = Գույն+ի+վար. Also the same meaning: Guynn+i+var (Գույնն+ի+վար), means - the colour is at bottom/pale.

Guinevere's character[link]

Arthur's Tomb - The Last Meeting of Lancelot and Guinevere by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

In one of the Welsh Triads (Trioedd Ynys Prydein, no. 56), there were three Gwenhwyfars who were married to King Arthur; the first was the daughter of Cywryd of Gwent, the second of Gwythyr ap Greidawl, and the third of (G)ogrfan Gawr ("the Giant"), ^[7]). In a variant of another Welsh Triad (Trioedd Ynys Prydein, no. 54), there is only one Gwenhwyfar mentioned, the daughter of Gogfran Gawr. In two other Triads (Trioedd Ynys Prydein, no. 53, 84), mention is made of Gwenhwyfar's contention with her sister Gwenhwyfach, which was believed to be the cause of the Battle of Camlann. In the Welsh Romance Culhwch ac Olwen, she is mentioned along side of her sister Gwenhwyfach. In Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, she is one of the great beauties of Britain, descended from a noble Roman family and educated under duke Cador of Cornwall. There was once a popular folk rhyme known in Wales concerning Gwenhwyfar:

Gwenhwyfar ferch Ogrfan Gawr

Drwg yn fechabm gwaeth yn fawr.

Gwenhwyfar, daughter of Ogrfan Gawr

Bad when little, worse when great.^[8]

In non-Welsh medieval Romance, she is the daughter of King Leodegrance, and is betrothed to Arthur early in his career, while he is garnering support. When Lancelot arrives later, she is instantly smitten, and they soon consummate the adultery that will bring about Arthur's fall. However, Arthur is not aware of their relationship or adultery for quite a while, until at a feast when he realizes that neither Lancelot nor Guinevere is there. Their affair is exposed by two of King Lot's sons, Agravain and Mordred, and Lancelot flees for his life while Arthur reluctantly sentences his queen to burn at the stake. Knowing Lancelot and his family will try to stop the execution, Arthur sends many of his knights to defend the pyre, though Gawain refuses to participate. Lancelot arrives and rescues the queen, and in the course of the battle Gawain's brothers Gaheris and Gareth are killed, sending Gawain into a rage so great that he pressures Arthur into war with Lancelot. When Arthur goes to France to fight Lancelot, he leaves Guinevere in the care of Mordred, who plots to marry the queen himself and take Arthur's throne. In some versions Guinevere assents to Mordred's proposal, but in others, she hides in the Tower of London and then takes refuge in a convent. Hearing of the treachery, Arthur returns to Britain and slays Mordred at Camlann, but his wounds are so severe that he is taken to the isle of Avalon. Guinevere meets Lancelot one last time, then returns to the convent where she spends the remainder of her life.^[9]

Lancelot and Guinevere, Portrait by Herbert James Draper

Guinevere is childless in most stories,^[10] two exceptions being the Perlesvaus and the Alliterative Morte Arthure. In the former, the character Mordred is apparently Arthur's illegitimate son in other works.^[11]

The Lady Guinevere, by Howard Pyle from The Story of King Arthur and His Knights. (1903)

In the latter, Guinevere willingly becomes Mordred's consort and bears him two sons, though all of this is implied rather than stated in the text. There are mentions of Arthur's sons in the Welsh Triads, though their exact parentage isn't clear. Other family relations are equally obscure; a half-sister and a brother play the antagonists in the Lancelot-Grail and the German romance Diu Crône respectively, but neither character is mentioned elsewhere. Welsh tradition remembers the queen's sister Gwenhyvach and records the enmity between them. While later literature almost always names Leodegrance as Guinevere's father, her mother is usually unmentioned, though she is sometimes said to be dead. Such is the case in the Middle English romance The Awntyrs off Arthure (The Adventures of Arthur), in which the ghost of Guinevere's mother appears to her daughter and Gawain in Inglewood Forest. Other works name cousins of note, though these do not usually appear in more than one place.

Guinevere has been portrayed as everything from a weak and opportunistic traitor to a fatally flawed but noble and virtuous gentlewoman. In Chrétien's Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, she is praised for her intelligence, friendliness, and gentility, while in Marie de France's Lanval (and Thomas Chestre's Middle English version, Sir Launfal), she is a vindictive adulteress, disliked by the protagonist and all well-bred knights. The early chronicles tend to portray her inauspiciously or hardly at all, while later authors used her good and bad qualities to construct a deeper character who plays a larger role. The works of Chrétien were some of the first to elaborate on the character Guinevere beyond simply the wife of Arthur. This is likely due to his audience at the time, the court of Marie de Champagne, which was composed of courtly ladies who played highly social roles.^[12]

Abduction of Guinevere[link]

Queen Guinevere's maying by John Collier, 1900

The earliest mention of Guinevere is in the Welsh tale Culhwch ac Olwen, where she appears as Arthur's queen, but little more is said about her. Caradoc of Llancarfan, who wrote his Life of Gildas before 1136, recounts how she was kidnapped by Melwas, king of the "Summer Country" (Aestiva Regio, perhaps meaning Somerset), and held prisoner at his stronghold at Glastonbury. The story states that Arthur spent a year searching for her, found her, and had assembled an army to storm Melwas' fort when Saint Gildas negotiated a peaceful resolution and reunited husband and wife.^[13] This is the earliest written account of Guinevere's abduction, one of the earliest and most common episodes in Arthurian legend. A seemingly related account appears carved into the archivolt of Modena Cathedral in Modena, Italy, which probably predates Caradoc's telling. Here, "Artus de Bretania" and Isdernus approach a tower in which "Mardoc" is holding "Winlogee", while on the other side Carrado (probably Caradoc) fights Galvagin (Gawain) while the knights Galvariun and Che (Kay) approach. "Isdernus" is most certainly some incarnation of Yder, a Celtic hero whose name appears in Culhwch and Olwen, and who was Guinevere's lover in a nearly-forgotten tradition mentioned in Beroul's Tristan and reflected in the later Roman de Yder. The Welsh poet Dafydd ap Gwilym alludes to Guinevere's abduction in two of his poems, and the medievalist Roger Sherman Loomis suggested that this tale shows that "she had inherited the role of a Celtic Persephone".^[14]

Ellen Terry as Guinevere in the play King Arthur by J. Comyns Carr in the Lyceum Theatre production, designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. American postcard (mailed 12 January 1895) based on a rotogravure to promote the US tour. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Collection

Geoffrey of Monmouth tells a different version of Guinevere's abduction, adding that she was descended from a noble Roman family and was the ward of Cador, Duke of Cornwall.^[15] Arthur leaves her in the care of his nephew, Mordred while he crosses over to Europe to go to war with the (fictitious) Roman Procurator Lucius Hiberius. While he is absent, Guinevere is seduced by Mordred and marries him, upon which Mordred declares himself king and takes Arthur's throne; consequently, Arthur returns to Britain and fights Mordred at the fatal Battle of Camlann.^[16]

Chrétien de Troyes tells yet another version of Guinevere's abduction, this time by Meleagant (whose name is possibly derived from Melwas) in Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart. The abduction sequence is largely a reworking of that recorded in Caradoc's work, but here the queen's rescuer is not Arthur (or Yder) but Lancelot, whose adultery with the queen is dealt with for the first time in this poem. It has been suggested that Chrétien invented their affair to supply Guinevere with a courtly extramarital lover. Mordred could not be used, as his reputation was beyond saving, and Yder had been forgotten entirely.^[17]

Detail of the biblical story of Daniel in the lions' den from a Pictish monument. Local folklore identifies this as Vanora (Guinevere) being fed to wild beasts as punishment for her infidelity.

In the German tale Diu Crône, Guinevere's brother Gotegrim kidnaps her and intends to kill her for refusing to marry Gasozein, who claims to be her rightful husband. In Ulrich von Zatzikhoven's Lanzelet, Valerin, King of the Tangled Wood, claims the right to marry her and carries her off to his castle in a struggle for power that reminds scholars of her prescient connections to the fertility and sovereignty of Britain. Arthur's company save her, but Valerin kidnaps her again and places her in a magical sleep inside another castle surrounded by snakes, where only the powerful sorcerer Malduc can rescue her. All of these similar tales of abduction by another suitor – and this allegory includes Lancelot, who whisks her away when she is condemned to burn at the stake for their adultery – are demonstrative of a recurring Hades-snatches-Persephone theme, positing that Guinevere is like the otherworld bride Étaín, who Midir, king of the Underworld, carries off from her earthly life after she has forgotten her past.^[18]

A version of the abduction of Guinevere is associated with Meigle in Scotland, known for its carved Pictish stelae. One of the stones, now in the Meigle Sculptured Stone Museum, is said to depict Vanora, the local name for Guinevere.^[19] She was said to have been abducted by King Mordred. When she was eventually returned to Arthur, he had her condemned to death for infidelity and ordered that she be torn to pieces by wild beasts, an event said to be depicted on Meigle Stone 2.^[19] This stone was one of two that originally stood near a mound that is identified as Vanora's grave.^[19]

Modern adaptations[link]

In the television series Merlin Guinevere (called Gwen by most of the characters) is portrayed by Angel Coulby, and is shown as the daughter of a blacksmith and maid to Lady Morgana, along with being her best friend. At first, Guinevere is implied as the love interest of Merlin (who is far younger in the series), but later falls in love with Prince Arthur.^[20]

References[link]

Citations[link]

Bibliography[link]

Further reading[link]

For young readers[link]

See also[link]

Media related to Guinevere at Wikimedia Commons

External links[link]

• Guinevere page at the Camelot Project
• Timeless Myths - Arthurian Women
• Warrior queens and blind critics from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2008)

Eli Young Band
Mike Eli
Background information
Origin	Denton, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Country
Years active	2000-present[1]
Labels	Carnival Universal South Republic Nashville
Website	http://www.eliyoung.net
Members
Mike Eli James Young Jon Jones Chris Thompson
Past members
Bryan Tyler Mark Sims

Eli Young Band is an American country music band based in Denton, Texas. The band is composed of Mike Eli (vocals, guitar), James Young (guitar), Jon Jones (bass guitar), and Chris Thompson (drums). They released their self-titled debut album in 2002, followed by the Carnival records release Level in 2005. Their third album, Jet Black & Jealous, was released in 2008 by Universal South Records. A second major-label album, Life at Best, was released in 2011 by Republic Nashville; it includes their first #1 hit, "Crazy Girl".

Biography[link]

Mike Eli and James Young met each at the University of North Texas when they became dorm roommates their freshman year. They played guitar and eventually began writing and singing songs together; they formed the acoustic duo, Eli & Young, while attending the University of North Texas.^[1] Chris Thompson and Jon Jones joined them later on and they became the Eli Young Band.^[2]

They released their first album in 2002, self-titled "Eli Young Band". In 2005 they released "Level" on Carnival Records and opened shows for Miranda Lambert.^[2] National exposure on CMT and GAC helped them begin to build a following well outside of their touring base. They sold as many as 2,000 tickets a night in multiple markets. In late 2006 they released Eli Young Band Live At the Jolly Fox located in Huntsville, Texas. Early in 2007, they signed a management deal with George Couri and C3 Management. Their plans included a rigorous tour schedule and key opening spots with Pat Green, Robert Earl Keen, and Jack Ingram, as well as a spot on the 2007 Austin City Limits Music Festival.

While touring, they were also making songwriting a top priority and made time for writing trips and retreats at the Young family ranch. Energized with new songs, they were ready to begin working on a new album in late 2007. Working with producers Frank Liddell and Mike Wrucke (who have also produced for Lambert), they took time off from touring to record at Omni Studios in Nashville. Their third album, Jet Black & Jealous, was released in 2008. Its lead-off single, "When It Rains", spent thirty-seven weeks on the country charts and peaked at #34.^[3] A second chart single, "Always the Love Songs" (co-written by David Lee Murphy and George Ducas), scored the Eli Young Band their first top 15 hit, making #11. ("Radio Waves" also made top 40, while "Guinevere" peaked at #45.)

They were nominated for an Academy of Country Music award as the Top New Vocal Group or Duo, an award that is based on the number of fan entries on the GAC website. They lost to the Zac Brown Band. They were then nominated for the 2010 Top New Vocal Group for the 45th ACM Awards, but lost to Gloriana.

They appeared as part of the pregame ceremonies for an NFL game between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on December 5, 2010. Mike Eli forgot the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" and was promptly booed. He attempted to sing the song again, but forgot a considerable amount of the lyrics in his second try.^[4]

In 2011, the Eli Young Band moved to Republic Nashville and released their fifth overall single, "Crazy Girl" as the lead single off "Life at Best". It became the band's first gold-selling digital single,^[5] as well as their first #1 single.

The band received three nominations for the 2012 Academy of Country Music Awards: Song of the Year, Top Vocal Group of the Year, and Single Record of the Year. On April 1, 2012 the band won the Academy of Country Music Award for Song of the Year.

Band members[link]

Current[link]

• Mike Eli (lead vocals, guitars)
• James Young (lead guitar, backing vocals)
• Jon Jones (bass guitar, backing vocals)
• Chris Thompson (drums)
• Keith Davis (pedal steel, keys, guitars, backing vocals)

Former[link]

• Mark Sims (guitar)
• Bryan Tyler (guitar)

Guests[link]

• Blu Sanders (guitars, backing vocals)
• Allen Huff (organ)

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

Live albums[link]

Singles[link]