Lady of the Lake

Nimue, The Lady of the Lake, shown holding the infatuated Merlin trapped and reading from a book of spells, in The Beguiling of Merlin (1872–1877) by Edward Burne-Jones

Lady of the Lake is the titular name of the ruler of Avalon in the Arthurian legend. She plays a pivotal role in many stories, including giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin, and raising Lancelot after the death of his father. Different writers and copyists give the Arthurian character the name Nimue, Viviane, Vivien, Elaine, Ninianne, Nivian, Nyneve, or Evienne, among other variations.^[1]

In medieval literature

Merlin And Vivien (1912) by Lancelot Speed

The Lancelot-Grail Cycle provides a backstory for the Lady of the Lake, Viviane, in the prose Merlin section, which takes place before the Lancelot Proper, though it was written later. She refuses to give him her love until he has taught her all his secrets, after which she uses her power to trap him either in the trunk of a tree or beneath a stone, depending on the story and author. Though Merlin, through his power of foresight knows beforehand that this will happen, he is unable to counteract Viviane 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 entrap and entomb him in a tree, a stone or a cave.

"Arthur meets the Lady of the Lake and gets the Sword Excalibur". A 1919 illustration by Henry Justice Ford for Andrew Lang's Tales of Romance

The Post-Vulgate Cycle's second Lady of the Lake is called Ninianne, and her story is nearly identical to the one in the Lancelot-Grail, though it adds her bestowal of the magic sword Excalibur to Arthur. Sir Thomas Malory also uses both Ladies of the Lake in his Le Morte d'Arthur; he leaves the first one unnamed and calls the second one Nimue. Malory's original Lady is presented as an early benefactor of King Arthur who grants him Excalibur when his original sword is damaged. She is later beheaded by Sir Balin as a result of a kin feud between them (she blames him for the death of her brother and he blames her for the death of his mother) and a dispute over an enchanted sword.

According to the Vulgate Merlin, it was the goddess Diana's enchantment, given to Dyonas, that caused Viviane to be so alluring to Merlin.^[2] The Vulgate Lancelot tells us that she was the Queen of Sicily, but considered a goddess by her subjects. The continuation post-vulgata Merlin describes how she killed her lover to be with another man, but then she was beheaded by this man to be a murderess. This story was later transferred to a lake in France, and was later called the Lake of Diana.

Sir Thomas Malory

Nimue

In Sir Thomas Malory's text, Le Morte D'Arthur, he refers to Nimue as one of two Ladies of the Lake. Malory dissociates Nimue from the general title of Lady of the Lake, so that when Sir Balin kills one of them, Malory describes Nimue as the "chief" and most important lady, and she plays a pivotal role in Arthurian court throughout the story. Without Nimue the Arthurian tale would not be as potent as it is with her. Malory's Nimue does not conform to the stereotypes surrounding her role. Firstly, it is not Nimue's hand that juts out the lake to hand Excalibur to Arthur. According to Malory, this hand belongs to the other Lady of the Lake. Furthermore, Malory starts to break Nimue out of the stereotypical role that women in Arthurian literature tend to fall under: Instead of serving the plot only as a temptress, Nimue becomes a recognizable force for good. In Malory's text, Nimue's character evolves from the dependent maiden to a woman who subtly takes charge in order to help and save the men around her. She is married to Sir Pelleas and outwardly acts as an obedient wife, while at the same time subtly helping sway the court in the right direction. When Malory was looking at other texts to find inspiration for his characters, he chose the best aspects of all the other Lady of the Lake characters, making her a compassionate, clever, strong willed, and sympathetic character. Nimue is a different kind of woman, one who does not shrink behind the male figures in her life. Instead, she is pragmatic, unflappable, and knowledgeable.

Nyneve

Similarly, Malory also introduces a character named Nyneve. This woman is another character for whom the title Lady of the Lake fits. Similar to Nymue, Nyneve is sympathetic to Arthur and also marries Pelleas. She heavily stresses justice based on the greater good. In Malory's text, Nyneve is loosely related to Arthur receiving Excalibur. In Le Morte D'Arthur this king receives Excalibur three times. Once from the stone, once from the unidentified Lady of the Lake and once in a battle from Nyneve. The distinction between the Lady of the Lake and Nyneve is evident through this example. It is important to note that when Arthur is in need, some incarnation of the Lady of the Lake, or her magic, reaches out to help him. Nyneve appears as the chivalric code changes; her appearance hints to the reader that something new will happen. This trend follows the logic that Malory is in a conspiracy of sorts with his reader. In this scenario, the author and the reader are in cahoots in order to achieve the wanted interpretation of the Arthurian legend. The first time the character named Nyneve appears is at Arthur's wedding. Though the characters of Nymue and Nyneve have distinct differences, they also possess many similarities. This makes sense because the characters were written by the same author. However, there are still other accurate spellings of the names which are not mentioned above.

Both characters appear in many other episodes of Malory's work. Each time the Lady reappears, it is at a pivotal moment of the episode, establishing the importance of her character within Arthurian literature, especially Le Morte d'Arthur. In that work, she transcends any notoriety attached to her character by aiding Arthur and other knights to succeed in their endeavors.^[3] After enchanting Merlin, Malory's Nimue replaces him as Arthur's adviser. She becomes the lover and eventual wife of Sir Pelleas and mother to his son Guivret. After the Battle of Camlann, she reclaims Excalibur when it is thrown into the lake by Sir Bedivere. Nimue is one of the four magical queens who bear the wounded Arthur away to Avalon, a setting tied to the Lady of the Lake in some literary traditions.

Later uses

Viviane and Merlin in Gustave Doré's 1868 illustration for Alfred Tennyson's Idylls of the King

Walter Scott wrote an influential poem, The Lady of the Lake, in 1810, drawing on the romance of the legend, but with an entirely different story set around Loch Katrine in the Trossachs of Scotland. Scott's material furnished subject matter for La Donna del Lago, an opera by Gioachino Rossini which debuted in Naples in 1819. It was the first of a fashion for operas with Scottish settings and based on Scott's works, of which Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor is the most familiar. Franz Schubert set seven songs from Walter Scott's Lady of the Lake, including the three "Ellen songs" ("Ellens Gesang I",^[4] "Ellens Gesang II",^[5] and "Ellens Gesang III"^[6]), although Schubert's music to Ellen's Third Song has become far more famous in its later adaptation, known as "Ave Maria".

The full name of the University of Notre Dame at South Bend, Indiana, founded in 1842, is in French; Notre Dame du Lac. This is translated as "Our Lady of the Lake", making reference to the Virgin Mary as the Lady of the Lake, evidencing fusion between Arthurian legend and middle-Christian history.^[7]

Alfred, Lord Tennyson adapted several stories of the Lady of the Lake for his 1859–1885 poetic cycle Idylls of the King. He 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.

In modern culture

The Lady of the Lake in a 1903 illustration from Howard Pyle's The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

Modern authors of Arthurian fiction adapt the Lady of the Lake legend in various ways, often using two or more bearers of the title. Versions of the Lady (or Ladies) of the Lake appear in many other works of Arthurian fiction, including 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 20th and 21st century works are listed below.

• Some authors choose to emphasize a single character. Nimue appears in T. H. White's 1958 novel The Once and Future King as a water nymph and Merlin's enchantress. True to the legend she traps Merlin in a cave, but Merlin does not convey it as negative, and even refers to it as a holiday.
• Mary Stewart's 1979 novel The Last Enchantment radically recasts the story of Merlin and Niniane, completely removing the aspect of malicious seduction and treachery dominant in the traditional version. In this depiction Merlin takes Niniane on as an apprentice, with her at first disguised as a boy, and willingly teaches her his magic. When her identity as a woman is discovered, they fall in love despite their age difference. As he gives her the secrets of his psychic abilities and how to control them, he seems to lose them himself – which Merlin does not mind. In a depleted, weakened condition, he takes ill and falls into a coma, and is believed to be dead. Niniane has him buried within his "crystal cave", where he awakes some time later. 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. Niniane takes Merlin's place as the court wizard-seer, while Merlin retires to the crystal cave and lives a quiet and happy life as a hermit.
• Marion Zimmer Bradley's 1983 novel The Mists of Avalon takes the tradition of multiple Ladies one step further. In Bradley's works, both the Lady of the Lake and the Merlin are offices. 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 characters assume the title of the Lady, including Viviane, Niniane, Morgan le Fay (called "Morgaine" in this version), and Nimue, a sympathetic and tragic young priestess who falls in love with the Merlin but is duty bound to seduce and lure him to his death – following which she drowns herself. Even more Ladies of the Lake appear in Bradley's extended Avalon prequels.
• In the 1998 miniseries Merlin and its 2006 sequel Merlin's Apprentice, the characters of the Lady of the Lake and Nimue are separated, with the former being a goddess-like fae who is the sister of Queen Mab, and the latter being a noblewoman who is the object of Merlin's affections.
• The BBC 2008–2012 drama series Merlin also features two characters based on the Lady of the Lake. Nimueh serves as the primary antagonist of the series 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. The ninth episode of the series 2 is titled "The Lady of the Lake", wherein a sorceress named Freya dies and vows to repay Merlin for his kindness to her. In the series 3 finale, Freya, now a water spirit, gives Excalibur to Merlin so that he can give it to Prince Arthur Pendragon. In the series 5 finale, which features the Battle of Camlann, a despondent Merlin casts the sword back into Lake Avalon, where a hand, presumably Freya's, catches it.
• In BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Drama Pilgrim the antagonist Birdie (or Mrs Pleasance) is gradually revealled to be responsible for trapping Merlin ("The Drowned Mage") beneath a lake.^[8] Her story draws on that of Nimue.
• This interpretation is followed by Lerner and Loewe in the musical Camelot; Nimue lures Merlin away with the song "Follow Me".
• Vivienne is the Lady of the Lake in DC Comics, while Nimue is Madame Xanadu, her youngest sister, and their middle sister is Morgaine le Fey (given name, Morgana), and their surname is Inwudu. The Lady of the Lake has appeared in Hellblazer, Aquaman, and her sister's series.
• The Lady of the Lake is featured in Marvel Comics in the stories of Captain Britain. Her real name is Niamh Chinn Oir and she is an inhabitant of Avalon.
• In the comic book series Hellboy, Nimue is a witch who seduced Merlin and stole his powers, sealing him – still alive – in a tomb. But without his help, she lost control of those powers and went mad. The other witches killed her, cut her body into pieces, and buried her. She has since returned as the Queen of Blood, to raise an army against man, but is opposed by Hellboy who possesses the sword Excalibur (and thus is technically king of England).
• She appears in "Lady of the Lake" (also titled "Spirit of Avalon"), the penultimate episode of the 1995-1996 animated series Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders, where she gives Princess Gwenevere the Staff of Avalon holding powerful magic to defeat the evil sorceress Lady Kale and save her friends.
• In the 2009 video game Sonic and the Black Knight, Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, is portrayed by Amy Rose (voiced by Lisa Ortiz). In the game, she tests Sonic's character to see if he is worthy of being a knight.
• In the 2011 video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, there is a pond slightly Northeast of Bleakwind Basin with a skeletal arm holding a leveled sword, which is a reference to the Lady in the Lake holding Excalibur.
• In the 2012 video game King Arthur II: The Role-Playing Wargame, the sorceress Nimue is an enemy who kidnapped Merlin. A shape-shifting fairy-battle takes place between Nimue and Merlin's apprentice Morgana Le Fay inside a fairy Fading Tower.^[9]
• The future society depicted in Robert Graves' Seven Days in New Crete (1949) is dominated by the religion of the Triple Goddess - worshipped in three aspects, one of which is the maiden archer Nimuë.
• In the Safehold series of science fiction novels by David Weber, one of the main characters, Merlin Athrawes, is a cybernetic avatar of a long-dead Federation naval officer named Nimue Alban.
• The comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail refers to the story of the Lady of the Lake when King Arthur's defence of his position as king is immediately dismissed by an anarcho-syndicalist peasant who says that "strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government".
• She appears in the musical Spamalot, which is in turn based on the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Among her works she turns Dennis the peasant into Sir Galahad, counsels Arthur in a time of doubt, and uses her "Laker Girls" to help put on musical numbers.
• In the Charmed episode "Sword and the City", the Dark Knight discovers where the Lady of the Lake resides, so she sent a message to Piper Halliwell begging for her help. After the Charmed Ones orbed to the lake, the Lady emerged from the water with a sword in hand. She screamed that the sword did not belong to him and he soon attacked and killed her with an athame. However, when the Lady was struck in the back, Excalibur flew from her hands and landed into a nearby stone. With her death, her corporeal body changed into water.
• In the fifth season of Once Upon a Time, Nimue is played by Caroline Ford. She is both a love interest to Merlin and the first Dark One. Regular antagonist Rumplestiltskin is a distant successor of her powers. However she is not attributed with the title of Lady of the Lake; rather, the Lady of the Lake is the mother of recurring character Sir Lancelot. ^[10]
• In the role-paying video game The Witcher, she knights the main protagonist and presents him with a sword "Aerondight". She later reappears in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, where she once again gives the main protagonist Geralt the sword Aerondight.
• Lady of the Lake appears in the digital card game Cabals: Magic & Battle Cards.
• The Lady of the Lake appears in the Gargoyles episode "Pendragon", testing whether the reawakened King Arthur is still worthy to wield Excalibur. According to series creator Greg Weisman, Nimue also exists as a separate character in the Gargoyles universe; Nimue, Morgana and the Lady of the Lake were the three women who bore away Arthur to Avalon. Nimue is the actual third daughter of Gorlois and Igraine, switched with the changeling Morgana.
• In Bernard Cornwell's The Warlord Chronicles trilogy, Nimue is depicted as being a student and lover of Merlin's. She grows to be a central character in the story and a fervent pagan priestess in Dumnonia.

Claimed locations of the Lake

A number of locations in Great Britain are traditionally associated with the Lady of the Lake's abode.^[11] They include Martin Mere, Dozmary Pool, Llyn Llydaw, Llyn Ogwen, Llyn y Fan Fach, The Loe, Pomparles Bridge, Loch Arthur, and Aleines. Pergusa Lake in Sicily, in France, she is associated with the forest of Brocéliande.

See also

• Myddfai, site of a non-Arthurian "Lady of the Lake" legend.
• Clarent
• Grendel's Mother from the Anglo Saxon Beowulf

Notes

References

• Darrah, John. Paganism in Arthurian Romance. Rochester, NY: Boydell, 1997. Print.
• Ellis, Peter Berresford. Celtic Myths and Legends. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2002. Print.
• Green, Miranda J. The World of the Druids. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1997. Print.
• Hodges, Kenneth. “Swords and Sorceresses: The Chivalry of Malory’s Nyneve.” Arthuriana 12.2 (2002): 18. JSTOR. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. 2014.
• Holbrook, S.E. “Nymue, the Chief Lady of the Lake.” Speculum 53.4 (1978): 16. JSTOR. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
• Loomis, Roger Sherman. Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance. 2nd ed. New York: Columbia UP, 1927. Print.
• Malory, Thomas, and Janet Cowen. Le Morte D'Arthur. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Baltimore: Penguin, 1969. Print.
• Tatlock, J.S.P. “Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Vita Merlini.” Speculum 18.3 (1943): 22. JSTOR. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lady of the Lake.

• Britannia.com: analysis of the "Lady of the Lake" figure and her origins in Celtic legend