Some People and Places to Know in Malory

Accolon of Gaul: Morgan le Fay's lover and champion. Accolon plotted with his lover to subdue Arthur, the plan being to steal the sword known as Excalibur. However, Accolon was killed in the struggle.

Agravain: Second son of Morgause and, therefore, a cousin of Arthur, and one of his most important knights. Agravain conspires with Mordred to catch Lancelot and Guinevere together. Agravain was then slain by Lancelot as he attempted to capture him.

Avalon, Isle of Avallach/ Avallon, the Place/Isle of Apples, Avallah, Isle of Glass, Shining Isle. The Celts called the area Ynisvitrin, Isle of Glass, Shining Isle, which is believed, probably by false etymology, to be based on the river which was said to be the color of glass and was also linked to the marsh land surrounding it. Another belief is that it was called Avallon based on an old British word 'aval' meaning apples and so connects with Taliesin's description of the Isle of the Apples. Yet another theory is that the name is based on an ancient Celtic legend of Avallach, Lord of the Underworld. The name Avalon appears in the story of the Battle of Camlan where Arthur was mortally wounded by Mordred. Arthur was then taken on a sacred barge to the Isle of Avalon.

Bagdemagus: Warlord of Dorset, King of Gore. Father of Melliagaunce.

Balin: aka Knight of the Two Swords. Balin successfully undergoes a test of virtue, removing

a sword that the Lady of Avalon has been forced to wear, but he is cursed when he refuses to give it back. He beheads Lyle, Lady of the Lake, accidentally deals the 'Dolorous Blow' to King Pelles, and unwittingly kills and is killed by his beloved brother Balan.

(King) Ban and Queen Elayne of Benwick: Parents of Lancelot

Bedivere, Bedwyr. In Tennyson and Malory, Bedivere is the last Knight to see Arthur alive before he enters the boat for Avalon.

Bernard of Astolat: Father of Elaine de Astolat and sons Lavaine and Tirre.

Bors de Ganis: Son of King Ban of Benoic, and brother of Lionel. Lancelot du Lac's cousin or possibly brother according to some legends. According to Grail legends Bors was one of the three chaste knights who achieved the Grail, together with Perceval and Galahad.

Caerleon: Site of Arthur's crowning in Malory. In Geoffrey of Monmouth, it is the place where Arthur holds a lavish court prefiguring the idea of Camelot.

Camyliard/Camelerd: Realm of King Leodegrance, Guinevere's father.

(Sir) Damas and Sir Ontzlake: Damas imprisons Arthur in Malory. Ontzlake is Damas' brother.

Dolorous Stroke or Blow: The name given to the wound that injured the Grail King (Pelles). Pelles had been accidentally struck by Balin.

(Sir) Ector/Hector: Knight who takes the baby Arthur in as a foster child; father of Sir Kay.

Elaine de Astolat, Lily Maid of Astolat, Lady of Shallot. Sister of Lavaine, daughter of Bernard of Astolat. Elaine loved Lancelot dearly but her love him was not returned. On realizing this to be her situation, Elaine ordered that her body be placed in a boat and taken down river to Arthur's court at Camelot and that on her dead body there was to be a letter telling Lancelot of her love for him.

Elaine of Corbenic: Daughter of King Pelles, the Grail King, and the mother of Galahad by Lancelot.

Gawain (Gwalchmai): Son of Morgause and, therefore, a cousin of Arthur, and one of his most important knights. In most Middle English sources, Gawain is Arthur's right-hand man, a heroic and virtuous knight. He is the almost perfect of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. French romances tended to belittle his character.

Gaheris: Son of Morgause and, therefore, a cousin of Arthur, and one of his most important knights.

Gareth: Fourth son of Morgause and, therefore, a cousin of Arthur, and one of his most important knights. Also known in Malory as Beaumains. A favorite of Lancelot, who had knighted him, Gareth is accidentally killed by Lancelot during the rescue of Guinevere. The resulting vindictiveness of Gawain helps precipitate the final breakdown of the Round Table.

Gorlois, Duke of Tintagel (at Cornwall): Igraine's first husband, killed in skirmish with Uther Pendragon's men while Uther is calling on Igraine.

Guinevere. Guenever, Gwenhwyfar, Guanhumara, Gwenhwyfar: Daughter of Leodegrance, King of Cameliard in medieval romance. Some of the first legends that include Guinevere indicate her to have been Mordred's wife. Towards the end of the twelfth-century Guinevere appears in the work of Chrétien de Troyes' "The Knight of the Cart" where he is her rescuer, but also her adulteress lover.

Igraine (Ygerna): Arthur's mother, wife of Gorlois first, then Uther Pendragon. Her other children by Gorlois are Arthur's half sisters: Morgan , Morgause, and Elaine of Garlot.

Joyous Gard: The castle of Lancelot. Lancelot and Guinevere flee here after they are caught together in Guinevere's private chamber by Agravain and Mordred. Arthur and Gawain bring an army to lay siege to Joyour Gard until news is brought from Camelot that Mordred has usurped Arthur's throne.

(Sir) Kay/Sir Cai or Caius: Arthur's foster-brother. Son of Sir Ector. Kay is given the job of Arthur's seneschal when Arthur becomes king.

Lady of the Lake: Nimue, Niniane, Vivien, Raven. Of Breton Arthurian origin. She gives Arthur the sword, Excalibur, out of the lake. She says she will ask for a gift in return later. That gift turns out to be a head--either of Balin or the Lady of Avalon, whose sword he had just drawn from her scabbard as a test of virtue. The Lady of the Lake seeks vengeance from Balin for slaying her brother and from the Lady of Avalon for slaying her father. Arthur refuses to give her either head. When Balin hears what the Lady of the Lake requested, he beheads her. Earlier, she was Merlin's love interest. In the guise of Nimue/Niniane/Vivienne she deceived Merlin, and imprisoned him under a stone. In some legends she is referred to as Lady Nimue, being a priestess, wife of Pelleas.

Lancelot du Lac: A knight of the Round Table, in most legends said to be the son of King Ban of Brittany and Elaine the White. In some of the Grail romances, Lancelot is the brother of Bors de Ganis, with Ector de Maris as a half-brother. In later legends he is the cousin of Lionel and Bors de Ganis. Lancelot's family were said to have been consumed by fire at their castle according to one Grail romance legend, and so Lancelot was cared for by the Lady of the Lake when an infant and taken to live under the lake. Although in some stories he was the model of honor, chivalry and fidelity, he was the adulterous lover of Guinevere and the cause of the downfall of the Round Table. Lancelot is the knight that is flawed, afflicted in Christian legends with moral sin, meaning he could not achieve the Grail. Lancelot was the only knight to have not been beaten in any tournament or battle except by his son Galahad, who was conceived under enchantment, Lancelot believing he was with Guinevere when in fact he was with Elaine de Corbenic. Lancelot du Lac is further associated with Nimue (Lady of the Lake) in the work of Chrétien de Troyes as she is said to have brought Lancelot du Lac to Arthur's court. Upon being knighted, he undertook the healing of Sir Urrey of Hungary, a badly wounded knight. After the wounded King Arthur departed to Avalon, Lancelot is taken to a hermitage and becomes a holy man. When he eventually died he was laid to rest at Joyous Gard, his own castle.

Lamorak: In Arthurian legend he was a knight of the Round Table and the eldest son of Sir Pellinore. In some legends he is described as a lover or Morgause and said to have later been killed by her sons in revenge for the death of their father and for his union with their mother. He was the greatest enemy of Morgause's husband, King Lot of Lothian and Orkney.

Lavaine: Son of Bernard of Astolat, brother of Elaine and Sir Tirre. Student and companion of Lancelot

He is knighted by Lancelot, who later grooms him to become the Duke of Arminak.

(King) Leodegrance of Camyliard: father of Guinevere. Uther had given the round Table to him. Leodegrance gave it to Arthur with 100 knights as Guinevere's dowry.

(Sir) Lionel: Brother of Bors and cousin of Lancelot. A Knight of the Round Table.

(King) Lot of Lothian & Orkney: Husband of Morgause--Arthur's (half-)sister and father of Gawain, Gaheris, Gareth, and Agravain. In Malory, Lot is at first scornful of Arthur's claims to the throne and leads the resistance against him, but he finally becomes an important ally.

(Sir) Meleagraunce, Melwas, Meliagrance, Meleagant, Melyagaunt, King of the Summer Country: Knight who captured Guinevere, taking her to his own land where she was rescued in the earliest Arthurian romance legends ("The Life of St Gildas") by Arthur, but later it was Lancelot (Chrétien de Troyes, Malory) who was the hero.

Merlin (Myrddin): Prophet/magician who masterminds the conception of Arthur and acts as his mentor during the early days of Arthur's rule. As a boy, Merlin was brought before Vortigern as a "fatherless boy" whose blood, when mixed with the mortar of the tower Vortigern was trying to build, would make the tower stand firm. Merlin, however, explains that the problem is the presence of two dragons below the foundation, whose struggle represents the defeat of Vortigern by King Constance's sons, Uther Pendragon and Aurelius Ambrosius. When Uther becomes king, Merlin oversees the construction of the Round Table, replicating the Grail table of Joseph of Arimathea, which in turn was a replica of the table of the Last Supper. He also superintends the election of Stonehenge. After aiding King Arthur for a time, Merlin is outwitted by Nimue and gets himself entrapped under a stone.

Morgan le Fay, Fata Morgana, Morgana le Fay: Daughter of Igraine and Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall, younger sister of Morgause and Elaine of Garlot, half-sister of Arthur. As the Fata Morgana character in the Arthurian romances, she is also referred to as the fairy Morgana, and in this form is associated with the supernatural. Lover of Guiomar, then Accolon, with whom she plots to steal the sword Excalibur. In later Arthurian romances, she is the wife of Urien, King of Northumbria, and the mother of a son Uwain/Owain. While wife of Urien she is said to be a lady-in-waiting to Guinevere, whom she despises. Despite her involvement in many legends as a woman who aims at Arthur's downfall, often due to her dislike of Guinevere, at the hour of Arthur's wounding, she is a type of Goddess of healing, who will work to make him whole. As Arthur is placed in the boat bound for Avalon, Morgana is accompanied by two veiled women, perhaps her sisters Elaine and Morgause, or women of the Otherworld.

Nimue/Nymue/Niniane: See Lady of the Lake.

(Sir) Patrise: Knight in Malory who is poisoned by an apple. Mador, cousin of Patrice, accuses Guinevere.

(King) Pellinore: First introduced as pursuing the "questing beast." When Pellinore and Arthur fight, Pellinore breaks Arthur's first sword (pulled earlier from the stone). Father of Perceval, Lamorak, and the illegitimate Tor. Pellinore kills Lot in a fair battle, but is killed in revenge by Gawain 10 years later. In T. H. White, Pellinore is an important mentor for Arthur after the disappearance of Merlin.

(King) Leodegraunce: Guinevere's father. For her dowry, he sends to Arthur the Round Table and 100 knights.

Mador: Accuses Guenevere of poisoning Sir Patrise in Malory's account of the poisoned apples. Lancelot fights him to prove Guenevere's innocence.

Morgause: Arthur's half-sister and wife of King Lot. In Malory, Arthur's (unwitting) incest with her produces his only child, Mordred. Her four sons by King Lot are important knights of the Round Table: Gawain, Gaheris, Agravain, and Gareth.

Mordred (Medraut): Son of Arthur and his half-sister Morgause. In Geoffrey of Monmouth, Mordred tries to marry Guinevere while Arthur is fighting Lancelot in France. In most major versions, he attempts to take over his father's kingdom. He and Arthur deliver fatal blows to one another at Camlann

Pelles: Wounded King of the Grail Castle, father of Elaine of Corbenic, who was known to be the mother of Galahad by Lancelot. Pelles was dealt the Dolorous Blow/Stroke by Balin with the Spear of the Hallows, which led to the land's becoming a Wasteland. Galahad is said to have healed Pelles' wounds with blood from the Grail. In the Welsh legends of the Mabinogion, Pelles is represented in the character of Pwyll in the Otherworld. In later Grail romances Pelles is developed into a character who is the father of Pellam and brother of Pellinore.

Siege Perilous/Perilous Seat. The one seat made from stone that for many years was left empty at the Round Table where only a knight pure enough to search for and find the Grail could sit. The first in Arthurian legend deemed worthy enough to sit in it was Perceval and then in later legends Galahad, who became known as a Grail Knight. The Siege Perilous was much revered. Some believed that it would crack if anyone not worthy of sitting in it tried to do so. Other reports said that the seat would devour any person who had presumed himself worthy enough to sit on it.

(King) Ryons/Rience: Malory reports that early in Arthur's career as king, Ryons asks for Arthur's beard for his cloak to go with the beards of numerous other defeated kings.

Tintagel: A castle on the west coast of Cornwall where, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth and Malory, Gorlois and Igraine lived and where Uther Pendragon came disguised as Gorlois to satisfy his lust for Igraine. Therefore, the site of Arthur's conception. The ruin that stands there now dates from the twelfth-century. Excavations in the 1990's have shown that it was stronghold of a Dark-Age chieftain/leader c. 5^th century.

(Sir) Tor: Illegitimate son of Pellinore by the wife of Aries. Knighted by Arthur and accidentally killed by Lancelot in the last Guinevere rescue.

(Sir) Ulfius: When Uther is pining for the love of Igraine, Ulfius goes to Merlin for help. He later helps in the deception at Tintagel by posing as Sir Brastias. Years later, when Arthur's paternity is in question, Ulfius accuses Igraine of intentional adultery against her husband Gorlois.

Uryens/Urien, King of the Land of Gorre, King of Northumbria, husband of Morgan le Fay, father of Uwain.

Uther Pendragon: Arthur's father (He is the brother of Aurelius Ambrosius and Constantine in Geoffrey of Monmouth's History). In Malory, Uther schemes with Merlin to take Igraine (Ygerna) away from her husband, Gorlois.

Vivien: See Lady of the Lake

* Compiled with the help of Norris J. Lacy's Arthurian Encyclopedia and the Mystical World Wide Web - http://www.mystical-www.co.uk/