A Reader’s Guide to the GUENEVERE Trilogy by ROSALIND MILES

A CONVERSATION WITH ROSALIND MILES

Was Guenevere a real person? If so, how was the real woman different from the medieval/fantasy image that we have of her?

It seems clear that Guenevere, like Arthur, was a real person, although her exact history is in doubt. There is a Guenevere monument in Scotland, but her name suggests a homeland nearer to the Welsh borders by the River Severn, as it derives from the Welsh “Gwenhwyfar.” This evocative name means “White Shadow” or “White Phantom” and was also applied to the barn owl, whose snowy face, breast, and legs made it look like a white phantom when flying at night.

Guenevere was one of a long line of Celtic warrior queens who ruled their own tribes from the earliest days of the British Isles. Famous among them was Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni, who led a reported 70,000-strong army against the Romans in the first century AD. These women fought from fast, light-weight wicker chariots with their champions at their side. There were also highly esteemed war colleges in the British Isles that were run by fighting queens, where men were taught the essentials of combat by women warriors, until these were suppressed by the Christians from the seventh century onward.

This is one of the key ways in which Guenevere, as an active heroine, would have differed from the much more passive and helpless heroine portrayed in later times. In medieval and fantasy versions of Guenevere’s story, she often has little personality and seems no more than a lady in a tower. As a pre-Christian heroine she would also have had full control of her own body, the freedom to travel where she wished, and to come and go at will. In particular, before the era of modern morality, women enjoyed substantial sexual freedoms—the right to love whomever and whenever they chose.

You’ve written many non-fiction titles, have a Ph.D., and are considered an authority on cultural and sociological issues, especially women’s issues. What compelled you to write a novel about Guenevere and Camelot? How does she appeal to you as a woman of the twenty-first century?

Modern women are believed to enjoy freedoms greater than any before, thanks to twentieth-century feminism. In reality, women often had more advanced roles in earlier times, living in societies which have erroneously been regarded as primitive. In writing about Guenevere, I was interested in exploring the range of options available to women when they were not restricted by ideas of appropriate behavior or good taste. The world of Camelot also appealed to me because it was such a great time for men. A knight or squire had numerous opportunities to be manly and heroic, but they were deeply into winning love and sharing their lives with women, too.

As I see her, Guenevere would do well in the twenty-first century because she readily seizes opportunities and creates her own where none exist. Although only a young woman when the story begins, she does not allow herself to be put down by older or more established figures, and uses her intelligence to challenge what is not clear or authentic to her.

What has been the most surprising reader reaction you’ve had to the Guenevere novels? Do people tend to agree with your view of Guenevere and Arthur’s story?

The most surprising thing to me is how enthusiastic readers have been about this new version of stories that have so often been told before. To someone who grew up in England, the warmth and friendliness of American readers is just wonderful. I have been impressed, too, by the depth of knowledge and familiarity with the whole Arthurian oeuvre that American readers display.

I was also delighted and pleasantly surprised that most readers who visited my website (www.Rosalind.net) and gave me their comments tended to agree with my version of events. The only exception was to be found in the character of Morgan, who, like all passionate, difficult, and mysterious women, provokes fierce debate. Some readers agreed with my portrayal, others felt that she should not be confused with her sister Morgause. Still others felt that, like Eve in the Bible, she was framed!

What was the most surprising thing you discovered as you did the historical research for these books? How did you incorporate it (or not) into the novel?

There were two things I discovered which took me by surprise. The first concerned the warfare of the time. Celtic warriors went into battle naked except for sword and cloak, having coated their faces and bodies all over with the blue-green plant dye, woad (not slashed on cheekbones and forehead as in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart). They also slicked their long hair into elaborate pompadours with lime, a fact I felt I could not include: who wants a warrior with big white sticky hair?

The other discovery was a godsend to a writer of historical fiction, the revelation that from the very earliest times, Guenevere’s Camelot (modern-day Cadbury in Somerset) had access to a rich range of trade goods, like silk, perfumes, and glass and ceramic ware, many from the East. Traders from as far away as Syria were able to sail right up to Avalon, today’s Glastonbury, via the Severn Estuary, as it was an island right up until modern times when the marshes and rivers all around it were drained.

Guenevere has a very strong dislike for Christianity and its followers—how would you address the concerns of modern Christians reading this book who might be offended by the negative portrayal of Christians?

I would hate to hurt or offend any reader, and if any of the characters in the book give offense, I apologize with all my heart. I was trying to give an accurate portrayal of the early evangelical Christians, who faced a myriad of confusing pagan beliefs and did their best to stay true to their faith. My research suggested that apart from the first martyrs who went uncomplainingly to their deaths in the Roman Colosseum, early Christianity tended to be a very militant religion, bent on stamping out other gods and other faiths. Like all the religions of the East, it insisted on the dominance of men over women. This idea would have been incomprehensible to the great motherworshiping cultures of the world, which had been in existence for many thousands of years before the birth of Christianity (this is discussed more fully in my non-fiction historical study, Who Cooked The Last Supper?: The Women’s History of the World).

Early Christianity’s insistence on celibacy as a precondition of holiness for men and women was also hard for the life-loving Celts. These are some of the reasons why Christianity is hard for Guenevere. Every religion is only as good or bad as its adherents, but the portrayal of one or two ambitious and ruthless early Christians is not to be taken as any reflection on the whole faith. To balance the portrayal, I created some true Christians like Brother Boniface who are idealistic, loving, and holy in the purest sense. Above all, this is a work of fiction which seeks to explore the conflicts of history which have made us what we are.

Guenevere and her foremothers lived in a matriarchal society, one which you portray as a very positive environment for women. Is that historically accurate? At what point did English society shift from being matriarchal to patriarchal?

Almost all societies seem to have started out as matriarchies, since our earliest ancestors did not understand the secret of human birth. They believed that women were able to create life by themselves, from their own bodies, and so women were thought to be superhuman, even divine. So for thousands of years, women were the natural rulers and law-givers of every tribe, as older women still remain in some parts of the world.

Among the people of the Northern Hemisphere (Celtic, Nordic, Pictish, Icelandic), women ruled as queens until recorded times. In the British Isles we still remember queens like Boudicca and Cartimandua, who sadly only emerge into recorded history at the time when all our island queens were losing their natural right to succeed.

These powerful women were defeated by the Romans and by the advent of Christianity, which for military and religious reasons respectively, sought to put women in second place. Nevertheless, Britain, Iceland, and the Scandinavian countries are still easier with women rulers than other parts of the world. Witness the British queens like Elizabeth I and II; the ruling queens of Holland, Denmark, and Sweden; the Icelandic president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (the first woman head of state in the world); and prime ministers like Margaret Thatcher of Britain and Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway.

We are lucky now to live in an era when none of these ancient institutions, like the monarchy, the military, and the church, still feel the same way about women’s place in the world!

What is your next book about?

It’s another Arthurian trilogy, because I love writing about these people and their world so much. It’s the story of Isolde, who was Guenevere’s friend and contemporary and also the Queen of Ireland in her own right. Isolde was married to King Mark of Cornwall and in love with Sir Tristan of Lyonesse. In those days Ireland was called the Western Isle, so the novel is called Isolde, Queen of the Western Isle. I hope to keep writing about this magical world as long as the Goddess permits!

A READING GROUP GUIDE

Guenevere—last in a line of proud queens elected to rule the fertile lands of the West, true owner of the legendary Round Table, and guardian of the Great Goddess herself—is a woman whose story has never been told. Long relegated to a passive role on the arm of King Arthur, Guenevere finally springs to life in this lavish retelling of one of the richest and most enduring epic tales of Western culture: the Arthurian legend. Rosalind Miles’s bold, magical interpretation recreates the stirring pageant of love, war, heartbreak, jealousy, revenge, and desire from Guenevere’s perspective, capturing as never before her formidable power as a queen and her full-blooded passion as a woman. Rich in historical detail, the Guenevere Trilogy draws us into the inner life of a courageous and beautiful heroine, torn between the fires of her own heart and her devotion to her husband and her people. This guide is designed to help direct your reading group’s discussion of Rosalind Miles’s new perspective on a woman you only thought you knew.

ABOUT THE BOOKS

When Guenevere, young Queen of the Summer Country, marries Arthur, High King of the Middle Kingdom and heir to the Pendragon dynasty, their union creates the largest and most powerful kingdom ever known in the Isles. Yet their golden era of political harmony and courtly love is not destined to last; a gathering darkness forebodes the evil and revenge that will plague Arthur and Guenevere’s reign. When Arthur’s long-lost half-sisters—princesses torn from their mother and their ancestral right by Arthur’s brutal and unscrupulous father, Uther Pendragon—arrive at court, chaos is unleashed in the form of Morgan Le Fay, whose black enchantments destroy everything Guenevere holds dear and threaten to separate the King and Queen forever.

Always at the center of the story is Guenevere, proud and powerful, yet vulnerable to the longings of her heart. When the young French prince, Sir Lancelot of the Lake, enters the scene, an Otherworldly passion is ignited in Guenevere’s heart, and they each must contend with the painful reality that they cannot fulfill their love without shattering the code of chivalry and the man they both love with all their hearts, Arthur. Yet Arthur is not without demons: A bleak shadow falls across Camelot and across the sacred Isle of Avalon as he allows Roman priests to encroach on the kingdom, bringing with them a violent new religion that threatens to destroy the ancient ways of the Mother. And even in the sanctity of the court all is not well, as betrayals, jealousies, and ancient blood feuds fester. The half-mad Druid Merlin plots furiously to ensure the supremacy of the Pendragon line at any cost; Morgan and Arthur’s incestuous progeny, Mordred, menaces the increasingly fragile peace; and the assembly of the famous Round Table of knights stands vulnerable to Morgan’s dark designs and the irresistible power of the forbidden love shared by Guenevere and Lancelot.

As the final, brilliant cycle of the Arthurian legend spins out, the Quest for the Grail and the fall of Camelot bring Guenevere to the brink of utter tragedy, where she ultimately may complete her destiny as the greatest Queen of the Isles and at last find her heart’s content.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

BOOK ONE: Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country

When Arthur arrives at the Queen Stone during Guenevere’s queen-making ceremony, Guenevere immediately accepts him as her Champion and Chosen One, although she has no idea who he is. And in the course of their very first conversation, Guenevere is repulsed by Arthur’s subservience to Merlin and his acceptance of the Christians, who are beginning to infiltrate the Middle Kingdom. Why does she press on with their union despite these initial misgivings? Is it significant to the story that Guenevere and Arthur are united by a political treaty before they are united romantically?

As Guenevere prepares to marry Arthur, the Lady of the Lake tells her: “Those who follow the Goddess can always enter the dream. May you awaken from yours, and become that which you have dreamed.” What does the Lady mean? Do you interpret her words differently by the end of the novel?

During the tournament when Arthur is almost killed by a flying sword, Guenevere and Morgan each have a foreboding glimpse into the Otherworld and share a moment of terror: “The evil had come and been thwarted, and there was nothing more to say. And though they both had seen Arthur’s death, they did not speak of it, and Guenevere knew they never would.” How are Guenevere and Morgan linked by their roles in the unfolding drama? What do they have in common? Are they both victims of destiny?

When Guenevere returns from Joyous Garde, Arthur kneels in prayer and rejoices that he “still had the unswerving love of all his knights. Nothing had changed that.” Does he? How have his conversion to Christianity and his devotion to the monks at court taken a toll on his knights, who worship the Goddess? Why do they put up with the change?

BOOK TWO: The Knight of the Sacred Lake

Throughout this second book, we see Agravain descend further into evil. From insolence toward the King and Queen to palpable lust for Orkney family power to a depraved murder, his actions indicate that he is spinning out of control. Does Agravain’s behavior stem from a desire for vengeance for the treachery of the House of Pendragon toward his mother’s House of Cornwall? Or is Agravain simply an evil individual? Why doesn’t Morgan take advantage of her nephew’s evil for her own purposes?

Queen Morgause’s sweet, supportive, patient, and long-suffering paramour, Lamorak, never accomplishes his heart’s desire: to marry her. Why does Morgause’s devotion to her sons prevent her from embracing her one true happiness, despite the fact that she believes in the right of queens and has long since been freed from her tyrannical husband, King Lot? How does the relationship between Morgause and Lamorak mirror that of Guenevere and Lancelot?

When Elaine of Astolat floats down the river, having committed suicide because of her unrequited love for Lancelot, Guenevere can think only of her own tragic mistake in accusing Lancelot of betraying her with the dead girl. She does not give Elaine’s death a thought, but focuses solely on herself. Does this event color your perception of Guenevere? Why or why not?

Mador’s attack on Guenevere, whom he blames for his brother Patrise’s death, signals a climax in the impending separation between Arthur and Guenevere. Why does Arthur allow Guenevere to stand trial for witchcraft when he knows she cannot be guilty? How does the opportunism of the Christians turn this situation into a worse mess than Agravain even intended when he orchestrated the crime that led to Patrise’s death?

BOOK THREE: The Child of the Holy Grail

As the book opens, we find Merlin engaged in his never-ending mental struggle with Guenevere over Arthur’s soul. Merlin is weary of constantly working to keep the Pendragon line alive and thriving and laments that Arthur did not take a meek Christian girl who would have had no influence over his decisions of state. Yet Merlin is a Lord of Light, which means he worships the Goddess, and indeed we see him on Avalon at the end of the story. How can he be loyal to the Goddess and the right of queens, and to the now Christian-influenced Pendragon dynasty at once?

Increasingly, we see Arthur being impetuous, short-sighted, a bad listener, a puppet to the Christians, stubborn in resisting Guenevere’s suggestions, and pigheaded about how to raise his son Mordred. His insensitivity comes to a climax when he impulsively sends his company of knights out on a hollow Quest, and he truly betrays his marriage when he determines to build a Christian church on the sacred Tor on Avalon. Is this Arthur radically different from the shining hero we met in Book One? The Lady foretells: “One thing alone for Arthur will remain.” What do you think she means? By casting Excalibur back into the water at the end, does Arthur redeem himself?

The knights who lived to honor their King and Queen in Books One and Two are by now very sick of all the disappointments and tragedies plaguing Arthur and Guenevere’s reign. Even the endlessly loyal Bors calls Arthur “a blindworm, a mole, a fool,” and finds Guenevere “deaf and dumb to anything but her own desires.” How has this fall from naïveté taken place? Who or what is to blame?

During the final battle, an unprecedented tête-à-tête takes place between Guenevere and Morgan. How do you account for Morgan’s change of heart? Is Arthur’s impending death the impetus behind this scene? As Guenevere enters the battlefield, she hopes for peace “now that things have changed.” What does she mean? Now that Morgan has released her desire for vengeance? Now that the scabbard has been returned to its rightful owner? Now that Guenevere has accepted Morgan’s love of Arthur?

The Guenevere Trilogy

The pervasive subtext of the Arthurian legend tells the story of Christianity’s hostile attack on an older, female-centered religion. In fact, the Christians are as much Guenevere’s enemies as is Morgan, if not more so, as they attempt to destroy the succession of queens and usurp Avalon’s sacred relics for their own use. How does this underlying battle affect your reading of the story? Does Miles do a good job of setting the historical record straight? Why or why not? What do you make of the Lady?

Throughout the Trilogy, we watch the fascinating and terrifying development of Morgan’s character: the defenseless, frightened creature sobbing in Arthur’s arms; the evil, hypererotic seductress; the havoc-wreaking shape-shifter, who appears at various times as a cat, a raven, a snake, a murderous knight, and a nefarious nun; and the bodiless, tormented spirit hovering in the trees, endlessly torturing Merlin. Are you ever able to sympathize with Morgan? Which is her most frightening guise? Are you able to accept her radical transformation at the end?

Greed is a powerful motivating force for many characters in the story. The Abbess Placida covets an authoritative position at Canterbury; Sylvester lusts for Arthur’s soul and Avalon’s treasures; Malgaunt wants control over Guenevere; Mordred wants to be king; Agravain wants undue power and recognition; Merlin wants his Pendragon bloodline to rule the world. Is Arthur greedy? Is Guenevere? Is greed a punishable offense in the universe of this story?

The theme of children separated from their parents seems to run throughout this story: Morgan and Morgause are wrested from Igraine; Arthur is taken from Igraine and Uther; Amir is lost by Guenevere and Arthur; Mordred is removed from Morgan; and Galahad is hidden from Lancelot. How do these separations, some more painful than others, mold each character? Why are they necessary? Do you think this theme symbolizes a larger issue?