The Ogre and the False Guinevere: Brutal Father, Bastard Daughter
Did you know that Queen Guinevere had a twin sister? Well, not really a twin sister, per se. More of a half-sister/cousin. Her father, King Leodagan, cheated on her mother... with her mother's sister, who was also the wife of his own seneschal, or history-keeper. When he tired of the woman – and had claimed her inheritance, along with her body – he locked her up in a tower… where she eventually died.
But that didn’t save the creeper king. Oh, no. Not at all.
The dishonored seneschal – and his extended family – would one day come for Leodagan. That family included the young, illegitimate half-sister of Queen Guinevere. Their vengeance would be twisted, disconcerting, and merciless…
Of Camilla and Vortigern: The Shieldmaid and the Overlord
… This week, we're digging into the least likely of the ladies: King Arthur’s concubine, or mistress, or seductress: “the Saxon battle maiden, Camilla.”
So, we’re starting with a fun one!
At first glance, the name Camilla doesn't appear Saxon or Germanic or Jutish, which is probably what she was. Because it isn’t…
Guinevere: Four Fathers for a Phantom Queen
… Today's episode is about Queen Guinevere herself: the one woman formally and certainly designated as Arthur's queen. I’m calling it Guinevere: Four Fathers for a Phantom Queen.
The original version of Guinevere’s name was Gwynhwyfar, which renders as “White or Blessed Spirit, Specter, or Demon” in Proto-Brythonic. It has also been suggested thatGwyn or Gwen may have been a title linked to the throne…
Picti and Pixies and Dwarves… Oh, My!
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Camelot Chat! I’m your hostess, Shannon Watson; and today, we will be talking about the mysterious Picts of ancient Scotland… and the fairy-tale characters that evolved from Pictish legend. This episode is therefore playfully entitled, Picti and Pixies and Dwarves… Oh, My!
The Picts were a group of natives who inhabited early Scotland, both before the Romans conquered most of southern Britannia, and after 410 AD, when the Briton landholders kicked out the remaining Roman administration. After that, Rome never returned to Britain…
Guinevere: Not Such a Ninny After All
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Camelot Chat! I’m your hostess, Shannon Watson; and today, we will be continuing our discussion from last week about Queen Guinevere... except, this week, we will be talking about Guinevere’s secular totems and what they tell us about her function as queen.
Last week, we mentioned the Cult of the Severed Head, and how Guinevere rode about with the embalmed severed heads of her enemies swaying from the pommel of her saddle. So: either the queen or someone in her entourage was a headhunter: one of the ancient caste of warriors who took the heads of their enemies in battle and preserved them, thereby keeping their power…
Queen Guinevere: Medusa, Blood-letting, and the Cult of the Severed Head
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Camelot Chat! I’m your hostess, Shannon Watson, and today, we’ll be talking about Queen Guinevere... and whether queen was really her only title.
Many strange symbols and stories are associated with the queen known as Guinevere, Gwenhwyfar, Guanhumara... and even Wanders. George R.R. Martin, author of The Song of Ice and Fire series, calls these symbols sigils; and most of the great houses in his books, some of which were based on medieval chivalry, have them.
The people of Dark Age Britain had them, too, although the forms their sigils took were more primitive, being more on the line of totems than heraldry. For instance, instead of a picture of a running wolf on a flying pennant, one might see a feral-looking warrior wearing a wolf pelt. Or, a heavily-tattooed Pict of the Orcs, or Boar Clan, might use the tusk of a wild boar in lieu of a dagger…
Guinevere: What's in a Name?
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Camelot Chat! I’m your hostess, Shannon Watson, and today, we’ll be talking about the many names–their translations, in what languages they originated, and what that all means–of the famous Queen Guinevere of Camelot.
Queen Guinevere had a lot of names. I mean a lot.
Let’s start with the obvious. Guinevere. What does it mean, and where does it come from? What was the original form? And was it even a name at all…?
Introducing... Queen Guinevere
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the first-ever episode of my new weekly podcast, Camelot Chat! I’m your hostess, Shannon Watson, and today, we’ll be talking about the early origins of Queen Guinevere of Arthurian legend.
First, I’ll give you a little background on myself. Since 1990, I have been researching the history behind the Arthurian legends. Using multiple disciplines–etymology, the study of language; history, literature, archaeology, geology, theology, military history, geography, and more–I have compiled extensive knowledge of the not-so-dark period known as the Dark Ages, or Early Middle Ages…