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The Mists of Avalon
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley is a retelling of Arthurian legend with deference to the feminine. Largely told through the eyes of Morgaine, better known to literature as Morgan Le Fay, the tale recounts the story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, from the days and years before his birth to far after his death.
The voice of the narrative is evocative and stirring, taking an age old story and finding a new way to relate and expand upon its premise. In the story told by Morgaine, we are introduced to the Beltane feast, the rights of gods and goddesses that then give way to the birth and surge of Christianity in the dawn of King Arthur’s time. The primary vantage points all come from the female characters, though retelling the same story from days gone by; we see it through fresh eyes, those of the women who were remarkably silent in previous literary explorations of the topic.
Morgaine, we learn early on, is the eldest sister to Arthur. Both children are born from Ingraine, who was a daughter of the mythical Lady of the Lake. The story goes that prior to the Christian Church’s hold over humanity and their teachings of Christ, the world of Avalon was as real and concrete as any other place on earth you might find. With the Church’s rapid growth, man stopped believing in the magic of the goddess, and with their belief the world of Avalon slowly drifted away from the world of man.
Arthur was born of both Roman lineage which brought him to Christianity and the line of the Lady of the Lake, which made him the cross between the two worlds; the old and the new. Through the course of the novel we see women’s precarious position in this patriarchal society. Though Morgaine’s power in sight and magic is great, she must succumb to the will of man to move through the world as it is. She must forego her early training at the Beltane feast or return to the world of Avalon, away from the world of man.
Gwenhwyfar (known in most works as Gwenevere), often revered in literary lore, is pictured with more humanity and influence in this retelling than she had been given to by other author’s. It is Gwenhwyfar who pushes Christianity to be adhered to by King Arthur and Gwenhwyfar who advocated the elimination of all things pagan. There is, of course, the love story of Lancelot and Gwenhwyfar, which in this telling is no less evocative than others. Here, Lancelot meets Gwenhwyfar before she is given to Arthur, and loves her before she is his queen.
They remain in love with each other, though never unfaithful, through many years. Morgaine, who is secretly in love with Lancelot herself, plays a part in tricking him into consummating a relationship with another, and then traps him into marrying the girl to not offend her honor, thereby removing him for years from Gwenhwyfar and temptation. In this retelling they do eventually consummate their relationship, and are caught.
Though this retelling focuses more on Morgaine and Gwenhwyfar’s vantage point; the entire retelling is interesting in its feminine deference and the differing plotlines. Here we find that Morgaine did not trick Arthur into giving her a son, it was Morgaine herself who was deceived in this venture by the then lady of the Lake and her aunt, Vivienne. The ideal the greater good is of paramount importance and each human’s situation is little compared to the whole is often reiterated through the telling. A masterful work that is engrossing and lyrical.
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