#lady of malehaut

[liminalpsych]

A very, very roughly sketched, unedited scene that wouldn't leave me alone this morning and demanded to be written (....oh hey @queer-ragnelle! I accidentally made a Lusty Month of May / May Day Parade contribution!):

The week they arrive at Sorelois. Perhaps even the day. Guinevere is half-mad with rage and grief, reeling from Arthur's betrayal, the loss of her marriage, of her court. It's the usurping of her entire life.

It makes her bold. It makes her want to be cruel. It makes her want to strike back or to take what she wants or to rebel in some small or large way. It makes her want to hurt Arthur in turn, or transgress since she has already been spurned from society and convicted for something for which she's innocent.

"There is something I wish to see," Guinevere says, there in the somber quiet of the receiving room with Lancelot, Galehaut, and Lady Bloie of Malehaut. An announcement to the air, undirected.

Lancelot responds first, of course, as expected. He kneels before her, the picture of earnest devotion. "Whatever you wish, my queen, I will strive my utmost to bring it to you."

Across the room, towering nigh to the ceiling even leaned against the wall as he is, Galehaut watches her with a carefully neutral expression. Unblinking, unsmiling, and there's the barest tightening around his eyes. He is wary of her still, and senses her mood.

The Lady of Malehaut is a different kind of unreadable entirely, lounging next to her with a spot of embroidery to keep her clever hands busy. Her full mouth is always a breath away from smiling, like she carries with her a trove of private amusements at all times. She observes from beneath half-lidded eyes, her needle flashing through cloth more by touch than sight.

Guinevere lifts her loyal knight's chin with a touch of her finger. His lips part, eyes wide and wondering. She smiles. "I want to you to give Galehaut a kiss."

Ah, if only she dared to watch Galehaut's expression in that moment! Yet she must keep her focus on Lancelot. His face pales. His breath catches in his throat. His pulse thrums against her finger like a trapped and frantic bird. "M-my queen?" he stammers, gaze darting side to side as if for an escape.

Her smile sharpens, serpentine. "Do you not wish to?"

"I— I am not—" He's breathing rapid and shallow now, on the edge of panic. It's a pretty quandary she's put him in, one with no known safe answer, and he's reeling under it.

(She feels more steady by the moment, her control re-establishing in the small sphere she still possesses.)

Galehaut steps forward. There's the edge of fury in his warning, in the creak of leather and the rattle of maille. "My lady," he rumbles.

Now Guinevere looks his way, and she lifts a graceful eyebrow at the storm in his countenance. Lancelot quivers beneath her touch, unmoored by the loss of her pinning gaze. "Will you tell me truly that you don't want this, Galehaut?"

He halts. His jaw works; the stormclouds thicken. He glares, proud and silent.

Guinevere laughs. It's a free, bell-like sound—as playful as a day a-Maying. Lancelot stills and his breathing steadies, soothed by her apparent merriment. She makes a show of taking pity on him, releasing his chin to stroke his cheek. "Do you wish to kiss me?" she murmurs, leaning closer.

His breath catches again, no different than before. He nods.

She kisses him, sweet and soft; he returns it with a small desperate sound against her lips. (It tastes like power.) He's breathless when she pulls away, and she smiles down at him, indulgent. "I know Galehaut desires a kiss from you as well," she says, "and he is the one who brought us together, yes?"

Another nod, and Lancelot seems more dazed than panicked now. Swaying towards her, and glancing shyly towards his boon companion, who draws a sharp bracing breath.

"It is not as if he's a lady," she says with a wink. "So it is not being untrue to me. And it is my request, is it not?"

"Y—yes, my lady...?"

"Do you not want to kiss him?"

"I..." Those expressive eyes flicker from her lips to Galehaut's and back again. His breath quickens again, but this time it is a little less panicked. "My lady, you ask hard questions," he says at last, helplessly.

She laughs again, darkened with satisfaction. "Kiss him, then," she commands, "and then tell me if you want to do it again."

"My lady," protests Galehaut, strained—oh, and there is longing so sharp that it is agonized, bare and naked in every rigid muscle and the aching furrow of his brow. He looks at Lancelot like a man starving. He looks at Guinevere like a man betrayed.

To give Galehaut what he so desperately desires, when he knows it is something she can take away at any moment? To receive a kiss from his Lancelot, but only on the order of Lancelot's lover-queen? For Galehaut to touch his companion in the way he desires, but only so long as Guinevere allows it, never knowing truly if Lancelot would have initiated on his own, never being certain of Lancelot's desire?

It's a power like none she's ever wielded before.

Lancelot stumbles to Galehaut on unsteady legs with a last hesitant glance over his shoulder. Guinevere smiles encouragingly and nods her approval. One last nudge—and still, Galehaut could refuse Lancelot. Galehaut is sworn to neither Guinevere nor Arthur; he needs not obey her. Galehaut could save the last unconquered edges of his heart and maintain this last barrier of distance. He could still refuse himself what he wants so badly.

Galehaut tenses, and Galehaut wavers, and Galehaut's heaves great draughts of air as if he's in the thick of a melee.

Lancelot reaches out, and Galehaut surrenders.

[gawrkin]

(From Feminine Sexuality in the Lancelot-Grail Cycle by Stacy L. Hahn)

[queer-ragnelle]

Lady of Malehaut for the Vulgate ask!

Lancelot Part II: 52. The End of Galehaut's War with Arthur; the Meeting of Lancelot and Guenevere.

Send me a character and I'll reply with a Vulgate passage!

[arthurianashipbracket]

gawain and ragnelle by william henry margetson, the lady of malehaut from the lancelot du lac (paris, bnf, ms fr118) and guinevere by john collier

[ID 1: a greyscale artwork of gawain kneeling and clutching ragnelle's hand. ragnelle is under her curse and is an old woman with a plain dress. they are in a forest clearing and other people are watching on in the background. /end ID 1 ID 2: a medieval style painting of a woman wearing a long red dress. next to it is a painting of a woman with blond plaits wearing white riding a horse and holding flowers. /end ID 2]

gawain is known as the maiden's knight, the defender of women, and so perhaps it makes sense that his most heroic move in this text is giving a woman autonomy and choice. gawain marries ragnelle, cursed to look hideous, to save his uncle, but he treats her with respect throughout. when she reveals that now they are married the curse will be lifted when they are either in private or in public, gawain leaves the choice to ragnelle, and this breaks it for good. ragnelle's smarts and cunning make her a good match for gawain and suited to any new roles she may have to take as the wife of arthur's heir. best sister in law possible.

the lady of malehaut is guinevere's special companion who is the one privy to her and lancelot's affair (aka treason), which is always a solid ship basis. this also works to parallel them with lancelot and galehaut, especially as guinevere sets up galehaut and the lady of malehaut (which, as the submitter pointed out, feels very lavender marriage)

[gellavonhamster]

reading lancelot, part 2

solidarity with the cousin of the lady of Malehaut who tried to persuade her not to kiss Lancelot (her prisoner) while he’s asleep, because really, girl, what the fuck

5 Yvains and it’s just on the list of the knights who went to search for Lancelot, amazing

I love that Guinevere calls Gawain “dear nephew”. Does she ever refer to any other of Arthur’s nephews like that, in any text ever? And in general, I love how fond she and Arthur are of Gawain. He may be the eldest of many children of Morgause and Lot, but he’s also kind of her and Arthur’s only child 🥺

Galehaut making sure that Arthur’s men see him taking Lancelot away… what a move

“Do you suppose I have any regrets? If all the world were mine, I wouldn’t hesitate to give it to him” I am going feral

“and it grieves me much,” he said, “that I didn’t get to know him long ago the way I do now, for I’d have been much the better for it” - I just like this line

normal things to say: Gawain edition

never change, dear

the lady of Malehaut really said “if I can’t be his girlfriend, I can be his girlfriend’s girlfriend”. And succeeded

Guinevere: wouldn’t it be nice if my girlfriend dated my boyfriend’s boyfriend

this will surely end well and no one’s heart will get broken

really struggling to visualize the lion thing that happened to Lionel when he was a baby. Like... if it was a spot (flat) on his chest, how he could have seized it round the neck. I am already suspending disbelief as hard as I can

wait which sister of Arthur is Lore’s mother? Elaine? Some new character?

Gawain, Yvain, Kay, Sagremor, and Griflet “had great affection for one another” :’)

apparently Sagremor, here called the Unruly instead of the Desirous, is the one who’s supposed to perform all unruly acts. Officially appointed Do It for the Vine guy

I think the ladies who made Agravaine fall ill did nothing wrong, considering that he literally tried to rape one of them

Sagremor and his new gf are so flirty, it’s kinda cute

“Sagremor-Starvation”, another banger from Kay (who else)

obsessed with Guinevere being “not at all sorrowful” about Arthur leaving her for the night (to go to his mistress)

“for it would be better for him to kill me than to leave me” dang, Galehaut absolutely destroying me with his lines again

I’m pleased with how it’s easier to read than I expected so far. Even if I sometimes get confused which quest is whose and who did what

[lefresne]

Yknow we really have been sleeping on the Lancelot / Guinevere / Galehaut / lady of Malehaut weird toxic polycule

[hardoncaulfield]

Wait the Lady of Malehaut is dead?! 😭 Fr gonna cry! The phrasing of this is breaking my heart, like, for your information please know that she died young and horribly and that Guinevere now has no one she can be completely honest with, OK, wrap it up on with the show 👏 👆

[talesfromtheenchantedforest]

Maps: Lancelot Part I

100% guaranteed that the maps of parts 2-6 will not be consistent with this

details under the cut

1-3. The adventure of the Lady of Nohaut

4. Lancelot: starting the adventure of the Dolorous Guard. But not finishing it because all knights are ADHD messes. Gawain: following Lancelot and then getting put in prison

5-6. Making friends with the Hermit of the Hedged Manor just in time to recover from falling in a ravine, on the way to

7. A tournament at Godorson

8. Recovering from injuries at Nohaut and then the Hedged Manor

9. Finally finishing that pesky Dolorous Guard quest

10. Lancelot & Gawain (not exactly together): tournament in the Lands Beyond the Border of Galore

11. Lancelot being "forced" to kill his host due to the oath he swore to the wounded knight at the beginning of all this

13. Return to Camelot via a giant fight and getting humorously captured by Dagonet due to absentmindedness

14. Captured by the Lady of Malehaut

[tillman]

omg no youre so right like. every galehaut post and fanfiction is like soooo into the idea that he turns lancelot gay and ends his affair with guinevere... as though galehaut would ever root against loving women! he's a woman ally!

watch people on tumblr coincidentally forget about this.

[gawrkin]

I know how perspective is a little wonky in old art but I like how it appears that Guinevere is the tallest after Galehaut.

[queer-ragnelle]

This is... embarassing but asking is better than nothing, I guess. I'm writing a (very long) thing in first person from Gawain's POV. I would like to give more space to Guinevere and her psyche, but how would I make them emerge? Is there any way I can make them interact naturally?

Hi anon!

I mean the obvious solution would be to add Guinevere's point of view to your story. There's no way Gawain's first person perspective can delve into Guinevere's psyche, that's not what a first person narrative is for. It's limited on purpose.

But if you're asking how to have more Guinevere page time in Gawain point of view, that's easy! They hang out in medlit literally all the time.

One thing you could do is draw from the Vulgate, specifically the war against Galehaut, in which Gawain is severely injured and completely bed-bound. His cousin Yvain takes his place on the battle field and if not for Lancelot they would have lost Arthur's lands. But that aside, the narrative often switches back to Gawain's perspective to show him resting in a tent and kept company by Guinevere (and Arthur and Lady of Malehaut) all day. So you could write a scenario in which Gawain is stuck at home, either sick or injured, and Guinevere visits or even tends him. Maybe they have a heart-to-heart chat. That's completely within the realm of possibility for their relationship given what we can glean from medieval stories.

Alternatively, give Guinevere a seat at the Round Table. In The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (1956-57), literally the first episode shows Gawain lamenting that his brother Gaheris was killed in a battle, and he's carrying around a sword fragment pulled from the wound. (If you notice this is stolen from Tristan stories, no you don't!) Guinevere is present and comforting him as she's also seated at the Table. When Lancelot shows up and acts secretive about his background, Guinevere and Gawain are mutually curious. They work together to learn more, discovering that Lancelot's sword is missing a chunk in the exact shape of Gawain's fragment. Then Gawain pleads for Guinevere to help him convince Arthur to let him duel Lancelot, which he is granted. Arthur and Guinevere watch with baited breath, but Lancelot ultimately spares Gawain and explains the situation. Everyone is friends after that, and then two episodes later, Gawain and Kay are working together with Arthur to rescue Guinevere from Meleagant Mordred while Lancelot works to free her from inside the castle. When Guinevere is at last freed, she tells Gawain, Arthur, and Kay how Lancelot rode in a cart to gain entrance to the castle, and Gawain says it's disgraceful for a knight to conceal his identity, but Guinevere reasons it was necessary to save her. So they have a little debate about the "rules" of chivalry and whether or not the circumstances called for "breaking" them.

So there are lots of ways to get Guinevere on page in your Gawain story, it's really just about setting that up so you can develop their relationship and provide ample reason for them to occupy the same space.

I hope that answers your question. Take care!

[povestotrischane]

imagine if madeline miller had read the vulgate instead of the iliad and wrote a book abt galehaut and lancelot instead of patroclus and achilles. guinnevere is homophobic, arthur's only trait is being even more of an irredeemable asshole than he is in the original, galahad is homophobic, the lady of malehaut only exists to be in unrequited love with galehaut, the lady of the lake is homophobic.

[itonje]

my arthurianahahaha rarepairs:

-guinevere and the lady of malehaut

-gawaine and marcell the italian guy

-ysabele and sekundille

-lunete and brangaine

-agravain and lamorak

-palamedes and modred

-merlin and arthur’s dad

-morgan le fay and literally any unnamed woman in her retinue

-iseult of the white hands and a divorce lawyer 

-gareth and lynette

-modred and this absolute chad from the didot perceval 

[lefresne]

oughougog actually the death of the lady of malehaut is really indicative of the unpredictability of the medieval period (especially in relation to illness) and although disease isn't often mentioned in medieval arthurian texts the fact that Guinevere's best friend dies of an illness is so deeply mundane yet cruel its just???? so evergreen our group of friends etc

[lefresne]

Can anyone remember what happens to the lady of malehaut after galehaut’s death ? Does she just fade from the narrative?