#guinevere x the lady of malehaut

[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)