Gwenhwyfar: The Green Lady

Who was she?

Genealogical records show that the sixth-century Briton warlord, Athrwys ap Meurig (who was probably the historical King Arthur) did in fact marry a neighboring heiress named Gwenhwyfar. Little of her history survives beyond the record of this marriage.

In popular Arthurian legend, her many abductions, along with her famous affair with Lancelot, mark her as a May Queen or Sovereignty figure. A Celtic archetype as old as time, the Goddess of Sovereignty weds the king, and it is from this union that his authority derives. Because her patronage is so valuable, she is constantly an object of contention between two men--often an older and a younger, or a Winter king and a Summer king. Men like Meleagrant, who kidnapped Gwenhwyfar, were trying to seize kingship; when she herself chose Lancelot, she marked him as the next king.

Mysterious myths, like the tale of Lancelot's adventure with the Copper Mistress of Dolorous Garde, hint at an even more shadowy figure behind Queen Gwenhwyfar--a goddess of death, initiation, and the underworld.

The Welsh Triads claim that Arthur had three wives, all named Gwenhwyfar. Food for thought.