A Piece of Work

Noble Knights and Fair Maidens, 

This Maiden of Astolat sure is a piece of work, amiright? She falls in love with Lancelot (as many do), but of course he does not return her feelings. This man is already in love with another (#Lancevere for the win). In her story, Elaine spends so much time longing to be with Lancelot and he only realizes her beauty when she is dead - how tragic. I personally pity her for longing after someone who does not love her in return. She shoulda just found a wizard to help her like I did. 

Even though Lancelot knew he had the affection of this maiden, he never once returned it. His love for Guinevere is just too strong.

Lancelot knows the Maiden of Astolat loves him and uses it to his advantage. How rude is that? Very. Come on boy. You know I am a fan of yours but this is just down right low – and that’s saying something coming from me. This maiden does not have much and when she shows love for you, you simply manipulate it to your advantage.

I completely understand this maiden’s sorrow of being in love with someone who loves another, as I was once in that position. It is me, though, so naturally I got what I wanted and my lovely wife was mine. Elaine just needs to be more cunning in this form. She needs to make Lancelot love her back and do whatever it takes to do so, if she truly does love him, that is. It was only at her deathbed that Lancelot even acknowledged her beauty. Oh well, he is missing out on this one! Many men dream of finding a woman who loves him whole-heartedly and unconditionally.

Till next time,

King Uther Pendragon 

Greetings all. I am here to tell the story of none other than..... You guessed it, me! I know that many of you have heard things about me so I am just here to clear the air and spread the truth about my life. I was born half devil and half God. So yes, I do have character traits of both, but I do lean more towards the side of God. My full name is Merlin Ambrosius, and I am a wizard, and the advisor of none other than King Arthur (although he does not always listen to me). I am the one who predicted the unprecidented events involving Lancelot and Guinevere, and I had fore warned Arthur long before this happened. I guess the moral of this story would be to listen to my prophesies and take them into account before you make big life decisions, such as getting married. I have indeed been known to shape shift. I do this in order to change perception on things. Sometimes I am an ugly man in the forest of northumberland, sometimes I am a peasant dressed in peasant clothing. I have the ability to change the way people think, and that is what I would say Is the purpose of my creation. Remember be weary, because you never know where or what I'll be next.....

Until next time,

Merlin

Gawain

Greetings everyone, I must tell you all about a story I heard from a friend of mine. This tale told me all I needed to know about the great knight sir Gawain. What I heard has shown me how honorable and courageous Gawain is. First off, he and the green knight made a bet in which he could strike the green knight with his sword, only if the green knight was able to do the same a year and a day later. A year and a day later, Sir Gawain keeps up his end of the deal, something that few men would do. As he sets off on his journey to see the green knight, he encounters another kingdom. During his stay there, the king’s wife makes several advances towards Gawain. Despite a very beautiful women boldly stating her desire to woo him, Sir Gawain remains a true knight of principle and resists all advances due to respect for her husband. Not many men would be able to keep themselves from taking advantage of this women, including myself to be honest. I admire Gawain for his actions on these three days. After leaving the kingdom, Gawain meets up with the green knight, where he is ready to hold up his end of the deal. On arrival, Gawain gets on his knees and prepares to be struck by the green knight’s sword. Instead, the green knight informs Gawain that this has all been a test and that Gawain has passed. A true knight preservers any test thrown their way, whether they know about it or not, and Gawain is a true knight.

Until next time,             

Merlin

Still Waiting

My fair lords and ladies,

I'm glad all of you now understand what I've been babbling about for the past few weeks. I am absolutely, irrevocably in love with Sir Lancelot, and I will never stop loving him, despite the fact that I want to. Do you really think that I like subjecting myself to the embarrassment and shame I feel whenever someone hears about my minuscule affair with one of the knights of the round table? Of course not! Do you think I like being the "dead chick with lilies floating down the river"? Hell no! But I fell in love with the wrong man. Of course, I am the only one at fault; I should have known that someone like Sir Lancelot would never give someone like me the time of day. But I was stupid, and I let my emotions get the best of me, like I always do. Where am I now? Floating in a boat down the river. I'm basically a floating display of unrequited love for the townspeople to gawk at. Not exactly the happy ending I was hoping for. Don't fall in love kids, you'll never recover from the broken heart you'll most definitely obtain from your efforts. Get a puppy or something. They're a million times better.

Until next time friends, I'll see you around the river bend.

Love and lilies,
Elaine of Astolat

These Maidens are wild out here

Hello, to all of the knights, fair maidens and known enemies of Camelot. We have quite a unique story in front of us all. Let me begin by just saying that Lancelot isn’t the best of knights, yet he still somehow is viewed as THE best one. It’s a pity because we all know that he has been secretly seeing Guinevere in the midst of night and Arthur still allows this man to be his “best” knight. I too wonder if King Arthur will ever become aware of the affair in which his beloved wife and best knight are having between each other. He may choose to look away in order to maintain composure and make it seem as if all is well in his kingdom or he may just be as dumb as I think he is. But let us get back to the story, I for one feel sorry for the Fair Maiden of Astolat. Lancelot may seem appealing to most women due to his appearances, fighting abilities and many more attributes, but this particular woman absolutely adored him. Personally I am jealous, Lancelot does next to nothing and still continues to attract the attention of all women young or old, beautiful or not. Regardless of the fact they all see the exterior of his persona. Little do they know or even choose not to care about is the fact that this man is sneaky, inconsiderate, and un-loyal to those his is supposed to care for most. 

For instance this poor maiden adores him she expresses these feelings to him and he uses it to his advantage knowing that his heart lies with another women. Another thing to add onto that is the women that he “loves” is already a married women and is not available and to make matters worse it is the king’s wife. It is Camelot’s queen. Hell it is my love and queen and I am sure that many other feel the same way as well. With this being said I just find it asinine for any woman to take interest in Sir Lancelot. He is simply finessing his way through life in regard to battles and women. 

It is unfair that he receives all this attention from people due to his great reputation. I wonder how these women would feel if they caught onto his scheme. I for one would not have let that women starve herself because I did not want to be with her. How that would have been avoided I am unsure, but it seemed as if Lancelot wasn’t pressed about it and ironically this women this fair maiden was extremely pressed. I plan to get Guinevere after Lancelot so in the meantime if he is going to refuse a women’s attention and love I can occupy her until my chance to get Guinevere arrives. The point im trying to get at is Lancelot has everyone fooled and he is simply doing everything and anything that he wishes. 

Until next time fraands (or not)

-          Mordred

P.S. seriously though Fair Maiden of Astolat come through  

On Unrequited Love

I can certainly relate to loving someone you cannot be with.  My beautiful Iseult is married to another and I have to be satisfied with secret trysts.  So The Fair Maid of Astolat really resonated with me.

Ain't it the truth...Image From

The Fair Maid of Astolat was ill-used by Lancelot.  He knew what she would expect from him once he accepted her token and he should have been more up front with her regarding his reasons for taking it.  Better yet, he shouldn't have taken it in the first place.  He may be the best of all the living knights but this is quite dishonorable.  All she wanted was for Lancelot to love her.

It's heartbreaking really...

She would have been an excellent choice for marriage too.  She was beautiful and kind.  She nursed him back to health when he was wounded in battle.  Really she reminds me of my lady Iseult, though Iseult is surely more beautiful, more kind and a much better healer.  Surely Lancelot should have been happy to have her.  Instead he remains hung up on our queen.  It is sad that he couldn't wake up and see what was standing in front of him.  Perhaps he could have been happy with her if he'd given it a chance.

Tristan

The Maid of Astolat

Yesterday was a normal day for me, harassing my servants in my fort, throwing spears at the sheep of my brother, and killing off random knights who try and wife my daughter. As I was going about my business I peered out onto the Thames river and after having my eyelids held up I noticed a boat gently sailing down towards Arthur's kingdom. I also noticed this boat had a dead maiden on it, a weird thing to ship to another, but I asked a servant of mine and he informed me that this was the fair maiden of Astolat.

I had not heard of such a maiden but upon learning of her apparently she fell so deeply in love with this "Sir Lancelot" fellow that she was willing to die without his love. What a schmuck. First off, this girl lived in the woods in a cabin with her father, she probably is so sheltered she falls in love with any random knight who comes her way. I bet she hasn't even met a quarter of the men who live in her vicinity. For example, Ive lived not far from her for years and she has not come to my fort begging for my love even once. I mean sure, my eyelids cant be held up on their own, and yes I could smell a bit better, but we aren't all perfect.

She loves this guy? I mean I get it, he fights forty knights to the ground, is the best knight in the realm, and could win the heart of any woman around, but I mean c'mon, he still loves a woman married to his king?

Who does this sir Lancelot guy think he is?


 Queen Guinevere is constantly angry at him for some stupid reason and wont even admit she loves him and here is this perfectly good looking, polite, courteous woman who wants only his love or she will die, and Lancelot denies her costing her her life. He says he will not marry because, "for the knight who puts his heart in bondage loses himself," but I bet if Guinevere left Arthur and asked for Lancelot's hand in marriage he would so yes so fast she would be creeped out. This guy needs to get his priorities straight.


Ysbaddaden the Giant
(still single)

Who is she - baby Moses?

How does everyone know that the queen is involved with Sir Launcelot, yet King Arthur remains unaware? Perhaps he does have an inkling of his wife’s relationship with his loyal knight – is he simply choosing to trust his lady and not accuse her of unfaithfulness, as we learned from The Saga of the Mantle? That would explain why he is unmoved by Sir Launcelot’s seemingly fatal wound at the tournament. Even so, I still wonder how everyone else knows and what each must think of his or her great King Arthur for it. Again, as we learned from The Saga of the Mantle, blame is more rightfully given to the women and the other man than it is given to the husband. Why, then, would Sir Bors support the queen’s adulterous behavior and everyone adore Sir Launcelot? Are the people’s fantasies entertained by such real-life courtly love in their castle? I think I’d much rather feed off the drama in my Lord’s castle than create drama in my own life.

Of course, I cannot forget to mention our Fair Maid of Astolat. Thank Jesu it is acknowledged that this poor maid loved too much. I don’t blame her for her heart; it’s not hard to romanticize the idea of being with the first real man one lays eyes upon when ones entire life has been spent alone with unrealistic stories of great love. Besides, her love was truly real for her, which we know from the immense care she gave Sir Launcelot in his time of need. In the end, she only died because she was naïve. It's not Sir Launcelot's fault at all. On page 470, Sir Launcelot says, "I am sorry. Your daughter is beautiful, tender, and gracious, and yet I did not ask for her love, or encourage it." Well said! Kudos to Sir Launcelot for being a smart, classy, and humble heartbreaker.

Still, Elaine is awfully weird for wishing her body and letter-in-dead-hand to float down a river to Arthur’s court. What is the significance of that? Who is she – baby Moses? Kimberly Perry from The Band Perry? I don’t think so.

This tale includes factors no different than any other we have read: adulterous fantasy, a woman sick and dying from love, biblical inspiration, and a knight’s characteristics. If it has anything special to introduce, it would be Elaine's death as a virgin. The story makes it clear that she was a virgin as early as the title, "The Fair Maid of Astolat" - "maid" implying her virginity. Virginity is a rare thing in Arthurian legends, but death as a virgin is just as intriguing to me now as it must have been to the original audience. In fact, any death of an innocent soul is somewhat beautiful and saddening at the same time. Why do you think that is?

Until next time,

Lady of the Lake

Sir Thomas Malory, "The Fair Maid of Astolat" in "Le Morte D'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table," Pg. 457-472