Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings!   For today’s post, I have decided to discuss some of my favorite couples in the Arthurian legends.   I will only be choosing one pairing for each Arthurian figure, and some of them will be favorites because of the tale about them rather than the compatibility of the pairing.   Without further ado, here are my top five Arthurian romantic pairings! 

5. Nimue & Merlin 

~Ah, what an incredible tale!   This one is by far the least romantic on this list, being much more about Femme Fatale or Creepy Old Man feeling than about true love, but it is such a fun story that I could not help but list it.   Nimue, or Vivienne as she is also called in some variants of the tale (both are known names of the Lady of the Lake in any case) was a pupil of the great mage, Merlin.   She would become his lover as well as a pupil of his to learn magickal knowledge.   In some versions, she was the seductress using her sexuality to convince Merlin to teach her magickal secrets, while in others Merlin was the pursuer in the tale with Nimue agreeing to bed him so that she could continue to learn from him.   As you can see, this is hardly a truly romantic story, but it does lead to one of the most important tales from the Arthurian legends, the Beguiling of Merlin.   This is when Merlin is imprisoned, sometimes in a Crystal Cave and other times within a Hawthorn Tree, by Nimue after she had learned all that she could from him!    This is often seen as an evil on the part of a one-time Lady of the Lake.   Yet, many today see it as a form of Nimue protecting herself from his unwanted advances.   Or, it could have been that Merlin asked to be imprisoned, having tired of life in the world of Camelot and knowing that Arthur did not need him at that point.   That is one of the earliest variants of his imprisonment actually, with his sister being the one to imprison him instead of his lover!   However, as with all of the Celtic lore and Arthurian legends, variants of the tales can bleed into one another forming interesting points for analysis.         

4. Gawain & Ragnell  

~Gawain’s relationship with Dame Ragnell is one of the most iconic examples of a hero’s marriage to the Loathly Lady figure.    Gawain had already proved his worthiness as a Knight, by succeeding against the Green Knight, when he encountered Ragnell.   His marriage to her took place because he was attempting to help his uncle, King Arthur.    I will not go into the whole story, as it is long and more complex than I want to delve into in this post.   So, I will leave it at the core of Gawain and Ragnell’s relationship itself.   Gawain marries Ragnell, while still seeing her as the ugly old woman, the Loathly Lady.   On their wedding night, Ragnell reveals the truth to Gawain, she is cursed to appear as a Loathly Lady during the day but can have her true form of a beautiful young maiden only at night.   She tells him that he can choose which half of the day she appears which way.   So that he can either have a beautiful wife to show off at court during the day, or a beautiful wife to bed each night, he just needs to make the choice.   Gawain states that he cannot make that choice for her, as he believes only she can choose that for herself.   It is his respect for her Sovereignty of self that breaks her curse and she is able to be her true youthful self at all times!   I adore the message of this tale, Gawain saved his wife from a curse by giving her respect and autonomy of choice.    It is also a really sweet usage of the Loathly Lady archetype and convinces me that Ragnell was a Faery woman to begin with, as many Faery women have the ability to transform and test the characters of Knights.   In fact, testing the character of Knights and Kings is an important aspect of Faery women, Faery Queens, and Faery Goddesses in Celtic lore generally speaking! 

3. Morgan le Fay & Accolon 

~Of course I could not forget to include a love story featuring my most beloved Goddess!   The tale of Morgan le Fay and Sir Accolon is probably her most romantic love story.   She falls in love with Accolon when he has become a Knight for her brother King Arthur.   Although she was already married to King Uriens at the time she met Accolon, the attraction cannot be denied as the two began a steamy love affair!   This time, unlike her romance with the Knight Guiomar (which was ended by Guinevere having him sent away, as he was either her cousin or nephew depending on the telling) the romance flourished.   Accolon even becomes enmeshed in one of Morgan’s most famous plots against her brother.   At this point, Arthur trusted Morgan implicitly and entrusted his sister with the keeping of Excalibur and even more importantly, the scabbard of the blade.    Morgana knew this was her time to strike, as she used her magick to fashion a fake Excalibur and a fake scabbard.   She gifted the true sword and scabbard to Accolon when he was to duel Arthur in single combat, however, in most tellings, neither knew who the other was as they were wearing helmets covering their faces.   Arthur went into the battle believing that he had the true sword, but as he realized that this sword was not as powerful and he was losing the battle, he began to question the authenticity of the blade.   It was when he realized he was getting wounded that he knew the truth, this was a fake, as the scabbard of Excalibur prevented the warrior from being injured!   Arthur managed to disarm Accolon and get the true blade and scabbard back.   Finally, he killed his opponent, and when he was unmasked and his identity revealed, had his body sent to Morgan!   This is the tragic end of what is the only story Morgan le Fay has in the legends of mutual love that was not ended before it began! 

2. Isolde & Tristan

~The story of Tristan and Isolde is one of the best-known love stories in the whole of the Arthuriad, with good reason!   Tristan is a Knight at the Court of King Marc of Cornwall, but he also became a Knight of the Roundtable of King Arthur, who was the High King of Britain.   King Marc of Cornwall is sometimes described as the uncle of Tristan, other times he was a guardian to Tristan after the death of his parents, but either way, Tristan is his most trusted Knight.   In each telling, Tristan is sent off to Ireland to try to win the hand of the Irish Princess Isolde for Marc, who is intending to finally wed.    Tristan easily bests the other contestants for the hand of the Princess and Isolde is sent off with Tristan and Marc’s other men to Cornwall.   Now this is where tellings differ greatly, sometimes Isolde and Tristan knew one another before this, and love is rekindled (which is what the film version does with the tale), other times they fall in love organically during the boat ride back, and then there is the third option of accidentally ingesting a love potion meant for Isolde and Marc on their wedding night!   No matter which telling, the two begin a love affair before reaching Cornwall, one that does not end when Isolde is married to Marc.    If the love potion was the cause of their love, sometimes it is permanent or other times it fades (ending the romance).   A common thread is the discovery of the treasonous affair, which can end with the death of one or both of the lovers.   Sometimes, Tristan leaves Marc’s Court and marries another woman, interestingly also named Isolde (with the epithet ‘of the white hands’ to differentiate her from Isolde of Ireland).   In this telling, Isolde of Ireland is usually in a convent and sent for to heal Tristan when he is gravely wounded, but when in jealousy his wife lies about the color of the sails (which were color coded to signal whether Isolde of Ireland agreed to come to heal Tristan) he died before she could heal him.   That is one of the truly tragic endings of the tale, others are bittersweet with them dying for their treason but being buried side by side with two trees planted overhead.   The two trees would go on to grow with branches and trunks entwined, signifying the undying bond of Tristan and Isolde!   That is my personal favorite ending to their love story!   

1. Guinevere & Lancelot

~What other Arthurian pair could have been number one?   Yes, I went very obvious by choosing the most famous of all Arthurian romantic pairs as my favorite, but they are so famed and infamous for good reason!   It is a beyond-romantic love story and one that I do not think should be as demonized as it was in many medieval tellings.   I love the romance between Guinevere and Lancelot so much that I even referenced their love in my wedding vows!   Now the story of their love has many different origins depending on the tellings, but has been a staple of the Arthuriad since Chretien de Troyes (who introduced Lancelot as the lover of Guinevere).    Guinevere and Lancelot meet, sometimes when he first comes to Camelot as a Knight of the Roundtable when she is already Queen, other times they knew one another from childhood and rekindled that romance, and in some others, they meet when he is sent by Arthur to rescue her.   No matter the meeting, they eventually fall in love, sometimes quickly or sometimes with a slow-burning of desire growing over time!   There are tellings where their love remains chaste, even with its overpowering nature, really an example of the ideals of Courtly Love.   Most times though, their love is consummated and an affair goes on for a variable amount of time.   Some of the best tellings have the affair going on for several years right under Arthur’s nose.   I personally adore these tellings, not because I condone adultery, but because I see this as the beginning of Arthur’s undoing which was his own fault.   He lost interest in his wife and neglected to pay her attention, and since his marriage to her cemented his right to rule (as she is a representative of the Goddess of Sovereignty) losing her love is the beginning of his downfall!   When you read many versions of the legends, Arthur seems more focused on questing and listening to his Knights regaling him with the tales of their adventures than with Guinevere in any way.   So, it is unsurprising that she would fall in love with someone else!   Now, there are so many different versions of how their relationship ends that I cannot cover them all, as this post is already very long.   I will just briefly say that sometimes Guinevere is nearly burned at the stake by Arthur and rescued by Lancelot.   Other times she is simply sent to a nunnery, where she usually resided when Arthur is killed at the Battle of Camlann!   No matter the telling, the two do not get to be together even after the death of Arthur, usually due to their guilt over having betrayed him in life!   This is a poignant and truly tragic ending to the greatest of Arthurian love stories!      

~I hope you have enjoyed this look at five of my favorite romantic pairings within the Arthuriad.   What is your favorite Arthurian love story?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Tarot Note: I have launched a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services!    I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon!  Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/

Further Reading

• Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
• Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes
• Vita Merlini by Geoffrey of Monmouth
• The Once & Future Queen: Guinevere in Arthurian Legend by Nicole Evelina
• Arthurian Magic by John & Caitlin Matthews
• The Age of Chivalry by Thomas Bulfinch