Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings. This week’s Femme Fatale Friday is about Nimue, the great Lady of the Lake, and famed Lover of Merlin, who doomed him! I have written so many times about the importance of the Lady of the Lake in Arthurian legends. I have discussed Morgana and her connection to the Lady of the Lake, often even said to be an aspect of her. I have also discussed Merlin falling in love with the Lady of the Lake before. Now, this is the interesting thing about the Lady of the Lake, you can speak about her countless times and still have so much more to say! That is why I wanted to cover Nimue, as one of the most famous Ladies of the Lake (because there are many of course) for this week’s Femme Fatale Friday.
In many tellings of the legends, it is Nimue who raised the orphaned Lancelot in Avalon and was the pupil of Merlin who ended up cursing him in the famed Beguiling of Merlin. This also placed her as being the Lady of the Lake who gifted the Elven-crafted sword of Excalibur to Arthur in the first place. Other Ladies of the Lake include Vivienne and Morgana le Fay herself! But I find it very intriguing that the most common name the Lady of the Lake is given during the bulk of the Arthurian legends, across several interpretations is Nimue. Some even think that Vivienne is a reflex of the name Nimue, where Nimue becomes Nivien and then becomes Vivienne! I love the name Vivienne as a more modern-sounding name, but I adore Nimue as the older more ancient-sounding name of the Lady of the Lake!
Interestingly, the Lady of the Lake is often seen as the positive aspect of Arthurian feminine magick, with Morgana being the more dangerous aspect, but Nimue is also famed for being Merlin’s lover who betrayed him when he had invested her with all the knowledge that she could gain from him. There are two different stories that go hand in hand with Nimue cursing Merlin, from different versions of the legends. First, there is the Crystal Cave, where Nimue trapped Merlin within a Crystal Cave. Secondly, there is the Hawthorn Tree which Nimue trapped Merlin inside of. In both cases, Merlin’s lust for Nimue led him to believe her to also love him, so he willingly got lured into a trap.
Now, I want to go over some of my personal interpretations of why Merlin was Beguiled by Nimue. Most versions of the legends show the Beguiling of Merlin with Nimue as the villainous party in the matter. However, I find this to be not in keeping with the other energy presented by Nimue as the nurturing Faery Godmother of Lancelot, or the bestower of Excalibur seeking to help protect Camelot. As I stated above, she is most often seen as the lighter energy to Morgana’s darker energy of Arthurian and Avalonian magicks. This is why I think that Nimue’s Beguiling of Merlin could have been an act of defense against his obsession with her. Either she was never interested in him but was willing to give him a chance because of what he could teach her, and when he continued unwanted advances like a creeper, she punished him. Or, she truly did love Merlin and their affair was very enthralling, but he eventually became obsessed with her in an unhealthy way, and she needed to get away from the toxic relationship. I find these interpretations to be much more in line with how Nimue is traditionally viewed within the legends, as it would make more sense for Morgan to be more ruthless in her desire to be rid of Merlin, given how each is portrayed in the Arthurian legends. All of that being said, I firmly believe that all of the Ladies of the Lake, including Nimue, are in fact, aspects or reflexes of Morgan le Fay in her complexity as a Goddess, as I alluded to at the beginning of the post! In most versions of Arthurian lore, Morgana is shown as a villain seeking to destroy Camelot, so her more nurturing aspects are often covered up, even if her first appearance in Monmouth shows her as a healer. This very specific view of how Morgana is portrayed meant that there needed to be a counterpoint to show a different side of magick, and that is where Nimue and Vivienne come in!
I hope that this post has helped to illuminate Nimue as a figure in the Arthurian legends and as an aspect of Morgana. What is the most intriguing part of Nimue’s tale in your opinion? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is Nimue. I found the image on https://www.pinterest.com/pin/365495325982516692/.
Tarot Note: I have 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
- Vita Merlini by Geoffrey of Monmouth
- Vulgate Cycle
- Post-Vulgate Cycle
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