#brangien

[naumaxia-art]

A couple more lil Arthuriana designs (For those of you who know about the comic I still do intend to finish it eventually... I think it just needs a bit of a rewrite and I need more time XD)

[gellavonhamster]

on Brangaine, Constance Bonacieux, and devotion

La Tavola Ritonda / The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas / Iseult and Brangaine (1970) by Salvador Dalí / Tristan and Isolde discovered by King Mark (1883) by August Spiess (detail) / The Musketeers (2014-2016) / Prose Tristan / Warming Her Pearls by Carol Ann Duffy / Detail of the illustration for Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolde in The Victrola Book of the Opera: Stories of One Hundred and Twenty Operas with Seven-Hundred Illustrations and Descriptions of Twelve-Hundred Victor Opera Records (1917) by Samuel Holland Rous

[iamarealkat]

Tristan and Isolde

mads mikkelsen as ‘tristan’ in “king arthur”, 2004

Tristan is a prince whose mother is the sister of the King, Mark. Both of his parents died when he was young, and he was raised by Gorvenal to be a gifted swordsman and musician (Tristan became an accomplished harp-player). Isolde, meanwhile, is a princess, the King of Ireland’s daughter. She is beautiful and fair-haired and admired far and wide.

Cornwall is bound by fealty to Ireland, which demands that Cornwall send 300 youths and 300 maidens to Ireland as tribute.

However, if a Cornish champion could beat the Irish giant Morholt (the King’s brother-in-law) in single combat, the King of Ireland agreed that the tribute would not need to be paid.

Tristan defeats Morholt, but is badly wounded with a poisoned spear. He is left on a ship to die. But the ship finds its way to the shores of Ireland, where Tristan is taken into the royal palace. The sorceress queen cures him with an incantation, and Tristan falls in love with Isolde, to whom he reveals his true identity. When she learns that he has killed Morholt, her uncle, she declares her hatred for him, and Tristan returns to Cornwall.

Mark wants to marry Isolde, so he sends Tristan as his ambassador, to bring Isolde back to Cornwall so they can be wed. In Ireland, the wedding agreed, the sorceress queen bids Isolde farewell, but gives a love potion to the maid-servant named Brangien, with instructions to give it to the married couple on their wedding night.

On the voyage to Cornwall, Tristan and Isolde need a drink and both drink the love potion, not realising that it isn’t wine. They promptly fall in love. After the wedding of Mark and Isolde, Brangien – realising that the error with the love potion is all her fault – takes the place of Isolde in King Mark’s bed on the wedding night, to trick the King into thinking she is Isolde. Meanwhile, the real Isolde is in Tristan’s arms.

Mark doesn’t realise the deception for a while, although the rumours are all around the court. Eventually, his most loyal barons tell him that Isolde is unfaithful. Although Mark banishes Tristan from the palace, Tristan and Isolde continue to meet in secret. When they are discovered together, they are sentenced to death by burning. However, the lovers escape, and go on the run together.

They go and live as a poor couple in the woods, until one day, King Mark discovers them, walking in on them while they’re both fast asleep. But when he sees the sword between them and realises the lengths they have gone to in order to guard their love, he feels sorry for them, and replaces the ring on Isolde’s finger as a sign that he forgives her. He also places his sword between them, in place of Tristan’s, as a token or gift for his former knight.

When the two lovers wake, they are so moved by the King’s mercy and kindness that they return to court. Mark welcomes Isolde back, but he tells Tristan he cannot remain at court. He is exiled from Cornwall and goes to live in Brittany, where he marries another woman named Isolde, oddly enough: Isolde of the White Hands, as she is known.

Tristan remains loyal to Isolde and cannot make love to his new wife (Isolde of the White Hands). He is wounded in battle (as before, with a poisoned lance), but this time there is no cure. As he lies dying, he asks one of his companions, Kaherdin, to go and tell Isolde (as in King Mark’s wife, Tristan’s first love) that he is dying and he wants to see her one last time.

Tristan tells Kaherdin to hoist a white sail to his ship if he is successful in locating Isolde, but a black sail if he fails. (Compare this plot detail with the ancient Greek legend of Theseus, too.) Unfortunately, Tristan’s wife hears of this plan.

Kaherdin finds Isolde and she agrees to come and see her true lover. However, Isolde of the White Hands, Tristan’s wife, lies and tells her husband that she has seen Kaherdin’s ship bearing a black sail. Heartbroken, Tristan dies. Isolde arrives with Kaherdin and learns she has missed Tristan, who has already departed this life. She dies of a broken heart shortly afterwards, her lips locked with Tristan’s in one last kiss.

[talesfromtheenchantedforest]

Isoldes (of Ireland), ranked

5. Gottfried von Strassburg. 0/10, a real bottom-of-the-barrel Isolde. All of her compelling qualities are ported onto other characters so that she can embody the empty shell of idealized femininity: she doesn’t have the medical skill to heal Tristan, her mother does; she doesn’t have any political savvy, Brangien does. Insipid, limp, fickle, boring. Also, and this isn’t strictly related to her, but it is emphasized that she HATES Tristan prior to the potion, and I vastly prefer the versions where they develop a real friendship before the potion turns them into lust-drunk maniacs.

4. Eilhart von Oberge 4/10, a mixed bag. You see where Gottfried got some of his Isolde’s worst characteristics — the pettiness, the fickleness, both when Tristan does something extremely minor like not halting for her sake, and the awful post-wedding-night trying to murder Brangien thing. But she also keeps many of her fun qualities — her medical skill, her deductive reasoning (the detective work to figure out that the Lord High Steward didn’t kill the dragon! Finding Tristan by tracking down his non-Irish horseshoes!). You tried, Eilhart, but you didn’t try hard enough.

3. The Prose Tristan. 7/10, this Isolde is really cooking with gas. She’s giving Tristan a run for his money in the writing-emo-songs department, which sounds honestly insufferable for everyone around them but they seem happy, so like good for them. When called out by Mark gives him a real “yeah, I AM in love with Tristan, and I sure hate you, the fuck are you gonna do about it,” which we love for her. Points docked for attempted Brangien murder, however.

2. Le Morte D’Arthur. 9/10, the Isolde that first made me not normal about Arthuriana. She’s willing to do anything to save Brangien. She holds a castle against Palamedes while he lies down outside the gates and mopes. She writes heartfelt letters to Guenevere. She has a very sweet relationship with Dinadan and lets him pour out his heart about how much he hates love.

1. Béroul 10/10 no notes. Ten steps ahead of Mark at every turn and hilarious about it. Engineering the scenario wherein she will be able to swear honestly that no man ever been between her thighs except Mark and “the leper who made himself a beast of burden and carried me across the ford, and my husband King Mark” by ordering Tristan, in the guise of a beggar, to get down on his knees and “turn your face away and your back toward me, and I will straddle you like a man,” in case we were in any doubt about what they get up to in bed. An icon. A legend. The greatest tragedy of the Arthurian manuscript tradition is that we only have fragments of this one.

[bean5prouts]

So I know you like Tristan and Dinadan but what are your thoughts on other Cornwall gang/Tristan support cast folks? (ie Brangeien, Kahedrin, Mark, Palomedies, Dinas, Lamorak, anyone else)

i love them ALL so much omg. the characters all complement each other really well! i should have said this in my crackships ask, idk why it slipped my mind, but in a perfect world i think tristan, iseult, palamedes and bragwaine/brangien/brangaine/however her name is spelled should be in a polycule. bragwaine is the only braincell in this operation. because of tristan there’s a negative braincell total anyway. it would be utter chaos and i live for it

i forget about kahedrin and dinas a lot but i like them too!!! when i think of dinas all i can think about is that one episode where his girlfriend leaves him and takes his dogs, and he’s more upset about the dogs than his girlfriend. based.

lamorak isn’t one of my absolute favorites but i like him a lot too! i like to meme on him. he’s into milfs and i love that for him. honestly me too buddy

i love palamedes a lot actually, he’s another one of my faves. just love a guy who goes and cries by wells. deeply relatable man. in touch with his feelings

this got very long LOL these are my scattered head cold thoughts, my head currently feels like it’s filled with cotton balls so my thoughts aren’t exactly coherent lol

[tiodolma]

new damosel alert!

brangaine's niece!!!

A young, but discreet damsel, niece to Brangien, was dispatched to England with a packet for our hero; but she long sought for him in vain, till one day Tristan, fatigued with a long and useless pursuit after a Knight whose name was Breus the Merciless, alighted near a fountain and fell asleep. The young lady coming that way, saw the vigorous Passabreul, his faithful steed, and instantly descried the Knight, who was so lean and altered that she hardly knew him again.

glad to see the medieval damoesel postal network be so active and running so smoothly without hitch

[justbrainrot]

Taking this out of the tags because it’s important:

Please don’t read Marion Zimmer Bradley. There’s no need to support an abuser. She did truly awful things to people I love so this is a personal appeal.

On a more positive note!

The Camelot Rising trilogy has a female Lancelot who is pretty genderqueer coded & in love with Guinevere, plus a lesbian Isolde & Brangien.

The Legendborn Cycle is a modern retelling with more queer characters than straight tbh.

LGBTQ characters in arthurian books

The (?) means that I really think the character is written as a lgbt character but it’s not explicitly said. I added some new characters from the last time and added the suggestions by storytellerknight so I am reposting it again. Thanks to queeringcamelot and gawaincomic for more suggestions!

THE LIST CONTAINS SPOILERS.

Here is the list:

Arthur, the king (Alan Massie): Merlin, Arthur, Geraint, Nestor and four OCs (male).

Arthur King of Time and Space (Paul Gadzikowski): Tristan, Isolde, Kay, Bedivere.

Arthur Rex (Thomas Berger): Arthur (?).

Attanasio’s Series: Bedivere.

Avalon (Mary J. Jones): Argante (Guinevere’s daughter) and her lover, Nimue and her lover Morgant (a female character mixed between Morgana and Merlin), Pellas’ sister.

Bedivere Book One: The king’s right hand (Wayne Wise): Lucan

Camelot (3000): Tristan*

Camelot Connection, The (E. A. Scarborough), short story of “Invitations to Camelot” : Arthur (who briefly says he has been with men too).

Children of the May (S. J. Moore): Palomides, Iseult, Bragwaine, Gawain and other OCs/non arthurian characters.

Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur’s Court, A (Marianne Mancusi): Mordred.

Fall of Camelot, The (Time-Life): Merlin, Mordred(?)

The Forgotten Sister (Kieran Higgins): Lot.

Gay Knights and horny heroes (Michael Gouda): Arthur, Lancelot, OCs.

Here Lies Arthur (Philip Reeves): Nimue and Percival**

Knight of the Breton Court (Maurice Broaddus): Tristan*

Knights of Pleasure (Erin Caine): Lyzian (a woman who dresses as a knight), Arthur.

If This Grail Be Holy (P. Andrew Miller) short story of “King of Ages”: Arthur and Lancelot.

Laid to Ruin (Isabelle Arden): Claudas, Lancelot. 

Lancelot and the Wolf series (Sarah Luddington): Lancelot and Arthur.

Merlin Trilogy (Mary Stewart): Merlin (asexual).

Lancelot: Her Story and Lancelot and Guinevere (Carol Anne Douglas): Lancelot (a lesbian woman), Galahad (a lesbian woman), Guinevere, Kay, Dinadan and three other women (original characters).

Lavinia Collins’ ladies trilogy (Guinevere, Morgawse): Kay, Agravaine, Lancelot.

Mists of Avalon, The (Marion Zimmer Bradley): Lancelot, Arthur (?), Morgaine, an OC.

Mordred and the King (John Michael Curlovich): Mordred, Arthur, other male OCs and a female OC.

Mordred, bastard son (Douglad Clegg): Lancelot and Mordred.

Morgana (Michel Rio): Morgana and Vivian.

Nimue’s Tale (M. E. Robins), short story of “Invitations to Camelot”: Nimue.

Once and Future Queen comic (Knave): Arthur (a woman in this comic), Guinevere, Lancelot (asexual)

Once and Future King, The (T. H. White): Lancelot (?) and Mordred (?).

A short story (I can’t remember which one!) of Mike Ashley’s collection: Kay.

Port Eternity (C. J. Cherryh): Mordred (asexual), Lancelot (pansexual), Vivian (asexual). Warnings: the characters are not really arthurian (explanations with spoilers here).

Pretender, The (Stephen Dedman) short story published in “The Mammoth book of arthurian legends” (Ashley): Arthur, Dinadan (the are lovers), Galahad, Kay (bisexual), Mordred.

Prince and the Program, The (Aldous Mercer): Mordred.

Prince in Camelot (Courtway Jones): Lancelot and Lavaine.

Queen’s Knight (Marvin Borowsky): Mordred, Colgrevance (?), an OC in a flashback.

Quest of the Fair Unknown, The (Gerald Morris): two female OCs

Road to Avalon, The (Joan Wolf): Agravaine.

Silurian, The (L. A. Wilson): Bedivere (bisexual), Mordred (gay).

Song of Sir Rod the Long: A Gay Romance of the Round Table, The (Howard Larry): I have no idea! Probably an OC.

Sword at Sunset (Rosemary Sutcliff): two male OCs, Arthur.

The Table of Less Valued Knights (Marie Phillips): two OCs are gay, one OC is pansexual (or bisexual, but I think he’s pansexual) and one very very secondary character (only mentioned) transwoman.

*Tristan is reincarneted as a woman and loves Iseult but I don’t know if Tristan identifies as male or female.

** It’s not clear how Nimue and Percival consider their own gender. I think they both seem bigender or demi.

[itsacruelsummerwithyou2]

so i just finished reading “The Guinevere Deception” by Kiersten White, basically a feminist Camelot adaptation and i loved it (spoilers below)

“Guinevere” (quotes because it’s her false identity) was a fantastic character. she was powerful and intelligent while still being flawed in ways actually acknowledged by the story

Guinevere’s female friends, specifically Brangien, Dindrane, and Lancelot (who of course may become more than a friend in the sequels) were interesting and compelling in their own right. each had their own personality and strengths, and were vital to her both in fighting and magic and in structure and society

i thought all 3 potential love interests were really interesting, and i loved how Guinevere had a different relationship with all of them. there was little of her and Lancelot, but enough to get me excited to see it develop in the sequels.

Arthur, as the “good” option, could have easily been boring or unlikable as many characters of his type tend to be, but he, like every other character, had a balance of good and bad and seeing him reconcile his relationship with Guinevere and with his kingdom was interesting

tied with Guinevere, Mordred was my favorite character. despite being the “bad” option, he wasn’t really a YA “bad boy”. he was genuinely caring and often felt like Guinevere’s closest ally, which i think is what made their chemistry so amazing. i also think being caring is what made him “evil”, he simply cared about nature over Camelot, unlike Guinevere and Arthur. i could see him becoming more fully villainous throughout the series, but i really liked his character

i appreciate the book not falling into the “shaming women who do feminine work” period piece trap, as well as all of the love interests being genuinely good to Guinevere and having faults without actually mistreating her

ok who do we think Guinevere really is (don’t tell me if it’s revealed in the second book for sure tho)? basically all i know about the versions of the characters outside this book comes from Once Upon A Time and the season and a half i watched of Merlin, but i’m thinking maybe she’s Nimue? again all i know about Nimue is that she’s a sorceress with some type of connection to Merlin and is evil in both of those versions, and this character clearly has some darkness in her. i also think the Lady of the Lake is Guinevere’s mother, obviously they have some type of history together and Merlin referred to the Lady of the Lake as “my love” in their scene together

to sum up: this was a GREAT book and i’ll probably buy the sequel this weekend

[blog-de-brangien]

Le meilleur compagnon contre l'ennui est un bon livre.

Le livre des proverbes français (1859)

[aroaessidhe]

2020 reads // twitter

The Camelot Betrayal 

book 2 of the camelot rising trilogy (arthurian retelling)

Guinevere continuing to get used to her life as queen and finding her place (middle book etc etc) 

*takes guinevere's face in my hands* lancelot is right there and she is love with you!!!!!!!!! why are you thinking about these mediocre boys!!!!!

[ladyharrell]

The Romance of Tristian and Iseult - Part 2

King Mark sees the secret meeting

Iseult given to the leppars

King Mark finds the lovers in the forest

The returning of Iseult

[gellavonhamster]

If one can set aside, for just a moment, the major objection that Christine de Pizan would have had to Isode’s and Guinevere’s adultery, it is worth observing how they both in fact possess many of the traits she believed made a good queen. Christine advises queens to gain support of powerful people, and both Isode and Guinevere appear to be politically adept, as they secure the support of allies: the barons defend Isode when she drinks from Morgan’s horn, and Guinevere reclaims support after the poisoned apple incident, re-establishing her allies in the roll call that signals her Maying expedition. Christine also promotes charity, and warns princesses not to overindulge in their wealth, one of the main ‘temptacions’ that can plague the rich; while the day-to-day accounting and practical affairs of a queen are rarely, if ever, recorded in romance, Isode demonstrates that she is no slave to wealth when she offers to live with Tristram in poverty, and Guinevere is willing to spend a small fortune on the recovery of Lancelot following his madness. Christine suggests that a sensible queen will ‘tendra discrete maniere meismement vers ceulx que elle saura bien qui ne l’aimeront pas, et qui aront envie sur elle’ [maintain a discreet bearing even towards those who do not like her very much, and who will be jealous of her]. While Christine warns against those who envy queens for their power rather than beauty, her advice might still work as a relevant backdrop for Malory’s two queens, who show no signs of jealousy at all despite being constantly compared to each other by their admirers. The solidarity of women in Le Morte Darthur is also extended between women of different social status: Isode has a good relationship with Brangwain, as well as Guinevere, again adhering to Christine’s advice for ladies, for she stresses the importance of having the favour ‘de tous les estaz de ses subgiez’ [of all the estates/classes of subjects], and, in particular, of ladies in waiting and female companions. While the French Iseut plots against her maid and contemplates killing her at one point, Malory omits this entire episode completely, strengthening my claim that his women may be positioned as much-needed models of civility and empathy for the envy-ridden knights.

— Women of Words in Le Morte Darthur: The Autonomy of Speech in Malory’s Female Characters by Siobhán M. Wyatt

[brightbeautifulthings]

The Excalibur Curse by Kiersten White

"'When they look at us, they see plots and pawns and weapons. How could anyone who looks at you and sees only what you can do for them ever tell you who you are?'"

Year Read: 2021

Rating: 5/5

About: There are spoilers ahead for The Guinevere Deception and The Camelot Betrayal. Guinevere's plan to seal Camelot safely inside a magical barrier--and herself on the other side--has worked, but not the way she'd hoped. Now the captive of the Pictish King and his soldiers while Arthur chases down a false lead, she's going to have to rely on herself to escape and discover who she truly is. With Merlin sealed away, Morgana may be the only one left who can help her, but she has her own agenda with the Dark Queen. What Guinevere discovers is more terrible than she could have guessed, and she has a choice between saving Camelot or undoing a terrible wrong that could destroy her. Spoilers are under the cut. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Random House/Delacorte Press. Trigger warnings: character death (on-page), parent death, drowning, mentions of domestic abuse, abduction, violence, grief, spiders, bug horror, sexism. Some mild NSFW content.

Thoughts: If you couldn't tell by my last two gushing reviews, I've been loving this series from the beginning. It's not fast-paced or action-packed so much as atmospheric and introspective, with lovely writing and more focus on character than on plot, which are all things that work well for me. Throw in the number of nuanced, complex female relationships, and I'm there for it. Much like the previous books, The Excalibur Curse isn't particularly fast-paced or plot-heavy. It meanders a bit through the first half, and while there is an eventual showdown with the series' major villain, it doesn't pack as much punch as the character development. For the whole of the series, Guinevere has been struggling with identity and whether she can truly know who she is if she doesn't remember her past, and that search comes with a painful twist.

Lancelot of Arthurian legend is one of my favorite characters of all time, and I love her interpretation in this series. My biggest regret for this book is how little time Guinevere and Lancelot spend together on the page. On the other hand, Guinevere has a lot of soul-searching she needs to do on her own, and that can't happen when she's distracted by her feelings for Mordred/Lancelot/Arthur. All those relationships are well-handled, and I like where she eventually settles on all of them. I also like that, even in a world with magic, there are few easy magical solutions to any of the problems. If there's a message here, it's that sometimes we do terrible things or have terrible things done to us and just have to find a way to live with them.

Far from any love interest, the truly important relationships in this series are the ones between women: Brangien and Isolde (ship it), Guinevere and Brangien/Dindrane (friendship), Guinevere and Lily (sisters), Guinevere and Fina (allies). Guinevere's kindness and understanding help her make friends wherever she goes, and there's the distinct feeling that everyone around her is better for it, especially the women. There's a strong theme of women supporting each other and telling their own stories, and I love a series where all the main characters (and all my favorites) are various shades of kickass, complex women. I'll be holding this story in my heart for a long time.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. TURN BACK BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

I'm crushed this series is over, and we didn't get a single on-page Guinevere and Lancelot kiss. 😭 Love the character development and where they end up, but please, please write another book about their love story!

[talesfromtheenchantedforest]

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

Review: The Guinevere Deception (Kiersten White, Camelot Rising #1)

Rating: ★★★★★/5

"To Camelot, she was queen. In her heart, she was a girl who had lost her way. She was Guinevere, and she was not even Guinevere. She was without a purpose. And she desperately wanted to be wanted." This was perfection. My adoration for Kiersten White has been revived after my meh feelings about Chosen, and I'm so happy I finally got to this one. Guinevere, wife of Arthur, queen of Camelot. So goes the legend, but what if Guinevere were not Guinevere at all? In this twist on the legend, Guinevere is sent to protect Arthur from a magical foe, though what kind, and when it will happen, she doesn't know. To be by his side, they are married, but as Guinevere begins to know belonging, how can she choose between being protector and protected? As with any of Kiersten's books, this one is full of feminism and wonderful twists. She loves her gender-swapped alternate histories, but still, with one character in particular here, I was taken by surprise, and I loved it. Fierce warrior girls and forest witches and magic wielders working in secret in the pursuit of seeing their lady loves again? Give it all to me, I want to inject it into my veins and never live in the real world again. Wonderfully complex characters are another strength of this one. Guinevere is searching for herself, searching for belonging, searching for a purpose, and through it all, her thoughts and feelings are so genuine. She just wants, so much, and that yearning is so relatable. Her relationship with Brangien, and the revelation of Brangien's own feelings, is a standout for me; these fierce girls who are forced to live in the confines of royal society finding refuge and friendship in each other made me want to reach into the pages and hug the shit out of them both. And the boys, too, are so interestingly multifaceted. How can a person not love Arthur? He's so good, and yet, there's that distance to him that made me wary throughout. I still don't know where I stand on him, but I can't wait to find out in future books. And Mordred! He made me laugh out loud a few times. And the twist! I honestly never saw it coming. Finally, the quality of writing is through the roof. Absolutely gorgeous imagery, beautifully constructed sentences, world-building that made me feel like I was living in medieval times. Kiersten's writing is just so evocative and well thought-out, it makes me feel privileged to read her books. And tone-wise, I just love how capable she is of tackling and KILLING anything she does. From the Conqueror's Saga to Elizabeth Frankenstein to Slayer to now Guinevere, everything is well-written in such different ways, and I adore it. 

[tiodolma]

WHAATT

She (Brangaine) loved her mistress, and determined to save her if possible from disgrace. Accordingly, when night came on, she decked herself in the regal night-dress, perfumed herself, said her prayers; and, in the bridal bed, waited the arrival of King Marcus, who soon made his appearance. He staid the whole night with her, and according to his custom, rose the next morning an hour before the sun. His good humour, and unusual chearfulness, spoke the state of his mind, and the success of the stratagem that had been devised to give him a good opinion of his royal consort, who, apprised by Brangien of her Lord's absence, took that place which she could now fill with more propriety.

DID BRANGEIN TAKE ISOLDE'S PLACE IN THE BRIDAL BED?????

wikipedia:

Upon arrival in Cornwall, the virgin Brangaine plays a second important role: she secretly substitutes for Iseult on her wedding night to King Mark, protecting Iseult's honor

(head in hands)