The Lady of the Lake is a name or a title used by several fairy-like enchantresses in the Matter of Britain, the body of medieval literature and mythology associated with the legend of King Arthur. They play pivotal roles in many stories, including providing Arthur with the sword Excalibur, eliminating Merlin, raising Lancelot after the death of his father, and helping to take the dying Arthur to Avalon. Different sorceresses known as the Lady of the Lake appear concurrently as separate characters in some versions of the legend since at least the Post-Vulgate Cycle and consequently the seminal Le Morte d’Arthur, with the latter describing them as a hierarchical group, while some texts also give this title to either Morgan or her sister. Today, the Lady of the Lake is best known as either Nimue (sometimes written Nimuë since Tennyson’s poem by the same title), or several scribal variants of Ninianne and Viviane.
Appearance List The Vulgate Lancelot (1475), Ballads of Bravery (1877), The Story of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table (1862), The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (1903), Stories of King Arthur and His Knights (1904), The Story of the Champions of the Round Table (1905), Idylls of the King (1913), Legends of King Arthur and His Knights (1914), Legends and Romances of Brittany (1917), The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights (1912)
Sample Read The Boy’s King Arthur; Sir Thomas Malory’s History of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table [Internet Archive]
Description The Lady of the Lake is a name or a title used by several fairy-like enchantresses in the Matter of Britain, the body of medieval literature and mythology associated with the legend of King Arthur. They play pivotal roles in many stories, including providing Arthur with the sword Excalibur, eliminating Merlin, raising Lancelot after the death of his father, and helping to take the dying Arthur to Avalon. Different sorceresses known as the Lady of the Lake appear concurrently as separate characters in some versions of the legend since at least the Post-Vulgate Cycle and consequently the seminal Le Morte d’Arthur, with the latter describing them as a hierarchical group, while some texts also give this title to either Morgan or her sister. Today, the Lady of the Lake is best known as either Nimue (sometimes written Nimuë since Tennyson’s poem by the same title), or several scribal variants of Ninianne and Viviane.
