The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, is not only an example of a Medieval Romance, but also tells the story of the women who stood behind King Arthur during his infamous reign in the Middle Ages. The term “Medieval Romance” does not necessarily mean that the piece using it contains any sort of romance. There are three criteria that must be meet to form a Medieval Romance. (1) The plot must divide into sharply separate episodes that often do not seem joined in any obvious casual fashion. (2) The plots generally take the form of tests that they must pass to attain form goal. )
The protagonist fails tests, which often involve acts of moral and spiritual perception, until such a point that they finally follow advice. This book is not a typical Medieval Romance, but it contains all the important aspects of one. This novel explains the reasoning and decisions that Arthur made from the perspective of the women involved. The Mists of Avalon is a twist on the Arthurian tales as told by the four women instrumental to the story: Gwynhefar, Arthur’s wife; Igraine, his mother; Viviane, the Lady of the Lake, High Priestess of Avalon; and Morgaine, his sister, lover, and heiress to Avalon.
The story is told by each as they saw it happen. In this novel, the legend of King Arthur is for the first time told through the lives, the visions, and the perceptions of the women central to it. By telling the story through a woman’s perspective The Mists of Avalon provides a feminine insight into the depths of Arthurian legend previously dominated by men. The struggle between Christianity and the religion of Avalon is one of the central parts of the story. Arthur, whose mother was Igraine, sister to Viviane, grows up to be High King of Britain after his father, Uther Pendragon, dies.
In this era there were two religions that the people studied. One was under the Christians vows. They believed that their was only one god, theirs. They believed that all other gods were false and sinful. In the Christian beliefs, the women were believed to be the ultimate sinners. Under this belief they were always made to feel subservient to their men. The other religion was under the Goddess, who the people in the mystical world of Avalon believed were responsible for man and all of its creations.
It is stated often in the novel that the worshipers of Avalon believe that all gods are one god and all goddesses are one goddess. They believe in one all-powerful god above who can take as many forms and names, as he wants. Even though the believers In Avalon thought well of the Christian, the Christians despised those from Avalon, and thought of them as evil. Viviane, a woman, is the High Priestess of Avalon. It was she, following the wishes of the Goddess, who set Arthur on the Throne. The High Priestess seats Arthur on the throne in the hope that he will protect the rites and traditions of Avalon.
Old Arthurian Legends were always told from a Christian man’s perspective, the Lady of the Lake is looked on as an evil sorceress. In The Mists of Avalon, however, we see Viviane’s actions through Viviane’s eyes. This new perspective allows us to see that Viviane worked only for the good of the people and is not evil. It is in this feminine perspective that we are given more insight into Arthurian Legend. Camelot and Avalon were alive in the time of knights, and of war and conquest. Old Arthurian Legend is full of tales about an individual knight’s prowess.
Tales of bloody battles, and of long quests with many duels are very common. They also told of great battles with foreign invaders. Long battles full of gore and great detail. In The Mists of Avalon there are many battles against such invaders. Most notably of such battles are the Saxons. The Saxons try to take over the lands of High and Les Britain. Arthur must rally all the people of his lands to unite and fight the Saxons. For many months they did. Yet the actions of this time are described by Gwynhefar and by Morgaine. There are no tales of battle.
Instead we see castle life go by, interrupted occasionally by news of the war. Arthur is eventually victorious and declares a holiday on the day his armies drive the Saxons back once and for all. Every year during this holiday all of Arthur’s Companions gather. They hold mock battles, and jousts and other such demonstrations. These games are not told from the perspective of someone involved, like Lancelot of Gawaine for example. Instead they are told from the mouths of women who watch the doings from seats above the tournament field. There were no chapter long descriptions of swords and armor.
From a woman’s perspective these things are not interesting, and therefore not discussed in detail. Without long descriptions of these wars and tournaments distracting readers, they are more attuned to the political maneuverings in the times of King Arthur. Arthur’s loyalty and betrayal of Avalon is the second major part of the story. When Arthur fights the Saxons he rallies the troops under his banner. His banner contains the Symbol of Avalon. Arthur carrying this banner is a symbol of his promise to Avalon. When Arthur is put on the throne he receives a sword from Viviane.
This sword is a great artifact to those of Avalon. Gwynhefar is Arthur’s queen, and as his queen her one duty is to produce a male heir. Gywnhefar is unable to do this. Being a devout Christian, she feels that she can not conceive because of a great sin of hers or Arthur’s. She persuades Arthur to give up his banner of Avalon and replace it instead with a cross. Arthur, who would do anything for his wife, does. This angers Viviane as she sees this as a sign of betrayal. She is able to overlook this fact though. Arthur uses the holy sword of Avalon to knight two Saxon men.
The knighting is a purely Christian practice. It angers Viviane and Morgaine and is seen as the ultimate betrayal to Avalon. Morgaine then comes and takes the sword away from Arthur and casts it out into the sea. In Arthurian Legend it is said that the evil fairy Morgaine steals Arthur’s sword as an act of malice. Also in Arthurian Legend it is never made known the reasons that Arthur raises his now Christian banner. But with the insights of Gwynhefar in this novel we can see she only wished for a baby and had no ill will towards Avalon.
The same goes for Morgaine, there was no malice in her actions, and we see this since her actions are told from her own perspective, not of a man’s. Arthur betrayed Avalon and this was the result. In the male perspective of Arthurian legend we see only actions of the women. In this tale told by women we see their thoughts behind their actions. These thoughts were not know from the male’s perspective, but with the woman’s insight into these matters we see that more clearly. In a world where men largely dominate Arthurian legend, The Mists of Avalon gives us a profound feminine insight.
The Arthurian world of Avalon and Camelot with all its passions and adventures is revealed as its heroines might have experienced it: Queen Gwynhefar, Igraine, Viviane, and Arthur’s sister, Morgaine. This is a story of profound conflict between Christianity and the old religion of Avalon. It was a story of Arthur’s betrayal of Avalon. It was the first time that an Arthurian legend was told by the viewpoint of the females involved in the story. The insights that these women provided to the story are truly profound.
