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Authors: Persia Woolley

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Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn

BOOK: Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn
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Copyright

Copyright © 2011 by Persia Woolley

Cover and internal design © 2011 by Sourcebooks, Inc.

Cover design by Susan Zucker

Cover images © The Accolade, 1901 (oil on canvas), Leighton, Edmund Blair (1853-1922) / Private Collection / Photo © Christie’s Images / The Bridgeman Art Library International; cinnamonsaturday/iStockphoto.com; robynmac/iStockphoto.com; Angel_1978/iStockphoto.com

Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Published by Sourcebooks Landmark, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.

P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410

(630) 961-3900

Fax: (630) 961-2168

www.sourcebooks.com

Originally published in 1993 by Pocket Books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Woolley, Persia,

Guinevere, the legend in Autumn / by Persia Woolley.

p. cm. — (The Guinevere trilogy ; bk. 3)

(pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Guenevere, Queen (Legendary character)—Fiction. 2. Arthurian romances—Adaptations. 3. Queens—Great Britain—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3573.O68G85 2011

813’.54—dc23

2011031257

To the children and family who understood that a deadline sometimes cut Christmas down to a phone call rather than a visit;

to my father, William C. Higman;

and to my high school teacher, John Chaney, whose comment “Of course you can” led to my tackling this entire project.

Cast of Characters

 

House of Pendragon

 

Arthur—King of Logres, High King of Britain

Guinevere of Rheged—Arthur’s wife, High Queen of Britain

Mordred—Arthur’s son

Igraine—Arthur’s mother, wife of Uther, High King of Britain

Morgause—daughter of Igraine by her first husband, Gorlois

Morgan le Fey—daughter of Igraine by her first husband, Gorlois

Cei—Arthur’s foster brother and Seneschal of the Realm

Bedivere—Arthur’s foster brother and wise counselor

House of Orkney

 

Morgause—widow of King Lot, half sister of Arthur

Gawain—son of Morgause

Gaheris—son of Morgause

Agravain—son of Morgause

Gareth—son of Morgause

Mordred—son of Morgause

House of Northumbria

 

Urien—King of Northumbria, husband of Morgan

Morgan le Fey—half sister of Arthur, wife of Urien, High Priestess and Lady of the Lake

Uwain—son of Morgan and Urien

Brittany Faction

 

Lancelot of the Lake—Arthur’s best friend and lieutenant

Ector de Mans—Lancelot’s half brother

Bors—brother of Lionel and cousin of Lancelot

Lionel—brother of Bors and cousin of Lancelot

Belliance—protégé of Lancelot

Melias—protégé of Lancelot

Lavaine—protégé of Lancelot

Kanahins—protégé of Lancelot

Nerovens—protégé of Lancelot

Urr—protégé of Lancelot

House of Pellinore

 

Pellinore—warlord of the Wrekin

Lamorak—Pellinore’s eldest son in wedlock

Perceval—Pellinore’s youngest son in wedlock

Amide—one of Pellinore’s many illegitimate children

Other Members of the Round Table Fellowship

 

Accolon of Gaul—Morgan le Fey’s lover

Agricola—Roman King of Demetia

Vortipor—arrogant nephew of Agricola

Bagdemagus—warlord of Dorset

Cador—Duke of Cornwall

Constantine—Cador’s son and successor

Colgrevance—warrior friend of Gawain’s from the Continent

Dinadin—Tristan’s best friend

Florence—warrior friend of Agravain

Geraint—King of Devon, husband of Enid

Gingalin—son of Gawain and Ragnell

Griflet—Master of the Kennel and husband of Frieda

Ironside—aging warrior

Lovel—warrior friend of Agravain

Lucan—Arthur’s Gatekeeper and butler

Palomides—slave-born Arab, lover of Isolde

Pelleas—husband of Nimue

Petroc—warlord from Devon

House of Carbonek

 

Pellam—wounded King of the Waste Land

Elaine—his beautiful daughter, lover of Lancelot

Galahad—son of Elaine and Lancelot

House of Cornwall

 

Mark—King of Cornwall

Isolde—Mark’s child-bride from Ireland

Tristan—nephew to Mark, Isolde’s lover

Women of Camelot

 

Brigit—Irish foster sister to Guinevere

Brisane—governess to Elaine of Carbonek

Enid—sharp-tongued lady-in-waiting, wife of Geraint

Lynette—daughter of Ground’s Keeper in London, wife of Gareth

Vinnie—Roman matron in charge of ladies-in-waiting

Various Heads of State

 

Anastasius—Emperor in Constantinople

Clovis—King of the Franks

Theodoric the Great—Ostrogoth King of Italy

Other Characters

 

Mr. and Mrs. Badger—gardener and housekeeper at Joyous Gard

Bercilak—Charcoal burner and prankster who is one of the Ancient Ones, half-civilized, half-wildman

Cathbad—Druid who was Guinevere’s childhood teacher

Cerdic—Saxon leader who challenged Arthur at Mount Badon

Cynric—Cerdic’s son, kept as a peace-hostage after the Battle of Mount Badon

Dagonet—Arthur’s Court Jester

Frieda—Saxon milk-maid, wife of Griflet

Gildas—past suitor of Gwen, monk and student of Illtud

The Green Man—an Ancient God who may or may not be a figment of everyone’s imagination

Gwyn of Neath—horsebreeder and builder of the Hall on Glastonbury’s Tor

Gwynlliw—representative of warlords in Dorset hill-forts

Illtud—Prince/warrior who became a monk

Kimmins—crofter in the Cheviot Hills

Maelgwn—Guinevere’s cousin, King of Gwynedd

Merlin—Arthur’s tutor and mentor, the Mage of Britain

Nimue—Priestess and protégé of Merlin, wife of Pelleas

Ragnell—leader of nomadic Ancient Ones, lover of Gawain

Riderich—Arthur’s bard

Taliesin—peasant boy who becomes a famous bard

Wehha the Swede—leader of East Anglian Federates

Wuffa—Wehha’s son

Yder—brother of Gwyn of Neath

BOOK: Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn
3.35Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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