Who Is Guinevere (Guenever)?
King Arthur's queen, who brought the Round Table
Guinevere is King Arthur's queen. She is the daughter of King Leodegrance of Cameliard, and in Malory's original text her name is spelled "Guenever." She is known as the queen at the heart of the Round Table stories.
She marries Arthur in Episode 4. As her dowry, Arthur receives the Round Table, which her father had inherited from King Uther, along with a hundred knights. When Gawain accidentally kills a lady during the wedding quest, the queen holds a court of judgment with her ladies and makes Gawain swear to protect women and never refuse mercy to anyone who asks for it. In Episode 6, her name is the reason Launcelot gives for turning down the four queens.
In the original text, Merlin warns Arthur before the wedding that Launcelot will one day love the queen. That love eventually becomes the cause of the Round Table's breaking apart.
Episodes featuring this character2
NEWEpisode 4
The Mistake That Wrote the Knights' CodeGawain and the Pentecostal Oath
Knighted on King Arthur's wedding day, young Gawain is desperate to win glory. When his hounds are killed, he flies into a rage, refuses a beaten knight's plea for mercy, and the lady who throws herself between them dies by his hand. He doesn't run. He carries his shame back to the court, and the vow he swears there becomes the oath of every Knight of the Round Table.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 6
He Woke Up Surrounded by Four QueensSir Launcelot du Lake
Sir Launcelot du Lake, the knight without equal, turns down four queens, a duel he could have skipped by hiding his name, and a sorceress who asks for "just one kiss." He says no to all of them. Only one person ever hears him say "yes."
20 pages