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Gyneth
Gyneth, natural daughter of Guendolen and king Arthur. The
king promised to give her in marriage to the bravest knight in a
tournament in which the warder was given to her to drop when she
pleased. The haughty beauty saw twenty knights fall, among whom
was Vanoc, son of Merlin. Immediately Vanoc fell, Merlin rose,
put an end to the jousts, and caused Gyneth to fall into a
trance, from which she was never to wake till her hand was
claimed in marriage by some knight as brave as those who had
fallen in the tournament. After the lapse of 500 years, De Vaux
undertook to break the spell, and had to overcome four
temptations, viz. fear, avarice, pleasure, and ambition. Having
succeeded in these encounters, Gyneth awoke and became his bride.
Sir W. Scott: Bridal of Triermain
(1813).
