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Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake, Nimue, one of the damsels of the lake, that king Pellinore took to his court: Merlin, in his dotage, fell in love with her, when she wheedled him out of all his secrets, and enclosed him in a rock, where he died. Subsequently, Nimue married sir Pelleas.
"Also there was Nimue, the chief lady of the lake, that had
wedded Pelleas the good knight; and this lady had done much for
King Arthur, for she would never suffer Sir Pelleas to be in no
place where he should be in danger of his life; and so he lived
to the uttermost of his days with her in great rest. More of the
death of King Arthur could I never find, but that ladies brought
him to his burials; and such one was buried there, that the
hermit bare witness that sometime was Bishop of Canterbury, but
yet the hermit knew not in certain that he was verily the body of
King Arthur: for this tale Sir Bedivere, knight of the Table
Round, made it to be written."
Le
Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory. Book
XXI
So upon a time it happened that Merlin shewed Nimue in a rock whereas was a great wonder, and wrought by enchantment, which went under a stone. So, by her subtle craft and working, she made Merlin go under that stone … and so wrought that he never came out again. So she departed, and left Merlin.
"Sir Pelleas that loved the lady Ettard, and he had died for
her love had not been one of the ladies of the lake, her name was
Dame Nimue, and she wedded Sir Pelleas, and she saved him that he
was never slain, and he was a full noble knight; and Sir Lamiel
of Cardiff that was a great lover."
Le
Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory. Book
XIX Le
Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory.
Tennyson in his Idylls of
the King (“Merlin
and Vivien”), makes Vivien the enchantress who wheedled
old Merlin out of his secrets; and then, “in a hollow
oak,” she shut him fast, and there “he lay as dead,
and lost to life, and use, and name, and fame.”
N. B.—This seems to be an error. At any rate, it is not in
accordance with the Mort d’Arthur of Caxton renown.
The Lady of the Lake, Nineve
It is not evident from the narrative whether Nineve is not the same person as Nimue, and that one of the two (probably the latter) is not a typographical error.
Then the Lady of the Lake, that was always friendly unto king Arthur, understood by her subtle crafts that king Arthur was like to have been destroyed; and therefore this Lady of the Lake, that hight Nineve, came into the forest to seek sir Launcelot du Lake. Le Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory.
The feasts that underground the faëry did him [Arthur]
make,
And there how he enjoyed the Lady of the Lake. —Drayton:
Polyolbion, iv. (1612).
The Lady of the Lake, Vivienne
Is called La Dame du Lac, and dwelt en la marche de la petite Bretaigne. She stole Lancelot in his infancy, and plunged with him into her home lake; hence was Lancelot called du Lac. When her protégé was grown to manhood, she presented him to king Arthur.
Viviane, daughter of Dyonas a vavasour of high lineage, and generally called the “Lady of the Lake.” Merlin, in his dotage, fell in love with her, and she imprisoned him in the forest of Brécéliande, in Brittany. Viviane induced Merlin to show her how a person could be imprisoned by enchantment without walls, towers, or chains, and after he had done so, she fondled him into a sleep under a whitethorn laden with flowers. While thus he slept, she made a ring with her wimple round the bush, and performed the other needful ceremonies; whereupon he found himself enclosed in a prison stronger than the strongest tower, and from that imprisonment was never again released. Merlin (a romance).
Vivien or Vivian, the personification of shameless harlotry, or the crowning result to be expected from the infidelity of queen Guinevere. This wily wanton in Arthur’s court hated all the knights, and tried without success to seduce “the blameless king.” With Merlin she succeeded better; for, being pestered with her importunity, he told her the secret of his power, as Samson told Delilah the secret of his strength. Having learnt this, Vivien enclosed the magician in a hollow oak, where he was confined as one dead, “lost to life, and use, and name, and fame.” Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. (See Merlin and Vivien.)
N.B.—In Malory’s History of Prince Arthur,
Nimue (Ninive) is the fée who
inveigled Merlin out of his secret—
And so upon a time it happened that Merlin shewed to her [Nimue]
in a rock, whereas was a great wonder, and wrought by
enchantment, which went under a stone. So by her subtle craft and
working, she made Merlin to go under that stone, to let her wit
of the marvels there; but she wrought so there for him that he
came never out, for all his craft. And so she departed and left
him there. Le
Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory
The Lady of the Lake, Ellen Douglas
Once a favourite of king James; but when her father fell into disgrace, she retired with him near Loch Katrine.—Sir W. Scott: Lady of the Lake (1810).
"Hark! as my lingering footsteps slow retire,
Some Spirit of the Air has waked thy string!
'Tis now a seraph bold, with touch of fire,
'Tis now the brush of Fairy's frolic wing.
Receding now, the dying numbers ring
Fainter and fainter down the rugged dell;
And now the mountain breezes scarcely bring
A wandering witch-note of the distant spell--
And now, 'tis silent all!--Enchantress, fare thee well!
The
Lady of the Lake by Sir
Walter Scott"
Lady of the Lake and Arthur’s Sword
The Lady of the Lake
gave to king Arthur the sword “Excalibur.”
“Well,” said she, “go into yonder barge and row
yourself to the sword, and take it.”
So Arthur and Merlin came to the sword that a hand held up, and took it by the handles, and the arm and hand went under the lake again. 23).
This Lady of the Lake asked in recompense the head of sir Balin, because he had slain her brother; but the king refused the request. Then said Balin, “Evil be ye found! Ye would have my head; therefore ye shall lose thine own.”
So saying, with his sword he smote off her head in the presence of king Arthur. Le Morte d'Arthur By Sir Thomas Malory
"O wondrous legends from the storied wells
Of lost Baranton! where old Merlin dwells,
Nodding a white poll and a grave, gray beard,
As if some Lake Ladyé he, listening, heard,
Who spake like water, danced like careful showers
With blown gold curls through drifts of wild-thorn flowers;
Loose, lazy arms upon her bosom crossed,
An instant seen, and in an instant lost,
With one peculiar note, like that you hear
Dropped by a reed-bird when the night is near,
A vocal gold blown through the atmosphere."
Accolon
of Gaul by Madison Cawein
"Merlin, or Myrddin, appears in the romances as a great magician who is finally overcome by the Lady of the Lake, and is in Geoffrey son of a mysterious invisible personage who visits a woman, and, finally taking human shape, begets Merlin. As a son who never had a father he is chosen as the foundation sacrifice for Vortigern's tower by his magicians, but he confutes them and shows why the tower can never be built, namely, because of the dragons in the pool beneath it." The Religion of the Ancient Celts by J. A. MacCulloch. The Gods Of The Brythons
"This, however, was no easy task. They were not in her possession, but in that of a much more powerful enchantress, Morgana, the Lady of the Lake, the very idea of opposing whom made Falerina turn pale with fear. Representing to him the hazards of the enterprise, she led him towards the dwelling of Morgana. To approach it he had to encounter the same uncourteous bridge–ward who had already defeated and made captive so many knights, and last of all, Rinaldo. He was a churl of the most ferocious character, named Arridano. Morgana had provided him with impenetrable armor, and endowed him in such a manner that his strength always increased in proportion to that of the adversary with whom he was matched. No one had ever yet escaped from the contest, since, such was his power of endurance, he could breathe freely under water. Hence, having grappled with a knight, and sunk with him to the bottom of the lake, he returned, bearing his enemy’s arms in triumph to the surface." Adventures Of Rinaldo And Orlando
