i am half sick of shadows (x)
elaine of astolat || a cursed weaver imprisoned in a tower on an island near camelot
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“Think. And find the answer for yourself. A human ceases to be once he or she stops thinking.”
there was a spot for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot:
LADY OF THE LAKE
Different writers and copyists give the Arthurian character the name Nimue, Nymue, Nimueh, Viviane, Vivien, Vivienne, Ninianne, Nivian, Nyneve, or Evienne, among other variations. Chrétien de Troyes’s Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, the first story featuring Lancelot as a prominent character, was also the first to mention his upbringing by a fairy in a lake. In Malory’s text, Nimue is married to Sir Pelleas and outwardly acts as an obedient wife, while at the same time subtly helping sway the court in the right direction. When Malory was looking at other texts to find inspiration for his characters, he chose the best aspects of all the other Lady of the Lake characters, making her a compassionate, clever, strong willed, and sympathetic character. Nimue does not shrink behind the male figures in her life; instead, she is pragmatic, unflappable, and knowledgeable. It is important to note that when Arthur is in need, some incarnation of the Lady of the Lake, or her magic, reaches out to help him. After enchanting Merlin, Nimue replaces him as Arthur’s adviser. After the Battle of Camlann, she reclaims Excalibur when it is thrown into the lake by Sir Bedivere. Nimue is one of the magical queens who bear the wounded Arthur away to Avalon, a setting tied to the Lady of the Lake in some literary traditions.
Morgause, also known as Morgawse, is a character in later Arthurian traditions.
Her character is fully developed in Thomas Malory’s compilation of Arthurian legends Le Morte d’Arthur, in which Morgause is one of three daughters born to Gorlois of Tintagel, Duke of Cornwall, and the Lady Igraine. According to Malory, her mother is widowed and then remarried to Uther Pendragon, giving birth to his son Arthur, and Morgause and her sisters, Elaine and Morgan "le Fay", are married off to allies or vassals of their stepfather. Morgause is wed to the Orcadian King Lot and bears him four sons, all of whom go on to serve Arthur as Knights of the Round Table: Gawain, one of his greatest knights; Agravain, a wretched and twisted traitor; Gaheris; and Gareth, a gentle and loving knight.
Years later, her spouse joins the failed rebellions against Arthur that follow in the wake of King Uther’s death and the subsequent coronation of his heir. Shortly after her husband’s defeat, Morgause visits the young King Arthur in his bedchamber, ignorant of their familial relationship, and they conceive Mordred. Her husband, who has unsuspectingly raised Mordred as his own son, is slain in battle by King Pellinore. Her sons depart their father’s court to take service at Camelot, where Gawain and Gaheris avenge Lot’s death by killing Pellinore, thereby launching a blood feud between the two families.
Nevertheless, Morgause has an affair with Sir Lamorak, a son of Pellinore and one of Arthur’s best knights. Her son Gaheris discovers them in flagrante and swiftly beheads Morgause in bed, but spares her unarmed lover.
Oh, Merlyn, it has been so miserable since you left! Everything
which you helped to do was wrong. All your teaching
was deception. Nothing was worth doing. You and I will be
forgotten, like people who never were. – The Book of Merlyn, T. H. White
Elaine of Astolat is the cutest character
Arthurian Legends 