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TheLand of Maidens (or theLand of Women, theIsland of Women, theIsle of Ladies, among other forms and names) is a motif inIrish mythology and medieval literature, especially in thechivalric romance genre. The latter often also features a castle instead of an island, sometimes known as theCastle of Maidens (Chateau des Pucelles,Chastiaus des Puceles,Chastel as Dames).
TheCeltic Otherworld, in the myths and folktales from ancient Ireland, can be reached inside a hill, or through the depths of a lake, or across the sea.Oisín is taken by the sea to the Land of Youth,Tír na nÓg, byNiamh, the daughter of the king of that country, and he returns to Ireland a few weeks later only to find that many hundreds of years have passed in his absence.[1] In another Irish legend,Connla is givenan apple by a mysterious woman and a month later, is visited by her again. She urges him to come with her to her country: "Come into my shining ship... though the bright sun is going down, we shall reach to that country before night. There is no living race in it but women and girls only." Connla went into her boat, and was never seen again.[2]
As recounted in the 12th-centuryThe Voyage of Bran in theOld IrishBook of the Dun Cow, Bran mac Febail is visited by a mysterious woman urging him to sail to the Land of Women.[3] She is carrying an apple bough, like thesibyl carrying a bough who escortsAeneas down into the underworld inVirgil's epic poem, theAeneid.[4] This mysterious woman urges Bran to set sail for the Land of Women, and on his return Bran, too, finds that many hundreds of years have passed in Ireland during his absence. In another tale from theBook of the Dun Cow, the voyagerMáel Dúin sails a mysterious ocean, landing at one time on an Otherworldly island of glass in which a lady lives with a magical, grail-like pail, and another time on the Island of Women.[5]
A Land of Maidens in anOtherworld is not restricted to Irish myths. AMiddle English dream vision known asThe Isle of Ladies recounts a dreamer's visit to a magical island where only women live.[6] Like in the Irish taleThe Voyage of Máel Dúin, the dreamer fromThe Isle of Ladies encounters his own lady on a glass island, who is accompanied the queen of this isle from another island where apples grow that sustain the longevity of these ladies. The name of the magical isleAvalon, that is ruled byMorgan and the rest of thenine sisters inGeoffrey of Monmouth's 12th-centuryVita Merlini, has been derived from "island of apples".[7][8] A boat of Morgan and other magical ladies came to take the mortally woundedKing Arthur in a boat to Avalon in the FrenchVulgate Cycle (described there as an island of sorceresses) and in many later works, including the now-iconic portrayal fromThomas Malory'sLe Morte d'Arthur.[9] Since medieval times, Avalon has been popularly associated with the real-world former isle ofGlastonbury Tor in England.
In the 12th-century German romanceLanzelet, the infantLancelot is spirited away by afairy queen known as the Lady of the Sea (a waterfairy godmother known as theLady of the Lake in the later tradition) and raised in her paradise-like island of the Land of Maidens; that story might be also related to Avalon and Morgan.[10][11] The Land of Maidens also appears by that very name in the 14th-centurySir Perceval of Galles but not as an island.
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The Castle of Maidens (sometimes two different castles) is a location found in many works of Arthurian legend, sometimes as also belonging to Morgan or appearing in relation to theHoly Grail. The Maidens' Castle is usually identified as Scotland'sEdinburgh Castle, which has been known as the "castle of the maidens" since at least the 11th century, or alternatively (in the Welsh tradition) placed nearGloucester in England.[12][13] It makes its first known appearance in Geoffrey'sThe History of the Kings of Britain (c. 1136), returning in various medieval Arthuriana in the stories of Lancelot,Gawain,Percival,Tristan,Gingalain, and others. Such works includeRenaud de Beaujeu'sThe Fair Unknown, the Second, Third and Fourth Continuations ofPerceval, the Story of the Grail, the Vulgate Cycle's sectionsMerlin,Lancelot andGrail Quest, theProseTristan, and Malory'sLe Morte d'Arthur. It is often featured in Gawain's origin stories since at leastThe Rise of Gawain from around 1200, often through the "Castle of Wonders" version inPerceval,Parzival,The Crown and elsewhere; the 13th-century romancePalamedes replaces Gawain withPalamedes in its version of that tale. Usually, Gawain has to lift the siege or otherwise help the women dwelling in the castle, who then tend to turn out to be his mother and sisters (see alsoexamples in Gawain's article). One exception can be found in theLivre d'Artus, whereSagramore dispels the castle's evil enchantment (a cry that drives mad or kills) by the Queen of Denmark so Gawain can overthrow her son, theRed Knight.
In the 13th-century French romanceClaris and Laris, Morgan lives in a palace in the enchanted forest ofBrocéliande with twelve other fairy sorceresses, who lure and trap there forever various young knights for their pleasure.[14] A similar motif appears in some 14th- and 15th-century tales featuring the underground domains of the sorceressSebile, such asThe Wretched Guerrin orAntoine de la Sale'sThe Paradise of Queen Sebile. An earlier story from the VulgateLancelot has also three enchantress queens including Morgan and Sebile (four in Malory's retelling) kidnap Lancelot to their shared castle after finding him asleep under an apple tree; Sebile herself had previously appeared as Iblis, the fairy princess whom Lancelot marries inLanzelet.
In the 12th-century romanceFloris and Blancheflour, Floris finds his beloved Blancheflour, whose tomb he has just opened and found to be empty, in a tower of ladies whose garden is just like thegarden of Paradise that had been depicted upon the tomb.[15] Welsh triadPeredur son of Efrawg features the Witches' Court at Caer Loyw (also an Otherworldly location, meaning 'Shining Fortress') or, in its English version, again at Gloucester.[16][17]