| Igraine | |
|---|---|
| Matter of Britain character | |
 King Uther and Igraine after Gorlois's death, fromUther and Igraine byWarwick Deeping, illustration byWładysław T. Benda, 1903 | |
| First appearance | Historia Regum Britanniae |
| Created by | Geoffrey of Monmouth |
| In-universe information | |
| Occupation | Duchess,queen |
| Family | King Arthur's family |
| Spouse | Gorlois,Uther Pendragon |
| Children | Elaine,Morgan,Morgause (with Gorlois),Arthur (with Uther) |
| Nationality | Briton |
In theMatter of Britain,Igraine (/iːˈɡreɪn/) is the mother ofKing Arthur. Igraine is also known inLatin asIgerna, inWelsh asEigr (Middle WelshEigyr), in French asYgraine (Old FrenchYgerne orIgerne), inLe Morte d'Arthur asYgrayne—often modernised as Igraine orIgreine—and inParzival asArnive. She becomes the wife ofUther Pendragon after the death of her first husband,Gorlois.
InGeoffrey of Monmouth'sHistoria Regum Britanniae, Igerna enters the story as the wife ofGorlois,Duke of Cornwall. InThomas Malory'sLe Morte d'Arthur, her daughters by Gorlois areElaine,Morgause andMorgan le Fay.[1] In other works, the names, roles and even number of Arthur's half-sisters vary depending on the text (including in theHistoria, in which Arthur has only a younger sister). In theBrut Tysilio,Cador of Cornwall is their son.John Hardyng'sChronicle calls Cador Arthur's brother "of his mother's syde".
Geoffrey describes her as one "whose beauty surpassed that of all the women of Britain."[2] High KingUther Pendragon falls in love with her and attempts to force his attentions on her at his court. She informs her husband, who departs with her toCornwall without asking leave. This sudden departure gives Uther Pendragon an excuse to make war on Gorlois. InLayamon'sBrut, Igraine "was sorry and sorrowful at heart / that so many men should be lost for her".[2]
Gorlois conducts the war from the castle of Dimilioc but places his wife in safety inTintagel Castle.Disguised as Gorlois byMerlin, Uther Pendragon is able to enter Tintagel to satisfy his lust. He manages to rape Igraine by deceit – she believes that she is lying with her husband – and she becomes pregnant with Arthur. Her husband Gorlois dies in battle that same night.[1] Geoffrey does not say, and later accounts disagree, as to whether Gorlois died before or after Arthur was begotten. Uther Pendragon later marries Igraine. Geoffrey says "from that day on they lived together as equals, united by their great love for each other".[3] Geoffrey does not indicate whether Igraine ever learned of Uther's deception.[3] Layamon says "Uther greeted Ygaerne, noblest of wives, and sent her token what they had spoken in bed; he commanded her that she should give up the castle quickly – there was no other way, for her lord was dead."[2]
Malory has Arthur, who had been raised bySir Ector, meet his mother for the first time after he had grown to manhood and become king.[4] According to Geoffrey, Igraine also bore a daughter to Uther Pendragon,Anna, the future mother ofGawain andMordred.[1]
Igraine is indirectly mentioned several times in the 11th/12th-century Welsh textCulhwch and Olwen as the unnamed mother ofArthur.Culhwch is given as Arthur's cousin, though it is not said whether this is through his father Cilydd (son of Celyddon) or his motherGoleuddydd (daughter ofAmlawdd Wledig), nor whether through Igraine or Arthur's father.Culhwch and Olwen lists several brothers of Arthur's mother: Llysgadrudd Emys,Gwrbothu Hen, Gweir Gwrhyd Ennwir, and Gweir Paladyr Hir. It also says she had another son, Gormant, toRicca, the chief elder of Cornwall.[5] The 12th-centuryLife of St Illtud saysIlltud was the son of Rieingulid (daughter of Amlawdd Wledig), and cousin to Arthur,[6] reinforcing the connection between Igraine, Rieingulid, and Goleuddydd as three of the many children of Amlawdd Wledig, which was set out in later genealogies.[7] When combined with the two previous sources, theBrut Dingestow suggests that Arthur's mother was named Eigyr.[8] Welsh genealogies list Eigyr's mother as Gwen (daughter ofCunedda Wledig), and her father Amlawdd Wledig is made a descendant ofJoseph of Arimathea's sister Enigeus. Around 1400, Glastonbury monks modified the genealogies to make theFisher King either Igraine's grandfather or great-grandfather through Amlawdd Wledig.[9]
InRobert de Boron's poemMerlin, Igraine's previous husband is an unnamed Duke of Tintagel and it is by him that she becomes the mother of two unnamed daughters. One marriesKing Lot and by him becomes the mother of Gawain, Mordred,Gaheriet, andGuerrehet. A second daughter, also unnamed in some variants but in some named Morgaine, is married toKing Nentres of Garlot. According to Robert de Boron, Igraine died before her second husband. A third illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Tintagel is sent to a school and there learns so much, she becomes the great sorceressMorgan le Fay (no other medieval accounts state that Morgan is illegitimate and therefore, as in this version, Arthur's stepsister).
In theLancelot-Grail cycle's VulgateMerlin, Igraine is provided with two earlier husbands, one named Hoel (Gorlois) who is the father of two daughters: Gawain's mother and a daughter named Blasine[10] who marries King Nentres of Garlot. After Hoel's death, Ygraine marries the Duke of Tintagel and by him becomes mother of three more daughters: a third daughter who marries a King Briadas and becomes mother of King Angusel of Scotland (in no other extant text made Arthur's nephew), a fourth daughter named Hermesent who marries KingUrien ofRheged and becomes mother ofYwain the Great, and a fifth daughter, Morgan. In other accounts, Ywain is not Arthur's nephew, although sometimes, he is Gawain's cousin when their respective fathers are presented as brothers.
Le Morte d'Arthur names the first daughterMargawse, the second Elayne and the third Morgan.Lancelot is the son of Arthur's sister Clarine inUlrich von Zatzikhoven'sLanzelet,Caradoc is Arthur's sister's son in the ProseLancelot,Percival is son of Arthur's sister Acheflour in the English romanceSyr Percyvelle. Arthurian tales are not consistent with one another and sisters of Arthur seem to have been created at desire by any storyteller who wished to make a hero into Arthur's nephew.Richard Carew'sSurvey of Cornwall (1602), drawing on earlier sources, mentions a sister of Arthur called Amy born to Igerna and Uther.[11]
Some romances show her alive after Uther's death. InChrétien de Troyes'Perceval, the Story of the Grail she and her daughter, Gawain's mother, are discovered by Gawain in an enchanted castle named the Castle of Marvels, after he had thought both his mother and grandmother to be long dead. This same account appears inWolfram von Eschenbach'sParzival and inHeinrich von dem Türlin'sDiu Crône. In both of these, it is explained that Igraine was abducted (and it is hinted that she waswillingly abducted) by the magician who has enchanted the castle. In the FrenchLivre d'Artus, an incomplete alternate conclusion to the French VulgateMerlin, it is mentioned that Ygraine dwells hidden inCorbenic, the castle of theHoly Grail. This is apparently a version of the same tradition since in the late Lancelot-Grail, the enchantments of the Grail castle are very similar to and seem to be based on the enchantments found in Chrétien's Castle of Marvels.
Bosigran promontory fort inZennor parish, Cornwall, was suggested byHenry Jenner to mean'the Dwelling of Igerna'. Jenner also noted the proximity of Bosigran to Bosworlas (inSt Just parish)'the Dwelling of Gorlois',[12] who he believed was a real petty-chief in fifth or sixth-centuryDumnonia.[13]