RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON KING ARTHUR’S REIGN IN MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY’S THE MISTS OF AVALON

The aim of the following paper is to examine the conflict between the cultof the Mother Goddess and Christianity, which affects King Arthur’s reign in MarionZimmer Bradley’s original retelling of Arthurian legends – The Mists of Avalon (1983).The religious conflict presented in the novel is inextricably linked with representationsof femininity and the figures of Morgaine (Morgan le Fay) and Queen Gwenhwyfar, whoare dedicated, respectively, to Avalon and the Church. By investigating both women’sbeliefs, actions, and relationship with Arthur, this paper will demonstrate how in Bradley’sretelling the transition from the worship of the Goddess to Christianity conditions KingArthur’s reign and ultimately contributes to his downfall.

Angels and Fairies: Male Flight and Contrary Females

Angels present an opportunity to explore the theme of male flight, in that all angels were originally male, and sometimes said to be androgynous, which is much the same thing. Once female angels became popular, the belief in angels was trivialized and domesticated. Fairies are mostly women, sometimes winged, who can be captured and who then bring their captors great wealth and happiness. Usually in these tales, the men who captured them fail to observe a taboo laid out by the fairy, thus allowing her to escape. All fairies are time- benders, so often in these tales, the men awake to discover that centuries have gone by in a few days. This is the case in both Western and Asian tales. In the West, fairies frequently appear in Arthurian legends, especially in the figure of the troublesome Morgan le Fay, half-sister to King Arthur.

Transformation of Knights with Magic

This paper explores the idea of how fairies were able to shape the identities of knights within the medieval time period. It will discuss two main fairies, Morgan le Fay and the fairy from Marie de France's Lanval. A history of magic is reviewed to have a better understanding of what witches and an enchantresses were like in this time period followed by a disucssion of a fairy's true role in society at that time.