The Mists of Avalon: Encyclopedia II - The Mists of Avalon - Main cast

The Mists of Avalon - Main cast

The Mists of Avalon - Morgaine

• Morgaine is the main viewpoint character. She is a character with strong magical powers, capable of Second Sight and transfiguration. She is portrayed as a tragic character, torn between her loyalty to Avalon (which forces her to do atrocious things, most shocklingly, High Priestess Viviane makes her sleep with her own half-brother, King Arthur) and her unfulfilled love to Lancelot. She is doomed to witness the demise of the pagan ways of Avalon. In the end, however, she makes peace with Christianity and sees that she never fought the religion itself, but rather the hypocritical priests who abused religion for their own gain.

The Mists of Avalon - Camelot

• Uther Pendragon is one of the many bastards of the dead High King and an ambitious warlord who falls in love with Igraine. After being betrayed by his ally Gorlois (out of jealousy rather than out of political reasons), he killed him and became the new king of Camelot. He fathered King Arthur and died soon after.
• Igraine is the wife of Gorlois and later Uther and the mother of Morgaine. She was brought up in Avalon and given as a wife to Gorlois at the age of fifteen. She is destined by Viviane and Taliesin to betray her husband, seduce Uther and produce the saviour of the Isle (her son King Arthur). At first, she rebels, stating she is not a breeding mare, but ultimately falls in love with Uther and helps him defeat his enemies. However, the guilt about Gorlois torments her to the end.
• Gorlois is Igraine's husband and Morgaine's father. Because Igraine was so young when they married, their relationship has been strained, but Gorlois did his best to make her feel comfortable, giving her gifts and letting her keep her daughter Morgaine. Igraine does not see how he loved her until it's too late. When Gorlois suspects that Igraine has an affair with Uther, he turns on her, accuses her of being a whore and a witch, and even breaks his oath to Uther. In the end, Uther kills him for treachery.

• King Arthur is the son of Igraine and Uther. He is portrayed as a strong king, who marries Gwenhwyfar by arranged marriage. His compassion for his suffering wife - who is tormented by her childlessness and her love to Lancelot - ultimately becomes his downfall. A twist is that he is actually aware of Gwenhwyfar's and Lancelot's affair, and how unhappy both are to constantly betray him. But Arthur stays outside because he loves both his wife and his best friend too much to make them unhappy.
• Gwenhwyfar is Arthur's beautiful, but unhappy wife. She is brought up by a cold, unloving father, which left her with a deep inferiority complex. Failing to produce a heir and unable to love the love of her life, Lancelot, she falls into a deep depression and - hoping for salvation - becomes an increasingly fanatic Christian. Gwenhwyfar and Morgaine are depicted as two polar characters.
• Lancelot is Arthur's First Knight, Viviane's son and Morgaine's cousin. He is an extremely gifted warrior and admired for his very handsome appearance, but has a life-long fear of his mother Viviane. Gwenhwyfar and he are utterly infatuated, but neither has the courage (or ruthlessness) to elope.
• Mordred, a.k.a. Gwydion, is the illegitimate son of Morgaine and King Arthur. He is a unscrupulous, cunning intrigant, but in contrast to mainstream versions his motives are understandable. He sees his father Arthur as corrupt and decadent, and is convinced that he has to remove him to save Camelot. It is strongly hinted that his childhood under the cold, cunning Morgause makes him think the way he does.
• Morgause is Morgaine's aunt. She is depicted as a sly, cunning character and in contrast to the rest of the cast, she acts purely for her own gains. As a pagan, she feels no regret in her regular adultery (but she is hypocritical enough to call Gwenhwyfar a whore when she does the same) and plans to use both Morgaine and Mordred as vehicles for her power.
• Patricius is Camelot's most powerful Christian priest, modern St. Patrick, who drove the "snakes" (druids) from Ireland. He is portrayed in an extremely negative light, as a ruthless, misogynist religious fundamentalist.
• Elaine is a young girl who eventually Lancelot's wife. Morgaine uses her as a breeding horse to produce a daughter (Nimue), who she plans to use for revenge.

The Mists of Avalon - Avalon

• Viviane is - for the most time - the High Priestess of Avalon. She is a cold and extremely ruthless character, but her motives are always understandable: she wants to save Avalon and Camelot at all costs. She is the ultimate utilitarian character, and it is hinted that she has grown so cold because she never experienced happiness herself. Viviane is killed after delivering an act of euthanasia.
• Taliesin is the old Archdruid and harpist of Avalon. His mental health constantly deteriorates during the story.
• Kevin succeeds Taliesin after his death. He is a horribly disfigured hunchback, having been burnt by a fire when he was a child, but can sing like an angel. He becomes Morgaine's lover and later her worst enemy. Foreseeing the demise of pagan ways, he betrays Avalon. In an ultimate attempt to unite Christianity and Avalon, so Avalon will survive, he brings the Holy Grail to Camelot. To punish him for this atrocity, Morgaine sacrifices Raven to abduct the Grail, sets up Nimue to seduce and then betray him and wants to torture him to death as a traitor. But before the torture begins, a bolt of lightning mercy-kills Kevin, and at the same time, another bolt incinerates the Holy Oak of Avalon. Morgaine understands that Avalon is doomed.
• Raven is a priestess of Avalon who has taken an oath of silence. She sacrifices herself to help Morgaine save the Holy Grail from Patricius.
• Nimue is the beautiful daughter of Elaine and Lancelot. She is kept in constant seclusion by Morgaine, who sees her as the ultimate weapon against Camelot. She seduces Kevin in order to abduct him, but falls in love to him herself and in the end kills herself out of regret.
• Niniane is a priestess who reluctantly becomes Lady of the Lake after Vivaine is slain and Morgaine declines to take her place. She becomes Mordred's lover, but when he announces his plans to betray Arthur, she turns on him and is killed by him in a fit of rage.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Main cast", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki