Igraine

Igraine was the wife of Duke Gorlois of Cornwall (or Hoel of Tintagel), and later Uther Pendragon, the king of Britain. In a lot of cases, Igraine's parents were not given. According to John of Glastonbury, Igraine was the descendant of Helaius, the nephew of of Joseph of Arimathea.

From her marriage with Gorlois (according to Geoffrey of Monmouth), Igraine was the mother of Cador.

Gorlois was one of Uther's most powerful allies against the Saxons. It was Gorlois who devised a plan so that Uther was able to defeat Octa, the son of the Saxon Hengest, in a night raid.

During the victory celebration held in London, Gorlois brought his wife along. Uther fell in love with Igraine. Uther was so obvious with his lust for Igraine that Gorlois left the celebration early with his wife and followers. Uther was enraged that the duke of Cornwall would depart without his leave; he threatened Gorlois with destruction if the duke did not ask for his forgiveness. Gorlois ignored Uther's threats.

Gorlois returned to Cornwall and immediately began strengthening his defence. The duke had two castles; he placed his wife in Tintagel since it was the strongest castle, while he saw to the defence of the other castle.

Uther was so totally obsessed with Igraine that he asked Merlin to aid him in satisfying his desire. Merlin changed Uther in such a way that the king looked exactly like Gorlois. That night, Uther entered Tintagel and took Igraine to bed, and Arthur was conceived. Igraine was unaware that she was not making love to her husband.

News came the next morning that Gorlois was killed in the siege of the other castle, while Uther was still making love to Igraine. The imposter duke (Uther) dismissed the news as rumours, before leaving Tintagel. When the people in Tintagel realised that the news was true that Gorlois had died in battle, they had no choice but to surrender to Uther.

Uther's seduction of Igraine reminded me of the Greek god of thunder seducing Alcmene, where Zeus had transformed himself to look like her husband Amphitryon. Alcmene gave birth to the hero Heracles.

Uther took Igraine as his wife and queen. Igraine bore him a son named Arthur. A year later, Igraine became the mother of Anna who married Lot, the future king of Orkney.

Though later legends (after the 12th century) say that Morgawse, Elaine (or Blasine) and Morgan le Fay were half-sisters of Arthur (therefore they were daughters of Gorlois and Igraine), it was Morgawse who was wife of King Lot.

According to the Vulgate Merlin, Igraine died two years before Uther, which means that she died before Arthur ascended the throne. But in many tales, including in the Suite du Merlin (Merlin Continuation, Post Vulgate) and Le Morte d'Arthur (by Thomas Malory), she was still living when Arthur became king, where she was reunited with her son.

In Chretien de Troyes' Story of the Grail (Le Conte du Graal), Igraine had not seen her son Arthur in sixty years. She had been living in an enchanted castle called the Rock of Champguin (Otherworld) with her daughter (most likely Morgawse), who was the mother of Gawain. Arthur and Gawain had assumed Igraine had been dead during Arthur's reign. They did not recognise Gawain when he arrived and broke the enchantment placed on the castle. (See Castle of Marvels).

In the First Grail Continuation, the story continued where Chretien left off, with Gawain reuniting Arthur with his mother the Rock of Champguin.

According to Malory, Arthur didn't meet his mother until Sir Ulfius brought her before Arthur. Ulfius accused her of treason [Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I chapter 21].

In the Welsh tradition, Igraine was called Eigyr or Eigr, the daughter of Anlawdd Wledig, and sister of Goleuddydd (mother of Culhwch) and Rieingulid (mother of Illtyd). According to Culhwch and Olwen, Eigyr's brothers were Gweir Servant of Birds, Gweir son of Cadellin Silver Brow, Gweir Brave Wicked and Gweir White Spear Shaft. According to some texts, Eigyr was the descendant of Llyr and Bran. Eigyr married Gwrlais, the Duke of Cornwall. Like Geoffrey's version, she was seduced by Uthr Bendragon who disguised himself in the form of her husband. This resulted in the conception of Arthur.

See the House of Arthur and Culhwch for the Welsh version of the family tree.