Dave's Anatomy: My History as a Writer, #62: "Guinevere."

Crosby, Stills, and Nash

The medieval period is a great era to glean material for stories. You can do a revisionist version of a well-known tale; you can write a story from a minor character's perspective (such as the life of Robin Hood and his merry men from the perspective of Little John—or Maid Marian); you can tell a tale from the perspective of a villainous character—maybe the Witch's side of the story in "Snow White." Lots of possibilities exist. The story "Guinevere" came from a couple of sources:  the poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," which I had taught in classes on medieval literature; and the old song "Guinnevere" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash [Crosby's spelling of the name].

 This kind of cross-fertilization is good. The thing that got me going was the intriguing lyrics of the song "Guinnevere." Of that song David Crosby said, "It's about three women that I loved. One of who was Christine Hinton –the girl who got killed who was my girlfriend—and one of who was Joni Mitchell, and the other one is somebody that I can't tell. It might be my best song."

Whatever the circumstances of its composition, the imagination of the writer takes an item—poetry, music, art—and runs with it.

As I listened to Crosby's song, the lyrics intrigued me and I began to think of a backstory to it. The line that stood out the most was "Guinnevere drew pentagrams—like yours, my Lady, like yours. / Late at night when she thought no one was watching at all." Pentagrams are associated with satanic worship. Obviously, Guinevere was trying to hide her drawing, since she did it late at night when she thought no one would see her. I found this intriguing. "She thought"—the narrator of the song might have seen her doing it. But maybe someone else saw her as well and the narrator only found out when there were repercussions—worshiping Satan would be a gravely serious offense in the middle ages—a blasphemy.

So I had Guinevere secretly worshiping the devil at night and being observed by authorities from the village:  the priest, the head of the convent, and a local magistrate who were somehow tipped off as to her activity. And other things from the song:  who is the lady being addressed to whom the narrator says "drew pentagrams, like yours, my Lady"? And it is past tense. Why? Well, at least in my interpretation, Guinevere is gone but has left a child behind.

So the story formed:  Guinevere is a friend of Lucinda Bolingbroke. After her friend is burned at the stake for blasphemy, Lucinda adopts takes her child, Dorigen. But something happens at the execution. When Guinevere is dead, her body hideously blackened by the flames, the legendary Green Knight appears. He throws a sprig of holly on the fire. Guinevere's corpse disappears.

The Inquisition questions Lucinda but can't convict her of any wrongdoing and allows her to raise Dorigen. Years pass. Dreams from Guinevere force her to take Dorigen to the woods where the dreams have told her. She finds Guinevere there. She is married to the Green Knight and has small (green) children. Lucinda knows Guinevere wants Dorigen back. Though the child has become hers over the years, she relinquishes the little girl, who is eager to return to her mother and her new-found half-brothers and sisters.

As Lucinda departs, Guinevere gives her a ruby ring. This exchange takes place:

“The ruby ring I gave you,” Guinevere said—“don’t take it off.”

Lucinda glanced over at her. It was not like Guinevere to command.

She promises and rides off to meet the servants who escorted her to the limits of the enchanted wood where Guinevere now lives. She is told the plague has swept the village. Her husband is dead. The village is abandoned. Lucinda takes off her wedding ring as mourning requires but realizes she must not take off the ring Guinevere gave her and begins to understand why. She goes into the village, visits the grave of her husband, gathers up a few belongings and garments, and rides out. As she had suspected, Guinevere meets her just outside the stricken village.

Lucinda knows that the ring protected her and also that the dreams she dreamed removed her and Dorigen from the settlement to save their lives. Guinevere says Lucinda will live in the enchanted wood and possibly meet a young man who will marry her. She laughs. “Young man who will marry me? Give me children? Guinevere, I’m almost forty.” Life expectancy in the middle ages was about fifty years old. Guinevere tells Lucinda her youth will return once she is in the wood. She agrees to go with her old friend and the two of them depart, Lucinda to begin a new life, Guinevere to old enchantments.

"Guinevere" appeared in SNM Magazine, the May issue, and you can read it here. You'll have to scroll down to it (it's quite a ways down) but you can read it.

For a great read, get a copy of Sinfonia:  First Notes on the Lute. Nelleke the Vampire has lived from the time of Queen Elisabeth I and Shakespeare. Her abilities as a lute player are recognized. Of course, she has had a long time to practice.

For other titles, check out my Writer's Page. 

I would love to hear your comments.