Arthurian Literature: The Role of Women in The Mists of Avalon

I find every one of my classes this semester extremely interesting, especially my Arthurian Literature class. I did not know much about King Arthur and Merlin before this class and had always assumed that the stories were only about them and their knights. I was entirely surprised when I started reading The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, to find out that it is written in the aspect of a woman. As I began going deeper into the story, I discovered that the Old Religion, which is where Merlin’s power comes from, is ruled by woman and that they play a big part in this ancient legend. How is it that the most famous characters in this legend, Arthur and Merlin, come from a religion ruled by woman who most people never hear about? It seems that this religion contradicts itself. The characters say that woman are in control and rule over the land, yet they still need a male with strong power. They need Arthur to unite the lands and Merlin’s power to make it happen. Only two women are usually recognized in the traditional story, Guinevere, who is only known because of her adultery with Lancelot, and the Lady of the Lake whose title is known, but her story is not. I am excited to learn more about these characters as the semester progresses and hope to discover the reason these important woman characters are left out of the traditional fairytale story that Arthurian legends have become.