Her Story - not His-story

I have long loved the tales of Camelot – but had become rather bored with the stories of battles and quests. I wanted to think about the people – the men and the women, what happened to them, what drove them, the politics, the power and the personalities. Most of us know the tale of the Sword and the Stone, but is this really where the story begins?

I would suggest that it starts many years earlier, with a dark story of magic, death and deception – the story of Igraine, the Chosen Queen. A Welsh princess, educated in Avalon by Vivian, the Lady of the Lake, Igraine marries Cornish War Duke, Gorlois, a match arranged for political advantage, but which blossoms into love. Ancient prophecies reveal that Igraine’s child will be a great leader, destined to wield the mighty sword known to many as Excalibur, and unite the British Isles, but when Gorlois begins to forsake the ancient magics, Merlin and Vivian plot to destroy Gorlois, and to create a union between Igraine and the High King Uther Pendragon.

This leads to bloodshed and civil war and a terrible deception culminating in the death of Gorlois and the conception of Arthur. Igraine, despite being abused, deceived and denigrated, refuses to submit to the machinations and power-plays of Merlin and Vivian, ultimately, chooses her own destiny and in doing so, inadvertently sets in train the blood-feud that will become the canker at the heart of Camelot.

I have been interested in Igraine and her story for most of my adult life, but only seriously began to write the book about five years ago. I decided to go back to the beginning, to look at the origins of Camelot and to delve into the detail of Igraine’s story.  She was a force to be reckoned with – a Princess and leader in her own right, beautiful, talented and clearly a person who captivated and enchanted those who met her.

I spent some time in the West of England – in Glastonbury and in Cornwall – specifically Tintagel – and here her story really began to take shape. Making use of recent remarkable archaeological discoveries placing Tintagel at the centre of a European-wide trading and cultural community, I pieced together a world trying to find peace and stability following the departure of the Roman Empire and the onslaught of the Saxon invaders. A world which was also rent by its own internal conflicts as the old, pagan religions began to be challenged by the new faith of Christianity.

It was a place hewn by war and conflict, and at its centre, a woman who many wished to turn into a pawn for their own ambitions, but who in the end, is determined to choose her own fate.

Igraine’s story has always fascinated me, and the more I have reflected on it over the years, the more angered I have become that in previous retellings she has frequently been relegated to little more than a footnote in the narrative. I could not stop thinking about what she had been through – the lies, the deception, the physical abuse – and how this just seemed to have been side-lined and down-played in every other version of the story that I had read. Igraine is the mother of three of the major players in the Camelot Saga – Morgause, Morgan and, of course, Arthur – and to me the relationship between these four is as deep and cataclysmic as any of those told in the classic Greek tragedies. As a result of the death of Gorlois and the rape of Igraine, a blood feud is set in train, which continues to play out in the later stories, with the incestuous birth of Mordred and the vendettas that will ultimately rip Camelot apart.

Not only did I want to re-imagine the tales of Camelot by beginning them in the place I felt they logically need to start, I also wanted to consider the themes and actions in terms of their continued relevance to the present day. It seems to me that there are terrible parallels here with the appalling events which have recently come to light in France – like Gisele Pelicot, Igraine was betrayed, manipulated and abused – and her decisions to choose for herself, her courage in refusing to submit or to be shamed, resonate strongly with the remarkable bravery shown by Gisele Pelicot.

The use of rape as a weapon of war has always been an abomination – and it is deeply shocking and saddening that it is still used as such in the Twenty-first century. Adding to Igraine’s tragedy, she was also forced to bear a child as a result of her violation, and to suffer the loss of her two daughters – one sent away to keep her safe because of war, the other taken from her very much as a punishment because of her (Igraine’s) refusal to conform.

These are truly terrible things, but I believe you need to understand them if you are to genuinely understand the darkness that underpins all of the Camelot stories – and which is also a darkness that we sadly see all around us, in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Syria, and countless other places.

As a writer of fantasy and speculative fiction, I do not think my job is to create a universe which is unrecognisable in its peculiarity and difference. Rather, I believe that the worlds we create should be underpinned by universally recognisable elements – such as love, ambition, anger and redemption. This for me is one of the joys of retelling the Camelot stories, and is also, I’m fairly certain, what lies at the heart of their universal and long-lasting appeal. Despite the magic swords and enchanted castles, the questing beasts and ancient mysteries, the stories are really simply about people and relationships – and about power, betrayal, loyalty – and love.