NIGHTBRINGER | The Arthurian Encyclopedia

Daughter of King Bademagu


While Lancelot was engaged with the challenger, Karr have very tentatively identified with the Haughty Knight of the Heath, King Bademagu’s daughter rode up and asked Lancelot, as a favor, to give her his opponent’s head, and she would reward him. Eventually he complied, to her great joy, and she left repeating her promise. Christopher W. Bruce am in some quandary whether or not to identify her with the “Damsel of the Crossroads“, but the maiden who asks for the proud knight’s head apparently makes no reference to any favor Lancelot may already owe her.

Later, while Bademagu was holding court in Bath on his birthday, Meliagrant arrived boasting of his appointment to fight Lancelot or, in court within a year a day. Meliagrant’s pride caused a rift with his father; the maiden who was Bademagu’s daughter and Meliagrant’s sister, overheard their quarrel, guessed that the missing Lancelot was being secretly held prisoner somewhere, mounted a fine mule, and went in search for him. After a month of hard searching, she found him in the tower Meliagrant had built to him.

Someone had left a pickaxe lying about, so she passed it up to Lancelot, who, even weakened as he was by bad provisions, used it to break out. Reminding him of the favor he had done her by striking off the proud knight’s head, she took him to a favorite retreat of hers and nursed him back to health, then provided him with a wonderful horse before they parted with courtly pledges of an affection that was almost certainly platonic.

Since she had overheard him (before he knew of her presence) name Meliagrant as his imprisoner, it probably did not bother her that she was healing Lancelot so that he could fight and quite possibly kill her brother.


See also
Lancelot’s Tower | The Legend of King Arthur