NIGHTBRINGER | The Arthurian Encyclopedia

Shrewd Damsel at the Window


When Lancelot first fought Meliagrant in Gore, the queen’s champion was still suffering so much from the wounds he had sustained crossing the Sword Bridge that Meliagrant actually began at one point to get the upper hand.

A shrewd damsel who was at the window of the keep watching the battle with GuenevereBademagu, and others asked the Queen for her champion’s name, learned it, and used it to call down to him and draw his attention to the fact that Guenevere was looking on. She then had to call down a second time in order to get him to return his attention from Guenevere to Meliagrant, but after that Lancelot pulled himself together and soon had Meliagrant on the run.

This damsel seems to be one of the foreign prisoners in Gore, or I would feel tempted to identify her with King Bagdemagu’s daughter.


See also
‘Elinor’ | The Legend of King Arthur