CHARACTER LIST

Minor Characters (continued)

Gareth

MorgauseÂ’s son. He is generous and sweet, and becomes a favorite of the knights of the Round Table and of Lancelot in particular.

Gaheris

MoraguseÂ’s last son. He also becomes a knight of the Round Table, but is slain by Lancelot.

Meg

A kitchen maid whom the Orkney brothers use to catch a unicorn to give to their mother.

King Lot

The King of the Orkney Faction, he is MorgauseÂ’s husband and the boysÂ’ father; he is nothing more than a pawn for her destruction of Arthur. He is accidentally killed by Pellinore in a joust, and this sets off a cycle of vengeance between the Orkney brothers and PellinoreÂ’s sons.

Saint Toirdealbach

A fallen saint who lives near the Orkeny brothers; he is an old drunken man with many amusing stories. He acts as a mentor to the boys who are neglected by their parents.

Mother Morlan

Saint ToirdealbachÂ’s wife.

Piggy (the Queen of Flanders)

PellinoreÂ’s wife, and the mother of several of the knights of the Round Table.

Palomides

A “black” knight who accompanies Pellinore and Grummore to the Orkney Islands in Book Two. The three knights have great adventures together, mostly comic and mostly concerning the Questing Beast. After Pellinore marries, Palomides takes his place as the quester for the beast.

Mordred

He is the product of the union of Morgause and Arthur. Morgause raises him alone and bitterly away from Arthur. When Arthur find out of his existence, he foolishly declares that all babies of his year must be put on a boat a drowned. Mordred is saved, and Morgause teaches him what Arthur tried to do. Mordred grows up to be vengeful and wrathful towards Arthur, and successfully destroys his kingdom in Book Four.

Uncle Dap

LancelotÂ’s military trainer in France. He has the same function as Merlyn did for Wart, and saint Toirdealbach did for the Orkenys: that of a kind mentor. He joins Lancelot in England and becomes his squire.

Nimue

A “good” witch who kidnaps Merlyn in Book Two and learns his secret. She is merely a device for exiting Merlyn from plot so that Arthur can practice the lessons he learned from the old wizard.

Carados

A tyrannical and evil knight that Lancelot easily defeats, thus establishing his strength and primacy as a knight.

Turquine

CaradosÂ’s brother who seeks revenge for his death. LancelotÂ’s duel with him is difficult, but the French knight wins. He simultaneously frees the Orkneys brothers who had been kidnapped by Turquine. Their resentment towards Lancelot for having to be saved establishes the vendetta in Book Four.

Sir Bruce sans Pitie

Although never introduced as a flesh and blood character in the novel, he is made reference to numerous times. He represents the old style of the knighthood: violent, abusive and power-hungry. Arthur seeks to overthrow and reform Sir Bruce and his ilk.

Lionel

LancelotÂ’s cousin and BorsÂ’ brother, he accompanies Lancelot on a number of his adventures. He is defeated early on in the Search for the Holy Grail, but comes back to Camelot to tell his brother BorsÂ’ tale to ArthurÂ’s court.

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