Lavinia Collins: The Warrior Queen

[bibliogramma]

There are so many different ways to approach the Matter of Britain. One can take one's cue from the medieval romances, with chivalrous knights, or take any one of several historical approaches, from Arthur as Welsh warlord to Arthur as Samartian cavalry commander to Arthur as Romano-British dux bellorum. One can create a world much like our own, but not completely so - one in which our imaginings about ancient peoples make the rough world of the Britons, Saxons and Picts a more interesting place. And of course, there's always the question of whether or not to bring into the story the element of true magic.

Lavinia Collins' Arthurian novel, The Warrior Queen - first of the "Guinevere" trilogy - presents us with a story that dies not fit neatly into any of these styles. It has the shape and storyline of many of the romances, but tends toward the more truly historical in terms of everyday detail, and adds a full measure of magic. Arthur is a leader of knights, who wins his crown by drawing the sword from the stone, and goes off to conquer the Roman Emperor. But Guinevere is a Celtic war-queen from Brittany, who worships the old gods and not Arthur's Christ. And there are true witches here - Merlin, Morgan and Nimue - and some others with enough witchblood to sometimes do magic, including Guinevere herself.

Collins includes all the fateful love affairs of the romances in her tale - Arthur and Guinevere, Guinevere and Lancelot, Arthur and Morgawse, Lancelot and Elaine (although she adds an interesting twist to this traditional pairing). But her interpretation of Guinevere is her own, and an interesting variation on the legends.