 First edition | |
| Author | Elizabeth Wein |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Scott Multer |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Arthurian sequence |
| Genre | Young adult Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Atheneum |
Publication date | 1993 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | 978-0-689-31747-7 |
| OCLC | 24796419 |
| LC Class | PZ7.W4358 Wi 1993 |
The Winter Prince is Elizabeth Wein's retelling of the Arthurian story of Mordred (here Medraut), detailing Medraut's complicated, intense relationship with his legitimate half-brother Lleu.
Medraut, the illegitimate son of Artos the king, returns from his travels in Africa and elsewhere to watch over his younger half-brother, Lleu. Though Medraut, a child of incest, can never be High King, Artos knows that Medraut is a far better statesman and fighter than his younger brother; thus, Artos gives Medraut the task of making Lleu fit to be High King, promising Medraut the position of Regent in return.
Medraut doesn't know if he loves or hates his brother; even from the beginning, he is disgusted by Lleu's naïve, careless use of power and jealous of Lleu's easy claim to Artos's affection. Their relationship intensifies when Medraut's lessons begin to stick, and Lleu starts to seem a suitable High King. Matters are further complicated by the entrance of Medraut's mother Morgause, whose disturbing similarities to Medraut are revealed even as she tries to slowly poison Lleu. Expecting Medraut's tacit approval of the poisoning, Morgause is unhappily surprised when Medraut protects Lleu and reveals Morgause's treachery to Artos. Artos banishes Morgause from the castle, and Morgause vows to erode Medraut's loyalty to Lleu.
At first, Morgause's vow seems an empty threat. But while Lleu becomes more and more competent, an accident strips Medraut of his power and (he thinks) his father's affections. Resentment simmers between Medraut and Lleu, and by the time Morgause visits again, Medraut barely needs a catalyst. He kidnaps Lleu, intending to turn him over to Morgause, who in turn, plans to trade Lleu's life for the throne. But when Lleu steals Medraut's weapons and attempts to escape, the brothers are put in a unique situation; Medraut is ill and weaponless, Lleu is completely lost, and both are stranded in the middle of the woods. Medraut, struggling with regret as well as with his own envious desire to break Lleu's spirit, proposes a sadistic bargain; if Lleu can stay awake and alert for five days straight, Medraut will betray Morgause and lead him back to Camlan. Lleu agrees to the bargain, but as Lleu begins to hallucinate from lack of sleep, Medraut realizes that nothing his brother has said or done should have pushed him to this extreme.
The book ends with Medraut carrying Lleu back to Camlan, where Lleu, in turn, invokes his power as High King to save Medraut from being punished as a traitor.
The Winter Prince deals with a number of themes, most notably jealousy and the desire for greater responsibility, the two flaws which lead Medraut to kidnap Lleu.
In The Winter Prince, it's not greed or ambition that drives Medraut to vie for power with his half-brother—it's jealousy. Jealousy may seem like a petty reason to align oneself politically against one's father and brother, but jealousy, personal jealousy that has not a lot to do with one's career prospects or political ambition but more to do with being loved by one's parents, is an essential part of a sibling relationship. Wein's novel illustrates the way in which small slights slowly simmer into true anger over the course of years.
Not only does jealousy figure into the relationship between Medraut and his half-brother, but also into the relationship between Morgause, Queen of the Orcades, and her brother Artos, High King.
In Wein's Camlan, there are many ways to distinguish oneself—one could of course go the traditional route and be an excellent swordsman, but one could also be an excellent hunter, rider, mapmaker, diplomat, farmer, or engineer. All of the above trades are portrayed as more or less equally valuable. In The Winter Prince, a high premium is placed on non-military engineering, mapmaking, or translation as skills that a good ruler should value highly. Medraut's desire for greater responsibility—portrayed in the story as a genuine desire, not a transparent grab for power—often manifests itself in these less exalted ways; Medraut manages to distinguish himself as an expert botanist and healer, and a competent miner.
The members of King Arthur's court, on the whole, are quite cosmopolitan, within the bounds of their technology and medieval time period. They know Africa exists; they know of the Romans, who bequeathed to them technological advances like the aqueduct and the arch. They're not ignorant of Greek myth, or of Christianity—which exists in tandem with the native religions of Britain. However, Medraut himself is well-travelled and his grasp of the world encompasses not only Britain and the Orcades, but other nations and other cultures as well. It is implied that, as ambassador to Africa, Medraut was given far more responsibility than he is given in Camlan, where, as Artos' illegitimate son and possible contender for the throne, he finds that people are more reluctant to trust him.
Gwydion fab Dôn is a magician, hero and trickster of Welsh mythology, appearing most prominently in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, which focuses largely on his relationship with his young nephew, Lleu Llaw Gyffes. He also appears prominently in the Welsh Triads, the Book of Taliesin and the Stanzas of the Graves.
Uther Pendragon, also known as King Uther, is a legendary king of sub-Roman Britain and the father of King Arthur. A few minor references to Uther appear in Old Welsh poems, but his biography was first written down by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae, and Geoffrey's account of the character was used in most later versions. He is a fairly ambiguous individual throughout the literature, but is described as a strong king and a defender of his people.
Mordred or Modred is a character who is variously portrayed in the Arthurian legend. The earliest known mention of a possibly historical Medraut is in the Welsh chronicle Annales Cambriae, wherein he and Arthur are ambiguously associated with the Battle of Camlann in a brief entry for the year 537. His figure seemed to have been regarded positively in the early Welsh tradition and may have been related to that of Arthur's son.
The Mists of Avalon is a 1983 historical fantasy novel by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which the author relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters. The book follows the trajectory of Morgaine, a priestess fighting to save her Celtic religion in a country where Christianity threatens to destroy the pagan way of life. The epic is focused on the lives of Morgaine, Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), Viviane, Morgause, Igraine and other women of the Arthurian legend.
The Queen of Orkney, today best known as Morgause and also known as Morgawse and other spellings and names, is a character in later Arthurian traditions. In some versions of the legend, including the seminal text Le Morte d'Arthur, she is the mother of Gawain and Mordred, both key players in the story of King Arthur and his downfall. Mordred is the offspring of Arthur's inadvertent incest with Morgause, the king's estranged half-sister. She is furthermore a sister of Morgan le Fay and the wife of King Lot of Orkney, as well as the mother of Gareth, Agravain, and Gaheris, the last of whom murders her.
Sir Gareth is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He was the youngest son of King Lot and Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother to Gawain, Agravain, and Gaheris, and either a brother or half-brother of Mordred. He is particularly notable in Le Morte d'Arthur where he is also known by his nickname Beaumains.
Lot, Loth or Lothus is the king of Lothian, the realm of the Picts in the Arthurian legend. Such a ruler first appeared late in the 1st millennium's hagiographical material concerning Saint Kentigern, which feature a Leudonus, king of Leudonia, a Latin name for Lothian. In the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth adapted this to Lot, king of Lothian, in his influential chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae, portraying him as King Arthur's brother-in-law and ally. In the wake of Geoffrey's writings, Lot appeared regularly in later works of chivalric romance.
The Battle of Camlann is a legendary final battle of King Arthur during the early 6th century. In it, Arthur either died or was fatally wounded while fighting either with or against Mordred, who is also said to have died. The battle's medieval depictions are generally based on that of a catastrophic conflict described in the pseudo-chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae, and their variants from the later chivalric romance tradition include the telling in Le Morte d'Arthur that remains popular today.
Welsh mythology consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral societies Celtic mythology and history were recorded orally by specialists such as druids. This oral record has been lost or altered as a result of outside contact and invasion over the years. Much of this altered mythology and history is preserved in medieval Welsh manuscripts, which include the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin. Other works connected to Welsh mythology include the ninth-century Latin historical compilation Historia Brittonum and Geoffrey of Monmouth's twelfth-century Latin chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae, as well as later folklore, such as the materials collected in The Welsh Fairy Book by William Jenkyn Thomas (1908).
Gaheris or Gaheries is a character in the Arthurian legend, a nephew of King Arthur and a knight of the Round Table, the third son of Arthur's sister or half-sister Morgause and her husband Lot, King of Orkney and Lothian. He is the younger brother of Gawain and Agravain, and the older brother of Gareth and half-brother of Mordred. In Thomas Malory's popular Le Morte d'Arthur, Gaheris is little more than a supporting character to Gawain and Gareth, with the murder of Morgause an odd exception, but his role is greater in the French prose cycles. Later, he and Gareth are both killed by Lancelot during his rescue of Guinevere. A different knight known as Gaheris of Karaheu also appears in the legend.
Sword at Sunset is a best-selling 1963 novel by Rosemary Sutcliff. One of her few historical novels written specifically for adults, it is her interpretation of the legend of King Arthur.
The Mists of Avalon is a 2001 television miniseries based on the 1983 novel of the same title by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Produced by American cable channel TNT, adapted by Gavin Scott, and directed by Uli Edel, the series is a retelling of the Arthurian legend with an emphasis on the perspectives of Morgan le Fay and other women of the tale. The first episode was the highest-rated original movie on basic cable in the summer of 2001.
The Avalon Series is a series of fantasy novels written by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson. It was illustrated by Braldt Bralds, John Jude Palencar, and Dominic Harman. Paxson later took over sole authorship after Bradley's death in 1999. The series focuses on the legendary island of Avalon and the various women who have shaped its history and that of Britain.
Hawk of May is the first installment in Gillian Bradshaw’s Down The Long Wind trilogy. Published initially in 1980 by Simon and Schuster, Hawk of May is a bildungsroman set in the time of King Arthur and centered on Gwalchmai ap Lot.
In Winter's Shadow is the final book in a trilogy of fantasy novels written by Gillian Bradshaw. It tells the story of King Arthur's downfall, as recounted by his wife Gwynhwyfar.
The Firebrand is a fantasy historical novel by Debra A. Kemp and first published by Amber Quill Press. It is the first in The House of Pendragon series. It was followed by The Recruit published in January 2007.
The Queen of Air and Darkness is a fantasy novel by English writer T. H. White. It is the second book in his series The Once and Future King. It continues the story of the newly crowned King Arthur, his tutelage by the wise Merlyn, his war against King Lot, and also introduces the Orkney clan, a group of characters who would cause the eventual downfall of the king.
King Arthur's family grew throughout the centuries with King Arthur's legend. Many of the legendary members of this mythical king's family became leading characters of mythical tales in their own right.