The Tale of Mordred

There once was a king named Uther Pendragon. He and several of his allies were celebrating the defeat of their enemy when he saw her. A beautiful woman, Ingraine the wife of Gorlois of Tintagel Castle, ruler of Cornwall, dancing and celebrating among the crowd. At that moment Uther desired her. Gorlois seeing his interest fled with her the next day back to his land. Uther not to be denied followed with his army and laid siege to Gorlois's castle.

Time passed and still, Gorlois refused Uther, for he loved his wife very much. Then one day Gorlois left the castle to lead the fight against Uther's army. During this time Uther asked his ally and friend Merlin to help him win Ingraine's love. So Merlin used his magic to disguise Uther as Ingraine's husband. Under the cover of night, Uther wearing the face of Gorlois snuck into the castle and into Ingraine's room. With Ingraine believing him to be her husband they made love. From this union came Arthur Pendragon, half-brother to Morgaine. Gorlois died in the fighting and Uther took Ingraine as his own wife.

Morgaine seeing what had been done to her mother hated her stepfather and resented his son Arthur. She spent years learning magic. For her skill and knowledge, she was named Morgaine le Faye. She eventually joined her brother, King Arthur's court as a lady in waiting for his wife Queen Guinevere. One day while doing her duties she met a knight name Guimar who was also Guinevere's nephew. They fell in love but kept their relationship secret. Then Guinevere caught Guimar and Morgaine in the act of meeting. She banished her nephew from the court. Thus Morgaine grew to hate Guinevere.

After the disastrous ending to her relationship with Guimar Morgaine left the court. She gained more knowledge and skill in sorcery and magic, becoming stronger. Eventually, she returned once more to Camelot. King Arthur seeking to establish a political alliance married her to King Urien of Rheged, causing her hatred for her brother to grow once more.

Morgaine le Faye began to plan the downfall of her brother King Arthur. Arthur, believing his sister to be trustworthy and loving her still, brought her the sword Excalibur as well as its enchanted scabbard for safe-keeping. Morgaine seeing this took the sword and scabbard and gave them to her lover Accolon so he could defeat Arthur. She also gave her brother a counterfeit Excalibur. Thus Accolon would challenge and defeat Arthur to become king and Morgaine queen.

Accolon challenged Arthur far away from Camelot. Arthur accepted the challenge and the two met in a duel. Arthur was being defeated by Accolon. Even though Arthur was striking and wounding him, Accolon was not bleeding. Recognizing the magic of Excalibur's scabbard Arthur called for help. The Lady of the Lake who had given him the sword came and cast a spell causing Accolon to drop the sword. Arthur seizing his chance pick up the real Excalibur and struck Accolon once more. He fell injured and bleeding to the ground. Arthur demanded Accolon tell him how he got the sword from his sister. Accolon revealed Morgaine's hatred and resentment of him and told Arthur of his sister's plan.

Accolon died from his wounds and Arthur sought healing at a nearby nunnery. Learning this Morgaine lied to Guinevere saying she had received important news and needed to travel home to deal with it. Guinevere reluctantly let her go. So Morgaine left Camelot with a contingent of knights loyal to her. She found her brother at an abbey. Ordering the nuns to leave her alone with him she took the time to steal the scabbard once more. She could only take the scabbard for he held tightly to the Excalibur even in his sleep.

Morgaine fled once more with her knights and the scabbard in her hand. Arthur awoke healed and discovered the theft. Asking the nuns revealed that his sister had removed the scabbard and left swiftly. He prepared his horse and chased after her with his knight Sir Ontzlake following. Seeing her brother catching up Morgaine threw the scabbard into a nearby lake where it sank beneath the waves and led her knights to a gully. She used her magic to disguise her knights and herself as rocks so when Arthur came to the gully he could not any sign find them. He returned with only Excalibur and the story of Morgaine's betrayal. So Morgaine was named as a traitor to Camelot.

Years passed and Morgaine had gained more skill in sorcery. So she disguised herself and snuck into Arthur's chambers. There he and Morgaine wearing the guise of Guinevere made love. She left the next morning pregnant. Morgaine birthed a son whom she named Mordred. She taught her son for many years. She told him the story of her and Arthur, guiding him into hating his father.

Soon Mordred became a knight within Arthur's court. He and another knight reveal Guinevere's affair with Lancelot to the king. Arthur, devasted by his best friend's and wife's betrayal, commands Guinevere to be burned at the stake. Lancelot keeps saving her until Arthur instead sends her to a convent to live out the rest of her days. Arthur now turns his attention to Lancelot who runs to his castle Dolorous Guard.

Leaving Mordred in charge of his kingdom Arthur goes to fight Lancelot. A few months pass and a note arrives at court revealing that Arthur has died from wounds sustained while fight Lancelot and Mordred is named the new king. A few weeks after this Arthur returns to Camelot. Mordred refuses to step down as king and the knights of Camelot are split down the middle. Some believing Arthur to be the rightful king and others believing Mordred to be so.

Soon war is being fought throughout the castle. Mordred facing his father reveals his true identity as Arthur and Morgaine's son. The two fight. They are matched in fervor and skill. Striking at one another with their swords, parrying attacks from one another. The battle continues for hours. Then Arthur drops his sword and picks up a spear. Mordred charging towards his father with his sword is impaled on the spear. But he refuses to lose so pushes himself closer to Arthur and swings his sword one last time.

Mordred fell dead and Arthur falls to the ground heavily injured. Some say Mordred's last strike hit true and sound for Arthur died of his wounds on his way to Avalon to be healed yet others say he reached Avalon but was too injured for them to save and instead was placed into an enchanted sleep to be awakened in his kingdom’s greatest hour of need. But either way, Morgaine's vengeance against Arthur and Guinevere was accomplished at the cost of her son's life.