Hellawes (sorceress)

Sir Launcelot and the Witch Hellawes by Aubrey Beardsley (1870)

Hellawes the Sorceress is a minor character in Thomas Malory's 15th-century compilation of Arthurian legends Le Morte d'Arthur. She is lady of the Castle Nygurmous ("of necromancy").[1]

Hellawes is a treacherous enchantress whom Sir Lancelot encounters in his pursuit of a holy sword or cloth heal his wounded liegeman, Meliot of Logres. She manages to lure the questing knight into her fearsome chapel perilous but Lancelot—who has been the object of her obsessive and unrequited love for seven years—successfully escapes.

Lancelot braved the chapel to retrieve a sword and discovered that its terrifying properties were simply illusions. Hellawes appeared before him and asked him for a kiss in exchange for the sword, but Lancelot refused. It turned out that Lancelot would have perished from the kiss had he consented. Hellawes had tendencies toward necrophilia, and she would have rather had Lancelot as a dead lover than to have lived without him. Lancelot hurried away, and Hellawes died a few weeks later from sorrow. [Christopher W. Bruce, "The Arthurian Name Dictionary," 1999][2]

The motif for her enchanted chapel (complete with the name, Chapelle Perilleuse) originates in Perlesvaus.[3] Her name seems to be an echo of Héloïse.[4]

It is possible that Hellawes was an evolution of the character of Lady Helaes of Perilous Forest (Helaes de la Forest Perilleuse), Gawain's one-night lover from the Lancelot-Grail.[5] A similarly named character, also appearing in Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur just like Hellawes does, is Lady Annowre of Perilous Forest, here an evil sorceress who plotted to kill Arthur out of her love of him after being scorned.[6]

  • Hellawes and her chapel appear in the adventure video game Lancelot in a recreation of the scene from Le Morte d'Arthur.
  • A location named after Hellawes and her chapel appear in the role-playing video game Tales of Berseria.[7]
  • She is mentioned as Annowre of the Perilous Forest in The Idylls of the Queen: A Tale of Queen Guenevere by Phyllis Ann Karr.
  • She appears in the card video game Age of Ishtaria.
  • The story of Hellawes is invoked in the novel Galgenmeid by Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem and Pat van Beirs.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Saunders, Corinne (2009-03-26). The Body and the Arts. Springer. ISBN 9780230234000.
  2. ↑ Bruce, Christopher. Entry "Hellawes the Sorceress". The Arthurian Name Dictionary. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  3. ↑ Saunders, Corinne J. (2010). Magic and the Supernatural in Medieval English Romance. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9781843842217.
  4. ↑ Saunders, Corinne J. (2001). Rape and Ravishment in the Literature of Medieval England. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9780859916103.
  5. ↑ Busby, Keith; Thompson, Raymond H. (2005-11-08). Gawain: A Casebook. Routledge. ISBN 9781136783524.
  6. ↑ "Annowre". nightbringer.se. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  7. ↑ ""Tales of Berseria" Details Additional Characters From Its Lineup". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  8. ↑ "Rijckeghem, Jean-Claude van; Beirs, Pat van: Šlechtična". iliteratura.cz. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
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