The Lughnasa testing and training of the warriors is based in the mythical Tests of the Fianna, which Irish warriors had to pass in order to become part of Fionn mac Cumhaill’s band of warriors, as well as the practices of the Scandinavian Berserkers. Examples of skills tested include the voice test (although this is not clearly defined), weaponry skill, stealth, hunting, dancing, scouting, swimming, board games, racing, harping, smithing, wrestling, and endurance of extreme temperatures, among others. For an excellent resource on what the training of ancient warriors may have been like, I recommend Weapons and Warfare in Anglo-Saxon England by Sonia C. Hawkes. In the same way, Calliac’s Death Goddess ritual is not historical, but it is based in images of the Gaelic hag-goddess Cailleach and various incarnations of the Death Mother around the world.
The winter training that Lancelot and Guinevere put their recruits through is based on both historical and modern military training exercises. My equestrian readers will attest that ice balls are a real problem that plague horses in the winter. My main source of information for this was Equus Magazine.
Part Four: Y Gododdin
As mentioned in the opening of these notes, the Battle of Catraeth has a long and storied history, thanks to the mysterious poem “Y Gododdin,” which is said to memorialize historical warriors of an actual battle between the ascending Angles and the massively outnumbered Britons. The poem gives 300 as the number of Britons (a number I have slightly increased for the purposes of my story) and scholars estimate the Anglican force at anywhere between 50,000 and 100,000. It is said that of the 300, only three survived to tell the tale. Given the Celtic fascination with the sacred number three, these numbers are more likely symbolic rather than an actual count.
The feasting hosted by Mynyddog is recorded in the poem and is typical of pre-battle rituals of the time, and similar to the feast in the epic story of Beowulf. In her article “Warfare and Horses in the Gododdin and the Problem of Catraeth” Jenny Rowland argues that the feasting may also have served as a recruiting drive for the upcoming battle. The blood bond is my own invention, but Rowland notes that “heroic vows [were] made during the feasting.” The use of woad and henbane, as well as its effects, are historically accurate, as is the Celtic obsession with the heads of their enemies and the power they hold.
The nationalities of the warriors on the British side are generally accepted to be mostly Votadini from Gododdin, and those from Alt Clut’s warriors, but they are also said to have come from Rheged and as far away as Gwynedd and the Pictish lands.
The location of the Battle of Catraeth is uncertain, but many believe it to be the city of Catterick in North Yorkshire. However, this is far from universally accepted, with Scottish locations such as the border of the Gododdin, Roxburghshire, and Din Ediyn (Edinburgh) proposed, as well as towns in Wales, Cumbria and Yorkshhire in England. I have no opinion on the actual location and so have chosen to use Catterick. The date of the battle is generally thought to have taken place between 570-590, but as with most things during the Dark Ages, this, too, is debated, which is why I took the liberty of placing it when it fit for my story.
Assuming Catterick is the correct location, one might ask why a group of primarily Votadini warriors would travel so far south for a battle. That is a question that has plagued scholars for ages. Of course, it could have been to lay siege to a hillfort or take back disputed or key strategic land, but that is a long journey for such an effort. Jenny Rowland theorizes that the battle could have begun as a rescue mission to save the author of the poem from prison, which is one of the legendary explanations for the poem’s existence. Similarly, John and Caitlin Matthews note in their book The Complete King Arthur, that it may have started as the rescue of a Votadini hostage. Both of these theories are where the idea of Lancelot being captured came from. It could also have been a raid, the like of which was very common in Celtic culture. This type of military expedition wouldn’t have been important enough for the ruler to attend personally, and so it would explain why Mynyddog didn’t lead his troops into battle. Other theories say it could have been a pre-emptive strike against the increasingly powerful Angles and that Catterick is just where the two armies happened to meet, rather than the original end goal.
The last point that bears exploring is the burial of King Arthur in Avalon, which is commonly believed to be one in the same with Glastonbury, England. The grave of King Arthur and Guinevere uncovered at Glastonbury in 1191 has long been thought to be a hoax created by the monks to raise money to help repair their abbey which had been badly damaged by a fire in 1184. When they “found” King Arthur’s grave, it was marked by an iron cross that bore the words, “Here lies the famous King Arthur on the isle of Avalon.” (Some versions also add “with his second wife, Guinevere” to the text.)
While it is nearly impossible that this find is real, it is so ingrained in Arthurian legend that I felt I could not let it pass unmentioned. So I chose to play off the idea of Guinevere being Arthur’s second wife. In the story I have created, the only logical reason that such a thing could be said was if Morgan was Arthur’s first wife by way of the Sacred Marriage. Therefore, in this version of the story, regardless of whether or not the grave found in Glastonbury is authentic, the marker is not the original; the first one mentions Arthur’s true wife, Morgan.
If you would like to know more about the sources I consulted in writing these books, please visit my website, nicoleevelina.com, and click on the “Research” tab under the section for the book you’re interested in. You may also wish to search my blog, located on the same site, for additional information on many of these topics.
About the Author
Nicole Evelina is an award-winning historical fiction, non-fiction and women’s fiction writer whose books have won nearly 30 awards. The first two books in her Guinevere trilogy, Daughter of Destiny and Camelot’s Queen were named Books of the Year by Chanticleer Reviews and Author’s Circle, respectively. Her most recent book, The Once and Future Queen, which was named Non-Fiction Book of the Year by Author’s Circle, examines popular works of Arthurian fiction by more than 20 authors over the last 1,000 years to show how the character of Guinevere changes to reflect attitudes toward women.
Her mission as a writer is to rescue little-known women from being lost in the pages of history. While others may choose to write about the famous, she tells the stories of those who are in danger of being forgotten so that their memories may live on for at least another generation. She also writes from the female point of view since the male perspective has historically been given more attention.
When she’s not writing, she can be found reading, playing with her spoiled twin Burmese cats, cooking, researching, dreaming of living in Chicago or the English countryside…and of course, plotting her next book.
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