The Avalon Project: Ygraine

If you haven’t read this post: Avalon Project blog post, you may want to begin there. This post refers to the book series I am currently working on, about Avalon.

Ygraine has always fascinated me. How does a girl, born on Avalon into the family that runs the isle, ends up as a Duchess, let alone a queen? Luck? Planning? Her own wiles? Her mother, Brigid, the Seer of Avalon did have visions of one of her daughters being raised high in status, and giving birth to a Warrior of Avalon. Was her future planned before she was born? Or did she steal a future that was meant for another sister?

My first book has four points of view. Andred and Avadaine, you have already met (or will, as you follow the links). Ygraine is the third. I included her for a few reasons, one of which is because she is a character from the mythology that I really enjoy. She is also our way to Camelot, and our way, in the end, to see how certain storylines play out.

Ygraine was born on Avalon, the daughter of Brigid, the Seer, and Doninn, a warrior of Avalon. She is the middle child, between Vivaine and Morgause. As a teenager, she is chosen as the bride of Galois, the Duke of Cornwall, and moves to Tintagel. Galois and Ygraine have one daughter, Morgaine. From all accounts, their marriage is a happy one, brought on by her mother’s vision and Uther’s father, to seal Avalon to Britannia. When Uther’s father dies, and Uther himself becomes king, he covets Ygraine, and hatches a plot to see Galois dead, and Ygraine as his bride and queen.

And if you have read much Arthurian legend, you know that that indeed comes to pass. She and Morgaine move to Camelot, which at time is little more than a fortress. But Uther builds it up to suit his new queen and Ygraine, prompted by her mother’s vision of a warrior of Avalon, settles in and accepts her fate. She will keep the isle tethered to Britannia, to keep her family safe and do her duty. The year after their wedding, Arthur is born. Morgaine is sent to Avalon to train, and Arthur is trained there as well, in addition to being trained by one of Uther’s knights, Sir Kay. After Uther dies, Ygraine stays on at Camelot, to help her son make Britannia a safe place for all people, whether they worship the Christian God, or the Goddess as Avalon does.

At the beginning of my story, Ygraine is grieving. Camelot has been overrun by people who are determined to see the Goddess desecrated in Britannia and she is forced to leave behind the life she has lived for decades. She settles into Avalon, but she is not content to simply be a Priestess. She seeks to regain Camelot at any cost. She puts a plan in motion to do just that.

But along the way, things change for Ygraine. Secrets have been kept from her, and in a trip to the northern reaches of Scotland, she finds herself reconnecting with her Priestess roots.

There is more to life than ruling. Ygraine intends to have it all.

Below is a “vision” I used in the creation of Ygraine. Note: I found this picture on Pinterest, and do not own the copyright on it.

Ygraine, Priestess of Avalon, Former Duchess of Cornwall, Former Queen of Britannia

“To this day, as much as I loved my younger sister, I cannot forgive her for treating my child as nothing more than a broodmare for her own gain.”