Does anyone know where Castle Charyot is?

Question

Castle Charyot is the supposed residence of Morgan le fey. I want to know where the most likely location is.

Answer 1

I also agree that the abbey ruins in Glastonbury is the closest that you can get. Geoffrey of Monmouth attested that Avalon and Glastonbury were one in the same. Furthermore, there were medieval reports of ancient royal remains having been discovered in the abbey cemetary there; remains that have variously been assumed to be those of Arthur and Guinevere.  

Answer 2

Your information comes from Malory, Book VII, chapter 3, in which “Morgan le Fay” says, “I shall put an enchantment upon him that he shall not awake of all this seven hours, and then I will lead him away  unto my castle.” We are then told “... and then they laid him upon his shield and bare him so on horseback betwixt two knights, and brought him until the castle Charyot''.

Those who brought Lancelot there are then identified as “queen Morgan le Fay, queen of the land of Gore, and here is the Queen of North Gales, and the Queen of the Eastland, and the Queen of the Out Isles.”

Malory’s source for Book VII, chapters 1–13 seems to be episodes somewhat randomly taken from the “Prose Lancelot” and somewhat modified. It is possible that he is using some romance that has not come down to us that is related to the “Prose Lancelot”.

In any case, the “Prose Lancelot” account is somewhat different. (See http://www.archive.org/details/arthurian... , page 91 following.)  Instead of four queens who take Lancelot, we have the “queen of the land of Sorestan, which bordered on North Wales in the direction of Sorelois, and she was accompanied by more than sixty armed knghts. Four squires on horseback were using four lances to support a canopy over her to protect her from the heat of the sun.”

She sees Lancelot's horse grazing, but no knight, but thinks that there must be a knight near by.

“She summoned two ladies, one of whom was named Morgaine the Fay and the other Queen Sebille, and together they were the three women in the world who knew most about enchantments and charms, saving only the Lady of the Lake. And because they knew so much about magic, they enjoyed one another’s company and always rode together and ate and drank together.” (Note that Morgaine is never called a queen in the “Prose Lancelot”. Malory presumably calls her “Queen of Gorre” based on his earlier material taken ultimately from the “Post-Vulgate Merlin” in which Morgaine is King Uriens’ wife.

The three women find Lancelot sleeping and each claims to be more suited to become his lover. Morgaine suggests, “But I’ll tell you what we should do: the best thing I can see is to make a horse litter and cast a spell over him so that he can’t awaken until we want him to, then put him in the litter and take him to Cart Castle [le Chastel de la Charette].”

We are told, “And so they transported him and rode until, before nightfall, they reached Cart Castle, which was given this name because Lancelot passed through it in a cart that day when Meleagant carried Queen Guenivere off into the kingdom of Gorre, as the story has related.”

The story of the knight of the cart occurs in the “Prose Lancelot” earlier in the story before these events, unlike the unique version which Malory tells which he places near the end of “Le Morte d’Arthur”.

The story of this abduction of Guenevere first appears in surviving texts in the “Life of Gildas” by Caradoc of Llancarfan. See http://mdz10.bib-bvb.de/~db/bsb00000825/... and http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/115... . Melwas, King of the Summer Country [that is Somerest] is here the name of the abductor. Peace between Arthur and Melwas is arranged by the Abbot of Glastonbury aided by St. Gildas.

Melwas seems to be mentioned in Chrétien de Troyes’ “Erec et Enide” (arguably the earliest surviving French Arthurian romance): “Along with those whom I have just mentioned came Maheloas, a great baron, lord of the Isle of Voirre. In this island no thunder is heard, no lightning strikes, nor tempests rage, nor do toads or serpents exist there, nor is it ever too hot or too cold.” “Voire” is usually understood to mean “Glass”. In Welsh Glastonbury was known as “Ynys Vitrin” which means “Isle of Glass''. (Possibly a story of a magical Isle of Glass has been rationalized to refer to Glastonbury?)

Chrétien’s “Lancelot”' or “The Knight of the Cart“ (see http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/11... ) tells what became the standard Lancelot version of this tale. Melwas becomes Meleagant, son of the King Bademagu of Gorre. (The letter “w” in Welsh and English often appears as “gw” or “g” in French names, so a French version “Melgas” would be reasonable, which could easily become “Melgaut” in the accusative case. The common mistake of changing “u” into “n” would produced “Melgant”. Oral corruption would produce Chrétien’s form “Meleagant''.)

King Bademgu (Malory’s King Bagdemagus) might be a corruption of “Gildas ap Caw”, as initial “B” and intitial “G” are often confused in medieval French. In the short version of the story of the two Gueneveres in the some variants of the “Prose Lancelot”, the name Bademagu is appplied to a clerk who advises Lancelot's friend Galehot. King Bademagu in part performs the role that Caradoc of Llancarfan gives to the Abbot of Glastonbury and Gildas, persuading Meleagant to give up Guenevere.

The name “Gorre” for King Bademagu’s kingdom might be a corruption of “Voirre”. According to Chrétien one of King Bademagu's cities is Bade, the common French name for Bath.

A version of Chrétien’s account appears in the “Prose Lancelot” somewhat modified. Notably, the geography is clarified. Bademagu’s kingdom is surrounded by marshes which cut if off from the surrounding lands. Bademagu’s proper kingdom, Gorre, is bordered by the two magic bridges, the Bridge-under-water which Gawain attempts to cross and the Sword Bridge which Lancelot attempts to cross. The country which Lancelot crosses before coming to the Sword Bridge is a newly settled region also ruled by King Bademagu and mostly settled by King Bademagu’s captives. It is named the “Terre Forain(n)e”, that is, the “Outland” (which is not the same as the “Terre Forain(n)e” as a name for the Grail kingdom). Also in the “Prose Lancelot” it is explained that Bademagu is nephew tl King Uriens who was earlier the King of Gorre and inherited it from him.

Lancelot leaves Camelot following after Meleagant and Guenevere, enters the cart, and on the evening of the same day enters a castle on the borders of the Outland. The following day he abandons the cart and instead rides the extra horse that Gawain had brought with him. Accordingly this castle is Cart Castle, Castle Chariot, and must be within a day’s ride from Camelot. If we assume that Gorre indeed corresponds to the area around Glastonbury, then we might identify Camelot with Cadbury Castle. See http://www.britannia.com/history/arthur/... .

Of course over six days to cover the distance between Cadbury Castle and Glastonbury would be ludicrous, even for an old man travelling on foot. Also the Outland becomes an immense region. Unless we assume that Lancelot is constrained by the marshes and is following a very, very, very winding, dangerous path.

Or we can assume that Gorre is not the region around Glastonbury. Some have suggested the Gower peninsula in South Wales. And nothing compels us to identify Camelot with Cadbury Castle. Or we can assume that the story has been much expanded and that Lancelot took just over a single day. As usual geography within Arthurian romances doesn’t make sense without modifying the text or searching through maps and identifying places differently than their obvious identifications.

In any case, to return to the story of Lancelot’s captivity, the “Prose Lancelot” tells us that Cart Castle is under the control of the Queen of Sorestan (rather than Morgaine as Malory claims). We are told that the castle was earlier in the possession of a Queen who married the King of Sorestan, and that it passed by inheritance to therir grandson who was betrothed to a certain damsel, the daughter of the Duke of Rochdon. The grandson died as a child and the damels parents also died, whereupon the Queen of Sorestan took possession of the castle as guardian of the damsel. But she now refuses to give it up to the damsel and is forcing the damsel to marry the Queen of Sorestan’s worthless brother. The damsel promises to free Lancelot if he will agree to challenge the brother to gain Cart Castle for her. Lancelot agrees. (Malory has a different account, confusing this damsel with another damsel in the “Prose Lancelot” who is the daughter of King Bademagu, has previously aided Lancelot in the Cart story in both Chrétien and the “Prose Lancelot”, and who now requires Lancelot to aid her father in a tournament.)

Almost all the later Lancelot material in Malory and elsewhere comes from the “Lancelot” cycle, which consists of the voluminous “Prose Lancelot” followed by the shorter “La Queste del Sainte Graal” and “Le Mort d’Artu”. This was later expanded by two prequels, “L’Historie del Sainte Graal" and the “Merlin”, and in this form is sometimes called the “Arthurian Vulgate Cycle” or the “Lancelot-Grail Cycle”.

If you don’t know French, then you will have to read them in English. An English translation of “La Queste del Sainte Graal” appears on the web at http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/quest_comfort.... . A more modern translation is available from Penguin (see http://www.amazon.com/Quest-Holy-Grail-P... ) “Le Mort d’Artu” is also available from Penguin at http://www.amazon.com/Death-King-Arthur-... ,

The only full English translation of the “Prose Lancelot” (or more precisely, one of the versions of the “Prose Lancelot”) occurs in volumes 2 and 3 of “Lancelot-Grail”, edited by Nor

Answer 3

Supposedly it was inside the realm of the Fairy Queen, which could only be reached through Avalon.  Since the path to both these places is magical, and lost to us, the closest you could get would be the church in Glastonbury.

I believe she was also Duchess of Cornwall, which you would have better luck finding.