Morgause in the context of "Gawain"

Mordred or Modred (/ˈmɔːrdrɛd/ or /ˈmoʊdrɛd/; Welsh: Medraut or Medrawt) is a major figure in the legend of King Arthur. The earliest known mention of a possibly historical Medraut is in the Welsh chronicle Annales Cambriae, wherein he and Arthur are ambiguously associated with the Battle of Camlann in a brief entry for the year 537. Medraut's figure seemed to have been regarded positively in the early Welsh tradition and may have been related to that of Arthur's son. As Modredus, Mordred was depicted as Arthur's traitorous nephew and a legitimate son of King Lot in the pseudo-historical work Historia Regum Britanniae, which then served as the basis for the subsequent evolution of the legend from the 12th century. Later variants most often characterised Mordred as Arthur's villainous bastard son, born of an incestuous relationship with his half-sister, the queen of Lothian or Orkney named either Anna, Orcades, or Morgause. The accounts presented in the Historia and most other versions include Mordred's death at Camlann, typically in a final duel, during which he manages to mortally wound his own slayer, Arthur. Mordred is usually a brother or half-brother to Gawain; however, his other family relations, as well as his relationships with Arthur's wife Guinevere, vary greatly.

In a popular telling, originating from the French chivalric romances of the 13th century and made prominent today through its inclusion in Le Morte d'Arthur, Mordred is a power-hungry son of Arthur from the incest with Morgause, prophesied by Merlin and destined to bring Britain to ruin. He survives Arthur's attempt to get rid of him soon after his birth and, years later, joins his half-brothers Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris and Gareth in Arthur's fellowship of the Round Table as a young and immoral knight. Eventually, Mordred learns of his true parentage and becomes the main actor in Arthur's downfall. He helps Agravain to expose the illicit love affair between Guinevere and Lancelot and then takes advantage of the resulting civil war to make himself the high king of Britain, ultimately leading to both his own and Arthur's deaths in their battle. Today, he remains an iconic character in many modern adaptations of Arthurian legend, in which he usually appears as a villain and the archenemy of Arthur.

The Lady of the Lake (French: Dame du Lac, Demoiselle du Lac, Italian: Dama del Lago) is a title used by multiple characters in the Matter of Britain, the body of medieval literature and mythology associated with the legend of King Arthur. As either actually fairy or fairy-like yet human enchantresses, they play important roles in various stories, notably by providing Arthur with the sword Excalibur, eliminating the wizard Merlin, raising the knight Lancelot after the death of his father, and helping to take the dying Arthur to Avalon after his final battle. Different Ladies of the Lake appear concurrently as separate characters in some versions of the legend since at least the Post-Vulgate Cycle and consequently the seminal Le Morte d'Arthur, with the latter describing them as members of a hierarchical group, while some texts also give this title to either Morgan or her sister.

Agravain or Agravaine (/ˈæɡrəveɪn/ AG-rə-vain) is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend, whose first known appearance is in the works of Chrétien de Troyes. He is the second eldest son of King Lot of Orkney with one of King Arthur's sisters known as Anna or Morgause, thus nephew of King Arthur, and brother to Sir Gawain, Gaheris, and Gareth, as well as half-brother to Mordred.

Agravain secretly makes attempts on the life of his hated brother Gaheris starting in the Vulgate Cycle, participates in the slayings of Lamorak and Palamedes in the Post-Vulgate Cycle, and murders Dinadan in the Prose Tristan. In the French prose cycle tradition included in Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, together with Mordred, he then plays a leading role by exposing his aunt Guinevere's affair with Lancelot, which leads to his death at Lancelot's hand.

Gaheris (/ɡəˈhɛrɪs/ gə-HERR-iss; Old French: Gaheriet[/s/z], Gaheriés, etc.) is a Knight of the Round Table and a relative of King Arthur in the chivalric romance tradition of the Arthurian legend. He is usually described as the third son of one of Arthur's half-sisters and her husband Lot, rulers of either Orkney or Lothian. In the popular version found in Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, Gaheris is the son of King Lot of Orkney and Queen Morgause, making him the younger brother of Gawain and Agravain, the elder brother of Gareth, and the half-brother of Arthur's son Mordred.

The character of Gaheris may have originated from the figure of Gawain's sole brother in early Welsh Arthurian tradition, who was later divided into two separate characters, one of whom became known as Malory's Gareth. In German medieval poetry, where no equivalent of Gareth exists, Gaheris appears instead as Gawain's cousin rather than his brother.

King Lot /ˈlɒt/, also spelled Loth or Lott (Lleu or Llew in Welsh), is a British monarch in Arthurian legend. He was introduced in Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudohistorical Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136) as King Arthur's brother-in-law, who serves as regent of Britain between the reigns of Uther Pendragon and Arthur. He has appeared regularly in works of chivalric romance, alternating between the roles of Arthur's enemy and ally, and is often depicted as the ruler of Lothian and either Norway or Orkney. His literary character is probably derived from hagiographical material concerning Saint Kentigern, which features Leudonus as king of Leudonia (the Latin name for Lothian) and father of Saint Teneu.

Lot is generally portrayed as the husband of Arthur's sister or half-sister known by many names but most often as Anna, Gwyar, or variants of Morgause. The number and names of their children vary depending on the source, but usually they prominently include Gawain as well as other sons and sometimes daughters. Geoffrey suggests Lot was also the biological father of Mordred. The later prose romances identify him as the father of Gawain's younger brothers Agravain, Gaheris, and Gareth, while turning Mordred into an incestuous son of Arthur.

Gareth of Orkney (Welsh: [ˈɡarɛθ]; Old French: Guerehet, Guerrehet, etc.) is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is the youngest son of King Lot and Queen Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother to Gawain, Agravain and Gaheris, and either a brother or half-brother of Mordred. Gareth is particularly notable in Le Morte d'Arthur, where one of its eight books is named after and largely dedicated to him, and in which he is also known by his nickname Beaumains.