Niniane in Le Morte de Arthur

The legend goes something like this in Malory's "Le Morte De Arthur" the "classic" Arthurian legend.

After Arthur and Guenivere got married, they had a huge feast. And what should interrupt their feast, but a woman clad in white, riding on a white horse, with black and white dogs chasing a white stag. She rode right into the room, and the dogs knocked over all the dishes, as did the stag, before running off. Someone seized the white dog, and the girl, Nyneve, went crazy. She started yelling about how she should get her dog back, and everyone was furious at her for interrupting the feast.

While she was whining, a black knight in black armor seized her and took her away. Arthur was quite relieved, as she had caused a racket, but Merlin said that she had to be rescued, so Arthur sent Pellinore, his senior knight, to save her.

After saving Nyneve, Pellinore returned to court with her and Merlin fell instantly in lust with the girl. She was an intelligent and ambitious girl, so she put up with the old man until he finally showed her how to open a rock for a magical cave. She asked him to go in first, he went, and she closed it behind him, spelling the end for Merlin.

She shortly afterwards went on to take Merlin's place, saving Arthur from his half sister, Morgan le Fey. These saves involved saving him from Morgan's Excaliber stealing lover, Accalon. Morgan stole Excaliber and then replaced it with a fake. She gave the sword to Accalon and he fought Arthur, nearly killing him with the real sword when the fake broke. Nyneve saved Arthur before Accalon could parry the death stroke, and Morgan escaped with the scabard (which incidentally was more valuable than the sword) and turned herself into stone, temporarily, to escape Nyneve. Nyneve also saved Arthur from a deadly jeweled cloak which Morgan sent with a maiden. Nyneve ordered that the cloak be put on the girl before anyone touched it, and, although the girl tried to get away, Nyneve tossed the cloak onto the girl and she was incinerated by it.

She finally came upon a young man, Pelleas, who she fell in love with and freed from the adoration of Ettarde. She made Ettarde fall helplessly in love with Pelleas, the way he felt about her, until Ettarde finally killed herself.

In the end she freed Guenivere from accusations about poisoning a Sir Pinel...and attempting to poison Gawaine! Amusingly, though, she resuced her only after she had been saved by Lancelot, which didn't spare Guenivere much of the emotional stress. Of course, Nyneve might very well have not liked Guenivere. (Not that I'd blame her, seeing how Guenivere behaves in Malory!) After all, Nyneve is, in some stories (although not this one) the foster mother of Lancelot and "loves Arthur". (Platonically, at least in this story...) After this, she more or less vanished from the stories, although she does bear him off on the barge to Avalon along with her archnemesis Morgan le Fey.

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