Creating characters already found in literature

One of my favorite legends is that of King Arthur. This is a legend most often retold by countless authors so I was hesitant to write an Arthurian themed story unless I could do something different with it. Over the years I read many great books by authors telling the story of King Arthur, but one book really caught my attention—The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. What I liked most about this book was that the story was told through the eyes of the women surrounding Arthur. The uniqueness of this story stayed with me for years, but I still had no ideas how to write my own King Arthur tale.

My Muse works in strange ways because one day an idea came to me through a song. I decided to focus more on the romance part of King Arthur and I wanted to make it a sensual version, something I thought had never been done before. The biggest challenge was bringing these characters to life since they were already well known. I had my own vision of King Arthur's world and how I wanted to portray the characters in a different light using what I knew about the legend and the history of that time period.

Something different I did was to tell the story from the point of views of Morgaine, Lancelot and Nimue. I also wanted to add some more conflict by adding a fourth person into the love triangle by depicting Lancelot and Morgaine as lovers (this was alluded to in The Mists of Avalon, but never expanded on).

I brought the Fae into the mix by making Lancelot half-Fae, son of Nimue and a mortal Celt warrior. I envisioned him as having long black hair and amber eyes. Of course I based the king's champion on the Irish Fianna (my favorite skilled warriors with hearts of poets). I always felt Lancelot was the most misunderstood Arthurian character, persecuted for his betrayal. I wanted to give him a voice and show that he was a caring person, his betrayal to his friend and king tormenting to him. I also wanted to show his complicated, passionate relationship with the more experienced Morgaine who has a powerful hold over him.

Morgaine is Queen of Faeries and ruler of Avalon. She is strong willed and has one goal on her mind and that is to save Avalon even if it means losing the man she loves. I pictured her as having black hair and blue eyes, striking against her fair skin. My faeries are based on the Irish Tuatha de Danaan who resembled humans, had wings when needed, and had shapeshifting abilities. I drew a likeness between her and the Morrigu, the battle goddess, with her strength and raven's knowledge.

In my version Gwenhwyfar is also half-faery (I did this so that she could exist on the earthly and faery realms), groomed by Morgaine to be Arthur's wife so the king will honor both the goddess and the Christian god. Gwenhwyfar is usually portrayed as having brown hair, but I wanted her to differ from the raven-haired Morgaine so I gave her blond hair. She is also viewed as the wicked adulterous, but I wanted to show her as an innocent rose who is at the center of all the turmoil. She is a pawn used by Morgaine and she does not intend to hurt anyone, but her actions lead to disaster, thus the thorns on a rose.

Nimue (The Lady of the Lake) is an expert blacksmith, the creator of Arthur's sword. She is also skilled with weapons, teaching her battle skills to young warriors, including Lancelot. I saw her as a blonde, the opposite of Morgaine and with some similarities to Gwenhwyfar. I gave her a different background than what I have read about her, a tragedy in her past that causes conflict between her and Morgaine. Nimue also has a complicated relationship with Merlin who I portrayed as a younger man rather than the old gray haired wizard usually depicted.

I always pictured King Arthur as tall and rugged, but with a kind heart. For some reason I pictured him with light colored hair and gray eyes that could change from fierce to compassionate in a flash. I combined myth and history for Arthur, basing him on a Celt king who rose to power in post-Roman Britain and gave him a Romanized name to reflect this—Artorius.

By doing something different with a well-known tale and its characters, I took a risk, but for me it was better to let go of any pre-conceived notions I had of how these characters are usually depicted. Instead I allowed my Muse to guide me with a steady hand.

Stop by on Friday, September 26 for the character interview with Morgaine.

Slainte!
Kelley
Kelley and her books can be found online at
http://www.kelleyheckart.com/