King's Ransom
Entry posted by Merch Gwyar
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Having been side-tracked into doing the Enakhra's Lament quest, whilst procuring granite, I did finally turn my attention back to the King's Ransom. There was no preparation time, because it had all been done yesterday. Thank you, Mrcsupertrain, for the black armour. If you want to catch me in-game, I'll pop over to wherever you are fletching today and return it.
The guide was, as always, extremely comprehensive, so thank you all who produced it. There is very little running around in quest, and those always on the teleport routes, so it did appear to be quite fast moving. I was surprised upon reaching the end of my dinnerhour only part way through it, as it didn't feel like so much time had passed. Because of work, I did the quest in three stages: first, I got as far as clearing Anna's name; secondly, I got as far as donning my armour to go and rescue Arthur; then thirdly, absurdly quickly, I teleported to Edgeville, ran up to the Black Knight's Fortress and rescued Arthur... again. I swear, if that boy doesn't learn to look after himself surrounded by knights, I'm taking over Camelot myself. Tsh.
The xp at the end was very lovely, but I waited for fireworks above my head post-quest and nothing happened. Eh? I hovered over the boxes to discover that I'm such levels now that even 33k of defence isn't budging me up a bit. Ooops! In the accidental realms of slightly high-levelled players now. LOL Intrigued, I nipped onto the forum to look in the Sal's hiscores. I was shocked to discover that I'm number 350. 
How did that happen? My self-perspection is that I'm low-to-middling player, higher than the new players, but nowhere near the towering heights of most of the people here. I then checked myself against Slammers whom I'd assumed to be trail-blazing way ahead of me, only to realize that I'm actually comparable! Weird. I'm going to have to alter my world-view a bit now. *grin*
After Holy Grail, I talked a little about the Arthurian legend, as it touched the Fisher King. This quest again was bouncing off the legends, but this time bringing in Morgan Le Faye. Though I did enjoy her portrayal, I do want to take the opportunity to point out that it isn't historically viable and, in fact, is more than a bit dodgy.
Was there an historical Morgan before we even start here? There are hundreds of books, sources, legends etc all purporting to tell the 'real' story of Arthur. There are some really convincing arguments in them (and some proper giant leaps for historian kind, with flimsy evidence too). Some facts do persistantly emerge though. One is that Morgan is a title, not a name. It comes from the Welsh 'mor' meaning sea; and 'gan' a suffix meaning 'priestess'. Morgan, therefore, translates as 'priestess on or by the sea'. The 'Le Fey' bit, in all its variations, didn't appear until the legend had been to France and back, during mediaeval times. Those tellings basically took the earlier, very human, Morgan and turned her into a slightly more supernatural being, if not a goddess. The Fey, in French terms, were the fairies, but moreover were the Fates. Not quite the gossamer-winged, inch high fairies that turned up after Elizabethan times, but more divine than that. We now have a priestess by the sea (or on the sea), who is a demi-Goddess. She's not, as yet, evil.
There once lived a nasty piece of work called Thomas Malory. He and his friends ran riot around England, literally. On one occasion, they broke into the manor home of an aristocratic family and, finding the lord of the manor away from home, Malory raped the Lady of the Manor. Taking a lot of valuables with them, they'd disappeared into the countryside before the alarm could be raised. The next night, they returned and Malory raped the Lady again before fleeing. This wasn't the reason that he was eventually arrested and banged into the Tower of London though. That came after they broke into a monastry and stole the gold chalices, crosses and platters, while also raiding the store cupboards. While in the Tower, Malory started writing. Initially, it was all largely misogonist rantings (he really, really hated women), but none of this was winning friends and influencing people. Then he started on his 'Le Morte d'Arthur' - his version of the Arthur legend. You will be familiar with this version, whether you know it or not, as it's since become the definitive one.
Many things are notable about it, but we're mostly looking here at his treatment of women, because it's the portrayal of Morgan, due to the 'King's Ransom quest' and earlier ones, which is our jumping off point. Guinevere had originally been a warrior queen - think Boudicca and you've got her - but under Malory's pen, she became a pallid, insepid, weak adulteress, who brings about the whole downfall of Arthur and Camelot, because she can't keep her hands off Lancelot. Vivienne was originally a central figure and an influential priestess, but became reduced to an arm waving a sword out of the lake. Igerna (Igraine) had originally been a competent, strong queen in her own right, but was downgraded to the mere, again adulterous wife of Gorlais. They all fared slightly better than the rest of the women, who were more or less written out of the story. Then there's what Malory did to Morgan. She is the incestuous, seducing sister; the betraying daughter; the evil sorceress, whose whole reason for being, from childhood to adulthood, is working out how to destroy Arthur. Guinevere causes destruction because she's too fluffy, weak and childish to know any better; she's a naughty schoolgirl. But Morgan is intelligent enough to be evil personified. When you compare the Malory version (and later ones, which derive from his) with the earlier versions, you profoundly wish that there had been a really good psychiatrist in the Tower of London, to sit Malory down and look at his issues.
I started this waffle asking 'was there a real, historical Morgan?' and the answer is that the earliest versions (written in the Celtic languages, especially Welsh, Breton and Scottish Gaelic) do mention an intriguingly suitable candidate. She is schooled in various skills compatible with being a priestess of the times. She is mentioned in separate tones to those talking about the queen (a warrior, as well as extremely capable of running the realm) and the other women around. She was almost certainly a druidess or something similiar; the wise woman or clergy of their tribe. Her name was Gwyar, later Anna (again an Anglicisation of priestess, the same source which afterwards settled on the 'gan' of 'Morgan'). Gwyar appears to have been the priestess living by the sea or on an island just off the coast of the British mainland. Whether this was up in Scotland or on Ynys Enylli (modern day Bardsey, off the coast of the Lleyn Peninsula in Wales) isn't certain.
Merch Gwyar, incidentally, translates as 'daughter of Gwyar' or, in terms more recognisable to a modern group, 'daughter of Morgan Le Faye'.
I've finished waffling now. Good quest. 
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