CHAPTER TWO
Beginnings: Guinevere in
Celtic Literature
“Gwehywfar, daughter of Ogfran the Giant—bad when little, worse when big.”35 — Welsh popular rhyme
Guinevere in Poetry and Literature
The origins of Guinevere in Celtic literature are shrouded in the mists of time. The extant sources were all written down after the year 1100, but likely existed orally long before then. Today, we call the people who told these tales Welsh—as the Celtic tribes of Britain were driven into what is modern-day Wales by the invading Saxons, Vikings, and Normans—but when these tales were popular, they were likely from a variety of tribes. Barring a major archeological find, where these stories began, how, and why are questions unlikely ever to be answered.
As the quote that opens this chapter illustrates
