The Lady of the Lake

The ladies of the lake

In legend they are a community of otherworldly women guarding the Sovereignty of the land, to history they are an early Christian monastery

Many communities of religious women became monastic establishments.

Nimue is most probably related to 'nemus' 'nymet' meaning 'grove' or 'sacred grove' ( A name which appears frequently in Place- names in North Devon but seldom elsewhere ).

Ygerne, the mother of Arthur, was a Lady of the Lake and her life is illustrative of what that meant. Ygerne, recorded to have been a descendant of the  nephew of Joseph of Arimathea, HELAINS., came from Lundy, the Isle of Avalon to the mainland to marry a king and bear his children,  Arthur and Morgan le Fay;  the children, Arthur and  Morgan were the offspring of the  union of  the dominant secular and religious powers in the region. Arthur was raised to be king and Morgan was raised on Lundy, isle of Avalon to become a lady of the lake

On her eventual return to  the Isle of Avalon Ygerne  assumed the lead role in that religious community, as The Lady of the Lake. When she died she was  buried with an 'Early Christian' inscription on the stone marking her grave. A stone which is still preserved on Lundy, in the cemetery on Beacon Hill, the site of the old St (H)elen's chapel

read Tennyson's poem about Merlin and Vivien