page_title: Maleagant
section_title: Maleagant
hierarchical_section_title: Maleagant / Maleagant
caption_attribution_description: This photo of Lower Silesian Voivodeship was taken during Wikiexpedition 2013 set up by Wikimedia Polska Association.You can see all photographs in category Wikiekspedycja 2013.
context_page_description: Maleagant is a villain from Arthurian legend. In a number of versions of a popular episode, Maleagant abducts King Arthur’s wife, Queen Guinevere, necessitating her rescue by Arthur and his knights. The earliest surviving version of this episode names the abductor Melwas; as Maleagant, he debuts in Chrétien de Troyes' French romance Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart. However, all surviving versions seem to be later adaptations of a stock narrative of significantly earlier provenance.
context_section_description: Maleagant (spelled Meliagant or Meliaganz) first appears under that name in Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart by Chrétien de Troyes, where he is said to be the son of King Bagdemagus, ruler of the otherworldly realm of Gorre (the Land of No Return), and brings the abducted Guinevere to his impenetrable castle out of his one-sided love for Arthur's wife. The queen is rescued by Lancelot and Gawain; this is the first major appearance of Lancelot in Arthurian legend. In this story, Maleagant has multiple sisters, one of whom betrays him to save an imprisoned Lancelot, who had earlier helped her by beheading her enemy.
  Maleagant's role seems to have diminished as Mordred became more popular; however, Maleagant appears in most accounts of Guinevere's kidnapping. He plays that part in the Lancelot-Grail cycle and Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. In Malory's telling, Maleagant kidnaps Guinevere and her unarmed knights and holds them prisoner in his castle. After Maleagant's archers kill his horse, Lancelot has to ride to the castle in a cart in order to save the queen. Knowing Lancelot was on his way, Maleagant pleads to Guinevere for mercy, which she grants and then forces Lancelot to stifle his rage against Maleagant. Later, Maleagant learns of Guinevere's unfaithfulness to Arthur and is willing to fight in a duel at Arthur's court in an attempt to prove it to others. After Guinevere made it known that she wants Maleagant dead, Lancelot kills him even though Maleagant begs for mercy. However, this happens only after Maleagant agreed to continue fighting with Lancelot's helmet removed, his left side body armour removed, and his left hand tied behind his back (Lancelot felt it necessary to finish the bout, but would not slay Maleagant unless Maleagant agreed to continue fighting).
  In the romance Sone de Nansai, the hero Sone visits an island said to have been Meleagan's, whose father was King Baudemagus and his grandfather Tadus. Meleagan's island is perfectly square and its walls are made of crystal; there is a palace at each corner and a fountain wells up through a gilded copper horn at the center. The Sword Bridge connects the island to a causeway, a bowshot away, which leads to the mainland. In Meleagan's day, many men were beheaded there.
caption: Maleagant's abduction of Guinevere depicted in a 14th-century fresco in Siedlęcin Tower
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