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Lady Orlansky has had a distinguished career in research and has written several in depth books about the Arthurian legends. Whilst researching Elizabethan houses in England, she was fortunate in discovering this old manuscript attributed to Sir Bors de Ville in 2004. These were stored in an old archive at the history library of Hereward Hall, at the time a semi-derelict and neglected Elizabethan house near Frome in Somerset. She has translated the text into a readable modern English style which is accessible to all.
Lady Orlansky discovered that the tale had first been told fourteen hundred years before this time by Sir Bors de Ville. He was a relative of one of the knights of King Arthur’s court who – so it is reputed – recounted this amazing tale to a group of the knights who had gathered at his castle for a jousting event one winter. It should be noted that the knights to whom he spoke would almost all have known Gawain in person. He was a favourite at the court and the respected nephew of the king.
Lady Orlansky has – following her intriguing discovery - reflected how this tale has brought to light an occurrence that will be a surprise to many. Her research has therefore perhaps found the original legend concerning the creation of a living person that rivals Mary Shelley’s monster, Frankenstein. Merlin would have been impressed and doubtless jealous of these findings. The salient difference is that the ‘Mysterious Lover’ is a delightful enchantress, in love with Sir Gawain and who protects him from evil at the cost of her own strength and vitality.
Whilst working on old maps and historical books of the sixth and seventh century at the Hall, Lady Veronica originally found the tattered manuscript penned in Middle English by an anonymous author. This had been hidden in a mysterious manner in a massive wooden, leather-bound trunk wrapped in silver mesh and within the body armour of a sixth century knight.
She was shown the way to the Hall itself during the middle of one bitterly cold winter’s evening by an emaciated old lady dressed in a rough cloth cloak and clogs. Although surprised at the sight of a person wearing these unusually ancient garments, she had assumed that the frail lady was the caretaker for the Hall. However, upon enquiring later where this elderly retainer was to be found, she was told that no-one locally knew any person of that description. The old lady in the cloak had completely disappeared!
Unfortunately, the following year, the fusty library inside which she discovered the ancient text was burnt down as the result of an unexplained fire. Nothing now remains of the Hall but the site itself is said by some local folk to be haunted by the ghost of a grief-stricken knight on horseback searching the ruins.
Many of the local villagers swore that they had seen Merlin’s ghost too who had returned as an arsonist revengeful in his fury. Legend has said that it was reputed Merlin was jealous of his brother magician’s powerful ability to be able to materialise the ultimate creation – a human life.
Lady Orlansky was herself fascinated in this story – and discovered it had been told originally by Sir Bors - of how that same magician had endeavoured successfully to create a living likeness of Elaine, said by many to be Gawain’s future bride. Following this, the magician nurtured and slowly grew his protegée into a young and lovely maiden, identical in every way to Elaine yet, as can be seen in Book Two of this series, with a will and character of her own.
The readers will now be able to discover for themselves what magic has been used. They may well ask the question ‘What modern manifestations of this miraculous sorcery do we currently fear?’ The continuing experiments now impact on everyone’s life. Some may say that, imbued with hope for a better state of health and in the name of progress with the experiments to prolong or create life, we continue experimenting, albeit at our peril. In Lady Orlansky’s view, only the future will tell us whether Merlin or his rival magician held the true secret of creating life. |  |
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