The Road to Avalon is a 1988 historical fantasy novel by Joan Wolf. The story is an adaptation of Arthurian Legend but with most of the fantastic elements taken out and a heavy focus on romance along with the requisite battles and wars.
Set in post-Roman Britain, it casts King Arthur and Morgan le Fay as Star-Crossed Lovers, each other's one true loves who are held back by duty and their blood-related family ties. Morgan, usually the archvillainess of the legend, is here very much not.
Meanwhile, Arthur struggles to unify the various squabbling Celtic tribes and petty kingdoms in the face of the advancing Anglo-Saxons, and it gets even more complicated when he has to marry. Given the legend, it doesn't end happily, but in this telling it's less the usual main players' fault than it is due to malice from outside and within and the whims of fate.
Part of a loose Thematic Series called the "Dark Ages of Britain" or "Warrior Kings" trilogy, the other two novels not being Arthurian. The second book Born of the Sun (1989) is set many decades later and features a romance between a Celtic princess and a Saxon bastard prince. The third book The Edge of Light (1990) is set centuries later and features the romance between another legendary but definitely historical king, Alfred the Great, and his eventual queen Elswyth.
Provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Merlin left the baby Arthur in the care of Igraine's serving-woman who thus retired to her humble village, but only finds out years later when he comes to take charge of Arthur personally that she died sometime ago, and Arthur was stuck living with her harsh brother who was not above beating him. Merlin blames himself for not checking up on the boy more regularly.
- Adaptational Heroism: Morgan and Mordred were both villains in the original myth.
- Adaptational Villainy: Conversely, Agravaine is made even more villainous than in the legend as he takes on Mordred's snake-in-the-grass qualities.
- Aerith and Bob: The novel mixes spellings of Arthurian names from various stages of the myth's development, like using the Celtic spellings of Cai, Bedwyr and Gwenhwyfar instead of Kay, Bedivere and Guinevere, along with name spellings from the chivalric romance literature like Meliagrance and Mordred instead of Celtic Melwas and Medraut. Plus names that look "ordinary" or "normal" out of context, like Arthur and Morgan.
- Age-Gap Romance:
- Arthur is 26 and Gwenhwyfar is 17 when their arranged marriage happens, and she genuinely falls in love with him though he only comes to see her as a dear comrade at most. This leads her into the arms of Arthur's cavalry commander Bedwyr, who is around his age.
- In the backstory this was implied with Merlin and Nimue.
- Ambiguous Situation: As Gwenhwyfar angsts over not getting pregnant, Arthur says that it might be due to him, not (only) her. Unknown to him at this point, he has already sired a son but that was years earlier, and while both of them start or resume sleeping with other people, nobody gets (or can get) pregnant again, so it's unclear if Arthur is indeed (mostly) infertile himself.
- Animal Lover: Morgan tends to take care of stray and sick animals she finds out in the fields and forests. She first bonds with Arthur over her dog Horatius and years later she gifts Arthur a dog named Cabal. She does a bit of horse whispering with Bedwyr's horse and he thinks it's magic.
- Anti-Villain: Mordred is well-meaning but naive, and at worst is duped into this role as Agravaine deceives Camelot about Arthur's defeat and death in a war in Gaul, ultimately a ploy to seize power for himself with Arthur's heir Mordred as his unwitting pawn whom he'll dispose of when it suits him. Once Mordred finds out he's been tricked and technically Trapped in Villainy with Agravaine's rebellion, he tries to escape when he has the chance.
- Big Brother Mentor: Downplayed as Cai becomes Arthur's loyal follower and infantry commander but he is a trusted adviser, and when they're growing up together, comes to regard him as a generous, supportive older brother might with a more talented younger sibling, with no sign of resentment.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Agravaine has a handsome and charming exterior, but is really a nigh-complete monster.
- Bittersweet Ending: Agravaine is defeated, but Arthur is killed.
- Brainy Brunette: Morgan has light brown hair and certainly intelligent and educated.
- Broken Pedestal: Late in the story, the noble youths in training hero-worship Bedwyr and so they're stunned after his affair with Gwenhwyfar is exposed by Agravaine leading them to catch the two in bed, and even more so after Arthur, who was turning a blind eye to it, sweeps it under the rug.
- Cain and Abel: Agravaine and Gaheris. They're Foils to each other as both have ambitions to be a king unlike their oldest and youngest siblings, but while Gaheris is loyal to Arthur as the king of Lothian, Agravaine tries to overthrow him as High King.
- Chick Magnet: The dashing blond Hunk Bedwyr has many female admirers, while the bronze-haired Head-Turning Beauty Gwenhwyfar is similarly a Dude Magnet leaving many men in awe, not quite including Arthur. Even Mordred has a crush on her though she's kind of his stepmother, which Agravaine exploits.
- Childhood Friend Romance: The premise is Morgan and Arthur having one. They grow up together Like Brother and Sister, but as they hit puberty this develops into romance and they only find out they're related after both have fallen for the other.
- Composite Character: Bedwyr is one of Bedivere and Lancelot.
- Cool Big Sis: Morgause to Morgan, who helps her with her pregnancy and raises the baby as her own son, and later goes along with Arthur's plan to continue posing as Mordred's birth mother even after Arthur acknowledges him as his son, to keep Morgan's secret safe.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Arthur reacts angrily when a nobleman asks for permission to marry Morgan after curing his boils.
- Cruel Twist Ending: Kind of a Foregone Conclusion given the legend, but here Arthur's last battle is not a total kill-em-all mess but a Curb-Stomp Battle in his favor, and he only gets mortally wounded by accident/bad luck/fate.
- Damsel in Distress: Gwenhwyfar is waylaid and kidnapped briefly by an overly-smitten admirer, a tribal chief named Meliagrance, who overestimates his own capacity to challenge Arthur. Bedwyr saves her.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Arthur had an indeterminate time living with an abusive stepfather figure which leaves scars on his body and mind, and he is a sullen quiet boy when Merlin takes him to his villa Avalon, but Morgan is the first friend he makes and he eventually recovers due to her and the others.
- Demythification: The story is mostly grounded in reality except for Arthur and Morgan's Psychic Link. Merlin is an educated former soldier and advisor, a wise man not a wizard.
- Deuteragonist: The plot revolves around Arthur and thus he's the protagonist but Morgan has a good chunk of focus as his Love Interest. Gwenhwyfar in turn is a tritagonist, getting focus as the not-love interest.
- Excalibur: Arthur's sword is never named let alone stuck in a stone, and completely ordinary except for a jewel in the hilt. Aside from that, it's only special because Arthur gets it as a belated coming of age/birthday present. Though Merlin says that Arthur will one day have Uther's own sword, this isn't elaborated upon further and this sword becomes Arthur's favored one.
- First Kiss: Arthur and Morgan's feelings for each other first boil over this way after they try to comfort each other after her dog dies of old age. They make a habit of it in secret and Their First Time happens not too long after.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Arthur and Bedwyr first meet as young teens at a fair where Bedwyr's people are selling horses (while Merlin's people are selling Avalon's apples), and after Arthur impresses Bedwyr with horse-riding, they get into a fight with muggers and quickly become friends after fighting them off.
- Give Him a Normal Life: Morgan goes along with Morgause raising her son so that he can have a stable life away from the pressures Arthur must deal with.
- Give the Baby a Father: After Morgan learns she's pregnant, Merlin suggests that she marry Cai - who will probably raise her and Arthur's child as his own without complaint - but she refuses to marry anyone but Arthur.
- Good Adultery, Bad Adultery: Arthur is born because Igraine knowingly cheated on her husband with Uther, and partly out of guilt due to the adultery and in hopes of making children properly, she goes along with Parental Abandonment. But later, Arthur and Gwenhwyfar cheat on each other with the mutual understanding that it's better for everyone this way, with no hard feelings.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Upon Morgan's pregnancy, Morgause matter-of-factly suggests that she use certain herbs to deal with it, but Morgan can't bear to do that to her and Arthur's love-child.
- Heroic Bastard: Mordred, though he is legitimized.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Arthur dies to shield Mordred.
- Historical Fantasy: It's a fairly realistic idea of how a story inspiring the Arthurian Legend could have happened in reality and the Psychic Link is the only fantasy element differentiating it from historical fiction.
- Hopeless Suitor:
- Gwenhwyfar falls in love with Arthur but he doesn't love her back the same way, which is an issue since they're already married.
- After Arthur gets married, Cai reveals to Morgan that he's quietly been in love with her all along too, though they both know her heart belongs to Arthur and vice versa. Morgan says she'd settle for him if she could, but she can't.
- Idiot Ball: Mordred successfully sneaks away from Agravaine's rebel army and is fleeing to Gaul like Morgan and Arthur advised him to, when he suddenly decides he desperately has to see his father one last time, if for no other apparent reason than to apologize... and runs right into the ongoing battle.
- Inadequate Inheritor: Mordred is groomed to be Arthur's heir and trains with the young nobles his age, but it soon becomes apparent to the older characters that he's not the natural leader Arthur is (while not a mere "follower" either, he's more of a "dreamer" as Bedwyr says). He doesn't slack off training to be a warrior and statesman, but it's clear that his heart isn't in it, and would rather do other stuff like playing music. He's left in charge along with Gwenhwyfar when Arthur goes off to war in Gaul to support an ally, to test his mettle.
- Incest Is Relative: Morgan is Arthur's mother's half-sister making him his half-aunt and they are genetically equivalent to first cousins.
- Kissing Cousins: First cousins are allowed to marry, so Arthur and Morgan use this rationale to keep their relationship going.
- Large and in Charge: Bedwyr and Cai play this straight by being big, tall men, while in contrast Arthur is more of average or lower height, shorter and thinner in build due to his Roman blood through Uther. Gwenhwyfar is tall for a woman and taller than Arthur.
- Law of Inverse Fertility:
- Igraine abandons the newly born Arthur in hopes of making proper heirs with Uther, which even Merlin is onboard with, but every child since then is stillborn and so years later they're forced to fall back on Arthur.
- Arthur marries Gwenhwyfar mostly just to produce an heir, yet she is sterile. This leads to a lot of angst on her end, as she wants to give him a child and is initially afraid he'll replace her due to her barrenness until he assures her he won't do anything of the sort. When she begins her affair with Bedwyr, she flirts with the possibility of him getting her pregnant, but it doesn't happen either.
- Averted however with Mordred's conception, as in many tellings Arthur only has to be seduced once by his sister for that to happen, but here Arthur and Morgan are implied to have knocked boots more than once in secret even after they realize the complications of their family ties, until they're forced to be apart due to Arthur's duties and Morgan finds out she's pregnant.
- However, Mordred's birth is a hard one and Morgan is given to understand she will be unable to conceive again afterward, which is another factor why she feels she can't just marry Arthur herself as he needs heirs.
- Luke, I Am Your Father:
- Merlin reveals Arthur's true backstory to him when taking him to meet Uther and Igraine for the first time since infancy, which also means he tells him he's his grandfather. Arthur realizes this means Morgan, by now his lover, is his aunt. Later back at Avalon, Merlin finally tells the story to everyone there and Morgan realizes the same.
- Years later, when Mordred goes to Camelot, Arthur and then Morgan meet with him privately to admit everything.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Not literally in effect as Uther and Igraine are sure Arthur is Uther's kid, but the fact remains that she was pregnant when he married her, so there would always be rumors that the real father was Igraine's first husband Gorlois, thus undermining any dynastic ambitions for both of them. This is part of their excuse for abandoning Arthur as a baby.
- The Medic: Morgan studies Roman and folk-style medicine from a young age and eventually becomes known as a healer. As the "Lady of Avalon" she tends to Arthur's wounded men sent her way and to others, and her skills lead to rumors of her being magical.
- Merlin and Nimue: Alluded to by way of Mythology Gag and contrasted with the mundane reality of a mere family spat. Merlin's much younger second wife Nimue was related to the British Emperor Maximus, so Uther and Igraine were wary about a rival royal dynasty in the making, and they insinuated that she must have been an enchantress who seduced him in his old age. Merlin doesn't appreciate being called old (he's just in his mid-50s when he takes Arthur in) and this sours their relationship to an extent.
- Missing Mom: Both of Merlin's wives are long dead by the time the story happens, with Nimue said to have died giving birth to Morgan.
- Mythology Gag:
- Morgan jokes to Arthur that she should start wearing magician's robes due to her reputation, and Arthur jokes back that he should set her up as his court mage.
- Bedwyr's ladies' man ways eventually leads to him getting Gwenhwyfar's servant girl named Elaine pregnant, though he says he was seduced. Elaine is sent home to bear the child i.e. Galahad since Bedwyr is the Lancelot equivalent.
- Arthur asks Morgause to continue posing as Mordred's birth mother after she and Arthur supposedly had an affair, in order to protect Morgan, and she readily agrees.
- New Child Left Behind: Merlin mulls over whether Morgause can plausibly pass off Morgan's baby as hers and Lot's using this rationale once it's born, as Lot is currently off at war challenging Arthur. He decides it's safer for Lot to be disposed of, and tells Cai to make sure he dies.
- Older Than They Look: When Gwenhwyfar first meets Morgan around a year after marrying Arthur, she's struck by her looks, as they look the same age (late teens) even though she's heard Morgan is around Arthur's age (mid/late 20s).
- Parental Abandonment:
- Uther and Igraine sending off the baby Arthur to be raised by peasants for reasons.
- Downplayed with Morgan and baby Mordred, as while she entrusts him to her sister she often visits them in Lothian and Mordred grows up fond of his "aunt".
- Pet the Dog: It appears that Agravaine is genuinely fond of his younger brother Mordred despite both fully aware that he's using him as a disposable pawn by the end, and Agravaine is even a bit apologetic to Mordred soon before the looming battle with Arthur, saying that he always liked him.
- Practically Different Generations: Morgan is one year younger than her own half-nephew Arthur and a lot younger than her eldest half-sister Igraine. Even the middle sister Morgause is a lot younger than Igraine as well.
- Psychic Link: Arthur and Morgan have this, but it is never explained how it originated.
- Puppet King: After Agravaine's treachery against Arthur is revealed and he's in open rebellion, Mordred is fully aware that he's only being used to prop up Agravaine's cause as the rightful heir himself, basically held hostage by his own brother.
- Redheads Are Ravishing: Gwenhwyfar is renowned for her beauty and has red-gold or bronze hair, with green eyes to boot.
- Related in the Adaptation: Merlin is Morgan's father by Nimue and Arthur's maternal grandfather. Igraine and Morgause are his elder daughters by a first wife. Pellinore becomes Morgause's second husband and the stepfather of her sons after Lot's death. Nimue is a granddaughter of the British emperor Maximus.
- Related Differently in the Adaptation: Arthur, Morgan and Morgause are still blood related, but they're not his sisters.
- Rescue Romance: Gwenhwyfar first beds Bedwyr after his Roaring Rampage of Rescue soon after Meliagrance waylays her.
- Romance Novel: Has strong elements of this, due to the Morgan/Arthur ship angle. Many of the author's other works are romance books. This Arthurian fantasy stands out among others for mixing the subject matter plus the historical-style approach in the "historical romance" mold.
- Secret-Keeper:
- Only Uther, Igraine and Merlin know that Uther's son with Igraine didn't die in infancy and was sent away to be raised by others. Arthur is told he is the bastard of Merlin's deceased army friend and becomes Merlin's ward at nine years old, but only finds out his relation to the king and queen and thus Merlin himself when he's 16 and being set up to succeed Uther.
- The true extent of Arthur and Morgan's relationship is kept a closely guarded secret between them and few others, and later Gwenhwyfar realizes and understands, though not without some lingering resentment/jealousy. Similarly, Arthur is aware of her affair with Bedwyr.
- Mordred's true parentage is only known to his parents, Merlin, Morgause, and later Pellinore realizes but keeps quiet.
- Morgan never even tells Arthur about her pregnancy which only Morgause and Merlin know about too.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Igraine is cold, ambitious, given to politicking and devoted to Uther, while her full sister Morgause is warm, easygoing and content as long as she has a suitable man, so she doesn't miss Lot too much as she's married off to Pellinore.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Unlike the legend which ends in a slaughter for most named characters, here the only named characters who explicitly die in the end are Agravaine and Arthur, with most if not virtually all of Arthur's forces implied to be intact and Cai, Gawain and Mordred all explicitly left alive (Kay and Gawain dying before the final battle with Mordred in the legend).
- Stay in the Kitchen: Defied by Morgan. She is not supposed to take part in Merlin's lessons to Cai and Arthur, but she insists on it.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Arthur and Morgan fall in love and want to marry once they reach adulthood, but Arthur turns out to be the hidden rightful heir to the throne and Morgan his half-aunt, so duty and blood relations get in the way, even after Arthur's power is secured years later and he could get away with Kissing Cousins if he tried. After several years of being willfully apart, they eventually give in and start an affair.
- Starter Villain: Lot has his eyes on the high kingship and challenges Uther after he presents Arthur to the chiefs and kings as his heir, and Arthur puts down his rebellion.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Arthur takes a lot after his father Uther in height, face and grey eyes and black hair, with his finer facial features coming from his also dark-haired mother Igraine. Mordred so strongly resembles him in turn that Pellinore was able to deduce his parentage when he was a toddler, and his mere arrival at Camelot years later causes a stir. It gets to the point that after Arthur is mistakenly believed dead, Mordred as the heir (as prodded by Agravaine) suggests to Gwenhwyfar that they marry to keep things stable, and though it never comes to pass, he looks so much like a younger Arthur that Gwenhwyfar flirts with him becoming her Doppelgänger Replacement Love Interest and agrees, but it's called off once Arthur is revealed to be alive.
- Succession Crisis: Uther and later Arthur having no children with their wives is an issue as they need an heir for stability.
- Surprise Incest: Morgan and Arthur only find out they're blood-related after they've fallen in love and become intimate. Even then, it's not just them being related since Kissing Cousins is acceptable, but she's his aunt.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: Both Arthur and Gwenhywfar have an extramarital affair but for the most part, neither has an issue with it since theirs was an arranged marriage and they recognize that either of them is happier with that other person.
- Teen Pregnancy: Morgan becomes pregnant with Arthur's child when they are 15/16.
- Their First Time: Morgan and Arthur first sleep together after being caught in the rain and taking shelter in a barn, where they take off their wet clothes and stuff happens. Years later, Arthur can't help thinking back to it during his wedding night with Gwenhwyfar, though it goes well enough for them that time too.
- Time Skip: Used from time to time and indicated with the characters's ages among other devices.
- Two Guys and a Girl: Arthur, Cai and Morgan grow up together in Avalon like this but the focus is on Arthur and Morgan. They're very close in age with Cai only being one year older than Arthur and two years older than Morgan.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation:
- Ector and Cai are Merlin's steward and his son, technically not Arthur's foster father and foster brother since Merlin is his overall guardian (and unbeknownst to him his grandfather).
- Gareth is Arthur and later Bedwyr's body servant (i.e. "squire") instead of being one of Morgause's children.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Merlin doesn't tell Arthur and Morgan how exactly they're related to each other until it gets complicated between them, and the repercussions from their incestuous forbidden love last all the way to Arthur's final fate.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: Morgan's most striking feature which Arthur notices even at their first meeting as children, her large brown eyes.
- World's Strongest Man: Bedwyr is this, being a matchless warrior in combat and at one point beating a bunch of Saxons in arm-wrestling when Arthur negotiates a treaty.
- Your Son All Along: When Gawain first joins Arthur, he's struck by the king looking exactly like his youngest brother Mordred. Arthur is yet unaware that he has a son so he just says that they must both take after Igraine, which Gawain accepts. Years later, Arthur finally meets Mordred in person and sees that he also strongly takes after Uther, and once told his age, immediately realizes the youth must be his and Morgan's son.
