Annowre

Annowre is a sorceress whose effort to win King Arthur’s affection turns into a plot against his life. In the Forest Perilous, her deception places Arthur in mortal danger; the Lady of the Lake finds Sir Tristram and leads him to the scene, where he saves the king and Annowre is killed.

Identity and Introduction

Annowre is introduced as a lady who comes to Arthur at Cardiff and persuades him, through promises, to ride with her into the Forest Perilous in North Wales. The account identifies her as a great sorceress and says she had loved Arthur for many days. Her apparent invitation thus conceals a more dangerous purpose: she has brought the king into a place where she can try to destroy him.

The Plot Against Arthur

At her tower, Annowre asks Arthur to love her. He refuses, remembering his own lady, and her aims shift from winning his affection to arranging his death. She repeatedly sends him riding in the forest with his own knights, intending that he be killed. The episode presents her enchantment not as a power that can compel Arthur’s consent, but as a means of drawing him into peril after he resists her.

Tristram’s Intervention

The Lady of the Lake, friendly to Arthur, learns through her craft that he is in danger and goes into the forest to seek Sir Launcelot or Sir Tristram, either of whom might help. She meets Tristram and warns him that a great knight is in dire trouble; when she identifies the endangered man as Arthur, Tristram agrees to go at once. At a small turret or castle, they find Arthur on foot, fighting two knights. After the attackers bring him down, Annowre takes Arthur’s sword and moves to strike him. Tristram charges in, calls her traitorous, and defeats the two knights, preventing her from killing Arthur.

Death and Narrative Role

The Lady of the Lake calls on Arthur not to let Annowre escape. Arthur overtakes her and kills her with the same sword she had taken up against him. The Lady of the Lake then takes Annowre’s head and hangs it from her saddle bow. Tristram helps Arthur mount and accompanies him until they meet other knights, but asks that his name remain undisclosed for the time being. Annowre’s episode therefore concludes with the reversal of her attempted ambush: the king she had drawn into danger survives through the intervention of a knight whose identity he does not yet know, while the sorceress is killed at the scene of her failed attack.