Hellawes (sorceress)


Hellawes the sorceress is a character in Thomas Malory's 15th-century compilation of Arthurian legends Le Morte d'Arthur. She is lady of the Castle Nygurmous, associated with the chapel perilous in one of the quests of Lancelot.

In ''Le Morte d'Arthur''

Hellawes is a treacherous enchantress whom Sir Lancelot encounters in his pursuit of a holy sword and special cloth to heal his wounded liegeman, Sir Meliot of Logres. Hellawes is the widow Sir Gilbert the Bastard, recently slain by Meliot, and she had magically cursed Meliot so his wounds from the fight would not heal. In the story, she manages to lure the questing knight into her fearsome chapel perilous but Lancelot—who has been the object of her obsessive and unrequited love for seven years—successfully escapes with the items he needed to heal Meliot:
A similarly named but different character, also appearing in Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, is Lady Annowre of Perilous Forest. Annowre is an evil sorceress who plotted to kill Arthur out of her love of him after being scorned.

Malory's sources

The motif for her enchanted chapel originates in Perlesvaus. The character of Hellawes appears to be connected to that of Lady Helaes of Perilous Forest, also known as Helaes the Beautiful, Gawain's one-night lover from the Lancelot-Grail, whose name seems to be also an echo of Héloïse.

In popular culture