I get questions now and again about my old guild in World of Warcraft. I thought perhaps I could answer some of those questions here. My girlfriend ( Michelle ) at the time and myself formed the guild, The Joyous Guard, just to allow our friends and ourselves to associate and share intel via Gatherer and other guild associated utilities. 

Now, one question keeps coming up, why the name Joyous Guard. I can’t tell you how many times I received tells from folks commenting on the name or asking what it was from. I liked it as I love to tell the story. For a brief time I had a website with this name as well and it is my company name too. So, without further ado, the answer to “What is The Joyous Guard”.

The Joyous Guard was two things, both from Arthurian Legend. Firstly, it was the name of Lancelot’s castle in Northumberland. Secondly, it was the name given to the guard of the aforementioned castle. Both of these references come from the Vulgate Cycle of the Arthurian Legends and specifically source from a body of work known as “the Galehaut”. It is the first major story set in the legends after the “Legend of Excalibur”.

The castle and it’s guards had a curse upon them and were known as the Dolorous Guard until Lancelot broke the curse and from that time forward the castle and the soldiers were renamed to The Joyous Guard.

Lancelot’s castle is thought by many scholars to be Bamburgh Castle.

Bamburgh Castle and the surrounding water

Bamburgh Castle

It certainly existed during the proper time and the history of the surrounding area lends some weight to the theory, but it is not like there is any proof. Though it is tough with Lancelot to find proof as he went about without crest ( long story ) making him the first really well known “Black Knight”.

Now, a little backstory on Lancelot. He was both the finest battler of the knights and at the same time the most flawed and doomed of the Knights of the Round Table. Though he loved Arthur, he loved Arthur’s wife, Guinevere. This led to much tension and lots of Lancelot not being around court with the rest of the A-Team knights. Eventually, Lancelot would betray Arthur’s trust and well … it was bad.

The Accolade by Leighton Edmund Blair

The Accolade by Leighton Edmund Blair
Guinevere and Lancelot

Because of this, in no way should one associate my use of Joyous Guard with an unrestrained vote of favor to Lancelot. His was a tragic figure and certainly there were many good things about him, but my use of Joyous Guard stems from the beautiful connotations of the words themselves and the history of the castle and guard itself. Just wanted to make that one clear :)

Excalibur the movie got the story of Lancelot down pretty well, at least for a modern retelling. Most movies tend to make it a bit too sultry and a bit too open as the relationship between the star crossed lovers was not one they were proud of at all. Check out this clip from Excalibur and note “The Picard” making a quick appearance as well ;)

 

I will love you always
I will love you as my queen and as the wife of my best friend
and while you live I will love no other

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