Gwendolen
Encyclopedia
Meaning
Gwendolen is derived from the Welsh words "gwen" and "dolen". Both words have multiple possible meanings. The word "gwen" can mean "white", "fair" or "blessed". The word "dolen" can mean "ring", "bow" or less commonly "brow", or "hair". Thus, Gwendolen may mean "White Ring", "Fair Bow" or any other combination.History
The name Gwendolen is a modification of the name GuendoloenaQueen Gwendolen
Queen Gwendolen was a legendary ruler of Britain, whose life is described in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. According to Geoffrey, she was the wife of King Locrinus of the Britons until she defeated him in battle and took on the leadership of Britain herself.Gwendolen was the...
, a fictional queen in the Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia Regum Britanniae
The Historia Regum Britanniae is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written c. 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons in a chronological narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the British nation...
written by Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
in 1135. Geoffrey also used the name in his Vita Merlini
Vita Merlini
Vita Merlini, or The Life of Merlin, is a work by the Norman-Welsh author Geoffrey of Monmouth, composed in Latin around AD 1150. It retells incidents from the life of the Brythonic seer Merlin, and is based on traditional material about him....
to refer to a different character, Merlin's wife; the metre shows that he pronounced the name as a pentasyllable, Guĕndŏlŏēnă, with the "gu" pronounced "gw". Spelled Gwendoloena, the name appears as that of Arthur's queen Guinevere
Guinevere
Guinevere was the legendary queen consort of King Arthur. In tales and folklore, she was said to have had a love affair with Arthur's chief knight Sir Lancelot...
in the Latin romance De Ortu Waluuanii.
Arthur Hutson has suggested that Geoffrey misread the masculine Old Welsh name Guendoleu (Gwenddoleu) as Guendolen, and then chose to Latinize it. Geoffrey does not in fact use the form "Guendolen" but rather Guendoloena. In the Vita Merlini, Geoffrey Latinizes the masculine name of Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio
Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio
Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio or Gwenddolau was a Brythonic king who ruled in Arfderydd . This is in what is now south-west Scotland and north-west England in the area around Hadrian's Wall and Carlisle during the sub-Roman period in Britain...
as Guennolous.
The first records of a real person being named Gwendolen appear in the 19th century. Gwendoline was in use in England in the 1860s, and Gwendolen appeared in Daniel Deronda, written by George Eliot
George Eliot
Mary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
and published in serialized form 1874-6.
Famous people
- Gwendolen Mary JohnGwen JohnGwendolen Mary John was a Welsh artist who worked in France for most of her career. She is noted for her still lifes and for her portraits, especially of anonymous female sitters...
(1876–1939), Welsh Artist - Gwendolen Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of NorfolkGwendolen Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of NorfolkGwendolen Mary Fitzalan-Howard , Duchess of Norfolk was a daughter of the 11th Lord Herries of Terregles and his wife, Angela ....
(1877–1945), British duchess - Gwendolen Guinness, Countess of IveaghGwendolen Guinness, Countess of IveaghGwendolen Florence Mary Guinness, Countess of Iveagh , was a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom, and, by marriage, a member of the Anglo-Irish Guinness brewing dynasty....
(1881–1966), Conservative politician in the United Kingdom - F. Gwendolen ReesF. Gwendolen ReesFlorence Gwendolen Rees, FRS was a British zoologist and parasitologist. Her career was at the Zoology Department of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, where she held positions of Assistant Lecturer , Lecturer , Senior Lecturer , Reader and Professor , becoming Professor Emeritus in...
(1906–1994), British zoologist and parasitologist
Fictional characters
- Gwendolen Fairfax, a character in the play The Importance of Being Earnest
- Gwendolen HarlethGwendolen HarlethGwendolen Harleth is the heroine of George Eliot's novel Daniel Deronda; she acts as a foil to Mirah Lapidoth. The character was played by Romola Garai in the BBC's serialisation.-Biography:...
, the heroine of George Eliot's novel Daniel Deronda - Queen GwendolenQueen GwendolenQueen Gwendolen was a legendary ruler of Britain, whose life is described in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. According to Geoffrey, she was the wife of King Locrinus of the Britons until she defeated him in battle and took on the leadership of Britain herself.Gwendolen was the...
, mythical British Queen - Gwendolen, a tragic, snobbish novelist from "A Figure in the Carpet" by Henry JamesHenry JamesHenry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
. - Gwendolen, the mistress of Thomas Becket and Prince Henry II in the play Becket by Jean Anouilh.
Other
- 10870 Gwendolen10870 Gwendolen10870 Gwendolen is a main-belt asteroid discovered on September 25, 1996 by G. C. L. Aikman at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Victoria. It was named for Gwendolen Aikman, the mother of the asteroid's discoverer.- References :...
, a main-belt asteroid, named for Mary Gwendolen Ellery Read Aikman (1903–1994), an educator and mother of the discoverer.
See also
- GwenGwen (given name)Gwen is Celtic name meaning "white" in Welsh and in Breton when spelled Gwenn.Many other first names are derived from Gwen or Gwenn :*Gwenllian*Gwenffrewi *Gwenhwyfar *Gwenfair*Gwenno*Gwennan*Gwenvred*Gwendal*Gwendalynne...
, including list of alternate spellings and related names. - Gwendoline (disambiguation)
- Gwendolyn (disambiguation)