Marguerite de Gallicantu
via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
Although the legendary King Caelin is generally accepted to be, at least in the broadest possible sense, a real historical figure, most of the folkloric mythos that has come to surround him and his deeds in popular Realmgardian literary is the result of development and additions by later authors over the centuries.
Among the most significant and influential figures in the development of the corpus of King Caelin stories is the Gallicantien princess Marguerite. While mytholoy and folklore by their very nature often lack definitive versions, many of the most enduring elements found in the stories of King Caelin can be traced back by flourishes added to the tales by Princess Marguerite.
King of Gallicantu Lambert VII had an uneventful but stable reign and he is best known today for fathering fourteen children over the course of three marriages. The youngest child of his second wife was Princess Marguerite, who received an education typical of a Gallicantien princess of her day. However, as both a girl and a younger child of her father, the young Princess Marguerite spent significantly more time in the company of her teachers and tutors than her own father. Historians generally agree that this impacted her writings, as many of her protagonists are depicted as either orphans or having distant relationships with their fathers.
Although her relationship with her father remained distant all her life, as she grew older and her literary talents became known, Princess Marguerite at least had the opportunity to spend more time in his company, becoming a part of his royal entourage when she was named his court poet.
While Princess Marguerite is best-known for her lays about King Caelin and his knights — historically one of the most popular subjects among the Gallicantien nobility — she also wrote an extensive romantic account of the deeds of Emperor Theobald (also a popular subject in Gallicantu due to Emperor Theobald being an ancestor of the Gallicantien Kings), a book of moralistic fables, and numerous love poems. In fact, the recent discover of several strikingly lurid love poems penned by Princess Marguerite has caused a minor scandal among scholars.
However, her works about King Caelin are far and away her most popular works and remain widely-read even today, throughout the entire continent of Realmgard. Princess Marguerite’s most significant additions to the canon of stories about King Caelin include the love story between the knight Albert and the impoverished noblewoman Inès, the reforging of the sword Cyfaill Dewr, and the saga of Sir Darbodus and the Emerald Earl.
Many noblemen and royals even from beyond Gallicantien came to her father’s court to attempt to woo Princess Marguerite. Ultimately, she married an Aurorean noble distantly related to the royal family of Aurora, who was able to win her over by proving his own mettle as a poet. One of Princess Marguerite’s most famous books of love poetry is dedicated to her husband and it is known that the two collaborated on several famous works.
Following her father’s example, Princess Marguerite would go on to have eleven children. Following their mother’s example, each of her daughters would become respected poets in their own right.
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