The Haughty Maiden of Logres is a character from

Arthurian legend The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The 12th-century writer Geoffr ...

, appearing in

Chrétien de Troyes Chrétien de Troyes (; ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on King Arthur, Arthurian subjects such as Gawain, Lancelot, Perceval and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's chivalric romances, including ''Erec and Enide'' ...

' ''

Perceval, the Story of the Grail ''Perceval, the Story of the Grail'' () is an unfinished verse romance written by Chrétien de Troyes in Old French in the late 12th century. Later authors added 54,000 more lines to the original 9,000 in what is known collectively as the ''Four ...

'' and works based on it. She is left nameless in Chrétien's unfinished romance, but

Wolfram von Eschenbach Wolfram von Eschenbach (; – ) was a German knight, poet and composer, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry. Life Little is known of Wolfram's life. Ther ...

, who reworked the tale for the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

epic ''

Parzival ''Parzival'' () is a medieval chivalric romance by the poet and knight Wolfram von Eschenbach in Middle High German. The poem, commonly dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, centers on the Arthurian hero Parzival (Percival in English) ...

'', calls her Orgeluse (taken from ''orgueilleuse'', the Old French word for "proud" Orguillus
in the Anglo-Norman Dictionary, 2013-7, published by the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub. Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330-1500)
by Robert Martin, published by ATILF (''Analyse et Traitement Informatique de la Langue Française'')). In Chrétien's work,

Gawain Gawain ( ), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Matter of Britain, Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and one of the premier Knights of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned und ...

meets the Haughty Maiden while travelling; she treats him with contempt and scorn. Despite her humiliating treatment, Gawain acts with unfailing courtesy towards her, accepting her insults with grace. Following her instructions to search for a nearby castle by a ford, Gawain encounters a knight who tells him that he is either very brave or foolish, for everyone who has tried to cross the perilous ford between them had drowned. Gawain realises the damsel had tried to do away with him. The knight offers to lead Gawain to a bridge, but the hero chooses to jump the ford on his horse Gringolet. He fails once, but succeeds the second time, and when he returns to the Haughty Maiden, she finally gives in and asks for forgiveness for treating him so poorly. She explains that her attitude was the result of tragic circumstances; the knight Guiromelant tried to win her love by killing her first suitor in single combat. Gawain sets off to avenge the fallen knight, but matters are complicated when Guiromelant reveals his love for Gawain's sister. The poem breaks off before the matter is resolved, though a later author (possibly Wauchier de Denain) tied up some of the loose threads in the First Continuation of ''Perceval''. Wolfram expands the story and brings it to completion. He explains that the Wounded King Anfortas had been injured fighting for Orgeluse, and was now waiting for

(Percival) to heal him. Gawain and Orgeluse express their love for each other, and eventually peace is made between the lady and Guiromelant. Orgeluse marries Gawain while Guiromelant marries the champion's sister.

References

Arthurian characters {{fantasy-char-stub