Lyzianor
Lyzianor
The daughter of Earl Sanam, Dame Lyzianor "came thither [to Arthur] for to do homage, as other lords did after the great battle" of Bedegraine. She pleased Arthur so well that he begat on her Sir Borre, "that was after a good knight, and of the Round Table" [Malory I, 17].
This was, of course, before Arthur met Guenevere. Lyzianor seems to have been chatelaine of Karadigan Castle. [Vulgate VII, p. 206] In Vulgate II, Sommer uses Lisanor for her name, and her son by Arthur is called Lohot. To try to avoid confusion with Lyonors of Castle Dangerous, I have here preferred the variant name for Arthur's early paramour as given in Vulgate VII.
Barbara Ferry Johnson's competent novel Lionors is based on this character. Johnson's portrayal is along totally different lines from those I have etched in, making Lionors Arthur's secret, lifelong lover and also, for some reason, transforming her son into a daughter called Elise (not to be confused with the heroine of Chapman's book, King Arthur's Daughter).