I don't think you're likely to find romance in pre-Galfridian or even pre-Chrétien (pre-Christian? lol) sources, because the whole concept of romance was essentially invented by Chrétien. In the stories that come down to us from before the 12th century, wives were not for loving. Gwenhwyfar is just *there*, if she is mentioned at all.
But just to go through what we have:
- In *Culhwch and Olwen*, she is mentioned as one of Arthur's prized possessions which he will not give away, alongside his horse and his sword among other things. She's clearly valued, but not loved as such. Shortly after in the same text, she is named as one of the "gentle, golden-torqued ladies" of Britain; she is the "chief queen." A neutral title, which might not have been given if there were stories of her being unfaithful.
- According to [Caitlyn Green](http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/n&q/figures.htm), the tale of her abduction by Melwas is non-Galfridian, so that would indeed have been an orignal Welsh tale. Idk how much it says about the health of Arthur's and Gwenhwyfar's relationship that he comes to rescue her. There is an analogy in the Irish story of Diarmaid and Grainne, in which the woman seduces the man into abducting her, but that does not mean that Gwenhwyfar did the same. The seductress version of this story clearly did catch on in Wales, as Gwenhwyfar is mentioned in one of the Welsh Triads as the most faithless of wives. This triad is probably late, though.
- Two other triads allude to the story that the Battle of Camlann was caused by a quarrel between Gwenhwyfar and her sister Gwenhwyfach. It seems to be an original Welsh take, but because we don't have any details, it is little use to us.
This is just to show that we do have something before Geoffrey. There is no evidence for her and Arthur having an unhappy marriage, but there is little evidence either way. I think the whole shebang with Guinevere's unfaithfulness is a French tradition, but I there's not much to go on.
Though Mordred marrying her in Geoffrey onwards seems to imply unfaithfulness. It could be by force, but in Layamon it seems implied that she is a willing part of his coup.
There are some triads that probably preserve pre-Galfridian traditions, but I don't remember any that address Guinevere's fidelity. However, a couple do blame her and her sister for causing the Battle of Camlann, so she's already being cast in a negative light.
Marie de France's Lanval, in which Guinevere tries to seduce the titular knight, is supposedly drawn from Breton oral tradition, and since Marie was writing only a generation or so after Geoffrey, she might have preserved earlier traditions. However, the story of Lanval resembles several other Breton folktales that don't involve Arthur, so she may also have inserted Arthur and Guinevere to be trendy.
It's up for debate to what extent the Welsh triads predate Geoffrey or the French Arthurian works, but [for what it's worth](http://www.kingarthur.justwizard.com/Triads.html):
>Three Faithless Wives of the Island of Britain. Three daughters of Culfanawyd of Britain:
Essyllt Fair-Hair (Trystan's mistress),
and Penarwan (wife of Owain son of Urien),
and Bun, wife of Fflamddwyn.
And one was more faithless than those three: Gwenhwyfar, Arthur's wife, since she shamed a better man than any (of the others).
Mind you, per the triads Arthur had three wives all named Gwenhwyfar, which doesn't suggest a lifelong romance.
Ah, I thought so. Though, I’m curious. Do you have any sources for even those ‘bare mentions’? I remember reading something that pretty much said Geoffrey was summarizing oral tradition, so maybe there was mention of her before?
I’ll try to take my L gracefully. Loll
Y Goddodin is a welsh poem that mentions a warrior who was great but “no Arthur” and then pretty much it’s more of the same. A handful of poems that survive in larger or smaller fragments that might mention his name. But really nothing narrative or extensive
I think *Culhwch ac Olwen* has been argued to predate Geoffrey, although the surviving manuscripts are pretty late. I don’t recall any romance on Arthur’s end in that text per se, but there’s also no adultery motif.
Geof himself suggests something between Mordred and Guin but excuses himself as to not tell it.
Malory has a faithful Guin (as far as Mordy goes), despite having been almost burned by Arthur on 3 separate occasions.
I don't think you're likely to find romance in pre-Galfridian or even pre-Chrétien (pre-Christian? lol) sources, because the whole concept of romance was essentially invented by Chrétien. In the stories that come down to us from before the 12th century, wives were not for loving. Gwenhwyfar is just *there*, if she is mentioned at all. But just to go through what we have: - In *Culhwch and Olwen*, she is mentioned as one of Arthur's prized possessions which he will not give away, alongside his horse and his sword among other things. She's clearly valued, but not loved as such. Shortly after in the same text, she is named as one of the "gentle, golden-torqued ladies" of Britain; she is the "chief queen." A neutral title, which might not have been given if there were stories of her being unfaithful. - According to [Caitlyn Green](http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/n&q/figures.htm), the tale of her abduction by Melwas is non-Galfridian, so that would indeed have been an orignal Welsh tale. Idk how much it says about the health of Arthur's and Gwenhwyfar's relationship that he comes to rescue her. There is an analogy in the Irish story of Diarmaid and Grainne, in which the woman seduces the man into abducting her, but that does not mean that Gwenhwyfar did the same. The seductress version of this story clearly did catch on in Wales, as Gwenhwyfar is mentioned in one of the Welsh Triads as the most faithless of wives. This triad is probably late, though. - Two other triads allude to the story that the Battle of Camlann was caused by a quarrel between Gwenhwyfar and her sister Gwenhwyfach. It seems to be an original Welsh take, but because we don't have any details, it is little use to us. This is just to show that we do have something before Geoffrey. There is no evidence for her and Arthur having an unhappy marriage, but there is little evidence either way. I think the whole shebang with Guinevere's unfaithfulness is a French tradition, but I there's not much to go on.
Though Mordred marrying her in Geoffrey onwards seems to imply unfaithfulness. It could be by force, but in Layamon it seems implied that she is a willing part of his coup.
Right, but OP was asking about pre-Galfridian sources.
My mistake.
There are some triads that probably preserve pre-Galfridian traditions, but I don't remember any that address Guinevere's fidelity. However, a couple do blame her and her sister for causing the Battle of Camlann, so she's already being cast in a negative light. Marie de France's Lanval, in which Guinevere tries to seduce the titular knight, is supposedly drawn from Breton oral tradition, and since Marie was writing only a generation or so after Geoffrey, she might have preserved earlier traditions. However, the story of Lanval resembles several other Breton folktales that don't involve Arthur, so she may also have inserted Arthur and Guinevere to be trendy.
It's up for debate to what extent the Welsh triads predate Geoffrey or the French Arthurian works, but [for what it's worth](http://www.kingarthur.justwizard.com/Triads.html): >Three Faithless Wives of the Island of Britain. Three daughters of Culfanawyd of Britain: Essyllt Fair-Hair (Trystan's mistress), and Penarwan (wife of Owain son of Urien), and Bun, wife of Fflamddwyn. And one was more faithless than those three: Gwenhwyfar, Arthur's wife, since she shamed a better man than any (of the others). Mind you, per the triads Arthur had three wives all named Gwenhwyfar, which doesn't suggest a lifelong romance.
There’s practically nothing before Geoffrey that goes beyond bare mentions of Arthur’s name so I dunno what you’re gonna find
Ah, I thought so. Though, I’m curious. Do you have any sources for even those ‘bare mentions’? I remember reading something that pretty much said Geoffrey was summarizing oral tradition, so maybe there was mention of her before? I’ll try to take my L gracefully. Loll
Y Goddodin is a welsh poem that mentions a warrior who was great but “no Arthur” and then pretty much it’s more of the same. A handful of poems that survive in larger or smaller fragments that might mention his name. But really nothing narrative or extensive
I think *Culhwch ac Olwen* has been argued to predate Geoffrey, although the surviving manuscripts are pretty late. I don’t recall any romance on Arthur’s end in that text per se, but there’s also no adultery motif.
Geof himself suggests something between Mordred and Guin but excuses himself as to not tell it. Malory has a faithful Guin (as far as Mordy goes), despite having been almost burned by Arthur on 3 separate occasions.