Nimue verch Wledyr ap Gwyn, or the "Lady of the Lake" was a sorceress sometime after the late 1300s who helped Ciri find her way to Stygga Castle back in 1268.
Biography[]
Nimue was born sometime in the mid 1300s, growing up in Vyrva, a small village right off the Yaruga river along with her two older sisters, including Orla. When the two were young, they liked to gather with the other village children to hear the storyteller Stribog tell them about past legends, like that of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri. In particular, Orla and Nimue wanted to hear more about the love story between the witcher and sorceress. It was from these stories that Nimue decided she wanted to become a mage or, if she couldn't, an archer like Milva.[1] However, many in the village considered this no more than a pipe dream, with many of them getting married and pregnant by the time they were teens.
Wanting something different for herself, a determined Nimue set off when she was of appropriate school age for Aretuza in 1373, traveling half the continent to reach the magical school. During this time she bumped into a white-haired witcher in Magpie Forest, who saved her from being killed by a creature tagged as IDR UL Ex IX 0008 BETA.[2]
Seeing Ciri for the first time[]
She was able to successfully make her way to the school after that and by the time she was 18, she was a novice sorceress.[3] During this time, while having a rendezvous with a male acquaintance one night by a lake, Nimue saw a unicorn and an ashen-haired female on top of a black horse appear, hovering over the water's surface, and Nimue immediately recognized them from the stories she was told in her childhood. However Ciri, who was trying to find her way back home, saw not only was she not in the right place or time, but had also accidentally intruded on the couple having sex. She quickly apologized for the intrusion and disappeared just as quickly as she had arrived, much to Nimue's dismay as she tried to cry out too late for Ciri to not leave.
Many years later, Nimue took up residency in a private tower on a lake island, where she dedicated much of her time to trying to learn the full truth of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri's saga. This included scouring images depicting scenes of their stories, as well as all the books, fables and legends that contained any information about Ciri's history. She even recruited an assistant, Condwiramurs Tilly, an oneiromancer, who helped with her knowledge of ballads and singing.[3]
Helping Ciri return home[]
During this time, the two were able to piece together the saga, including parts that were altered or lost to time. However, one issue still remained: they knew that Ciri, still not able to fully control her time traveling abilities, would need help finding her way back home, and so Nimue and Tilly would sit out on the tower's terrace every night, awaiting for when she'd appear there to guide her back. However, every night went by without any appearances.
One night though, Nimue and Tilly discussed Ithlinne's Prophecy, which Tilly refused to believe until Nimue reasoned how it was pretty certain with how their world was changing over the centuries: places that never froze during the winter were now regularly freezing to the point crops they used to be known for could no longer be cultivated due to the cold and it was getting worse and worse with every century. Seeing this logic, Tilly asked how long before Nimue believed the prophecy would come to pass, who noted it'd be at least 3 thousand years, giving Tilly some small solace in it being far off into the future. As the discussion wrapped up, suddenly the lake's appearance altered and Ciri appeared on her horse, once more hovering over the lake's surface. Without hesitation, Nimue set forth her plan to help Ciri, activating a tapestry that, with the help of Hartmann's looking glass, created a portal to Stygga Castle back in Ciri's time of 1268 to help her family and friends. Nimue then called out to Ciri to take the portal as it'd take her home and that she could trust the sorceress, having seen each other before. Ciri acknowledged she did remember seeing Nimue long ago, thanked the sorceresses for their assistance, and rode through the portal. After the portal dissolved, Nimue and Tilly hugged in silence for a time before they both called out good luck to the departed Ciri.[3]
Trivia[]
- Nimue is a name given to many female characters in the Matter of Britain literature. Nimue was the name of the "Lady of the Lake", who gave Excalibùr to King Arthur; the name of the woman who brought the dying king in Avalon; the name of the woman who took care of young Lancelot; the name of the sorceress who seduced and imprisoned Merlin. In all these cases, Nimue is doubtly a human but a mythological creature like a nymph or a nereid.
- Her name can be translated from Welsh language as "Nimue, daughter of Wledyr, son of Gwyn". There is interesting fact, Gwyn ap Nudd is the King of the Wild Hunt in Welsh mythology.
- Technically, this format doesn't follow traditional Welsh: "verch" is only used for daughters while "ap" for sons, such that it should be "Nimue verch Wledyr" without the "ap Gwyn". The latter part may have been added on as part of Andrzej Sapkowski's witcher lore.