Vivienne

Vivienne was the wife of Gorlois and the assumed mother of Morgause and the mother Morgana Pendragon.

Biography
When Gorlois was away on the Northern Plains, Vivienne had a brief affair with Uther Pendragon and later gave birth to Morgana. She had Gorlois believe that he was the father of her second child and it is likely that he never found out about his wife's affair. Vivienne was a witch and passed on her magical powers to her two daughters. She possessed a healing bracelet that was forged on the Isle of the Blessed, which she gave to Morgause when she was smuggled from Camelot. Morgause later passed the bracelet on to Morgana.

Despite being magical, Uther likely chose not to have her executed because she was the mother of his illegitimate daughter, Morgana. Because of the dangers of the Great Purge, Gaius was asked to smuggle Morgause out of Camelot after she was born and give her to the High Priestesses of the Old Religion. Uther was led to believe that Morgause had died shortly after her birth.

It remained unknown what happened to Vivienne after Morgana's birth. As Morgana spoke only of Gorlois and did not refer to her mother, Vivienne may have died before her husband. There also remained the possibility that Vivienne was a sister of Ygraine, Tristan and Agravaine.

In the Legend
Vivienne, spelled Viviene, is one of the names for the Lady of the Lake. Also known as Nimueh or Ninane, she is the one who gives Excalibur to Arthur, steals the infant Lancelot and traps Merlin in a stone.