" (Crystalinks) it seems that Guinevere is actually wearing a good deal more than one would expect from a Celtic warrior, and her knotty outfit is fitting. However, critics are fair in complaining that she might perhaps be wearing a bit too little for the weather. Speaking of minor inconsistencies, it seems a bit odd that Guinevere's broken hands heal almost overnight - and subsequently don't interfere with her shooting.
Guinevere's clothing and hands are not the only thing critics point to; they also suggest that she is being presented in a historically inaccurate way as a female warrior. In many movies it may be true that women are ahistorically buffed up - however, this is not necessarily one of those cases. While the historical Gwenhyvar is unlikely to have been a warrior, there is no historical reason to suggest that she was not a warrior. Celtic women were considered equal with the men, and many of them went into battle. An article published in Keltria: Journal of Druidism and Celtic Magic, explains how primary sources indicate that "Celtic women also took an energetic part in melee. It was said that a Celtic man with his wife could hold off an entire troop of Roman soldiers... On the whole, these female champions are described as both beautiful and courageous....Sometimes referred to as Ban-faith or 'prophetess' they were experts in divination and supernatural wisdom." (Hansen)
That Guinevere might be such a warrior-prophetess would explain her close relationship with Merlin, and also the meaning of her Celtic name Gwenhyvar (which, as mentioned above, labels her as an enchantress). Celtic women were not only active in military arts, they were leaders in society and frequently considered to be in charge of the initiation and training of male warriors. This historical element may contribute to the way in which Guinevere in this story selects Arthur and prepares him for battle.
Celtic culture was matrilineal, which is to say that inheritance and power is determined not in the passage from father to son, but from mother to child. Most great warriors were training in their craft by women, and one assumes that if Arthur had lived among the Celts as a young child and come to military age among them, he no doubt would have been trained by a woman - particularly in a mythical sense, as he was destined to be a great hero. Another great mythical hero of that era, Cu Chulain, sought out his female war-teacher across the water on an island of shadows (not unlike Arthur's quest to find Guinevere in old Welsh texts). This warrior queen "was reputed to be the matron of self-defense and female independence as well as the guardian of young people who seek to know their full potential. Men came from further afield than Gaul to train with. her, and if they passed her rigorous tests they were more feared than any other fighting men." (Fox) Cthulain was then trained by her to be the strongest warrior in land. Arthur may be related to Chulain in terms of mythological development or even historically, as many of the same stories are associated with them. The warrior-queen who trained Cthulain was also Ban-faith, an enchantress, and this creates a new sense of why the 2004 movie portrays Guinevere as a warrior. The transformation of Guinevere becomes appropriate in this sense - that because her name indicated her being an enchantress in the original texts, and because there is a strong historical link between female warriors and enchantresses, she becomes a warrior in this version and responsible for Arthur's rise to power.
So far, it has become apparent that Bruckheimer's Guinevere is not historically accurate at all in terms of linear, historical facts. She is not, one might say, biographical. However, it is also relatively clear that this is the...
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