Did the Lady of the Lake and Mab really exist?
The lady of the lake was an interesting character in that some legends claimed she lived underwater, thrusting Excalibur from the water, holding it up for Arthur to claim. Other versions claim that she was from where Lancelot came from. In some versions, Lancelot’s name is Lancelot du lake. The last nake “du lake” means of the lake. The suggestion is that this is a location/township/settlement rather than an actual lake. However, it’s sometimes noted that Lancelot was raised by “fey” which is fairy folks. King Arthur is real only in the composite sense. “Composite” means made up of different folks from legends. There is evidence of an actual King Arthur, but that doesn’t mean that ALL of the legends about him actually even involved him in any way. It’s beleived that the lady of the lake comes as a composite of various pagan legends, and that she was never considered to be human, and therefore never a real person to begin with.
