The Celtic love triangle and Love rectangles.

The Celtic love triangle is characterized by three main characters. The first is the old man, who usually has a great amount of power.  The second, young, beautiful maiden, is always featured as the individual betrothed to the old man.  The third character is the young man/warrior/male figure, whom the maiden eventually falls in love with or seduces.

A love triangle (also called a romantic love triangle or a romance triangle) is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two. The relationships can be friendships, romantic, or familial.

The love triangle story structure has been around since before early classic writers like William Shakespeare and Alexandre Dumas. Shakespeare's famous play Romeo and Juliet featured a love triangle between Juliet, Romeo, and Paris. Although more subtle, Dumas's classics The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers also feature love triangles strong enough to seek revenge and start a war.

A Love rectangle (also quadrangle or quad or "love square") is a somewhat facetious term to describe a romantic relationship that involves four people, analogous to the typically three-sided love triangle. Many people use this term for a romantic relationship between two people that is complicated by the romantic attentions of two other people or one person who is complicated by the romantic attentions of three other people, but it is more frequently reserved for relationships where there are more connections.

Minimally, in a love rectangle, both male characters usually have some current or past association with both female characters. These relationships need not be sexual; they can be friendships or familial relations. Both males and/or both females can also be friends, family members (frequently siblings) or sworn enemies.

Love rectangles tend to be more complicated than love triangles. They may be a spin-off from the main love triangle, where 'as a sub-plot.

An example of a love rectangle in classic literature is in William Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, between the characters Lysander, Demetrius, Helena, and Hermia. Demetrius is granted Hermia's hand in marriage by her father, but Hermia loves Lysander, and the two flee, intending to elope. Demetrius pursues the couple, and Helena pursues Demetrius, whom she has always loved. The fairy Puck, in trying to use magic to resolve the situation, temporarily transfers both men's affections to Helena. Further tampering restores Lysander's love for Hermia. Demetrius, now in love with Helena, withdraws his claim on Hermia, and both couples are wed.

For additional terms, the word "love" can be prefixed to other polygons with the appropriate number of vertices, to reflect romantic relationships involving more people, e.g. "love pentagon" or a "love hexagon."

Folklore was turned into a popularized and evolving form of cultural connection to the past. Modern writers expand on the tales bringing them into the present day.

Such as:
Tristan and Iseult is a tale made popular during the 12th century through Anglo-Norman literature, inspired by Celtic legend, particularly the stories of Deirdre and Naoise and Diarmuid Ua Duibhne and Gráinne. It has become an influential romance and tragedy, retold in numerous sources with many variations. The tragic story is of the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan (Tristram) and the Irish princess Iseult (Isolde, Yseult, etc.). The narrative predates and most likely influenced the romance of Lancelot and Guinevere in the Matter of Britain and has had a substantial impact on Western art, the idea of romantic love, and Western literature since it first appeared in the 12th century. While the details of the story differ from one author to another, the overall plot structure remains much the same.

There are two main traditions of the Tristan legend. The early tradition comprised the French romances of two poets from the second half of the twelfth century, Thomas of Britain and Béroul. Later traditions come from the Prose Tristan (c. 1240), which was markedly different from the earlier tales written by Thomas and Béroul. The Prose Tristan became the common medieval tale of Tristan and Iseult that would provide the background for the writings of Sir Thomas Malory, the English author, who wrote Le Morte d'Arthur (c. 1469). Read More HERE

There is also:

The story of Derdriu

Deirdre or Derdriu is the foremost tragic heroine in Irish mythology and probably its best-known figure in modern times. She is often called "Deirdre of the Sorrows." Her story is part of the Ulster Cycle, the best-known stories of pre-Christian Ireland.

Details of Amoret in the Garden of Adonis (1887) by John Dickson Batten.

Deirdre was the daughter of the royal storyteller Fedlimid mac Daill. Before she was born, Cathbad the chief druid at the court of Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster, prophesied that Fedlimid's daughter would grow up to be very beautiful, but that kings and lords would go to war over her, much blood would be shed because of her, and Ulster's three greatest warriors would be forced into exile for her sake.

Hearing this, many urged Fedlimid to kill the baby at birth, but Conchobar, aroused by the description of her future beauty, decided to keep the child for himself. He took Deirdre away from her family and had her brought up in seclusion by Leabharcham, a poet, and wise woman, and planned to marry Deirdre when she was old enough. As a young girl, living isolated in the woodlands, Deirdre one snowy day told Leabharcham that she would love a man with the colours she had seen when a raven landed in the snow with its prey: hair the color of the raven, skin as white as snow, and cheeks as red as blood. Leabharcham told her she was describing Naoise, a handsome young warrior, hunter, and singer at Conchobar's court. With the collusion of Leabharcham, Deirdre met Naoise and they fell in love. Accompanied by his brothers Ardan and Ainnle, the three sons of Uisneach and Deirdre fled to Scotland. They lived a happy life there, hunting and fishing and living in beautiful places; one place associated with them is Loch Etive. Some versions of the story mention that Deirdre and Naoise had children, a son Gaiar and a daughter Aebgreine who were fostered by Manannan Mac Lir.

But the furious, humiliated Conchobar tracked them down. He sent Fergus mac Róich to them with an invitation to return and Fergus's own promise of safe conduct home, but on the way back to Emain Macha Conchobar had Fergus waylaid, forced by his personal geis (an obligation) to accept an invitation to a feast.

Fergus sent Deirdre and the sons of Uisnech on to Emain Macha with his son to protect them. When they arrived, Conchobar sent Leabharcham to spy on Deirdre, to see if she had lost her beauty. Leabharcham, to protect Deirdre, told the king that Deirdre was now ugly and aged. Conchobar then sent another spy, Gelbann, who managed to catch a glimpse of Deirdre but was seen by Naoise, who threw a gold chess piece at him and put out his eye.

The spy managed to get back to Conchobar and told him that Deirdre was as beautiful as ever. Conchobar called his warriors to attack the Red Branch house where Deirdre and the sons of Uisnech were lodging. Naoise and his brothers fought valiantly, aided by a few Red Branch warriors before Conchobar evoked their oath of loyalty to him and had Deirdre dragged to his side. At this point, Éogan mac Durthacht threw a spear, killing Naoise, and his brothers were killed shortly after.

Fergus and his men arrived after the battle. Fergus was outraged by this betrayal of his word and went into exile in Connacht. He later fought against Ulster for Ailill and Medb in the war of the Táin Bó Cúailnge (the Cattle Raid of Cooley), the Irish Iliad.

After the death of Naoise, Conchobar took Deirdre as his wife. After a year, angered by Deirdre's continuing coldness toward him, Conchobar asked her whom in the world she hated the most, besides himself. She answered "Éogan mac Durthacht," the man who had murdered Naoise. Conchobar said that he would give her to Éogan. As she was being taken to Éogan, Conchobar taunted her, saying she looked like a ewe between two rams. At this, Deirdre threw herself from the chariot, dashing her head to pieces against a rock.

There are many plays based on Deirdre's story, including George William Russell's Deirdre (1902), William Butler Yeats' Deirdre (1907), J. M. Synge's Deirdre of the Sorrows (1910), John Coulter's Deirdre of the Sorrows: An Ancient and Noble Tale Retold by John Coulter for Music by Healey Willian (1944), and Vincent Woods' A Cry from Heaven (2005). There are also three books: Deirdre (1923) by James Stephens, The Celts (1988) by Elona Malterre, and "The Swan Maiden" by Jules Watson.
Source: HERE

Love Triangles ~

Gráinne

Naoise

Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

Helen of Troy
Tristan and Iseult
Guinevere
Lancelot
Loowit

 Quote
Warned off a love triangle by one of his prospective partners, Einstein conceded to Mileva Marić that, "You have more respect for the difficulties of triangular geometry than I, old mathematicus, have."
Documentary info HERE

Love and light,

Trace

xoxo