What is Elaine's real name in King Arthur?
Elaine of Corbenic (also known as Amite, Heliaebel, Helaine, Perevida or Helizabel; identified as "The Grail Maiden" or "Grail Bearer"), is a character in the Arthurian legend. She is the daughter of King Pelles and the mother of Sir Galahad by Sir Lancelot.
Who is Elaine the White?
Also referred to as Elaine the White and Elaine the Fair, she is the daughter of Bernard of Astolat. Versions of her story appear in Sir Thomas Malory 's Le Morte d’Arthur and Alfred Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King.
Who is Elaine in Hamlet?
In Malory’s sprawling work, Elaine (or Elayne) is the name of five women with overlapping identities. The best known and most cited of these is Elaine Le Blank, known as the Fair Maid of Astolat, who falls in love with Lancelot, provokes Guinevere ’s jealousy, and eventually dies of love for the knight.
What is the purpose of Elaine in King Arthur?
Though tragic, Elaine's character is often forgotten as a substantial woman in Arthurian mythology. Her only real purpose appears to be to reveal how Lancelot's affection for Guinevere could not be swayed, even though his romance with the queen was forbidden.
Did Elaine marry Lancelot?
Like the more famous Elaine, Elaine of Corbenic is in love with Lancelot. Yet unlike Astolat, she is successful in both bedding and marrying Lancelot.
Is Elaine The Lady of the Lake?
Following the conquest of their kingdom of Benoic (Benwick) by King Claudas, the death of her husband, and the taking of the infant Lancelot by the Lady of the Lake, Elaine becomes known as the Queen of Great Sorrows, living as a nun along with her sister Evaine, the widowed wife of King Bors and mother of Sir Lionel ...
Is the Lady of Shallot Elaine?
Elaine of Astolat, a character closely related to the Lady of Shalott, is an innocent maiden who falls deeply in love with Sir Lancelot. When he does not return her love, she dies of grief and floats in a barge down the river to Camelot.
How did Elaine trick Lancelot?
After Elaine spends five years in the tub, Lancelot arrives at Corbenic and frees her from her torment. With the assistance of her handmaiden, the sorceress Brisen, Elaine tricks Lancelot into sleeping with her, and she conceives Galahad. Later, Elaine visits Camelot and tricks Lancelot into her bed once again.
Is the Lady of the Lake Merlin's daughter?
When Nimue and Merlin meet in the fifth episode, she asks the wizard why her mother instructed her to bring him the sword. By the end, viewers learn that not only did he and her mother have a relationship, but Nimue is actually Merlin's daughter.
Who was King Arthur's second wife?
In all instances, Queen Guinevere is portrayed as beautiful and desirable, and depending on the book or tradition, she either willfully assisted Mordred in his treachery against King Arthur, or was forced into it. Giraldus Cambrensis says the cross claimed Guinevere as Arthur's “second wife”.
Who did Lancelot marry?
LancelotSir LancelotFamilyBan, Elaine of Benoic, Lady of the Lake, Hector de MarisSpouseElaine of CorbenicSignificant otherGuinevere, possibly GalehautChildrenGalahad12 more rows
Who falls in love with Lancelot?
Lancelot, also spelled Launcelot, also called Lancelot of the Lake, French Lancelot du Lac, one of the greatest knights in Arthurian romance; he was the lover of Arthur's queen, Guinevere, and was the father of the pure knight Sir Galahad.
What was the curse of The Lady of Shalott?
Through her curse, she is unable to look outside of her window into the real world. As a result, she is forced to live a life where she weaves a tapestry all day every day unable to see the world except through the reflection of her mirror.
Did Guinevere cheat on Arthur with Lancelot?
She is seen by the people of Camelot as a devoted supporter of her husband's deeds and ideas. Even after she betrays Arthur by having an affair with Lancelot, Guinevere regrets the betrayal and stays with Arthur, devoting herself to no other man even after his death.
Who did Queen Guinevere fall in love with and why was it a scandal?
King Arthur is portrayed as a righteous man, blinded by his love for Guinevere, despite his chief adviser, Merlin, warning him about the inevitable affair with Lancelot. One of the most significant controversies surrounding Queen Guinevere is her alleged affair with Lancelot.
What killed King Arthur?
Before going away for battle, Arthur left Mordred (his nephew) temporarily in charge of Camelot. But power-thirsty Mordred soon wanted the kingdom for himself, which resulted in a swordfight between Mordred and Arthur that ended in the deaths of both of them.
Who is Our Lady of the Lake?
This is translated as "Our Lady of the Lake", making reference to Mary, mother of Jesus as the Lady of the Lake, evidencing fusion between Arthurian legend and middle-Christian history.
What is the name of the lady in the lake?
VivianeThe Lady of the Lake, also known as Viviane or Nimuë, is an enchantress who lives in a castle beneath a lake surrounding the island of Avalon. According to legend, she is most famous for giving Arthur the magical sword Excalibur, for fostering Sir Lancelot after his father's death and for imprisoning Merlin in a tree.
Is Freya the Lady of the Lake?
Freya was a Druid girl who fell in love with Merlin, who she met when he helped her to escape from the bounty hunter Halig. She later died on the shores of the Lake of Avalon, after which she became the Lady of the Lake.
Did Arthur get Excalibur from the stone or the Lady of the Lake?
Excalibur is given to Arthur through magical means, by the Lady of the Lake; it is not a weapon forged in this world but in another. The sword comes from this other realm and, once Arthur is defeated and dying, it must be returned there.
What is the name of the lady in the book "Lancelot and Elaine"?
In “Lancelot and Elaine” (1859; part of Idylls of the King) she is called “the lily maid of Astolat.”. By her request her dead body is placed on a barge, a lily in her right hand and a letter avowing her love and Lancelot’s innocence in her left.
What is the Arthurian legend?
Arthurian legend. Arthurian legend, the body of stories and medieval romances, known as the matter of Britain, centring on the legendary king Arthur. Medieval writers, especially the French, variously treated stories of Arthur’s birth, the adventures of his knights, and the adulterous love between his knight Sir Lancelot and his queen, Guinevere.…. ...
Who is the sister of Galahad?
A third Elayne is the sister of Morgawse and Morgan le Fay in the opening pages of the epic.
Who wrote the story of the Knights of the Round?
It retells the adventures of the knights of the Round…. Thomas Malory , English writer whose identity remains uncertain but whose name is famous as that of the author of Le Morte Darthur, the first prose account in English of the rise and fall of the legendary king Arthur and the fellowship of….
Who is Lancelot's mother?
Lancelot’s mother, the wife of King Ban, is also named Elaine. Yet another Elayne appears as a minor character, the daughter of King Pellinore. The character also appears in two works by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. In “ The Lady of Shalott ” (1832), Tennyson develops Malory’s Elaine Le Blank.
Who is the Fair Maid of Astolat?
The best known and most cited of these is Elaine Le Blank, known as the Fair Maid of Astolat, who falls in love with Lancelot, provokes Guinevere ’s jealousy, and eventually dies of love for the knight.
What book does Elaine appear in?
In modern stories. Elaine appears in the 1939 novel The Once and Future King , by T.H. White. Although the basic character does not change, there are several key differences. Time is more definitely specified in this version; for instance, when Elaine finds Lancelot in the garden, Galahad is three years old.
Who is Elaine's father?
In the version of the legend as told by Thomas Malory in Le Morte d'Arthur (based on the Queste part of the French Vulgate Cycle ), Elaine's father, King Pelles of Corbenic, knew that the near-perfect knight Lancelot would have a son with Elaine, and that that child would be Galahad, "the most noblest [sic] knight in the world".
What is Elaine's role in The Mists of Avalon?
Elaine also appears as a character in The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. In this version, she tricks Lancelot with the help of Morgaine into sleeping with her by making him believe she was Gwenhwyfar. Her father finds out and forces Lancelot to marry her to keep her honor. She and Lancelot, in addition to their son Galahad, have two daughters by the names of Gwenhwyfar and Nimue, who later becomes a priestess of Avalon and is used to trick Merlin into coming with her to the isle to receive punishment for perceived crimes against the Goddess and later drowns herself. Unlike the Elaines in earlier stories, she dies of natural causes later in the book.
Why is Elaine sad when Lancelot sees her?
Thereafter, there is a feast at King Arthur 's court, and Elaine goes to it. Lancelot ignores her when he sees her, and she is sad because she loves him. She complains of this to Dame Brusen, and Dame Brusen tells her that she will "undertake that this night he [Lancelot] shall lie with [her]".
What does Elaine do when Lancelot goes mad?
Lancelot goes mad with grief and, naked, jumps out a window and runs away. Elaine confronts Guinevere as to her treatment of Lancelot. She accuses Guinevere of causing Lancelot’s madness and tells her that she is being unnecessarily cruel. After this, she leaves court.
Why is Elaine of Carbonic so ignored?
Yet unlike Astolat, she is successful in both bedding and marrying Lancelot. Despite this, she has been overlooked by most literary analysts. One theory for why she has been so ignored is because of the moral ambiguities of her actions. She does not fit into a neat category of female characters; she is neither good nor evil, but something in between. Roger Sherman Loomis 's work The Grail: From Celtic Symbol to Christian Myth draws a connection between the concept of the feminine "Grail-bearer" and the sovereignty goddess of Ireland, Ériu, who grants the chalice to only the worthy.
What is the story of Elaine and Launcelot based on?
Based on Malory's account of the three brief encounters of Launcelot and Elaine in Le Morte d’Arthur, it chronicles Elaine’s journey through abandonment to the finding of inner strength and deepening wisdom. Elaine also appears as a character in The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
Who wrote the story of Elaine?
The most widely read story of Elaine was written in the fifteenth century by English author Sir Thomas Malory, who himself did not invent the story of Elaine, but merely combined numerous different Arthurian love and honor stories into the large text, Le Morte d'Arthur (‘The Death of Arthur’).
What did Elaine leave her family?
Rather, Elaine left her family specific instructions of how to care for her corpse upon her demise. She dictated that she should be laid in a rowboat, with a lily in one hand and a letter she'd penned in the other, and floated down the Thames River.
What is the purpose of Elaine the Fair?
Elaine the Fair, the Lady of Shalott, comes down through Arthurian legend with seemingly only one purpose: to love Lancelot and , in doing so, reveal his undying affection for the queen of Camelot, Guinevere. However, the extensive number of retellings of her story, ...
How does Elaine see Lancelot?
Through this window is how Elaine sees Lancelot, riding by without exchanging a single word with the Lady, but she falls in love with him nonetheless. Her curse comes to fruition when she abandons her work and attempts to look beyond the mirror, out a window, to follow where he is going.
Why does Bernard wear a white token?
Bernard's daughter Elaine, only now introduced, falls for him almost immediately and requests that he wear a white token in honor of her, a feat he has never done because of his unending love for Arthur's queen. Yet since he is in disguise, he agrees.
Who did Lancelot go to?
After a series of incidences in which Lancelot is shown to participate in jousting activities against King Arthur's court, always in disguise, Lancelot is shown to go to the court of Sir Bernard of Astolat and participate on Bernard's behalf in one of Arthur's tournaments. Bernard's daughter Elaine, only now introduced, ...
Does Le Morte d'Arthur start with Elaine?
Though Book 18 of Le Morte d'Arthur does not begin with Elaine, the reader is given a brief overview of Lancelot's goings on since the end of his quest, most notably that he has taken up his affair with Queen Guinevere once again, and that King Arthur has in fact become suspicious of the pair.
What is the story of Elaine and Bernard?
In Malory's 15th-century Le Morte d'Arthur, Elaine's story begins when her father Bernard of Astolat organizes a jousting tournament, attended by King Arthur and his knights. While Sir Lancelot was not originally planning to attend, he is persuaded otherwise and visits Bernard and his two sons before the tournament. While Lancelot is in her family's household, Elaine becomes enamored of him and begs him to wear her token at the coming tournament. Explaining that Guinevere would be at the tournament, he consents to wear the token but says that he will have to fight in disguise so as not to be recognized. He asks Bernard if he can leave his recognizable shield with him and borrow another. Bernard agrees and lends him the plain-white shield of Sir Torre, Elaine's brother.
Who wrote the ballad of Elaine?
Fowler Wright, S [ydney] (1874–1965), The Ballad of Elaine (from the S. Fowler Wright Website)
Who did Lancelot fight against in the jousting tournament?
Lancelot goes on to win the jousting tournament, still in disguise, fighting against King Arthur's party and beating forty of them in the tournament. He does, however, receive an injury to his side from Bors ' lance, and is carried off the field by Elaine's other brother, Sir Lavaine, to the hermit Sir Baudwin's cave (Baudwin being a former knight of the Round Table himself). Elaine then urges her father to let her bring the wounded Lancelot to her chambers, where she nurses him. When Lancelot is well, he makes ready to leave, and offers to pay Elaine for her services; insulted, Elaine brings him his shield, which she had been guarding, and a wary Lancelot leaves the castle, never to return but now aware of her feelings for him.
What is the story of the Demoiselle d'Escalot?
A version of the story appeared in the early 13th-century Mort Artu, in which the Demoiselle d’Escalot dies of unrequited love for Lancelot and drifts down a river to Camelot in a boat. Another version is told in the 13th-century Italian novella La Donna di Scalotta, (No. LXXXII in the collection Cento Novelle Antiche).
Overview
Legend
She first appears in the Prose Lancelot, a part of the Vulgate Cycle, as an incredibly beautiful woman named Heliabel but known as Amite (in one spelling variant of these names). Her first significant action is showing the Holy Grail to the near-perfect knight, Sir Lancelot.
In the version as told by Thomas Malory in Le Morte d'Arthur, based on the later Queste part of the Vulgate Cycle, Lady Elaine's father, King Pelles of Corbenic, knew that Lancelot would have a son …
Origin
Her character is derived from the earlier (and later separate) figure of Percival's sister, and possibly also from that of Arthur's sister. Under her "Amite" name she was furthermore linked to Amice from Meraugis de Portlesguez. Roger Sherman Loomis's work The Grail: From Celtic Symbol to Christian Myth draws a connection between the concept of the feminine "Grail-bearer" and the sovereignty goddess of Ireland, Ériu, who grants the chalice to only the worthy.
Analysis
Elaine of Corbenic is often passed over in favor of Elaine of Astolat. Like the more famous Elaine, Elaine of Corbenic is in love with Lancelot. Yet unlike Astolat, she is successful in both bedding and marrying Lancelot. Despite this, she has been overlooked by most literary analysts. One theory for why she has been so ignored is because of the moral ambiguities of her actions. She does not fit into a neat category of female characters; she is neither good nor evil, but somethin…
Modern stories
Elaine appears in the 1939 novel The Once and Future King, by T.H. White. Although the basic character does not change, there are several key differences. Time is more definitely specified in this version; for instance, when Elaine finds Lancelot in the garden, Galahad is three years old. Additionally, Elaine and Lancelot live together as husband and wife for ten years and actively raise Galahad while Lancelot bears a pseudonym to hide from the court at Camelot. Another key diffe…
See also
• List of Arthurian characters
Further reading
• Batt, Catherine. Malory's Morte Darthur: Remaking Arthurian Tradition. New York: Palgrave, 2002. Print. (A monograph comparing the relationship between Lancelot and Elaine in Malory with the French text that he based Morte Darthur on, specifically concerning the circumstances of her rape of Lancelot.)
• Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur: The Winchester Manuscript. Ed. Helen Cooper. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 1998. Print. (Chronicles Elaine's seduction of La…
External links
• “Arthurian Women.” Jimmy Joe, 1999. Web. 24 June 2006. An encyclopedia article covering her name, beauty, and genealogy.
• “Houses of the Grail Keeper and the Grail Hero.” Jimmy Joe, 1999. Web. 24 June 2006. – An article tracing Elaine of Carbonek’s lineage back to Joseph of Arimathea.