Elaine is a name shared by several different female characters in Arthurian legend.

[edit] Elaine of Carbonek

See also Guinevere, King Arthur, Lancelot, Galahad, and Holy Grail

"How at the Castle of Corbin a maiden bare in the Sangreal and foretold the achievements of Galahad" by Arthur Rackham

[edit] Story

"Elaine of Carbonek or Corbin" (also known as Amite, Heliaebel, Helaine, Perevida or Helizabel; identified as "The Grail Maiden" or "Grail Bearer")¹, is a character in the Arthurian legend. She is the daughter of King Pelles and the mother of Sir Galahad by Sir Lancelot. She first appears in The Prose Lancelot (The Vulgate Cycle)² , but fully emerges as a character in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur³. She is described as "passing fair and young"⁴. Her first significant action is showing the Holy Grail to Sir Lancelot.

Elaine's father, King Pelles, knew that Sir Lancelot would sire a son with Elaine, and that that child would be Sir Galahad, described as "the most noblest [sic] knight in the world"⁵. Moreover, King Pelles claims that Galahad will lead a "foreign country...out of danger" and "achieve...the Holy Grail"⁶ . The source of King Pelles' knowledge is undisclosed.

In order to seduce Sir Lancelot, who is in love with Queen Guinevere and would not knowingly sleep with another woman, Elaine goes to her serving woman, Dame Brusen, for help. Dame Brusen gives Lancelot wine and Elaine a ring of Guinevere's in order to trick Lancelot into thinking Elaine is Guinevere⁷.

The next morning, Lancelot is most displeased to discover that the woman he slept with was not Guinevere. He draws his sword and threatens to kill Elaine, but she tells him that she is pregnant with Galahad and he agrees not to kill her, but instead kisses her⁸. Lancelot departs, and Elaine remains in her father's castle and gives birth to Galahad.

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]"⁹. That night, Dame Brusen brings Lancelot to Elaine, pretending that it is Guinevere that summons him. He goes along, and once again sleeps with Elaine. At the same time, however, Guinevere herself actually summons Lancelot, and is enraged to discover that he is not in his bedchamber¹⁰. She hears him talking in his sleep, and finds him in bed with Elaine. She is furious with him and tells him she never wants to see him again. Lancelot goes mad with grief and, naked, jumps out a window and runs away¹¹.

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. Time passes in the story, and Elaine next appears when she finds Lancelot insane in her garden¹². She brings him to the Holy Grail, which cures him. When he regains his mental facilities, he decides to live with Elaine, and they live together for several years as man and wife¹³.

Elaine appears in the 1939 text The Once and Future King, by T.H. White. The basic character doesn’t change, however, there are several key differences. Time is more specifically enumerated 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 raises Galahad while Lancelot bears a pseudonym to hide from the court at Camelot¹⁴.

Another key difference between White and Malory is that in White, Lancelot is cured of his insanity by seeing Elaine, but becomes physically sick and nursed back to health by Elaine¹⁵.

[edit] Modern Analysis

Elaine of Carbonek is often passed over in favor of Elaine of Astolat. Like the more famous Elaine, Elaine of Carbonek is in love with Lancelot. Yet unlike Astolat, Carbonek is successful is 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 actions¹⁶. She does not fit into a neat category of female characters; she is neither good nor evil, but something in between. She is comfortable in her sexuality, and almost aggressive in her pursuit of sex, this threatens masculine supremacy.

[edit] Elaine the Peerless

Elaine the Peerless was the niece of the Lord of the Fens and wife of Persides the Red of the Castle of Gazevilte.

[edit] Elaine (sister of Arthur)

Elaine of Garlot is the daughter of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, and Igraine. She is a sister of Morgan le Fay and Morgause and a half-sister of King Arthur. She marries King Nentres, and has a son named Galeshin, who becomes a Knight of the Round Table. Considering the actions of her sisters, she is remarkable in that she is otherwise unremarkable. It is assumed she stayed in her own lands and did little to help or hinder any of her siblings.

[edit] Elaine of Astolat

Also known in some texts as Elaine the Fair or the Fair Maid of Astolat and as The Lady of Shalott in Lord Alfred Tennyson's same-titled poem.

[edit] Elaine of Benoic

Elaine of Benoic was the wife of King Ban and the mother of Lancelot. She is the sister of Evaine, wife of King Bors and mother of Sir Lionel and Sir Bors. Her husband dies of grief when his enemy Claudas attacks his city, and Elaine goes to attend to him. She sets the infant Lancelot down, and he is taken by the Lady of the Lake, who raises him. Elaine sees her son for the first time in years just before she dies.

[edit] Footnotes

1. “Arthurian Women.” www.timelessmyths.com. Jimmy Joe, 1999. Web.

2. “Arthurian Women.” www.timelessmyths.com. Jimmy Joe, 1999. Web.

3. Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

4. Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. P. 283.

5. Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. P. 288.

6. Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. P 283.

7. Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. P 283-284.

8. Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. P 285.

9. Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. P 286.

10. Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. P 287.

11. Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. P 288.

12. Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. P 297.

13. Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. P 299.

14. White, Terence Hanbury. The Once and Future King. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1958. Print.

15. White, Terence Hanbury. The Once and Future King. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1958. Print.

16. Sklar, Elizabeth S.. “Malory’s Other(ed) Elaine.” On Arthurian Women: Essays in Memory of Maureen Fries. Bonnie Wheeler and Fiona Tolhurst. Dallas: Scriptorium Press, 2001. 59-70. Print.

[edit] See also

• List of Arthurian characters

[edit] 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 Lancelot, the birth of Galahad, and Lancelot’s descent into madness.

McCarthy, Terence. Reading the Morte Darthur. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1988. Print.

An edited collection comparing the circumstances of Galahad’s birth to the trickery involved in Arthur’s conception.

Rackham, Arthur. How at the Castle of Corbin a maiden bare in the Sangreal and foretold the achievements of Galahad. 1917. Colored plate used in The Romance of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Alfred W. Pollard. 7 November 2009.

A depiction of Elaine carrying the grail through the halls of King Pelles’ palace.

Scala, Elizabeth. “Disarming Lancelot.” Studies in Theology Autumn 2002: 380-403. Magazine.

An article concerning Elaine’s power over Lancelot in regards to her seduction.

Sklar, Elizabeth S.. “Malory’s Other(ed) Elaine.” On Arthurian Women: Essays in Memory of Maureen Fries. Bonnie Wheeler and Fiona Tolhurst. Dallas: Scriptorium Press, 2001. 59-70. Print.

An analysis of Elaine of Carbonek’s dismissal from scholarly works because of her complex role in Arthurian literature.

White, Terence Hanbury. The Once and Future King. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1958. Print.

A monograph including modern depiction of Lancelot and Elaine’s relationship.

Suard, François. “The Narration of Youthful Exploits in the Prose Lancelot.” Trans. Arthur F. Crispin. The Lancelot-Grail Cycle: Texts and Transformations. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994. 67-84. Print.

A description of Galahad’s conception and birth.

[edit] External Sources

“Arthurian Women.” www.timelessmyths.com. Jimmy Joe, 1999. Web. 06/24/2006.

An encyclopedia article covering her name, beauty, and genealogy.

“Houses of the Grail Keeper and the Grail Hero.” www.timelessmyths.com. Jimmy Joe, 1999. Web. 06/24/2006.

An article tracing Elaine of Carbonek’s lineage back to Joseph of Arimathea.

“The Elaines. ”www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/student_orgs/arthurian_legend/ladies/elaines/elaines. University of Idaho, 1997. Web. 04/1999.

An article detailing the unification of holy bloodlines that occurred when Elaine coerced Lancelot into having sex with her and the subsequent conception of Galahad.