BirthME, Doulas

Elaine. ‘I will give you the diamond, and you shall fulfil the King’s command.’And Sir Gawaine rode away from Astolat, kissing the hands of the fair Elaine, and leaving the diamond with her.

He did not want to leave the feasting and merriment that followed the tournament. Later Arthur comments to Lancelot that it is a pity he did not wed such a lovely maiden since he is so lonely. Queen Guinevere declares that illness will prevent her attendance and promptly Launcelot declares that he will not enter the lists, supposing that the Queen's indisposition is but the excuse for their meeting. And when Elaine died there was great sadness in Astolat.Then her father took the letter and bound it in her hand, and by her side he placed a lily. ‘If you know the arms engraved on the shield, you will know the name of the knight you seek, and perhaps find him the sooner,’ she said.And when Sir Gawaine saw the shield he cried, ‘It is the shield of Sir Lancelot, the noblest knight in Arthur’s court.’Elaine touched the shield lovingly, and murmured, ‘The noblest knight in Arthur’s court.’‘You love Sir Lancelot, and will know where to find him,’ said Sir Gawaine. It was a red sleeve, embroidered with white pearls.Lancelot thought how fair Elaine was, as she looked up at him with love and trust in her eyes, but he told her gently that he had never yet worn a lady’s favour, and that he could not wear hers.‘If you have never worn one before, wear this,’ she urged timidly. And they wondered more at the strange knight, with the bare shield and the red sleeve with pearls on his helmet, who fought so bravely and overthrew the others one by one.And the King said, ‘Surely this is Sir Lancelot himself.’ But when he saw the lady’s favour on the knight’s helmet, he said, ‘No, it cannot be Sir Lancelot.’When at last the tournament was over, the King proclaimed that the strange knight who wore the red sleeve embroidered with pearls had won the prize, and he called him to come to take the diamond.But no one came, and the knight with the red sleeve was nowhere to be seen. She took the shield from the corner, and handled the bruises and dints in it lovingly, and made pictures to herself of all the battles and tournaments it had been through with her knight.Then Elaine sat down and sewed, as Sir Torre would have wise maidens do. Directed by Charles Kent.

Pray for my soul.’When they heard it the lords and ladies wept with pity.And Sir Lancelot buried Elaine sadly. ‘Let me go to find the wounded knight and Lavaine,’ she said. You must go to the tournament at Camelot in disguise. Lancelot thought how fair Elaine was, as she looked up at him with love and trust in her eyes, but he told her gently that he had never yet worn a lady’s favour, and that he could not wear hers. With Charles Kent, Florence Turner, Paul Panzer, Leo Delaney. Then he, with great difficulty, helped the knight on to his horse, and slowly and painfully they rode towards the hermitage.They reached it at last, and the hermit came out and called two of his servants to carry the knight into his cell; and they unarmed him and put him to bed. The scene opens as King Arthur declares the ninth of the tournaments, the prize of which is the last of nine diamonds.
Only, next morning when he rode away, carrying his shield with him, though he knew Elaine watched him from her turret window, he neither looked up nor waved farewell. Launcelot rides forth, attended only by his squire, and, coming to the castle of Astolot, demands of its lord a plain shield that his identity may he hidden.

But none of them knew that it was Sir Lancelot’s shield, for he had not told them his name.And Elaine, carrying the shield with her, climbed the tower stair, up to her own little room. And when he reached the court he told the lords and ladies about the fair maid of Astolat who loved Sir Lancelot. And Elaine came running gladly to take the strange knight’s shield under her care. And when Elaine and her father and her brother Sir Torre saw the knight, they called to him to come in and tell them about the tournament, and who had won the prize.Then Sir Gawaine told how the knight with the red sleeve embroidered with white pearls had gained the prize, but how, being wounded, he had ridden away without claiming it.

And he would laugh as he saw her, when Sir Torre turned away, run off wilfully to the woods.Elaine spent long happy days out of doors with her younger brother Lavaine.

The scene opens as King Arthur declares the ninth of the tournaments, the prize of which is the last of nine diamonds.

Lancelot obéit à ses voeux et pleura cette gente dame qui l'avait aimé en vain. Carry me down to the river and lay me in the barge, and, alone with our old dumb servant, let me be taken to the palace.’And her father promised. Yet since all Arthur’s knights had taken a vow of obedience, Gawaine was ashamed not to go, so sulkily, like no true knight, he left the feast.And Sir Gawaine rode through the wood and past the hermitage where the wounded knight lay; and because he was thinking only of his own disappointment, his search was careless, and he did not see the shelter Sir Lancelot had found.