Pausing at the Castle of Astolat, he borrowed a blank shield, and left his own in the care of Elaine, daughter of his host, who, although he had not shown her any attention, had fallen deeply in love with him.  As further disguise, Launcelot also wore the favor Elaine timidly offered, and visited the tournament escorted by her brother.  Once more Launcelot bore down all rivals, but he was so sorely wounded in the last encounter that he rode off without taking the prize.  Elaine’s brother, following him, conveyed him to a hermit’s, where some poets claim Elaine nursed him back to health.  Although there are two Elaines in Launcelot’s life, i.e., the daughter of Pelles (whom he is tricked into marrying and who bears him Galahad) and the “lily maid of Astolat,”—­some of the later writers fancied there was only the latter.  According to some accounts Launcelot lived happily with the first Elaine in the castle he had conquered,—­Joyous Garde,—­until Queen Guinevere, consumed by jealousy, summoned them both to court.  There she kept them apart, and so persecuted poor Elaine that she crept off to a convent, where she died, after bringing Galahad into the world and after predicting he would achieve the Holy Grail.

The other Elaine,—­as Tennyson so beautifully relates, a dying of unrequited love, bade her father and brothers send her corpse down the river in charge of a dumb boatman.  Everybody knows of the arrival of the funeral barge at court, of the reading of the letter in Elaine’s dead hand, and of Launcelot’s sorrow over the suffering he had unwittingly caused.

Launcelot and Guinevere are not the only examples in the Arthurian Cycle of the love of a queen for her husband’s friend, and of his overwhelming passion for the wife of his master.  Another famous couple, Tristram and Iseult, [23] also claims our attention.

The legend of Tristram was already known in the sixth century, and from that time until now has been periodically rewritten and embellished.  Like most mediaeval legends, it begins with the hero’s birth, gives in detail the whole story of his life, and ends only when he is safely dead and buried!

The bare outline of the main events in Tristram’s very adventurous career are the elopement of his mother, a sister of King Mark of Cornwall.  Then, while mourning for her beloved, this lady dies in giving birth to her son, whom she names Tristram, or the sad one.

Brought up by a faithful servant,—­Gouvernail or Kurvenal,—­Tristram learns to become a peerless hunter and musician.  After describing sundry childish and youthful adventures in different lands, the various legends agree in bringing him to his uncle’s court, just as a giant champion arrives from Ireland, claiming tribute in money and men unless some one can defeat him in battle.  As neither Mark nor any of his subjects dare venture to face the challenger, Morolt, Tristram volunteers his services.  The battle takes place on an island,