# Elaine — Idylls of the King character guide

> Elaine in Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Elaine Elaine, fair Elaine, sweet Elaine, the Lady of Shalott

**First appearance:** 0008-lancelot-and-elaine

## Snapshot

The lily maid of Astolat, who keeps Lancelot's shield in an eastern tower and reads his battles into its dints until she loves a man she has never met.

## Who they are

Elaine lives high in a tower at Astolat, guarding the sacred shield Lancelot left behind, and she passes her days tracing its scratches and guessing the history of every blow. Her love for Lancelot is built from imagination before it is ever tested by his presence, and when he comes she gives him her heart with a directness that he cannot return. She matters because she is the Idylls' purest portrait of devotion that has no place to go, and because her fate shadows the larger tragedy of Camelot's loves.

## In the story

### [Lancelot and Elaine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/chapters/lancelot-and-elaine)

The 'lily maid' of Astolat who dies for love of Lancelot; her body is brought to Camelot.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/characters/elaine
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/characters