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Part II.  Some Tragic Lovers

Guinevere and Lancelot:

"Queen of the Tournament" by Herbert Draper

[Guinevere and Lancelot]

"Meeting on Turret Stairs" by Frederick Burton

"The Rescue of Guinevere" by William Hatherell

"How Sir Launcelot and His Kinsmen Rescued the

 Queen from the Fire" by Sir William Russell Flint

"Lancelot Bears Off Guenevere" by H. J. Ford

"Lancelot and Guinevere's Parting Kiss" by George Wooliscroft and Louis Rhead

["And then they rode to the divided way, there kiss'd, and parted weeping."]

"None with Her Save a Little Maid, a Novice" by Jessie M. King

[Guenivere in the convent.]

"Queen Guinevere's Deathbed" by N. C. Wyeth

["Then Sir Launcelot saw her visage, but he wept not greatly, but sighed."]

Tristram and Isolde:

"Tristan and Isolde" by John Duncan

[The star-crossed lovers drink the love potion.   Their story rings

variations on the triangle of Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot.]

"Tristan and Isolde" by Edmund Blair-Leighton

[A suspicious King Mark observes the lovers.]

"The Madness of Sir Tristan" by E.C. Burnes-Jones

"The Death of Tristram" (stained glass window) by Ford Madox Browne

[King Mark slays his wife's lover Tristram.]

"The Death of Tristram" by Marianne Stokes

The Lady of Shalott:

                         

  "'I am half sick of shadows,' said the                                      "Lancelot" by Howard Pyle               

Lady of Shalott" by J. W. Waterhouse                          [The knight rides by the tower of Shalott.]

"The Lady of Shalott" by William Holman Hunt

[The Lady is cursed to view life--and Lancelot--

 second-hand through her mirror and her art.]

"The Lady of Shalott" by J. W. Waterhouse

[Enamored of Sir Lancelot, the Lady leaves her tower

and floats, dying, down the river to Camelot.]

"Lady of Shalott" [arriving at Camelot] by G. E. Robertson

Elaine of Astolat:

                                                  

"Lancelot Gives his Shield to Elaine"                                      "Elaine Guarding Lancelot's Shield"

by Arthur A. Dixon                                                                                 by Louis Rhead     

"Elaine" by Sophia Anderson

[Rejected by Lancelot, Elaine dies and floats down the river to Camelot.]

"Elaine" by Henry Wallis

Links

Information on Lancelot and on Guinevere.

Here is a retelling of Chretien's version of the story of Lancelot and Guinevere.

Read about the changing treatments of Guinevere, Celtic to Modern.

Discover the Celtic origins of the Arthurian Women.

Here is a scholarly article on Evidence against Lancelot and Guinevere.

Trace the similarities between Elaine of Astolet and the Lady of Shalott.

Bulfinch's Lady of Shalott (this is actually the Elaine of Astolat story).

Good, concise summary of the Tristan and Iseult story; links to the Tristan & Isolt love story.

Bulfinch's longer version of Tristram and Isolde: Chap. X, Chap. XI, Chap. XII, Chap. XIII.

Resources on "Arthurian Literature and Art": Celtic-Medieval and Victorian-Modern.

Return to Nichols Home Page

NOTE: Students should be advised that there is no one standard version of the King Arthur legends. This "Arthurian Legends Illustrated" represents an amalgam of different artists' views.

Painting, top of page: "Attainment of the Holy Grail" (tapestry) by E. C. Burne-Jones