Corbenic's valley lay
hidden, in a corner of Lystenoys close by the sea, and it was not wholly by
chance that any man found his way there, including Launcelot.
It was spring when he
came; the hills of the valley were verdant, the gorse yellow all about, and the
evening mists fragrant. She was
not looking for love that day…
She was Elaine, daughter
of the fisher king and of the lineage of the grail keepers, and the mystery of
the grail, the sacred cup that lay within Corbenic's walls, was in her very
blood. Nothing else could find space in her heart. Until Launcelot came.
So begins the story of Elaine of Corbenic, the daughter of
the Fisher King who bears Launcelot’s son, Galahad. The novel begins with
Elaine as young grail bearer, deeply drawn by the grail's mystery—and utterly
impervious to the young knights of her father's court.
Encountering a kind stranger by the forest stream one day,
however, strange new feelings stir within Elaine. Soon afterwards Launcelot comes to her father's hall. Elaine
recognizes him as the one she’d met by the stream and falls deeply in love with
him. Launcelot's devotion is to
the Queen Guinevere but he is not untouched by the simple beauty of the
princess. Sent to rendezvous with
the queen through a deception arranged by the king, Launcelot instead finds
Elaine.
Based on Malory's account in La Morte d’Arthur of the three brief encounters of Launcelot and
Elaine, ELAINE OF CORBENIC is the
chronicle of their poignant romance—and of Elaine’s journey through abandonment
and darkness to the finding of inner strength and deepening wisdom. Offering
the poetry of medieval legend, the story speaks to contemporary themes of love,
betrayal, abandonment, and the quest for meaning.
ELAINE OF CORBENIC
is an approach to the grail legend that reflects an
evolving relationship to the mystery of the grail embodied in life itself. In the heart of the heroic Arthurian
legend, it offers a deeply feminine spirituality, threading through the pain
and joys of a young girl’s heart, a single mother’s hopes and broken dreams,
and a fierce determination to find the grail's meaning.
Tima Z. Newman
Author of ELAINE OF CORBENIC
In : New Book Release
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"elaine of corbenic" "king arthur" guinevere launcelot love "fisher king" grail galahad medieval malory romance abandonment "single mother" wisdom
strength
betrayal
quest heroic feminine spiritual dreams