former knight of the Round Table himself). Elaine then urges her father to let her bring the wounded Lancelot to her chambers, where she nurses him. When Lancelot is well, he makes ready to leave, and offers to pay Elaine for her services; insulted, Elaine brings him his shield, which she had been guarding, and a wary Lancelot leaves the castle, never to return but now aware of her feelings for him. Ten days later, Elaine dies of heartbreak. In accordance with her instructions, her body is placed in a small boat, clutching a lily in one hand, and her final letter in the other. She then floats down the river to Camelot, where she is discovered by King Arthur's court, who call her 'a little lily maiden'. Lancelot is summoned and hears the contents of the letter, which explains what happened. Ashamed, he pays for her rich burial. Modern culture Paintings Elaine has captured the minds of many painters, becoming one of the most recognizable tertiary characters from the Arthurian legends. Those who have depicted her story in their art include Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Emilie Autumn, Edward Reginald Frampton, Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, Elizabeth Siddal, Howard Pyle, John Atkinson Grimshaw, John William Waterhouse (The Lady of Shalott, The Lady of Shalott Looking at Lancelot, I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of Shalott), Louis Rhead, Robert Gibb, Sidney Paget, Walter Crane, William Holman Hunt, Sophie Gengembre Anderson and William Maw Egley, among others. Literary adaptations Adams, Oscar Fay, "The Water Carriers" (1886) Akhurst, W. M., Arthur the King Baring, Maurice, "The Camelot Jousts" (1910) Cabot, Meg, Avalon High (a modern adaptation) (2005) Fowler Wright, S., "The Ballad of Elaine" Hamley, Edward Bruce, "Sir Tray: An Arthurian Idyl" (1873) Kay, Guy Gavriel's, The Fionavar Tapestry [through the character of the lios alfar ("light elf") Leyse] Kilmer, Aline Murray, "For All Ladies of Shalott" (1921) Landon, Letitia Elizabeth, "A Legend of Tintagel Castle" (1833) Lang, Andrew, The Lady of Shalott (1888) Meredith, Owen, "Elayne le Blanc" (1875) Millay, Edna St. Vincent, "Elaine" (1921) Nieman, Valerie, "Elaine the Fair Accuses Lancelot" (2007) Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, "Elaine and Elaine" (1883), "The Lady of Shalott" (1871) Rhodes, William Henry, "Rosenthal's Elaine" (1876) Sandell, Lisa Ann, Song of the Sparrow (2007) Sebastian, Laura, Half Sick of Shadows (2021) Steynor, Morley, Lancelot and Elaine: A Play in Five Acts (1909) Stoddard, Elizzle, "Before the Mirror" (1895) Tennyson,