At the beginning of the chapter, the Fair Maiden of Astolat pleads with Sir Lancelot to take her back and be her husband.  But Sir Lancelot makes it clear that he cannot be a wedded man.  After that, the Fair Maiden, Elaine, tells him how not having him will cause her to die.  Then Lancelot told her that if she is ever to move on and marry another knight he will give them a gift of a thousand pounds yearly, but if she were to marry him his good days would be gone.  Elaine can’t bear to hear this as she breaks down and runs to her room where she spends a lot of time in sorrow. 

As this took place Sir Lancelot explains he can’t help the way things are, He goes on his way to Winchester, but when he returns to the Round Table, nobody there would speak to him, not even Queen Guinevere. 

Meanwhile the maiden remained in sorrow for ten days and did not sleep, eat, or drink and was so close to death and finally said that she could never love another and if she couldn’t have him she might as well die there.  Nearing her end she composed a letter telling of this and gave it to her father and brother who she asked to stay by her side until she died.   Eventually she died of a broken heart and then they took her corpse out to sea. 

By Cole Griswold, Class of 2007