I am the Lady of Shalott,
or as others have known me, Elaine the Fair Lady of Astolat.
My legend has been the subject of many works of art, poetry and fiction.
In Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Lancelot and Elaine" from The Idylls of the King (1859), I am an unassuming and humble woman.
Lancelot, a famous knight of King Arthur's court, traveled to Astolat, incognito, to compete in a tournament.
Four Queens Find Lancelot Sleeping
by Frank Cadogan Cowper
Image courtesy www.illusionsgallery.com
I fell deeply in love with him and asked Lancelot to wear a token of mine in the tournament. He does indeed wear the token because it adds to his disguise.
Lancelot is hurt during the tournament by a lance belonging to Bors and falls ill.
In Sydney Fowler Wright's, "The Ballad of Elaine", I sit by him day and night, nursing him back to health. When he is finally well, he announces that he will be leaving.
Lamia by Waterhouse
Image courtesy www.illusionsgallery.com
Desperately, I beg him to marry me, but he finds that his love for Guinevere, wife of King Arthur, is too strong for him to love me.
La Belle Dame sans Merci by John William Waterhouse
Image courtesy www.illusionsgallery.com
Ophelia-1889 by WaterhouseImage
Image courtesy www.illusionsgallery.com
Lancelot leaves Astolat and I simply die of a broken heart.
My family places my earthly body in a barge and sets it adrift on the Thames River. The barge floats to Camelot.
Elaine by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Image courtesy www.illusionsgallery.com
In another of Tennyson's writings, The Lady of Shalott (original version, 1833; revised version 1842), also includes a barge. But in this story, I am cursed to never look out of my window. I'm allowed to view the world only by looking into my mirror.
I spend my days weaving the images I see in my mirror: my "shadows of the world".
"I am half sick of shadows" said the Lady of Shalott
by John William Waterhouse
Image courtesy www.illusionsgallery.com
One day, the handsome Lancelot passes by my window, and I forget the curse.
Heraldic Chivalry by Alphonse Mucha
Image courtesy www.illusionsgallery.com
The Lady of Shalott-1894 by Waterhouse
Image courtesy www.illusionsgallery.com
I look out my window to try and catch a glimpse of him. My mirror cracks and the curse befalls me.
Hope in the Prison of Despair by Evelyn De Morgan
Image courtesy www.illusionsgallery.com
I, The Lady of Shalott, go down to the river, find a boat, untie it and lay down. My blood freezes and I perish. My boat floats towards Camelot, and people come out to see this sight.
In the crowd is Lancelot and he looks down at me and says, "She has a lovely face: God in his mercy lend her grace, The Lady of Shalott".
The Lady of Shalott by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Image courtesy www.illusionsgallery.com
Music
The additional images below are courtesy of the lovely galleries at
www.illusionsgallery.com
Water Lilies by Claude Monet
Lancelot and Guinevere by Herbert James Draper
Eos by Evelyn De Morgan
Loves Passing by Evelyn DeMorgan
The Duet by Sir Frank Dicksee
Silver Favorites by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
A Coign of Vantage by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
The Favorite Poet by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Movies
The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon by Edward Burne-Jones
The Rose Bower by Edward Burne-Jones
The Wizard by Edward Burne-Jones
Two Crowns by Sir Frank Dicksee
The Mirror by Sir Frank Dicksee
Television
Circe by Waterhouse
Books
Boreas by Waterhouse
The Enchanted Garden by Waterhouse
Heroes
The Temptation of Sir Percival
Tristan and Isolde by Rogelio de Egusquiza
Ariadne by Waterhouse
Windflowers by Waterhouse
TheLadyofShalott®'s Details
Status:
Married
Zodiac Sign:
Aquarius
TheLadyofShalott® Good Afternoon Tea Time. Sit w/ me in the gardens above the river winding clearly down to towered Camelot. Truffes au Chocolat & Cherry Tea. Posted 9 hours ago from Twitter view more
Come follow me to the other realm of twitter.com/LShalottCamelot
The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse
Image courtesy www.illusionsgallery.com
Thanks to John William Waterhouse for his beautiful paintings and for making me timeless.
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English artists which formed a secret association in 1848, to recapture the beauty and simplicity of the medieval world.
Much of their subject matter was taken from mythological and medieval tales.
The founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were the painters:
*Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
*William Holman Hunt (1827-1910)
*John Everett Millais (1829-1896)
*James Collinson (1825-1881)
*Frederic George Stephens (1828-1907)
*sculptor Thomas Woolner (1825-1892)
*writer William Michael Rossetti (1829-1919)
The Huguenot by Sir John Everett Millais
They identified Raphael (Italian, 1483-1520) with the scientific interests of Renaissance art. The group's intention was to reform art by rejecting what they considered to be the mechanistic approach first adopted by the Mannerist artists who succeeded Raphael and Michelangelo. They believed that the Classical poses and elegant compositions of Raphael in particular had been a corrupting influence on academic teaching of art. Hence the name "Pre-Raphaelite".
The Brotherhood immersed themselves in the study of nature and internalized what they viewed as beautiful and heartfelt in art work of earlier decades. Their works were full of literary symbolism, bright colors, and specific attention to detail.
By 1854, the Brotherhood had ended.
Then came a second wave of Pre-Raphaelite art in the Victorians, chiefly characterized by medieval subjects and ethereal female beauties painted by Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898), Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John William Waterhouse (1849-1917), Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912), and John Melhuish Strudwick (1849-1937).
Destiny by John William Waterhouse
A very special thanks to Illusions Gallery for the use of their lovely images. Please visit them often and get lost shopping in the galleries.
http://www.illusionsgallery.com
Thanks to Jeff Lucero of Namedropper for making Camelot multi-dimentional. Without you, this space would not exist. www.myspace.com/namedropper
Who I'd like to meet:
Cleopatra Testing Poisons on Criminals by Alexandre Cabanel
Image courtesy www.illusionsgallery.com
Circe by Wright Barker
Image courtesy www.illusionsgallery.com
Apollo Playing the Lute by Briton Riviere
Image courtesy illusionsgallery.com
Mariamne by John William Waterhouse
Leaving the Judgment Sent of Herod (1887)
Image courtesy illusionsgallery.com
Sept.1994-Nov.13,2006
Run free on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge my Darling Dog Boy, until I come by to pick you up in the meadow.
Oh my Camelot, haven for freedom and inspiration...
The Artists Halt in the Desert by Richard Dadd
Image courtesy www.illusionsgallery.com
Joining in Oneness to pray for world peace...
CURRENT MOON
lunar phases
Visit Cannes 2008
Worn on a perfect summer day to meet the prince on her wedding day.
Hope in the Prison of Despair by Evelyn De Morgan
Water Lilies by Claude Monet
Lancelot and Guinevere by Herbert James Draper
Eos by Evelyn De Morgan
Loves Passing by Evelyn DeMorgan
The Duet by Sir Frank Dicksee
Silver Favorites by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
A Coign of Vantage by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
The Favorite Poet by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon by Edward Burne-Jones 
The Rose Bower by Edward Burne-Jones
The Wizard by Edward Burne-Jones 
Two Crowns by Sir Frank Dicksee
The Mirror by Sir Frank Dicksee
Circe by Waterhouse
Boreas by Waterhouse
The Enchanted Garden by Waterhouse
Tristan and Isolde by Rogelio de Egusquiza
Ariadne by Waterhouse
Windflowers by Waterhouse
Online Now!
hugs, Racheal
