The Goddess Elaine

[Tea Leaf]

In their studies has anyone come across the goddess Elaine? All I can find is:
Elaine is the Maiden aspect, Margawse is the Mother aspect and Morgan le fay is the crone aspect.

nothing else?

[Morgandria]

? I've never heard of this before. Sounds sort of like the Mists of Avalon.

-M.

[WinterTree]

Okay, I looked her up and here's what I got:

Elaine was/is a goddess of Whales and Britain. Apparently, she was later put into Arthurian legend as The Lady of the Lake.

That's all....sorry, I looked in several different places, but apparently there is very little information on her.

[Rockprincess]

Elaine isn't a very old name. It's derived from Helen, and only really came into popular use in the 20th century. Maybe you're confusing her with someone else?

[Convallaria]

I think it might be a Mists of Avalon mixup? Igraine? In Mists of Avalon Morgaine goes through maiden, mother and crone, Morgause does also, but thinks that she is still maiden... Igraine seems to be mother throughout the entire book....

[Tea Leaf]

:) Thank you all very much for your help! :) I very much appreciate it!

[RubyRose]

I would say, from reading several books on arthurian legends that Elaine was definitely a maiden aspect, possibly a mother aspect (but rarely seen)

I'd have to go thru my books and stuff to check it out properly, but thats my 2¢ worth.

[teleri]

In their studies has anyone come across the goddess Elaine? All I can find is:
Elaine is the Maiden aspect, Margawse is the Mother aspect and Morgan le fay is the crone aspect.

nothing else?

In various Arthurian legends, there are a number of Elaines -- Elaine of Corbenic, Elaine of Garlot (one of Arthur's half-sisters), Elaine the White (Lancelot's mother), Elaine of Astolat, Elaine daughter of Pellinor, etc. Malory has some three or four, I believe. Many believe that Elen of Caernarfon, a legendary British woman who was said to have been married to a Roman emperor, is the prototype of all the various Elaines in later Arthurian literature.

In Welsh lore, Elen of Caernarfon is also called "Elen of the Hosts" and she is associated with Roman roads in Britain -- these roads have been called "sarn Elen" -- Elen's roads. Somehow, this has sometimes gotten reversed as Elen of the Ways or Elen of the Roads. One story about her can be found in the Welsh story, "The Dream of Macsen Wledig," usually compiled with stories from the Mabinogi. Here is a link to one version of this story: http://freespace.virgin.net/r.cadwalader/macsen.htm

Elen also appears in several of the Triads of Britain. The best "factual" source about Elen can be found in the "Personal Names" section of Rachel Bromwich's Trioedd Ynys Prydein (The Triads of the Island of Britain). This book is very hard to get a hold of, unfortunately, but perhaps you might be able to get a hold of a copy through an interlibrary loan system, if such a thing exists where you are. Bromwich believes that Elen of the Hosts was originally derived from some ancient British Goddess about whom we know little, if anything.

A more accessible, but more speculative, source about Elen can be found in Caitlin Matthews's King Arthur and the Goddess of Sovereignty, where she analyzes the story of "The Dream of Macsen Wledig" in detail. Not everyone agrees with Matthews's conclusions.

Where you would think the various Elaines fit in a MMC paradigm, you would have to determine after reading their stories. Some Elaines are maidens in the legends; others are mothers.

I hope that helps.

Teleri