Eliduc is a lai written by Marie de France. The longest of the lais, it tells of a knight who loves two different women.
Characters[]
- Eliduc
- Guilliadon
- Guildeluec
- The king of Exeter
- The king of Brittany
Plot[]
In Brittany, there was a knight named Eliduc. Due to the love shown by him to the king, many of the king's servants became extremely jealous and slandered him. The king banishes Eliduc from the kingdom, with the knight travelling to Logres while his wife Guildeluec looks over his lands.
While in Logres, Eliduc travels to Exeter, which is under siege by another king who wishes to claim the king of Exeter's daughter Guilliadon for his own. Eliduc joins the defense of Exeter and attracts the attention of Guilliadon while defeating the invaders. After sending the knight two gifts, Guilliadon and Eliduc begin an affair. During this affair, the king of Brittany sends for Eliduc to return to his home kingdom - causing much worry in the knight. Though Guilliadon wishes to follow Eliduc, the knight refuses to allow this but does tell Guilliadon that he will return at a certain date.
After returning home, Eliduc tries to hide his grief over losing his lover, though he fails to do this. Eliduc soon returns to Logres to run away with his lover. The two board a boat which runs into a violent storm. One of the sailors accuses Eliduc of causing the storm by bringing his adulterous lover on board the ship. This causes Guilliadon to faint and Eliduc to throw said soldier overboard.
Once on land, Eliduc prepares to bury his lover (whom he thinks is dead, though she is only comatose). Before burying Guilliadon, Eliduc visits a hermit but finds that the hermit has died. He decides to leave his lover in the chapel, visiting her every so often. This catches the attention of his wife - who discovers the comatose body of Guilliadon. While in the chapel, Guildeluec notices a weasel reviving another weasel with a flower. She uses this flower to bring Guilliadon back to life. The two women discover their identities and Guildeluc decides to leave her husband to his new lover and become a nun. Several years later, Guilliadon enters into the same abbey and Eliduc joins a monastery.