The swan then sailed away with the skiff in a stately manner, and when it had vanished out of sight, the Knight turned towards the amazed company on the shore.
As Elsa saw him approaching towards her she was filled with joy, for she knew him at once to be the radiant Knight of her dream, and when he declared that he had come to fight for her cause, she rapturously accepted him as her Champion, promising her hand as his reward should he gain the victory. The Knight of the Swan next begged of her to promise that she would never ask him to tell her his race and name, or whence he came, and Elsa already loved him so dearly that she gladly gave this promise.
Then the stranger drew his sword, and the fight began; and after a sharp conflict he felled Telramund to the ground, but generously spared his life. Ortrud shrieked with rage and dismay, but the rest of the company uttered loud shouts of joy.
The King now declared that since Heaven had given the victory to Elsa's Champion, the royal maiden's innocence was proved; and he commanded the people of Brabant to obey Elsa and her Knight as their rulers.
So Telramund and Ortrud were stripped of all their power, honours, and riches; and disgraced, poor, and wretched, they were driven from the palace, to wander in the streets as outcasts.
They could not, however, keep away from the scenes of their former splendour; and on the night before Elsa's marriage with the Knight of the Swan, they came, clad in their coarse garments, and crouched outside the walls of the palace. The sounds of revelry that came from within made them feel more wretched still, and Telramund began to reproach Ortrud bitterly for the trouble she had brought on them both by her wicked spells and false words.
But Ortrud answered: "List to me, and we may yet overcome Elsa and her Champion, and win back our power! Yonder Knight of the Swan bids the maiden never to ask his name and home. And why? Because if he becomes known he must return whence he came. Let us then put doubt in Elsa's heart by telling her he gained this victory by sorcery, and thus entice her to drag from him his secret. He is certainly helped by sorcery, and I have learnt by my own arts that if but one drop of blood be spilt of him to whom magic help is lent, all his powers will vanish. Do them, then, seek to wound this Knight, and if I can also entice Elsa to ask his name and race, all shall yet be well with us."
Frederick of Telramund eagerly agreed to Ortrud's evil plans; and whilst they were thus talking together, Elsa herself, clad in flowing white garments, appeared on the balcony above, singing a glad song of thankfulness for the joy that was in her heart. Whilst she sang, Telramund crept quietly away, and when the sweet song came to an end, Ortrud came forth from her hiding-place, and called out: "Elsa!"
The royal maiden, who had thought herself quite alone, was surprised at hearing her name thus spoken; and when she recognised Ortrud in the square below, she was filled with pity at seeing her in such a sad plight. So when the wily Ortrud next began to relate a false story, declaring that she and her husband were under an evil spell when they accused her of having murdered her brother, and that they were now full of remorse and misery, Elsa's kind heart was touched; and presently she came down into the square and took Ortrud back into the palace with her, promising that next morning she would intercede for the two outcasts with her Champion Knight.
On the morrow, all in the palace were full of excitement and rejoicing, for this was Elsa's wedding day, and great preparations had been made to celebrate it in fitting style. Elsa was delighted at the prospect of happiness before her, but doubt of her brave Champion was already springing up in her heart, planted there by Ortrud. A fear that she would lose her lover began to fill her with dread, for her cunning enemy did not fail to point out that one to whom magic aid was lent might at any moment vanish from her sight.