[1] The account is of course full of anachronisms and absurdities, such as the two thousand Greeks killed by Hector. It is based on the legend of Darete Frigio, it would seem, popularized in Italy by the Poet Guido delle Colonne, a Sicilian. See also the Roman de Troie. [↑]
LXXXII
Here it is told how the Lady of Shalott died for love of Lancelot of the Lake
The daughter of a great vassal[1] loved Lancelot of the Lake beyond measure, but he did not wish to give her his love, since he had given it to Queen Guinevere. So much did the girl love Lancelot that she came to death thereby, and she commanded that when her soul had left her body, a rich boat should be prepared to be covered with a vermilion cloth, and a fine bed laid therein with rich and noble coverings of silk and adorned with precious stones. [[185]]
And her body was to be laid in this bed dressed in her finest garments with a lovely crown on her head, rich in gold and ornamented with precious stones, and she was to have a rare girdle and a satchel too.
And in the satchel there was to be a letter of the following tenour.
But first of all let us tell of what happened before the letter. The damsel died of the sickness of love, and it was done with her as she wished[2] about the vessel with no sails or oars and no one aboard.
The sailless vessel was put into the sea with the woman, and the sea took it to Camelot, and drifted it to the shore.