once again i am going crazy thinking about how elaine of corbenic is like barely a character and more a plot device and almost exists as an extension of lancelot. like what an insane intersection of sexism, medieval attitudes toward sex and marriage, and the fact that galahad is a character that reasonably shouldn't exist but does now anyway
like i think "lancelot asexual reproduction" takes are kinda corny most of the time but like. truly it's an option that could be explored seeing as elaine of corbenic mostly exists because galahad needs a mother, and who else could it be if not a random woman taking advantage of lancelot, something that was already well codified by the time galahad was created. like that's most fair unknowns.
most of the substance there is to elaine of corbenic comes from either the horror of her actions (which are not unique to her) or from earlier versions of the grail maiden archetype. there's leftover bits of blanchefleur and percival's sister but that's it. it's all archetype. there's religiosity, i suppose, but that gets dwarfed by her son and her father and even lancelot to a degree. all she has to offer is echoes.
