I went down a bit of a rabbit hole today, and it sparked this analysis. I want to break down a common head canon that many Eluciens share which is that the dynamic of Elucien fits patterns and tropes found more in historical romances than those popularized in romantasy. I want to conceptualize what ultimately feels like a ~vibe~ they have to something a little more concrete by using the Medieval literary concept of "Courtly Love".
Courtly love mostly refers to the romantic stories between knights and women of nobility from Medieval Europe. One of the most famous stories is that of Guinevere and Lancelot. These stories of longing and chivalry served as entertainment but also influenced social practices. Many of the acts of knightly chivalry and sacrifice have influenced romance tropes that have persisted into our own modern media. There has been a lot of scholarship on courtly love, but for the purposes of simplicity, I'll use the Gaston Paris' four principal characteristics to frame this discussion as it pertains to Elucien.
The love is illegitimate, furtive (ie. adulterous).
The male lover is in an inferior position and the woman in an elevated one.
The man does quests, tests, or trials in the woman's name.
There is an art to it, it has rules, in the same vein as chivalry or courtesy.
1. The love is illegitimate, furtive (ie. adulterous).
I think this trait is one of the most fun to wrap our heads around as it pertains to Elucien because the idea of their mating bond being "illegitimate" is a bit of mindfuck, mostly because its presented to us as a superior form of romantic bonding and is treasured by the Fae. However, I think the circumstances by which Elucien's bond snaps and the context we see them interact falls under this characteristic. First, Elain is already engaged to another man - Graysen. From her perspective, having this mating bond is a sort of adultery/infidelity to her betrothal. She even goes as far as to try and return to Graysen just before the war, ultimately leading to him rejecting her not only because of her being changed but because she "belongs to another" now. Her bond with Lucien is presented as this disgusting, animalistic brand on her now in her human fiance's eyes
In ACOMAF and ACOWAR, Lucien is technically an enemy to the Night Court. Everyone in Elain's life is suspicious of him and his loyalties, and they are constantly on the verge of alienating him all together. They literally keep him separated from Elain when they are both in the same house in ACOWAR, and one of their main interactions is when Lucien sneaks into the library and finds Elain there. In ACOSF, Elain and Lucien have few scenes, however we do know both are up to secret activities that are unbeknownst to the POV characters. Now, this might have nothing to do with each other, but there are a lot of headcanons and predictions that the start of Elain and Lucien getting to know each other will ultimately have to be done in secret due to the protective nature of Elain's family and the scrutiny they are under. Many also predict that Elain will have to "run away" from her family on a mission with Lucien just to get their story started.
2. The male lover is in an inferior position and the woman in an elevated one.
While Elain and Lucien don't fit this trope from a nobility or class perspective on the surface, there are several aspects of their characters and where then end up by ACOSF that gives them this placement to each other. While Lucien is a son of a High Lord, he is both banished from that court and as we find out in ACOWAR, a bastard. By this book, Lucien is courtless, abandoning Spring to come to Night just to make sure that Elain is okay. When he greets her, we get a clear idea of how he sees himself.
'I am Lucien. Seventh son of the High Lord of the Autumn Court.'
And a whole lot of nothing.
By ACOSF, Elain has a fairly high status within Prythian. Feyre is High Lady of the Night Court, and as her sister, that means Elain is firmly within the noble class among the Fae. Lucien, however, works for Rhys and Feyre as an emissary, sent away on tasks to do their bidding, not unlike a knight that serves a house. Lucien is constantly having to prove his worth to Feyre, Rhys, and the rest of the Inner Circle, who still do not trust him.
3. The man does quests, tests, or trials in the woman's name.
This is my favorite characteristic as it pertains to them. It's also one of the most well known characteristics when people think about courtly love in literature. These quests are apart of the knight's devotion to the woman he loves, and he is forced to yearn for her from afar. Often in the medieval stories, the knight may only see the object of his love once, twice, or sometimes never. The point is that he is away from her, and yet is thinking of her always. We see throughout the series that this is the state of Elain and Lucien's current arrangement. Lucien spends almost all of his time in the Human Lands, working with Vassa and Jurian, basically the farthest he could possibly be from Velaris, only returning to the city on holidays or special occasions. Much of this is related to the work he does for the Night Court, though there is an element of Lucien choosing this distance because he thinks it is what Elain wants, sacrificing with only her in mind.
The best example of this characteristic is in ACOWAR when Lucien literally goes on a quest to the Continent. He does this for Elain, not only because he senses that she needs the distance from him as she processes her grief, but also because it is her vision that he is investigating - to find the firebird and figure out what's going on with the Death God. Most of the Inner Circle isn't sure what to make of Elain having visions, but Lucien immediately volunteers for this dangerous mission, putting his trust and faith in Elain's abilities. And when Lucien returns, he does so in a very knightly, heroic away, literally cutting his way with a sword through a battlefield just to get to Elain and make sure that she is okay. We see at the end of ACOWAR he was incredibly successful on his quest, not only finding Vassa but also linking up with Papa Archeron, getting the ships and army that they need to fight Hybern.
Throughout ACOFAS and ACOSF, we see that Lucien is still focused on his other "quests", trying to understand how to break Vassa's curse, checking in on Tamlin in Spring, and meeting with Eris in secret about Beron's alliance with Koschei. Simply, Lucien is busying himself with his other duties in order to distract himself from the longing he has for Elain as he waits for her to become ready to get to know him.
4. There is an art to it, it has rules, in the same vein as chivalry or courtesy.
I think of all the characteristics, this one is likely the most obvious to most Elucien fans, as many people point out that the way Elain and Lucien act with one another makes them feel like they belong in a historical romance book. There is a lot of chivalry we witness between Lucien and Elain, firstly the polite distance Lucien maintains with Elain by calling her the honorific "Lady". Lucien also "courts" Elain in a very formal way such as only coming to see her when he is invited and giving her gifts. Lucien is well known as a sassy character who often is tricky and sly when he banters with others, and yet, when he speaks to Elain, we see a shift in his presentation. He becomes nervous and careful, deferent to her expressions of betrayal and anger towards him rather than defiant as we see him with others.
Lucien is mindful to operate within the "rules" of the mating bond, especially holding to it the inherent nature of the choice to accept or reject the bond belonging to the female. He gives Elain more space and distance than any of the other MMCs, using courtesy and chivalry as a crutch to dictate how he engages with her, rather than pushing her to make a decision or forcing her into a situation where she must be around him. Where he was once a well-known rake, Lucien is also now celibate since the mating bond snapped, rejecting other females that want to spend time with him, telling them he is a "mated male now".
Elain is also similarly formal with him as well, never outright rejecting him by telling him to not visit her or giving back his gifts, but also not putting herself forward with him as Feyre or Nesta did with their own mates. Her feelings about Lucien are more of a mystery to us, but Elain is similarly following a script that is familiar to her as she tries to maintain the distance to figure out how she feels.
Closing thoughts
One of the biggest elements of courtly love is the idea of loving someone from afar, usually someone there is a great obstacle in the way of being with you. In the case of Elain and Lucien, the distance and yearning is what makes them interesting to us and wants us to root for them, even if the largest obstacle holding them back is themselves - their insecurities, broken hearts, and trapped in a pattern of avoidance. Even if subconscious, SJM is playing on a long, long history throughout romantic literature of how chivalry, devotion, and longing set up tension within a romance. And I fully believe that is why we will ultimately see Elain and Lucien's love play out in our own modern context of Romance, where happily ever afters are guarantees.
