Evaine is a queen in
Arthurian legendThe Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the body of literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and its legendary kings, particularly King Arthur...
, the sister of Elaine, mother of
LancelotSir Lancelot du Lac is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is the most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories...
; she and her sister married brother kings (
BorsBors circa 540s-580s, is the name of two knights in the Arthurian legend, one the father and one the son. Bors the Elder is the King of Gaunnes or Gaul during the early period of King Arthur's reign, and is the brother of King Ban of Benoic. Gaunnes is the Fredemundian dynastic kingdom of Neustria...
, King of Gaul and
BanIn Arthurian legend, Ban is the King of Benwick or Benoic. He is the father of Sir Lancelot and Sir Hector de Maris, the brother of King Bors, and an early ally of King Arthur.Ban's wife Elaine is the sister to King Bors' wife Evaine...
, King of Benoic, respectively) and suffered parallel fates, both women losing their husbands and sons and then entering the same convent. In Evaine's case, she is widowed when her husband dies, either in battle or from grief after learning about his brother's death; feeling unsafe from attack, she flees with her two sons,
LionelSir Lionel is the younger son of King Bors of Gaunnes and Evaine and brother of Bors the Younger in Arthurian legend. He is a double cousin of Lancelot and cousin of Lancelot's younger half-brother Ector de Maris...
and Bors the Younger, but tragically, her boys are captured and imprisoned by the enemy (
ClaudasKing Claudas is a fictional Frankish king and an opponent to King Arthur, Lancelot, and Bors in Arthurian literature. His kingdom is named "Terre Deserte", or "Land Laid Waste", so called because of the destruction Uther Pendragon had wrought there. Claudas appears as the Round Table's adversary in...
). Evaine alone manages to escape, and goes to her sister who, spurred by her own personal sorrow, has taken the vow as a nun.
Evaine follows her into the religious life and passes many years at the abbey, incessantly tormented with worry over her sons. Finally a former knight called the Black Friar (a.k.a. Adragain) visits the abbey and informs her that her sons are still alive — and Elaine's son too, who has been with a fairy foster-mother, the
Lady of the LakeThe Lady of the Lake is the name of several related characters who play parts in the Arthurian legend. These characters' roles include giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin, and raising Lancelot after the death of his father...
. The Lady resolves to rescue and look after Evaine's sons also, and one of her damsels frees them and spirits them to her underwater home. Evaine, who has grown pale and ill from the fraught years, wishes to know that her sons are alive and safe; that night she has a vision of her sons playing in the Lady of Lake's garden with Elaine's Lancelot, and wakes up to find their names (Lionel, Bors and Lancelot) written on her right hand. She dies happy, knowing that her sons and nephew are safe.
Evaine is the wife of
BorsBors circa 540s-580s, is the name of two knights in the Arthurian legend, one the father and one the son. Bors the Elder is the King of Gaunnes or Gaul during the early period of King Arthur's reign, and is the brother of King Ban of Benoic. Gaunnes is the Fredemundian dynastic kingdom of Neustria...
the Elder, who is the brother of
King BanIn Arthurian legend, Ban is the King of Benwick or Benoic. He is the father of Sir Lancelot and Sir Hector de Maris, the brother of King Bors, and an early ally of King Arthur.Ban's wife Elaine is the sister to King Bors' wife Evaine...
of Benoic (or, as in T.H. White's book
The Once and Future KingThe Once and Future King is an Arthurian fantasy novel written by T. H. White. It was first published in 1958 and is mostly a composite of earlier works written in a period between 1938 and 1941....
, Ban of Benwick). Evaine is the sister of Ban's wife, Elaine. Evaine and Bors have two sons, Sir Lionel and Sir Bors the younger, who later achieves the
Holy GrailThe Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...
.