NIGHTBRINGER | The Arthurian Encyclopedia

Chelinde


An ancestress of Tristan. She was the daughter of the King of Babylonia.

Shipwrecked on the coast of Britain, she was rescued by Sador, the son of Bron, whom she married. Sador’s brother Naburzadan tried to rape her, but Sador killed him.

Fleeing from Naburzadan’s kin, Chelinde became separated from her husband and believed him to be dead. She re-married King Canor of Cornwall but gave birth to Apollo, Sador’s son, whom Canor abandoned in a forest. She had another son by Canor named Cichoriades.

She was re-united with Sador, but Apollo – ignorant of his true parentage – killed both Sador and Canor, and then married Chelinde himself. St. Augustine, who converted Lyonesse and Cornwall, revealed the incest between Chelinde and Apollo; Chelinde tried to kill the saint and was struck dead by a lightning bolt.


Source
Prose Tristan | 1230-1240