NIGHTBRINGER | The Arthurian Encyclopedia

Eliot


Dinadan taught his satirical lay against King Mark to a minstrel and harper named Eliot, who in turn taught it to many other harpers. After singing it to Tristram (Tristan), Eliot asked if he dared sing it before Mark. Tristram said yes, promising to be his warrant – although Tristram himself does not seem to have attended dinner in Mark’s hall on the occasion.

When Mark spoke angrily at the song’s end, Eliot excused himself by explaining that Dinadan had made him sing it and a minstrel had to obey the lord whose arms he bore. Told by Mark to leave quickly, Eliot escaped to Tristram, who wrote to Lancelot and Dinadan and “let conduct the harper out of the country” (probably the country of Cornwall).