Eliabel, Eliabella, Eliobela, Elizabeth
Tristan’s mother in the Prose Tristan and its adaptations. She replaces Blancheflor from earlier romances. Tristan makes her the daughter of Felix and the sister of King Mark of Cornwall and Pernehan, but in the Italian La Tavola Ritonda, she is the daughter of King Andremo and Felice, and is only Mark’s sister-in-law.
She married King Meliadus of Cornwall (Meliodas of Liones), who was imprisoned by an enchantress during Elyabel’s pregnancy. Setting out in the wilderness to look for him, she went into labor and delivered her child in a forest. She was mortally wounded during childbirth, and perished after naming her son ‘Tristan’, signifying the sadness of the situation.
Sources
Prose Tristan | 1230-1240
La Tavola Ritonda | 1325–1350
Le Morte Darthur | Sir Thomas Malory, 1469-1470
Povest’ o Tryshchane | c. 1580