(With so many men fawning over one woman, I couldn't help but draw similarities between this lai and ABC's "The Bachelorette".)
This lai is about a fine, beautiful lady who was loved by every knight who looked upon her. Four young, nameless, handsome barons fell in love with the lady and all fought for her love. In the time period this lai was set in, women were supposed to be gracious and thankful for the love comments given by any man, regardless of how they really felt about the circumstances. With that being said, the lady truly loved these four men and could not turn away the love of three knights for the love of one knight.
A tournament was held in the lady's town to get to know these four nameless knights and attracted the attention of knights far and wide who came to participate in the festivities. In the heat of the tournament, the four knights were under attack and were knocked off their horses. Following the tournament, the four knights instigated an isolated fight, killing three of the lady's lovers and castrating the fourth lover. The lady is devastated by the deaths of her three lovers and has their bodies richly dressed and buried in an elaborate monastery. The lady has the fourth wounded knight brought to her castle for rehabilitation and she visits him often. To commemorate her love and "death" of her love of the four knights, the lady writes a lai which she calls "The Four Mournings", but the fourth knight asks the lady to call the lai "Chaitivel--The Wraith".
The fourth knight feels he is at the losing end of a horrible joke because after surviving his fight for the lady's love, he is unable to enjoy his victory due to his castration. The fourth knight claims he would rather be dead than be tortured by the love of his lover. The knight is caught in a horrible catch 22 situation, so he asks his lover to change the lai's name to Chaitivel, which she does in the fourth knight's honor.
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