Elias
Knight in Le Morte d'Arthur who fought Sir Tristram over the truage of Cornwall and was slain.
Sir Elias appears in Le Morte d'Arthur as a warrior who fought Sir Tristram over the truage — a tribute demanded from Cornwall. Elias offered generous terms for single combat, and Tristram accepted the challenge rather than see Cornwall remain under the old tribute: "And sithen Sir Elias proffereth so largely, I shall fight with him, or else I will be slain in the field, or else I will deliver Cornwall from the old truage" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XXI).
The combat proved decisive. Elias fought fiercely and wounded Tristram in many places, but the contest ended with Elias's death: "Therewithal Sir Elias fell to the earth, and there died" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XXI). An earlier passage connects Elias to the narrative through a scene involving a castle and King Mark's predicament, where the king declared he would yield the castle if not soon rescued (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XXVIII).
The four citations cluster around a single narrative arc — the truage dispute and its resolution through combat. The chapter titles themselves telegraph the outcome: Elias exists in the text primarily to be slain by Tristram. Yet the details provide texture. Elias's willingness to offer terms marks him as something more than a stock antagonist; his "large" offer suggests confidence or perhaps a desire to resolve the matter without broader warfare (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XXI). The combat itself is not one-sided — Elias wounds Tristram "in many places" before falling (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XXI) — granting him a measure of martial credibility even in defeat.
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Le Morte d'Arthur, British Tradition