http://www.scarletquince.com/pat.php?pat=BLA001 Link one.
http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Leighton Wickipedia with the same pictures and some info on the artist.
First painting is "The Accolade," the second "Godspeed!" Both by Edmund Blair Leighton.
Notes and Explanations, also some Medaeval Facts:
I also used "Godspeed!" for a little of my inspiration; it is in both links.
For this poem I used the meter 7.6.7.6. Lines one and three are Trochaic, and 2 and 4 are Iambic.
I have tried to depict some of the culture of the day, as I am very much into medaeval life and customs. One example is that of a squire being knighted by a person of import upon valiant deeds in battle.
Langely Tower is fictional; it could possibly exist, but I am not aware of one.
"I ween" means the same thing as "I imagine", or "I think".
I have a few references to The Legend of King Arthur; I imagine the time period would be some hundreds of years after. The theory is that after the dividing of Logris, there were sometimes many monarchs ruling what we now call England, which would explain why she did not make the history books. Legends and ballads are better anyway.
Gilbert is supposed to be the leader of Faith's army. The wars that are taking place are internal wars, among the different monarchs and people groups they represent.
A favour was something that a young woman gave a knight to wear, sometimes jewelry or a sleeve. It was supposed to make the knight braver, because he would either bring honour or dishonour to the damsel.
With the ideology of courtly love, it was not uncommon for nearly every knight in the service of a queen to claim to love her. However, that a queen would marry a knight, or make the decision who to marry is rather unthinkable for the era. But that was a long time ago; I think I am justified in changing a little bit and giving Faith the happy ending.