Frederick of Telramund in self-defence, a crime
for which he is unanimously acquitted.

Then he sadly goes on to relate that Elsa has already broken
her promise, and asked the fatal question concerning his name
and origin. Proudly he tells them that he has no cause to be
ashamed of his lineage, as he is Lohengrin, son of Parsifal,
the guardian of the Holy Grail, sent from the temple on Mount
Salvatch to save and defend Elsa. The only magic he had used was
the power with which the Holy Grail endowed all its defenders,
and which never forsook them until they revealed their name:--

'He whom the Grail to be its servant chooses
Is armed henceforth by high invincible might;
All evil craft its power before him loses,
The spirit of the darkness where he dwells takes flight.
Nor will he lose the awful charm it lendeth,
Although he should to distant lands,
When the high cause of virtue he defendeth:
While he's unknown, its spells he still commands.'

Now, he adds, the sacred spell is broken, he can no longer
remain, but is forced to return immediately to the Holy Grail,
and in confirmation of his word the swan and skiff again appear,
sailing up the river. Tenderly the Swan Knight now bids the
repentant Elsa farewell, gently resisting her passionate attempts
to detain him, and giving her his sword, horn, and ring, which
he bids her bestow upon her brother when he returns to protect
her. This boon is denied him, because she could not keep faith
with him for one short year, at the end of which time he would
have been free to reveal his name, and her missing brother
would have been restored to her by the power of the Holy Grail.

Placing the fainting Elsa in her women's arms, Lohengrin then
goes down toward the swan boat, amid the loud lamentations of all
the people, One person only is glad to see him depart, Ortrud,
the wife of Telramund, and, thinking he can no longer interfere,
she cruelly taunts Elsa with her lack of faith, and confesses
that her magic arts and heathen spells have turned the heir
of Brabant into the snowy swan which is even now drawing the
tiny skiff.

These words, which fill the hearts of Elsa and all the spectators
with horror and dismay, are however overheard by Lohengrin, who,
accustomed to rely upon Divine aid in every need, sinks upon his
knees, and is rapt in silent prayer. Suddenly a beam of heavenly
light streams down upon his upturned face, and the white dove
o