I've been reading some of these responses where in general people agree that marriage and virginity are very sacred, so most likely Elena was a virgin.
However, would this also mean that Mhoram died a virgin? I mean he never married, at least not by the end of Power that Preserves.
My guess is that both Mhoram and Elena probably were both virgins, and my thinking is that they didn't really feel a great need to get married, etc, because of their extensive work with the lore, earthpower, etc. The power and satisfaction that they probably obtained from that work likely served as a block to forestall marriage. And Elena had her marrowmeld to occupy her when she was bored. However, there was probably another reason why they might not have married. The Land during all the years that Elena grew up was in a constant state of war or at least dread. People knew that the Despiser was out there, and it might be hard to want to get married and bring children into a world of war. In Lord Foul's Bane, Atiaran tells Lena that she is sorry that she was born at such a time of war. And of course, during this time, all the lords had to work really hard trying to come up with ways to defeat Foul that they might have not had much time and energy for other things. Of course, some lords (like Loerya) did get married and have children. I'm just arguing that these reasons might have been blocks to discourage some of the others.
However, if Elena did do the deed, who might have it been with? My guess is it's back to Mhoram. Many posters have said that Elena was very power-hungry, and this was a lot of the reason that she was so attracted to Covenant. I disagree with this, but if it is true, this would be a strong reason for an affair with Mhoram. During this time, Mhoram was the most powerful lord, as seer and oracle, retrieving the Staff of Law in the first book, etc. In Illearth War, Covenant was curious himself why Mhoram wasn't the High Lord instead of Elena. Therefore Elena could have easily been attracted to Mhoram. Also in Illearth War, when Covenant realizes that Hile Troy likes Elena, he asks him if Mhoram is also in love with her. In another conversation with Covenant, Mhoram tells him that Elena is indeed hard to refuse. Therefore, I could easily see these two having an affair in the past. Then of course, Elena probably dumped Mhoram as her obsession with Covenant grew. Mhoram's pretty stoic, so he could probably take this without letting it affect his duties.
Many posters have concentrated on the "gift of virginity" in the first book and when it was taken away from Lena as to why Elena would still be a virgin. However, I still wonder if that is really true. I think the crime against Lena was that it was rape (and that Lena eventually became mad) and not necessarily because he raped a virgin. I mean in today's modern world, people still somewhat consider a woman's virginity as a "gift," especially if you are religious. However, in the end, most people still have sex before marriage. I don't see why it can't be the same way in the Land. I think people get the impression that the Land is like the Middle Ages with monsters and magic, but people in the Middle Ages still had affairs. In the Second Chronicles, when Covenant and Linden became lovers, most of their crewmembers where happy for them even though they weren't married, and there wasn't an engagement ring on Dr. Avery's finger. (Not that they wouldn't have gotten married later, of course.) Of course, most people on that voyage weren't from the Land, so might have had different customs. Actually, one of the biggest arguments that the Land might indeed have been this place where people didn't have sex until they were at least engaged was that I don't remember anyone other than Covenant being involved in situations where the immediate potential of coupling would go on.
OK, now finally, here's my reasoning on why Elena did not love Covenant simply because she was power hungry. I think the reason was more star worship, like how teenage girls might get a crush on their favorite movie star or singer, along with a combination of mixing in her being grateful to Covenant for what he provided her and of course, her madness. In Illearth War, when Covenant first finds out that Elena is his daughter, he thinks that she would condemn him. However, Elena says that she is much like her mother, finding it easy to forgive Covenant especially considering his gift of the Ranyhyn. Later on, when Covenant tries to tell Elena that a relationship between the two would be incest, Elena states that she considers Triock her real father, and if Triock were not there, she would hate Covenant. I guess the point that I'm trying to make with the last statement is that if Triock weren't there to act as a step-father, Elena would not love Covenant no matter how power hungry she might have been.
Still, we're back to why in the world Elena would love Covenant other than she's totally mad. Hile Troy made it clear in Illearth War that Elena already had a huge crush on Covenant even before she ever met him. She was obsessed about him as he would say. I think the reason is looking back to how Elena grew up. As she grew up, she heard all of these stories of the Unbeliever, calling the Fire Lions, a hundred Ranyhyn rearing for him, etc, and most of the stories were all good stories that became legend. And of course, Covenant also gave Elena and her mom the gift of the Ranyhyn. It's like Liv Tyler seeking out her famous father Stevie Tyler when she was young, but much more because Covenant was the living legend who was still supposed to save the Land in the end. (In the Land during this time, you either believed he was the saviour or you hated his guts.) And Elena was right at the crux of this. Her step-father and grandparents abhorred Covenant with both Trell and Atiaran losing the Oath of Peace. Yet her mother Lena still loved Covenant even after the crime committed on her, and Elena was more her mother's daughter. Elena was still probably very confused growing up. However, she probably still wanted to prove worthy of her father's legend, and she eventually became a lord, and then High Lord. However, at the point of becoming High Lord, and she probably knew this when she was a lord also, she really really needed Covenant to save the Land. Before Covenant was summoned the lords tried all sorts of things, and they were found lacking. In book 1, Prothall tried to resign the High Lordship because he felt that the trials of the times were too great for him. However, Elena probably volunteered for it believing that she was fit. However, right up until the time to when the Unbeliever was summoned, she was very likely doubting her abilities similar to when couldn't crack Amok's question about the Seventh Ward. And at that time, Elena was one step from committing the Ritual of Descration. She felt that she had failed the Land, could not face this, and became obsessed with Covenant as the greatest hope. Mhoram during this time also believed that Covenat was the only hope although of course, Hile Troy disagreed. She probably started to confuse her need for him to help her get past these trials and save the Land, and her past star worship of him with real love, more than that of just a father. And when she meets him, he's not that much older than she is. And then he brings the krill to life, reaffirming her belief that he's really can save the Land. It can be argued that at the end of Illearth War, Elena tells Covenant that she is more than willing to bear the burden of saving the Land rather than putting the onus on him. Elena loves the Land, and she would be more than ready to save it rather than have Covenant do it for her. However, I think that she still has much more confidence in her abilities to do it when he's by her side, especially as a weapon of last resort. Again, back to the question of what's the Seventh Ward, Elena wanted Covenant to use the white gold on Amok to find the answer when she couldn't do it herself.
Oh yea, and of course, the last reason why Elena loves Covenant: she has that "otherness" which causes her to be way too passionate for things.
... I mean, it's a question of how you look at it. Certainly, SRD meant Elana for Covenant. If you mean, did the Creator have a hand in Elena's madness, or did Foul, then I suppose it's a different question.
I think I squicked myself.
