Tristan and Iseult as depicted by Herbert Draper (1863–1920).

The legend of Tristan and Iseult is an influential romance and tragedy, retold in numerous sources with as many variations. The tragic story of the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan (Tristram) and the Irish princess Iseult (Isolde, Yseut, etc.), the narrative predates and most likely influenced the Arthurian romance of Lancelot and Guinevere, and has had a substantial impact on Western art and literature since it first appeared in the 12th century. While the details of the story differ from one author to another, the overall plot structure remains much the same. Tristan and Iseult is a romantic narrative from medieval and modern literature. ... Image File history File links DrapersTristanIsolde. ... Image File history File links DrapersTristanIsolde. ... This article is about the Knight of the Round Table. ... Iseult of Ireland as portrayed Sophia Myles in Tristan & Isolde, 2006. ... Lament for Icarus, 1898 Herbert James Draper (1863 - 1920) was an English painter in the Victorian era. ... For other uses, see Cornwall (disambiguation). ... This article is about the Knight of the Round Table. ... Iseult of Ireland as portrayed Sophia Myles in Tristan & Isolde, 2006. ... A bronze Arthur in plate armour with visor raised and with jousting shield wearing Kastenbrust armour (early 15th century) by Peter Vischer, typical of later anachronistic depictions of Arthur. ... For other uses, see Lancelot (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Guinevere (disambiguation). ... Also see articles: History of painting, Western painting Clio, muse of heroic poetry and history, by Pierre Mignard, 17th century. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ...

Legend

There are two main traditions of the Tristan legend. The early tradition comprised the romances of two French poets from the second half of the twelfth century, Thomas of Britain and Béroul. Their sources could be traced back to the original, archetypal Celtic romance. Later traditions come from the Prose Tristan (c. 1240), which was markedly different from the earlier tales written by Thomas and Béroul. The Prose Tristan became the common medieval tale of Tristan and Iseult that would provide the background for the writings of Sir Thomas Malory, the English author, who wrote Le Morte d'Arthur (c. 1469). Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 478 pixelsFull resolution (1841 × 1099 pixel, file size: 369 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Thomas of Britain is an Anglo-Norman poet of the 12th century. ... Béroul is a juggler and storyteller of trade (trouvere) Norman of XIIe century. ... This article is about the European people. ... The Prose Tristan is an adaptation of the Tristan and Iseult story into a long prose romance, and the first to tie the subject entirely into the arc of the Arthurian legend. ... Events Batu Khan and the Golden Horde sack the Ruthenian city of Kyiv Births Pope Benedict XI Deaths April 11 - Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, also known as Llywelyn The Great Prince of Gwynedd Monarchs/Presidents Aragon - James I King of Aragon and count of Barcelona (reigned from 1213 to 1276) Castile... Sir Thomas Malory (c. ... The Last Sleep of Arthur by Edward Burne-Jones Le Morte dArthur (spelled Le Morte Darthur in the first printing and also in some modern editions, Middle French for la mort dArthur, the death of Arthur) is Sir Thomas Malorys compilation of some French and English Arthurian... Events July 26 - Battle of Edgecote Moor October 17 - Prince Ferdinand of Aragon wed princess Isabella of Castile. ...

The story and character of Tristan vary from poet to poet. Even the spelling of his name varies a great deal, though "Tristan" is the most popular spelling. In Béroul's Tristan and Iseult, the knight is as brave and fit as any other warrior, but he relies on trickery and does not live according to contemporary ideals of chivalry. Béroul is a juggler and storyteller of trade (trouvere) Norman of XIIe century. ...

In Béroul's tale, Tristan goes to Ireland to bring back the fair Iseult for his uncle King Mark to marry. Along the way, they accidentally ingest a love potion that causes the pair to be madly in love for three years. Although Iseult marries Mark, she and Tristan are forced by the potion to seek one another out for adultery. Although the typical noble Arthurian character would be shamed from such an act, the love potion that controls them frees Tristan and Iseult from responsibility. Thus Béroul presents them as victims. The king's advisors repeatedly try to have the pair tried for adultery, but again and again the couple use trickery to preserve their façade of innocence. Eventually the love potion wears off, and the two lovers are free to make their own choice as to whether they cease their adulterous lifestyle or continue. Béroul's ending is morally ambiguous, which differs greatly from his contemporaries such as Chrétien de Troyes and adds a bit of mystique to the legend of Tristan. Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and trouvère who flourished in the late 12th century. ...

As with the Arthur-Lancelot-Guinevere love triangle, Tristan, King Mark, and Iseult all hold love for each other. Tristan honors, respects, and loves King Mark as his mentor and adopted father; Iseult is grateful that Mark is kind to her, which he is certainly not obliged to be; and Mark loves Tristan as his son, and Iseult as a wife. But after they go to sleep every night, they would have horrible dreams about the future. Tristan's uncle eventually learns of the affair and seeks to entrap his nephew and his bride. Also present is the endangerment of a fragile kingdom, the cessation of war between Ireland and Cornwall. Mark gets what seems proof of their guilt and resolves to punish them: Tristan by hanging and Iseult by trial by ordeal and then putting her up in a lazar house (a leper colony). Tristan escapes on his way to the stake by a miraculous leap from a chapel and rescues Iseult. The lovers escape into the forest of Morrois and take shelter there until they are discovered by Mark one day. However, they make peace with Mark after Tristan's agreement to return Iseult to Mark and leave the country. Tristan then travels on to Brittany, where he marries (for her name and her beauty) Iseult of the White Hands, daughter of Hoel of Brittany and sister of Sir Kahedin. Trial by ordeal is a judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused is determined by subjecting them to a painful task. ... A lazar house is a quarantined house or hospital for people with infectious diseases, especially leprosy. ... Historical province of Brittany, showing the main areas with their name in Breton language The traditional flag of Brittany (the Gwenn-ha-du), formerly a Breton nationalist symbol but today used as a general civic flag in the region. ... Hoel or Howel is a legendary king of Brittany and one of the oldest characters associated with Arthurian legend. ... Sir Kahedin (variantly spelled Kahadin, Kahedrin, Kehenis; possibly the Welsh character Kae Hir) is brother to Iseult of Brittany and the son of King Hoel of Brittany in Arthurian legend. ...

In works like the Prose Tristan, the Post-Vulgate Cycle, and Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, Tristan is wounded by a poisoned weapon, after battling with Iseult of Ireland's uncle Morholt (sometimes named Estult li Orgillusi). He mortally wounds Morholt, leaving a piece of his sword in the Irishman's skull, but Morholt stabs him with a poisoned spear and escapes. Tristan sends for Iseult of Ireland, who alone can heal him. Iseult of Brittany watches the window for white sails signaling that Iseult of Ireland is arriving to save Tristan's life with her herblore. She sees the white sails, but out of jealousy, tells Tristan that the sails are black, which was to be the signal that Iseult of Ireland would not come. Tristan dies, and Iseult of Ireland, arriving too late to save him, yields up her own life. In some sources it states that two trees (hazel and honeysuckle) grow out of their graves and intertwine their branches so that they can not be parted by any means. It was said that King Mark tried to have the branches cut 3 separate times, and each time, the branches grew back and intertwined, so therefore he gave up and let them grow. In other versions of the story, Iseult of Ireland sets his body to sea in a boat and disappears, never to be heard from again. The Prose Tristan is an adaptation of the Tristan and Iseult story into a long prose romance, and the first to tie the subject entirely into the arc of the Arthurian legend. ... In Arthurian legend, Morholt (also called Marhalt, Morold, Marhaus and other variations) is an Irish warrior who demands tribute from King Mark of Cornwall until he is slain by Tristan, Marks nephew and defender. ... The term Herbalism refers to folk and traditional medicinal practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. ... This article is about the tree; for other meanings of hazel, see Hazel (disambiguation). ... Species See text - Selected Species Honeysuckles (genus Lonicera; syn. ...

A few later stories record that the lovers had a number of children. In some stories they produced a son and a daughter they named after themselves; these children survived their parents and had adventures of their own. In the romance Ysaie the Sad, the eponymous hero is the son of Tristan and Iseult; he becomes involved with the fay-king Oberon and marries a girl named Martha, who bears him a son named Mark. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 498 pixelsFull resolution (1598 × 995 pixel, file size: 365 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... by Sophie Anderson For other uses, see Fairy (disambiguation). ... Oberon, also Auberon, King of the Fairies, is most well-known as a character in William Shakespeares play, A Midsummer Nights Dream, written in the mid-1590s. ...

Origins of the legend

Early references to Tristan and Mark in Welsh

There are many theories present about the origins of Tristanian legend, but historians disagree about the most accurate one. There is the famous Tristan stone, with its inscription about Drust, but not all historians agree that the Drust referred to is the archetype of Tristan. There are references to March ap Meichion and Trystan in the Welsh Triads, some of the gnomic poetry, Mabinogion stories and in the late 11th century Life of St. Illtud. The Welsh Triads (Welsh, Trioedd Ynys Prydein) is used to describe any of the related Medieval collection of groupings of three that preserve a major portion of Welsh folklore and Welsh literature. ... The Mabinogion is a collection of prose stories from medieval Welsh manuscripts. ... Illtud (Illtyd, Eltut, Hildutus) (d. ...

Drystan's name appears as one of Arthur's advisers at the end of The Dream of Rhonabwy, an early 13th century tale in the Welsh prose collection known as the Mabinogion, and Iseult is listed along with other great men and women of Arthur's court in another, much earlier Mabinogion tale, Culhwch and Olwen.^[1] The Dream of Rhonabwy (Welsh: Breuddwyd Rhonabwy) is a Middle Welsh prose romance. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ... Prose is writing distinguished from poetry by its greater variety of rhythm and its closer resemblance to the patterns of everyday speech. ... The Mabinogion is a collection of prose stories from medieval Welsh manuscripts. ... Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh story that survives in only two manuscripts: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, ca. ...

Analogues

Possible Irish antecedents to the Tristan legend have received much scholarly attention. An ill-fated triantán an grá or love triangle features into a number of Irish works, most notably in the text called Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne or The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne. In the story, the aging Fionn mac Cumhaill takes the young princess, Gráinne, to be his wife. At the betrothal ceremony, however, she falls in love with Diarmuid, one of Fionn's most trusted warriors. Gráinne gives a sleeping potion to all present but him, eventually convincing him to elope with her. The fugitive lovers are then pursued all over Ireland by the Fianna. Another Irish analogue is Scéla Cano meic Gartnáin, preserved in the 14th century Yellow Book of Lecan. In this tale, Cano is an exiled Scottish king who accepts the hospitality of King Marcan of Ui Maile. His young wife, Credd, drugs all present, and then convinces Cano to be her lover. They try to keep a tryst while at Marcan's court, but are frustrated by courtiers. Eventually Credd kills herself and Cano dies of grief. In the Ulster Cycle there is the text Clann Uisnigh or Deirdre of the Sorrows in which Naoise mac Usnech falls for Deirdre, who was imprisoned by King Conchobar mac Nessa due to a prophecy that Ulster would plunge into civil war due to men fighting for her beauty. Conchobar had pledged to marry Deirde himself in time to avert war, and takes his revenge on Clan Usnech. The death of Naoise and his kin leads many Ulstermen to defect to Connacht, including Conchobar's stepfather and trusted ally Fergus mac Róich, eventually precipitating the Táin Bó Cúailnge. The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne (Irish: Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne) is an Irish prose narrative surviving in many variants. ... In Irish mythology, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (also known as Diarmuid of the love spot) was son of Donn and a warrior of the Fianna. ... In Irish mythology, Gráinne (pronounced or GRAWNyeah) was the daughter of Cormac mac Airt. ... Fionn mac Cumhaill (pronounced /fʲiːn̪ˠ mË ak kuwaːlʲ/ in Irish or /fɪn mɘ kuːl/ in English) (earlier Finn or Find mac Cumail or mac Umaill, later Anglicised to Finn McCool) was a mythical hunter-warrior of Irish mythology, occurring also in the mythologies of Scotland... The Love Potion by Evelyn de Morgan. ... In Irish mythology, the Fianna were Irish warrior-hunters who served the High King of Ireland in the 3rd century AD. Their adventures were recorded in the Fenian Cycle. ... The Yellow Book of Lecan (Leabhar Buidhe Lecain) is an medieval Irish manuscript written no later than the dawn of the 15th century. ... Deirdre or Derdriu is the foremost tragic heroine in Irish mythology. ... In Irish mythology, Naoise (also spelled Noisiu) was the nephew of King Conchobar of Ulster, and a son of Usnech (or Uisliu), in the Ulster Cycle. ... In Irish mythology, Conchobar mac Nessa (also Conchobor, Conchubar, Conchobhar, Conchubhar, Conchúr, Conchúir, Conor) was king of Ulster during the events of the Ulster Cycle. ... This article is about the nine-county Irish province. ... In Irish mythology, Usnach (also known as usnech) was the mother of Naoise and two other sons, all three of whom were killed by her brother, Conchobar mac Nessa. ... Statistics Area: 17,713. ... In Irish mythology, Fergus (or Fearghus) mac Róich (or mac Róeg) is the former king of Ulster during the events of the Ulster Cycle. ... Táin Bó Cúailnge (the driving-off of cows of Cooley, more usually rendered The Cattle Raid of Cooley or The Táin) is the central tale in the Ulster Cycle, one of the four great cycles that make up the surviving corpus of Irish mythology. ...

Some scholars have suggested that the 11th century Persian story Vis u Ramin may have influenced the Tristan legend.^[2] As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... “Persia” redirects here. ... Vis O Ramin (in Persian: ويس و رامين) is an ancient love story in Persian Literature. ...

Some scholars believe that Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe, as well as the story of Ariadne at Naxos might have also contributed to the development of the Tristan legend.^[2] The sequence in which Tristan and Iseult die and become interwoven trees also parallels Ovid's love story of Baucis and Philemon in which two lovers are transformed in death into two different trees sprouting from the same trunk. For other uses, see Ovid (disambiguation) Publius Ovidius Naso (March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD) was a Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid who wrote on topics of love, abandoned women and mythological transformations. ... For the asteroid, see 88 Thisbe. ... Jupiter and Mercury in the house of Philemon and Baucis, Adam Elsheimer, c1608, Dresden. ...

Association with King Arthur

In its early stages, the tale was probably unrelated to contemporary Arthurian literature, but the earliest surviving versions already incorporate references to Arthur and his court. The connection between Tristan and Iseult and the Arthurian legend was expanded over time, and sometime shortly after the completion of the Vulgate Cycle (or Lancelot-Grail Cycle) in the first quarter of the 13th century, two authors created the vast Prose Tristan, which fully establishes Tristan as a Knight of the Round Table who even participates in the Quest for the Holy Grail. For other uses, see Holy Grail (disambiguation). ...

Early medieval Tristan literature

Courtly branch

The earliest representation of what scholars name the "courtly" version of the Tristan legend is in the work of Thomas of Britain, dating from 1173. Only ten fragments of his Tristan poem, representing six manuscripts, have ever been located: the manuscripts in Turin and Strassburg are now lost, leaving two in Oxford, one in Cambridge and one in Carlisle.^[2] In his text, Thomas names another trouvère who also sang of Tristan, though no manuscripts of this earlier version have been discovered. There is also a fascinating passage telling how Iseult wrote a short lai out of grief that sheds light on the development of an unrelated legend concerning the death of a prominent troubadour, as well as the composition of lais by noblewomen of the 12th century. Thomas of Britain is an Anglo-Norman poet of the 12th century. ... Trouvère is the Northern French (langue doïl) version of troubador (langue doc), and refers to poet-composers who were roughly contemporary with and influenced by the troubadors but who composed their works in the northern dialects of France. ... A Lai was a song form composed in northern Europe, mainly France and Germany, from the 13th to the late 14th century. ...

The next essential text for knowledge of the courtly branch of the Tristan legend is the abridged translation of Thomas made by Brother Robert at the request of King Haakon Haakonson of Norway in 1227. King Haakon had wanted to promote Angevin-Norman culture at his court, and so commissioned the translation of several French Arthurian works. The Nordic version presents a complete, direct narrative of the events in Thomas' Tristan, with the telling omission of his numerous interpretive diversions. It is the only complete representative of the courtly branch in its formative period.^[3] Preceding the work of Brother Robert chronologically is the Tristan and Isolt of Gottfried von Strassburg, written circa 1211-1215. The poem was Gottfried's only known work, and was left incomplete due to his death with the retelling reaching half-way through the main plot. The poem was later completed by authors such as Heinrich von Freiberg and Ulrich von Türheim, but with the "common" branch of the legend as the ideal source.^[4] Brother Robert was a cleric working in Norway who adapted several French literary works into Old Norse during the reign of Norwegian king Haakon IV of Norway (1217 – 1263). ... Haakon Haakonsson (1204 – December 15, 1263) (Norwegian HÃ¥kon HÃ¥konsson, Old Norse Hákon Hákonarson), also called Haakon the Old, was king of Norway from 1217 to 1263. ... Modern département of Maine-et-Loire, which largely corresponds to Anjou Anjou is a former county (c. ... Gottfried von Strassburg, was one of the chief German poets of the middle ages. ...

Common branch

The earliest representation of the "common branch" is Béroul's Le Roman de Tristan, the first part of which is generally dated between 1150 and 1170, and the latter part between 1181 and 1190. The branch is so named due to its representation of an earlier non-chivalric, non-courtly, tradition of story-telling, making more reflective of the Dark Ages than of the refined High Middle Ages. In this respect, they are similar to Layamon's Brut and the Perlesvaus. As with Thomas' works, knowledge of Béroul's is limited. There were a few substantial fragments of his works discovered in the nineteenth century, and the rest was reconstructed from later versions.^[5] The more substantial illustration of the common branch is the German version by Eilhart von Oberge. Eilhart's version was popular, but pales in comparison with the later Gottfried.^[4]jkl Béroul is a juggler and storyteller of trade (trouvere) Norman of XIIe century. ... Layamon, or Laȝamon (using the archaic letter yogh), was a poet of the early 13th century, whose Brut (c. ... Brut, about the mythic Brutus of Troy, is a Middle English poem compiled and recast by the priest Layamon. ... Perlesvaus, also called Li Hauz Livres du Graal (The High History of the Holy Grail), is an Old French Arthurian romance dating to the first decade of the 13th century. ... Eilhart von Oberge was a German poet of the late 12th century. ...

A common source

The French medievalist Joseph Bédier thought all the Tristan legends could be traced to a single original poem, adapted by Thomas of Brittany into French from an original Cornish or Breton source. He dubbed this hypothetical original the "Ur-Tristan", and wrote his still-popular Romance of Tristan and Iseult as an attempt to reconstruct what this might have been like. In all likelihood, Common Branch versions reflect an earlier form of the story; accordingly, Bédier relied heavily on Eilhart, Béroul and Gottfried von Strassburg, and incorporated material from other versions to make a cohesive whole. Some scholars still consider Bédier's argument convincing. Joseph Bédier (1864–1938) was a 20th century French writer. ...

Later medieval versions

French

Contemporary with Béroul and Thomas, the famous Marie de France presents a Tristan episode in one of her lais: "Chevrefoil". It concerns another of Tristan's clandestine returns to Cornwall in which the banished hero signals his presence to Iseult by means of an inscription on a branch of a hazelnut tree placed on the road she will travel. The title refers to the symbiosis of the honeysuckle and hazelnut tree which die when separated, as do Tristan and Iseult: "Ni moi sans vous, ni vous sans moi." ("Neither me without you, nor you without me.") This episode is reminscient of one in the courtly branch when Tristan uses wood shavings put in a stream as signals to meet in the garden of Mark's palace. Marie de France from an illuminated manuscript Marie de France (Mary of France) was a poet evidently born in France and living in England during the late 12th century. ... The Lais of Marie de France are a series of twelve short narrative poems in Anglo-Norman, generally focused on glorifying the concepts of courtly love through the adventures of their main characters. ... Chevrefoil is a Breton lai by the medieval poet Marie de France. ... Binomial name Corylus avellana L. The Common Hazel (Corylus avellana) is a shrub native to Europe and Asia. ... Species See text - Selected Species Honeysuckles (genus Lonicera; syn. ...

There are also two 12th century Folie Tristan, Anglo-Norman poems identified as the Oxford and the Bern versions, which relate Tristan's return to Marc's court under the guise of a madman. Besides their own importance as episodic additions to the Tristan story and masterpieces of narrative structure, these relatively short poems significantly contributed to restoring the missing parts of Béroul's and Thomas' incomplete texts.^[6]

The great trouvère Chrétien de Troyes claims to have written a Tristan story, though no part of it has ever been found. He mentions this in the introduction to Cligès, a romance that many see as a kind of anti-Tristan with a happy ending. Some scholars speculate his Tristan was ill-received, prompting Chretien to write Cligès - a story with no Celtic antecedent - to make amends.^[7] Trouvère is the Northern French (langue doïl) version of troubador (langue doc), and refers to poet-composers who were roughly contemporary with and influenced by the troubadors but who composed their works in the northern dialects of France. ... Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and trouvère who flourished in the late 12th century. ... Cligès is a poem by the medieval French poet Chrétien de Troyes, dating from around 1176. ...

After Béroul and Thomas, the most important development in French Tristaniana is a complex grouping of texts known broadly as the Prose Tristan. Extremely popular in the 13th and 14th Century, the narratives of these lengthy versions vary in detail from manuscript to manuscript. Modern editions run twelve volumes for the long version, which includes Tristan's participation in the Quest for the Holy Grail, or five volumes for a shorter version without the Grail Quest.^[8] The Roman de Tristan en prose is a great work of art with fits of lyrical beauty. It also had a great influence on later medieval literature, and inspired parts of the Post-Vulgate Cycle, the Roman de Palamedes, and Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. The Prose Tristan is an adaptation of the Tristan and Iseult story into a long prose romance, and the first to tie the subject entirely into the arc of the Arthurian legend. ... The Post-Vulgate Cycle is one of the major Old French prose cycles of Arthurian literature. ... Palamedes, (also called Palamede, Palomides or some other variant) was a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. ...

English

The earliest, complete source of the Tristan material in English was Sir Tristram, a romance of some 3344 lines written circa 1300. It is preserved in the famous Auchinleck manuscript at the National Library of Scotland. The narrative largely follows the courtly tradition. As is true with many medieval English adaptations of French Arthuriana, the poems artistic achievement can only be described as average, though some critics have tried to rehabilitate it, claiming it is a parody. Its first editor, Sir Walter Scott, provided a sixty line ending to the story, which has been printed with the romance in every subsequent edition.^[9] The Auchinleck Manuscript is currently contained in the National Library of Scotland. ... The building on George IV bridge The National Library of Scotland is a legal deposit library in Scotland. ... Raeburns portrait of Sir Walter Scott in 1822. ...

The only other medieval handling of the Tristan legend in English is Sir Thomas Malory's The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyones, a shortened "translation" of the French Prose Tristan in Le Morte d'Arthur. Since the Winchester manuscript surfaced in 1934, there has been much scholarly debate whether the Tristan narrative, like all the episodes in Le Morte d'Arthur, were originally intended to be an independent piece or part of a larger work. Sir Thomas Malory (c. ... The Prose Tristan is an adaptation of the Tristan and Iseult story into a long prose romance, and the first to tie the subject entirely into the arc of the Arthurian legend. ... Winchester is a historic city in southern England, with a population of around 40,000 within a 3 mile radius of its centre. ... Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Scandinavia

The popularity of Brother Robert's version spawned a unique parody, Saga Af Tristram ok Ísodd as well as poem Tristrams kvæði. In the collection of Old Norse prose-translations of Marie de France's lais – called Strengleikar (Stringed Instruments) – two lais with Arthurian content have been preserved, one of the them being the "Chevrefoil", translated as "Geitarlauf."

By the 19th century, scholars had found Tristan legends spread across the Nordic world, from Denmark to the Faroe Islands. These stories, however, diverged greatly from their medieval precursors. In one Danish ballad, for instance, Tristan and Iseult are made brother and sister. Other unlikely innovations occur in two popular Danish chapbooks of the late 18th century Tristans saga ok Inionu and En tragoedisk Historie om den ædle og tappre Tistrand, in which Iseult is made the princess of India. The popularity of these chapbooks inspired Icelandic novelists Gunnar Leifsson and Niels Johnson to write novels inspired by the Tristan legend.^[10] A modern day chapbook. ...

Dutch

A 130 line fragment of a Dutch version of Thomas of Britain's Tristan exists. It is in a manuscript in Vienna at the National Library. For other uses, see Vienna (disambiguation). ...

Welsh

A short Tristan narrative, perhaps related to the Béroul text, exists in six Welsh manuscripts dating from the late 16th to the mid 17th century.^[11]

Spanish

In the first third of the 14th century the famous Arcipreste de Hita wrote a version of the Tristan story. Carta enviada por Hiseo la Brunda a Tristán; Respuesta de Tristán was a unique 15th century romance written in the form of imaginary letters between the two lovers. Then there was a famous Spanish reworking of the French Prose Tristan, Libro del muy esforzado caballero Don Tristán de Leonís y de sus grandes hechos en armas first published in Valladolid in 1501, then republised in Seville in 1511, 1520, 1525, 1528, 1533 and 1534; additionally a second part, Tristan el Joven, was created which dealt with Tristan's son, Tristan of Leonis.^[12] 1501 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Seville (disambiguation). ... Year 1511 (MDXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... Year 1520 (MDXX) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... Events January 21 - The Swiss Anabaptist Movement was born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptized each other in the home of Manzs mother on Neustadt-Gasse, Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union. ... Events June 19 - Battle of Landriano - A French army in Italy under Marshal St. ... Events January 25 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne Boleyn, his second Queen consort. ... 1534 (MDXXXIV) was a common year in the 16th century. ...

Czech and German

A 13th century verse romance exists in Czech, based on the German Tristan poems by Gottfried von Strassburg, Heinrich von Freiberg and Eilhart von Oberg. It is the only known verse representative of the Tristan story in a Slavic language.^[13] Gottfried von Strassburg, was one of the chief German poets of the middle ages. ... Eilhart von Oberge was a German poet of the late 12th century. ...  Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language  Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language  Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup...

Italian

The Tristan legend proved very popular in Italy; there were many cantari, or oral poems performed in the public square, either about him, or frequently referencing him:

• Cantari di Tristano
• Due Tristani
• Quando Tristano e Lancielotto combattiero al petrone di Merlino
• Ultime impresse e morte Tristano
• Vendetta che fe messer Lanzelloto de la Morte di Mister Tristano

There are also four differing versions of the Prose Tristan in medieval Italy, most named after their place of composition or library in which they are currently to be found:^[14]

• Tavola Ritonda
• Tristano Panciaticchiano
• Tristano Riccardiano
• Tristano Veneto

Belarusian

The Belarusian (or ancient Litvan) prose Povest Trychane represents the furthest eastern advance of the legend, and, composed in the 1560s, is considered by some critics to be the last "medieval" Tristan or Arthurian text period.

Its lineage goes back to the Tristano Veneto. Venice, at that time, controlled large parts of the Serbo-Croatian language area, engendering a more active literary and cultural life there than in most of the Balkans during this period. The manuscript of the Povest states that it was translated from a (lost) Serbian intermediary. Scholars assume that the legend must have journeyed from Venice, through its Balkan colonies, finally reaching a last outpost in this Slavic dialect.^[15] For other uses, see Venice (disambiguation). ... Not to be confused with Republika Srpska. ...

Modern literature

In the 19th century, Richard Wagner composed the opera Tristan und Isolde, now considered one of the most influential pieces of music from the century. In his work, Tristan is portrayed as a doomed romantic figure. In English, the Tristan story suffered the same fate as the Matter of Britain generally. After being mostly ignored for about three centuries, there was a renaissance of original Arthurian literature, mostly narrative verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tristan material in this revival included Alfred Tennyson's The Last Tournament, Matthew Arnold's Tristram and Iseult, and Algernon Charles Swinburne's epic poem Tristram of Lyonesse. After World War II most Tristan texts were in the form of prose novels or short stories. Novelist Thomas Berger retold the story of Tristan and Isolde in his interpretation of Arthurian legend, Arthur Rex. Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or music dramas as they were later called). ... Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde) is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. ... ‹ The template below is being considered for deletion. ... The Renaissance (French for rebirth, or Rinascimento in Italian), was a cultural movement in Italy (and in Europe in general) that began in the late Middle Ages, and spanned roughly the 14th through the 17th century. ... Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (August 6, 1809 - October 6, 1892) is generally regarded as one of the greatest English poets. ... Matthew Arnold Caricature from Punch, 1881: Admit that Homer sometimes nods, That poets do write trash, Our Bard has written Balder Dead, And also Balder-dash Family tree Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic, who worked as an inspector of schools. ... Algernon Swinburne, Portrait by Rossetti Algernon Charles Swinburne (April 5, 1837 – April 10, 1909) was a Victorian era English poet. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Thomas Louis Berger (born July 20, 1924) is a U.S. novelist. ...

The Cornish writer Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch ("Q") started Castle Dor, a retelling of the Tristan and Iseult myth in modern circumstances with an inkeeper in the role of King Mark, his wife as Iseult and a Breton onion-seller as Tristan, the plot set in "Troy", his name for his hometown of Fowey. The book was left unfinished at Quiller-Couch's death and was completed many years later, in 1962, by Daphne du Maurier. For other uses, see Cornwall (disambiguation). ... Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (November 21, 1863 - May 12, 1944) was a British writer, who published under the pen name of Q. Born in Cornwall, he was educated at Newton Abbot College, at Clifton College, and Trinity College, Oxford and later became a lecturer there. ... Breton can refer to: Brittany, as an adjective for this historical province of France The Breton language, a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany and Loire-Atlantique A Breton person, part of a Brythonic ethnic group inhabiting the region of Brittany André Breton (1896-1966), French... Fowey (pronounced , Cornish: Fowydh) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, at the mouth of the River Fowey. ... Dame Daphne du Maurier DBE (13 May 1907–19 April 1989) was a famous British novelist best known for her short story The Birds and her classic novel Rebecca, published in 1938. ...

Films

The story has also been adapted into film many times.^[16] The earliest is probably the 1909 French film Tristan et Yseult, an early, silent version of the story.^[17] This was followed by another French film of the same name two years later, which offered a unique addition to the story. Here, it is Tristan's jealous slave Rosen who tricks the lovers into drinking the love potion, then denounces them to Mark. Mark has pity on the two lovers, but they commit double suicide anyway.^[17] A third silent French version appeared in 1920, and follows the legend fairly closely.^[17]

One of the most celebrated and controversial Tristan films was 1943's L'Éternel Retour (The Eternal Return), directed by Jean Delannoy (screenplay by Jean Cocteau). It is a contemporary retelling of the story with a man named Patrice in the Tristan role fetching a wife for his friend Marke. However, an evil dwarf tricks them into drinking a love potion, and the familiar plot ensues.^[17] The film was made in France during the Vichy regime, and elements in the movie reflect Nazi ideology, with the beautiful, blonde hero and heroine and the ugly, Semitic dwarf. Not only are the dwarfs visually different, they are given a larger role than in most interpretations of the legend; their conniving rains havoc on the lovers, much like the Jews of Nazi stereotypes. Jean Delannoy (born January 12, 1908 in Noisy-le-Sec, Île-de-France) is a French, actor, film editor, screenwriter and film director. ... Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager and filmmaker. ... Motto Travail, famille, patrie French: Unoccupied zone of Vichy France (until November 1942) Capital Vichy Capital-in-exile Sigmaringen (1944-1945) Language(s) French Religion Roman Catholic Government Dictatorship Chief of state  - 1940 — 1944 Philippe Pétain President of the Council  - 1940 — 1942 Philippe Pétain  - 1942 — 1944 Pierre Laval... Nazism, or National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus), refers primarily to the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party, German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) under Adolf Hitler. ...

Iseult (Sophia Myles) and Tristan (James Franco) in Tristan & Isolde

The 1970 Spanish film Tristana is only tangentially related to the Tristan story. The Tristan role is assumed by the female character Tristana, who is forced to care for her aging uncle, Don Lope, though she wishes to marry Horacio.^[17] This was followed by the avant-garde French film Tristan et Iseult in 1972 and the Irish Lovespell, featuring Nicholas Clay as Tristan and Kate Mulgrew as Iseult; coincidentally, Clay went on to play Lancelot in John Boorman's epic Excalibur.^[17] The popular German film Fire and Sword premiered in 1981; it was very accurate to the story, though it cut the Iseult of Brittany subplot.^[17] Image File history File linksMetadata Isolde. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Isolde. ... Sophia Myles (IPA: ) (born March 18, 1980) is an English film and television actress. ... James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, film producer, and artist. ... Tristan & Isolde is a 2006 German/British/American film based on the medieval romantic legend of Tristan and Iseult. ... A work similar to Marcel Duchamps Fountain Avant garde (written avant-garde) is a French phrase, one of many French phrases used by English speakers. ... Nicholas Anthony Phillip Clay (September 18, 1946 - May 25, 2000) was a British actor. ... Kate Mulgrew (born April 29, 1955) is a Golden Globe-nominated American actor, most famous for her roles as Mary Ryan on Ryans Hope and Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager. ... John Boorman (born January 18, 1933 in Shepperton, Surrey, United Kingdom), is a British filmmaker, currently based in Ireland, best known for his feature films such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Excalibur, and The General. ... Excalibur is a 1981 film which retells the legend of King Arthur. ...

Legendary French director François Truffaut adapted the subject to modern times for his 1981 film La Femme d'à côté (The Woman Next Door), while 1988's In the Shadow of the Raven transported the characters to medieval Iceland. Here, Trausti and Isolde are warriors from rival tribes who come into conflict when Trausti kills the leader of Isolde's tribe, but a local bishop makes peace and arranges their marriage.^[17] Bollywood legend Subhash Ghai transfers the story to modern India and the United States in his 1997 musical Pardes. The Indian American Pardes (Amrish Puri) raises his orphaned nephew Arjun Shahrukh Khan. Eventually, Pardes sends Arjun back to India to lure the beautiful Ganga (Mahima Chaudhary) as a bride for his selfish, shallow son Rajiv (Apoorva Agnihotri). Arjun falls for Ganga, and struggles to remain loyal to his cousin and beloved uncle. The film features the Bollywood hit "I Love My India." The 2002 French animated film Tristan et Iseut is a bowdlerized version of the traditional tale aimed at a family audience. François Roland Truffaut (French IPA: ) (February 6, 1932 – October 21, 1984) was one of the founders of the French New Wave in filmmaking, and remains an icon of the French film industry. ... La Femme dà côté (The Woman Next Door) is a 1981 film directed by François Truffaut. ... Bollywood (Hindi: , Urdu: ) is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry in India. ... Subhash Ghai (born January 24, 1943/1945, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India) is an Indian director whose most notable films include Khal Nayak (1994), Pardes (1997) and Taal (1999). ... Pardes is a Bollywood movie directed by Subhash Ghai, it was released on 8th August 1997. ... For an article on American Indians see Native Americans. ... Amrish Lal Puri (Hindi: अमरीश पुरी, Urdu: اَمریش پُری, June 22, 1932 – January 12, 2005) was an Indian actor who appeared primarily in Bollywood movies. ... Shahrukh Khan (born November 2, 1965) (Hindi: शाहरुख़ ख़ान, Hindko: شاہ رخ خان) is a highly acclaimed Bollywood actor, producer, and recent host of the game show, Kaun Banega Crorepati. ... Mahima Chaudhary is an Indian actress. ... The bouncing ball animation (below) consists of these 6 frames. ...

The most recent Tristan film is 2006's Tristan & Isolde, produced by Tony Scott and Ridley Scott, written by Dean Georgaris, directed by Kevin Reynolds, and starring James Franco and Sophia Myles. Tristan & Isolde is a 2006 German/British/American film based on the medieval romantic legend of Tristan and Iseult. ... See also Tony Scott for the American clarinet jazz musician. ... Sir Ridley Scott (born November 30, 1937 in South Shields, South Tyneside) is a British film director and producer. ... Kevin Reynolds refers to: Kevin Reynolds (director) Kevin Reynolds (figure skater) Category: ... James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, film producer, and artist. ... Sophia Myles (IPA: ) (born March 18, 1980) is an English film and television actress. ...

See also: List of films based on Arthurian legend

Films based on the Arthurian legend are many and varied. ...

References

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... The University of Rochester (UR) is a private, coeducational and nonsectarian research university located in Rochester, New York. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Tristan and Iseult

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Tristan and Isolde

• Tristan and Isolde Information
• Overview of the story
• Bedier: Tristan and Iseult
• Béroul: Le Roman de Tristan
• Thomas d'Angleterre : Tristan
• Gottfried von Strassburg: Tristan
• Transcription and page images of the Auchinleck manuscript
• The libretto for Wagners opera, bilingual English and German
• Tristan page from the Camelot Project
• Bibliography of Modern Tristaniana in English