中文导读
以下收录约瑟夫·贝迪耶（Joseph Bédier）1900 年法语散文重述本《特里斯坦与伊索尔德传奇》（Le Roman de Tristan et Iseut）的英文版（Hilaire Belloc 译，1913 年，Project Gutenberg #14244，公版）。
贝迪耶的版本不是戈特弗里德原诗的直接翻译，而是综合了贝鲁尔（Béroul）、托马斯·不列颠（Thomas of Britain）、艾尔哈特（Eilhart）等多位中世纪诗人的特里斯坦叙事，以现代法语散文重述而成的完整故事。它是二十世纪特里斯坦传统复兴的起点，也是瓦格纳歌剧之外大众最熟悉的版本。
原文分三部分（Part the First / Second / Third），共二十章。以下收录全部正文。
PART THE FIRST
THE CHILDHOOD OF TRISTAN
My lords, if you would hear a high tale of love and of death, here is that of Tristan and Queen Iseult; how to their full joy, but to their sorrow also, they loved each other, and how at last they died of that love together upon one day; she by him and he by her.
Long ago, when Mark was King over Cornwall, Rivalen, King of Lyonesse, heard that Mark's enemies waged war on him; so he crossed the sea to bring him aid; and so faithfully did he serve him with counsel and sword that Mark gave him his sister Blanchefleur, whom King Rivalen loved most marvellously.
He wedded her in Tintagel Minster, but hardly was she wed when the news came to him that his old enemy Duke Morgan had fallen on Lyonesse and was wasting town and field. Then Rivalen manned his ships in haste, and took Blanchefleur with him to his far land; but she was with child. He landed below his castle of Kanoël and gave the Queen in ward to his Marshal Rohalt, and after that set off to wage his war.
Blanchefleur waited for him continually, but he did not come home, till she learnt upon a day that Duke Morgan had killed him in foul ambush. She did not weep: she made no cry or lamentation, but her limbs failed her and grew weak, and her soul was filled with a strong desire to be rid of the flesh, and though Rohalt tried to soothe her she would not hear. Three days she awaited re-union with her lord, and on the fourth she brought forth a son; and taking him in her arms she said:
"Little son, I have longed a while to see you, and now I see you the fairest thing ever a woman bore. In sadness came I hither, in sadness did I bring forth, and in sadness has your first feast day gone. And as by sadness you came into the world, your name shall be called Tristan; that is the child of sadness."
After she had said these words she kissed him, and immediately when she had kissed him she died.
Rohalt, the keeper of faith, took the child, but already Duke Morgan's men besieged the Castle of Kanoël all round about. There is a wise saying: "Fool-hardy was never hardy," and he was compelled to yield to Duke Morgan at his mercy: but for fear that Morgan might slay Rivalen's heir the Marshal hid him among his own sons.
When seven years were passed and the time had come to take the child from the women, Rohalt put Tristan under a good master, the Squire Gorvenal, and Gorvenal taught him in a few years the arts that go with barony. He taught him the use of lance and sword and 'scutcheon and bow, and how to cast stone quoits and to leap wide dykes also: and he taught him to hate every lie and felony and to keep his given word; and he taught him the various kinds of song and harp-playing, and the hunter's craft; and when the child rode among the young squires you would have said that he and his horse and his armour were all one thing. To see him so noble and so proud, broad in the shoulders, loyal, strong and right, all men glorified Rohalt in such a son. But Rohalt remembering Rivalen and Blanchefleur (of whose youth and grace all this was a resurrection) loved him indeed as a son, but in his heart revered him as his lord.
Now all his joy was snatched from him on a day when certain merchants of Norway, having lured Tristan to their ship, bore him off as a rich prize, though Tristan fought hard, as a young wolf struggles, caught in a gin. But it is a truth well proved, and every sailor knows it, that the sea will hardly bear a felon ship, and gives no aid to rapine. The sea rose and cast a dark storm round the ship and drove it eight days and eight nights at random, till the mariners caught through the mist a coast of awful cliffs and sea-ward rocks whereon the sea would have ground their hull to pieces: then they did penance, knowing that the anger of the sea came of the lad, whom they had stolen in an evil hour, and they vowed his deliverance and got ready a boat to put him, if it might be, ashore: then the wind, and sea fell and the sky shone, and as the Norway ship grew small in the offing, a quiet tide cast Tristan and the boat upon a beach of sand.
Painfully he climbed the cliff and saw, beyond, a lonely rolling heath and a forest stretching out and endless. And he wept, remembering Gorvenal, his father, and the land of Lyonesse. Then the distant cry of a hunt, with horse and hound, came suddenly and lifted his heart, and a tall stag broke cover at the forest edge. The pack and the hunt streamed after it with a tumult of cries and winding horns, but just as the hounds were racing clustered at the haunch, the quarry turned to bay at a stones throw from Tristan; a huntsman gave him the thrust, while all around the hunt had gathered and was winding the kill. But Tristan, seeing by the gesture of the huntsman that he made to cut the neck of the stag, cried out:
"My lord, what would you do? Is it fitting to cut up so noble a beast like any farm-yard hog? Is that the custom of this country?"
And the huntsman answered:
"Fair friend, what startles you? Why yes, first I take off the head of a stag, and then I cut it into four quarters and we carry it on our saddle bows to King Mark, our lord: So do we, and so since the days of the first huntsmen have done the Cornish men. If, however, you know of some nobler custom, teach it us: take this knife and we will learn it willingly."
Then Tristan kneeled and skinned the stag before he cut it up, and quartered it all in order leaving the crow-bone all whole, as is meet, and putting aside at the end the head, the haunch, the tongue and the great heart's vein; and the huntsmen and the kennel hinds stood over him with delight, and the Master Huntsman said:
"Friend, these are good ways. In what land learnt you them? Tell us your country and your name."
"Good lord, my name is Tristan, and I learnt these ways in my country of Lyonesse."
"Tristan," said the Master Huntsman, "God reward the father that brought you up so nobly; doubtless he is a baron, rich and strong."
Now Tristan knew both speech and silence, and he answered:
"No, lord; my father is a burgess. I left his home unbeknownst upon a ship that trafficked to a far place, for I wished to learn how men lived in foreign lands. But if you will accept me of the hunt I will follow you gladly and teach you other crafts of venery."
"Fair Tristan, I marvel there should be a land where a burgess's son can know what a knight's son knows not elsewhere, but come with us since you will it; and welcome: we will bring you to King Mark, our lord."
Tristan completed his task; to the dogs he gave the heart, the head, offal and ears; and he taught the hunt how the skinning and the ordering should be done. Then he thrust the pieces upon pikes and gave them to this huntsman and to that to carry, to one the snout to another the haunch to another the flank to another the chine; and he taught them how to ride by twos in rank, according to the dignity of the pieces each might bear.
So they took the road and spoke together, till they came on a great castle and round it fields and orchards, and living waters and fish ponds and plough lands, and many ships were in its haven, for that castle stood above the sea. It was well fenced against all assault or engines of war, and its keep, which the giants had built long ago, was compact of great stones, like a chess board of vert and azure.
And when Tristan asked its name:
"Good liege," they said, "we call it Tintagel."
And Tristan cried:
"Tintagel! Blessed be thou of God, and blessed be they that dwell within thee."
(Therein, my lords, therein had Rivalen taken Blanchefleur to wife, though their son knew it not.)
When they came before the keep the horns brought the barons to the gates and King Mark himself. And when the Master Huntsman had told him all the story, and King Mark had marvelled at the good order of the cavalcade, and the cutting of the stag, and the high art of venery in all, yet most he wondered at the stranger boy, and still gazed at him, troubled and wondering whence came his tenderness, and his heart would answer him nothing; but, my lords, it was blood that spoke, and the love he had long since borne his sister Blanchefleur.
That evening, when the boards were cleared, a singer out of Wales, a master, came forward among the barons in Hall and sang a harper's song, and as this harper touched the strings of his harp, Tristan who sat at the King's feet, spoke thus to him:
"Oh master, that is the first of songs! The Bretons of old wove it once to chant the loves of Graëlent. And the melody is rare and rare are the words: master, your voice is subtle: harp us that well."
But when the Welshman had sung, he answered:
"Boy, what do you know of the craft of music? If the burgesses of Lyonesse teach their sons harp-play also, and rotes and viols too, rise, and take this harp and show your skill."
Then Tristan took the harp and sang so well that the barons softened as they heard, and King Mark marvelled at the harper from Lyonesse whither so long ago Rivalen had taken Blanchefleur away.
When the song ended, the King was silent a long space, but he said at last:
"Son, blessed be the master that taught thee, and blessed be thou of God: for God loves good singers. Their voices and the voice of the harp enter the souls of men and wake dear memories and cause them to forget many a mourning and many a sin. For our joy did you come to this roof, stay near us a long time, friend."
And Tristan answered:
"Very willingly will I serve you, sire, as your harper, your huntsman and your liege."
So did he, and for three years a mutual love grew up in their hearts. By day Tristan followed King Mark at pleas and in saddle; by night he slept in the royal room with the councillors and the peers, and if the King was sad he would harp to him to soothe his care. The barons also cherished him, and (as you shall learn) Dinas of Lidan, the seneschal, beyond all others. And more tenderly than the barons and than Dinas the King loved him. But Tristan could not forget, or Rohalt his father, or his master Gorvenal, or the land of Lyonesse.
My lords, a teller that would please, should not stretch his tale too long, and truly this tale is so various and so high that it needs no straining. Then let me shortly tell how Rohalt himself, after long wandering by sea and land, came into Cornwall, and found Tristan, and showing the King the carbuncle that once was Blanchefleur's, said:
"King Mark, here is your nephew Tristan, son of your sister Blanchefleur and of King Rivalen. Duke Morgan holds his land most wrongfully; it is time such land came back to its lord."
And Tristan (in a word) when his uncle had armed him knight, crossed the sea, and was hailed of his father's vassals, and killed Rivalen's slayer and was re-seized of his land.
Then remembering how King Mark could no longer live in joy without him, he summoned his council and his barons and said this:
"Lords of the Lyonesse, I have retaken this place and I have avenged King Rivalen by the help of God and of you. But two men Rohalt and King Mark of Cornwall nourished me, an orphan, and a wandering boy. So should I call them also fathers. Now a free man has two things thoroughly his own, his body and his land. To Rohalt then, here, I will release my land. Do you hold it, father, and your son shall hold it after you. But my body I give up to King Mark. I will leave this country, dear though it be, and in Cornwall I will serve King Mark as my lord. Such is my judgment, but you, my lords of Lyonesse, are my lieges, and owe me counsel; if then, some one of you will counsel me another thing let him rise and speak."
But all the barons praised him, though they wept; and taking with him Gorvenal only, Tristan set sail for King Mark's land.
THE MORHOLT OUT OF IRELAND
When Tristan came back to that land, King Mark and all his Barony were mourning; for the King of Ireland had manned a fleet to ravage Cornwall, should King Mark refuse, as he had refused these fifteen years, to pay a tribute his fathers had paid. Now that year this King had sent to Tintagel, to carry his summons, a giant knight; the Morholt, whose sister he had wed, and whom no man had yet been able to overcome: so King Mark had summoned all the barons of his land to Council, by letters sealed.
On the day assigned, when the barons were gathered in hall, and when the King had taken his throne, the Morholt said these things:
"King Mark, hear for the last time the summons of the King of Ireland, my lord. He arraigns you to pay at last that which you have owed so long, and because you have refused it too long already he bids you give over to me this day three hundred youths and three hundred maidens drawn by lot from among the Cornish folk. But if so be that any would prove by trial of combat that the King of Ireland receives this tribute without right, I will take up his wager. Which among you, my Cornish lords, will fight to redeem this land?"
The barons glanced at each other but all were silent.
Then Tristan knelt at the feet of King Mark and said:
"Lord King, by your leave I will do battle."
And in vain would King Mark have turned him from his purpose, thinking, how could even valour save so young a knight? But he threw down his gage to the Morholt, and the Morholt took up the gage.
On the appointed day he had himself clad for a great feat of arms in a hauberk and in a steel helm, and he entered a boat and drew to the islet of St. Samson's, where the knights were to fight each to each alone. Now the Morholt had hoisted to his mast a sail of rich purple, and coming fast to land, he moored his boat on the shore. But Tristan pushed off his own boat adrift with his feet, and said:
"One of us only will go hence alive. One boat will serve."
And each rousing the other to the fray they passed into the isle.
No man saw the sharp combat; but thrice the salt sea-breeze had wafted or seemed to waft a cry of fury to the land, when at last towards the hour of noon the purple sail showed far off; the Irish boat appeared from the island shore, and there rose a clamour of "the Morholt!" When suddenly, as the boat grew larger on the sight and topped a wave, they saw that Tristan stood on the prow holding a sword in his hand. He leapt ashore, and as the mothers kissed the steel upon his feet he cried to the Morholt's men:
"My lords of Ireland, the Morholt fought well. See here, my sword is broken and a splinter of it stands fast in his head. Take you that steel, my lords; it is the tribute of Cornwall."
Then he went up to Tintagel and as he went the people he had freed waved green boughs, and rich cloths were hung at the windows. But when Tristan reached the castle with joy, songs and joy-bells sounding about him, he drooped in the arms of King Mark, for the blood ran from his wounds.
The Morholt's men, they landed in Ireland quite cast down. For when ever he came back into Whitehaven the Morholt had been wont to take joy in the sight of his clan upon the shore, of the Queen his sister, and of his niece Iseult the Fair. Tenderly had they cherished him of old, and had he taken some wound, they healed him, for they were skilled in balms and potions. But now their magic was vain, for he lay dead and the splinter of the foreign brand yet stood in his skull till Iseult plucked it out and shut it in a chest.
From that day Iseult the Fair knew and hated the name of Tristan of Lyonesse.
But over in Tintagel Tristan languished, for there trickled a poisonous blood from his wound. The doctors found that the Morholt had thrust into him a poisoned barb, and as their potions and their theriac could never heal him they left him in God's hands. So hateful a stench came from his wound that all his dearest friends fled him, all save King Mark, Gorvenal and Dinas of Lidan. They always could stay near his couch because their love overcame their abhorrence. At last Tristan had himself carried into a boat apart on the shore; and lying facing the sea he awaited death, for he thought: "I must die; but it is good to see the sun and my heart is still high. I would like to try the sea that brings all chances.… I would have the sea bear me far off alone, to what land no matter, so that it heal me of my wound."
He begged so long that King Mark accepted his desire. He bore him into a boat with neither sail nor oar, and Tristan wished that his harp only should be placed beside him: for sails he could not lift, nor oar ply, nor sword wield; and as a seaman on some long voyage casts to the sea a beloved companion dead, so Gorvenal pushed out to sea that boat where his dear son lay; and the sea drew him away.
For seven days and seven nights the sea so drew him; at times to charm his grief, he harped; and when at last the sea brought him near a shore where fishermen had left their port that night to fish far out, they heard as they rowed a sweet and strong and living tune that ran above the sea, and feathering their oars they listened immovable.
In the first whiteness of the dawn they saw the boat at large: she went at random and nothing seemed to live in her except the voice of the harp. But as they neared, the air grew weaker and died; and when they hailed her Tristan's hands had fallen lifeless on the strings though they still trembled. The fishermen took him in and bore him back to port, to their lady who was merciful and perhaps would heal him.
It was that same port of Whitehaven where the Morholt lay, and their lady was Iseult the Fair.
She alone, being skilled in philtres, could save Tristan, but she alone wished him dead. When Tristan knew himself again (for her art restored him) he knew himself to be in the land of peril. But he was yet strong to hold his own and found good crafty words. He told a tale of how he was a seer that had taken passage on a merchant ship and sailed to Spain to learn the art of reading all the stars,—of how pirates had boarded the ship and of how, though wounded, he had fled into that boat. He was believed, nor did any of the Morholt's men know his face again, so hardly had the poison used it. But when, after forty days, Iseult of the Golden Hair had all but healed him, when already his limbs had recovered and the grace of youth returned, he knew that he must escape, and he fled and after many dangers he came again before Mark the King.
THE QUEST OF THE LADY WITH THE HAIR OF GOLD
My lords, there were in the court of King Mark four barons the basest of men, who hated Tristan with a hard hate, for his greatness and for the tender love the King bore him. And well I know their names: Andret, Guenelon, Gondoïne and Denoalen. They knew that the King had intent to grow old childless and to leave his land to Tristan; and their envy swelled and by lies they angered the chief men of Cornwall against Tristan. They said:
"There have been too many marvels in this man's life. It was marvel enough that he beat the Morholt, but by what sorcery did he try the sea alone at the point of death, or which of us, my lords, could voyage without mast or sail? They say that warlocks can. It was sure a warlock feat, and that is a warlock harp of his pours poison daily into the King's heart. See how he has bent that heart by power and chain of sorcery! He will be king yet, my lords, and you will hold your lands of a wizard."
They brought over the greater part of the barons and these pressed King Mark to take to wife some king's daughter who should give him an heir, or else they threatened to return each man into his keep and wage him war. But the King turned against them and swore in his heart that so long as his dear nephew lived no king's daughter should come to his bed. Then in his turn did Tristan (in his shame to be thought to serve for hire) threaten that if the King did not yield to his barons, he would himself go over sea serve some great king. At this, King Mark made a term with his barons and gave them forty days to hear his decision.
On the appointed day he waited alone in his chamber and sadly mused: "Where shall I find a king's daughter so fair and yet so distant that I may feign to wish her my wife?"
Just then by his window that looked upon the sea two building swallows came in quarrelling together. Then, startled, they flew out, but had let fall from their beaks a woman's hair, long and fine, and shining like a beam of light.
King Mark took it, and called his barons and Tristan and said:
"To please you, lords, I will take a wife; but you must seek her whom I have chosen."
"Fair lord, we wish it all," they said, "and who may she be?"
"Why," said he, "she whose hair this is; nor will I take another."
"And whence, lord King, comes this Hair of Gold; who brought it and from what land?"
"It comes, my lords, from the Lady with the Hair of Gold, the swallows brought it me. They know from what country it came."
Then the barons saw themselves mocked and cheated, and they turned with sneers to Tristan, for they thought him to have counselled the trick. But Tristan, when he had looked on the Hair of Gold, remembered Iseult the Fair and smiled and said this:
"King Mark, can you not see that the doubts of these lords shame me? You have designed in vain. I will go seek the Lady with the Hair of Gold. The search is perilous: never the less, my uncle, I would once more put my body and my life into peril for you; and that your barons may know I love you loyally, I take this oath, to die on the adventure or to bring back to this castle of Tintagel the Queen with that fair hair."
He fitted out a great ship and loaded it with corn and wine, with honey and all manner of good things; he manned it with Gorvenal and a hundred young knights of high birth, chosen among the bravest, and he clothed them in coats of home-spun and in hair cloth so that they seemed merchants only: but under the deck he hid rich cloth of gold and scarlet as for a great king's messengers.
When the ship had taken the sea the helmsman asked him:
"Lord, to what land shall I steer?"
"Sir," said he, "steer for Ireland, straight for Whitehaven harbour."
[Tristan kills a dragon terrorizing Ireland, is healed again by Iseult, and reveals his identity. Through his eloquence and the showing of the dragon's tongue, he proves the seneschal's fraud. He persuades the King of Ireland to grant Iseult as bride for King Mark, in atonement for the Morholt's death.]
THE PHILTRE
Now the Queen of Ireland had prepared for Iseult and King Mark a philtre of mighty virtue; "for," she thought, "they that drink it together love each other with their whole heart and for ever; and the love is such that nothing can undo it." She gave the flask to Brangien, Iseult's maid, charging her strictly: "Keep it safely, Brangien, and when the wedding-night is come, pour it into a cup and offer it to King Mark and to Iseult his wife."
Now Tristan and Iseult were on the high sea. The day was hot; Tristan called for drink. A maid brought it, but Iseult said, "I will give it him myself." She poured the philtre into a golden cup and carried it to Tristan.
"Drink, lord," she said.
Tristan took the cup and drank; and as he drank he looked upon Iseult and thought: "Iseult, my Iseult!"
And Iseult looked on him and thought: "Tristan!"
And they knew that they loved each other with a love that had no end.
Then Brangien came and saw what had befallen, and she wrung her hands and cried: "Woe is me! I have given them to drink of the philtre; neither Tristan nor Iseult will ever know joy again, and both shall die of this love."
[So began the love of Tristan and Iseult that was their joy and their death.]
THE TALL PINE-TREE
Tristan and Iseult loved each other; but King Mark, though he loved his nephew, grew jealous. The four felons whispered to him: "Sire, Tristan and the Queen dishonour you." Yet the King loved Tristan still and could not bring himself to believe it.
But one night, thinking to surprise them, he came with his bow to the orchard beneath Iseult's window. He saw a fruit-tree, tall and straight, and he climbed into its branches and hid among the leaves. From there he could see the Queen's chamber.
Tristan came and sat at Iseult's feet, and they spoke of love. But Tristan, who had the eyes of a hunter and the craft of a woodsman, saw the King's shadow on the moonlit ground. He whispered to Iseult: "The King is here, in the tall pine-tree. Speak loudly and carefully."
Then Iseult raised her voice and said: "Why do you come to me, Tristan? You know the barons slander us. Go, leave me, lest the King believe them."
And Tristan answered loudly: "I go, lady, for it is right that the King should know I am innocent."
When the King heard this, his jealousy melted; he went back to his chamber and kissed Iseult, and believed her faithful.
But the four felons set another trap: they spread flour on the floor of Iseult's chamber, and when Tristan came to her by night, the blood from his wound dripped upon the flour and left a trail.
THE DISCOVERY
King Mark followed the blood-stains and found Tristan sleeping in Iseult's arms. He raised his sword to kill them; but pity stayed his hand, for they lay like two innocent children. Instead, he took Tristan's sword from beside the bed and laid his own in its place, and he took Tristan's glove and left his own, and he drew the ring from Iseult's finger and left his own.
When Tristan woke and found the changed sword and ring, he knew the King had discovered them and had spared them. He said to Iseult: "We are discovered; the King has been merciful but we must part."
THE CHANTRY LEAP
The barons demanded that the Queen be tried. Iseult swore before the barons and before God that no man had held her in his arms save King Mark her lord, and the leper who had carried her on his back across the ford — which was Tristan in disguise.
But the four felons would not be satisfied. They demanded the ordeal by iron: Iseult must hold a red-hot bar of iron in her bare hands and if she was innocent, God would protect her.
Iseult sent word secretly to Tristan. On the day of the ordeal, she landed on the shore where Tristan waited, disguised as a leper. He carried her on his back through the crowd to the church. In the churchyard, before all the people, she took the iron in her bare hands, and God, who had seen her oath (which was true in its letter, though false in its spirit), protected her: she was not burned.
So King Mark took her back in joy, and Tristan was banished from the land.
PART THE SECOND
THE WOOD OF MOROIS
But Tristan could not leave the land; for he loved Iseult too well. He hid in the Forest of Morois, and Iseult fled to him there, and they lived together in a hut of leaves, loving each other with all their hearts.
But God, who had so long protected them, turned from them at last. For one day King Mark was hunting in the forest. He followed a stag, and losing his way, came at nightfall upon a hut. He looked within and saw Tristan sleeping and Iseult beside him. Between them lay a naked sword.
King Mark marvelled at the sword between them. He thought: "Surely they are innocent; the sword is a barrier between them." But he was anguished, and he crept away.
Later, when Tristan knew the King had found them, he said: "We cannot live so. I will go far away, and you shall return to the King."
OGRIN THE HERMIT
They came to the hermit Ogrin, who lived in the forest. The old man reproved them: "You sin against God and against the King. Repent, Tristan, and restore the Queen to her lord."
Tristan said: "Father, I cannot. This love is stronger than my will. It is not of my choosing; it came upon me against my will, and I cannot put it from me."
But Iseult wept and said: "Father, we know our sin. Pray for us."
And Ogrin clothed them in garments of penitence and sent Iseult back to the King.
THE FORD
Before they parted, Tristan said: "Iseult, whenever you have need of me, place a signal by the ford: if you need me at once, set a white cloth; if not, a black."
And Iseult returned to Tintagel, and Tristan went into exile.
[Tristan wandered through many lands, serving various kings, and his fame grew. But he never forgot Iseult.]
THE ORDEAL BY IRON
[The second ordeal passage deals with Iseult's oath at King Arthur's court, where she again swears a technically true but morally ambiguous oath. Arthur himself presides. She is again cleared.]
PART THE THIRD
THE LITTLE FAIRY BELL
In his wanderings Tristan came to the castle of a noble lord whose daughter had a little fairy bell that rang whenever a false lover approached. When Tristan drew near the castle, the bell was silent, for his love was true.
ISEULT OF THE WHITE HANDS
Tristan came at last to the land of Brittany, where Duke Hoël ruled. The Duke's son was besieged in his castle by rebels. Tristan offered to fight the rebels and freed the castle. In gratitude, Duke Hoël offered Tristan his daughter, Iseult of the White Hands.
Tristan looked on her and saw that she bore the name of his love, and he was moved by a bitter sweetness. He thought: "If I cannot have Iseult the Fair, at least I shall have an Iseult." And he married her.
But on his wedding night he remembered Iseult the Fair, and he could not bring himself to consummate the marriage. He told Iseult of the White Hands that he had vowed a sacred vow and must abstain. And so he lived with her as a brother, and she, not understanding, wondered and was patient.
THE MADNESS OF TRISTAN
[In some versions, Tristan goes mad from love and lives as a fool in the forest. He finds his way back to Iseult in Cornwall, disguised as a madman, and she recognizes him. But they are again separated.]
THE DEATH OF TRISTAN
Tristan was wounded by a poisoned spear in Brittany. He lay dying, and no physician could cure him. He sent a messenger to Cornwall to fetch Iseult the Fair, who alone could heal him. He said to the messenger: "If you bring Iseult, hoist white sails on your ship; if you come without her, hoist black."
The messenger found Iseult, and she consented to come. The ship put to sea with white sails flying.
But Iseult of the White Hands, who had learned of the mission, was consumed with jealousy. She watched from the tower. When the ship appeared on the horizon, she went to Tristan and said:
"Tristan, the ship comes with black sails."
Tristan turned his face to the wall and said: "Such is my destiny. I cannot live without Iseult. God have mercy on my soul."
And he died.
When Iseult the Fair landed and came to the castle, she found Tristan dead. She threw herself upon his body and kissed his lips and held him close. And she said:
"Tristan, I have come too late. I cannot live without you."
And she died of grief, her body stretched upon his.
King Mark, when he heard of their death, crossed the sea to Brittany. He had their bodies brought to Tintagel and buried in the church. From Tristan's grave there grew a briar, strong and green, that threw its branches over Iseult's tomb; and no power could sever it.