2 h 53 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the love that binds you for life also breaks your deepest loyalty?
Tristan is an orphan knight, brave in battle and gifted with the harp. His uncle, King Mark of Cornwall, trusts him. But when Tristan brings the Irish princess Iseult to become Mark's wife, an unintended drink of a love potion binds them to each other. Love and duty pull them apart.
In Joseph Bédier's The Romance of Tristan and Iseult, love leaves no loyalty untouched. Jealous barons watch the lovers, and the star-reading dwarf Frocin helps lay traps. Iseult's faithful maid Brangien tries to protect her mistress, while every secret meeting puts loyalty to Mark under strain.
What you’ll discover
- A knight divided Follow Tristan as devotion to Iseult clashes with his loyalty to the uncle who trusts him.
- A fiercely devoted princess Meet Iseult the Fair, proud and quick to anger, caught between marriage and love.
- A court full of traps Feel the pressure of jealous barons, secret meetings, and Frocin's efforts to expose the lovers.
- Dragons and forest shelter Enter a legendary world of a dragon, a forest hut, and a hermit urging repentance.
- Love against every duty Explore a tale where devotion to one person threatens the bonds owed to another.
Who will love it
For readers who love legends, medieval stories, and tales of love that tests every other loyalty, with knights, dragons, and devotion set against duty.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- An orphan boy finds his uncle's court
- Tristan fights Morholt and meets Iseult
- A golden hair sends Tristan back to Ireland
- A potion on the ship binds them for life
- Spies, traps and a hut in the forest
- What the legend is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- TristanAn orphan knight, nephew of King Mark, brave and gifted with the harp, torn between his loyalty to his uncle and his love for Iseult.
- Iseult the FairAn Irish princess and healer's daughter, sent to Cornwall to marry King Mark, proud and quick to anger, and fiercely devoted to Tristan.
- King MarkThe ruler of Cornwall and Tristan's uncle, generous and trusting, who wants an heir and a loyal court around him.
- BrangienIseult's faithful maid, who guards the love potion and tries to shield her mistress from the consequences of what she cannot stop.
- GovernalTristan's tutor and loyal servant, who raises him after his parents die and follows him through every danger.
- MorholtThe Irish champion who comes to Cornwall to collect a cruel tribute, and who is the first great enemy Tristan must face.
- FrocinA dwarf and star reader at Mark's court, who helps the jealous barons trap the lovers.
- OgrinA hermit living in the forest of Morrois, who urges the outlaw lovers to turn toward repentance.
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- Audiobook
- 2 h 53 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Il romanzo di Tristano e Isotta
by Joseph Bédier · 1900
Tristan brings an Irish princess to marry his king, but a potion binds their love against every other loyalty.
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In short
The Romance of Tristan and Iseult is a prose retelling of one of the oldest love stories in European literature. The French scholar Joseph Bédier published it in 1900.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
An orphan boy finds his uncle's court
The story opens with Rivalen, a young king of Lyonesse, who comes to the court of King Mark of Cornwall and falls in love with Mark's sister Blanchefleur. They marry in secret. Rivalen is later killed in war, and Blanchefleur dies soon after giving birth to a son. Because of her grief she names him Tristan, a name that suggests sorrow.
The boy is raised by Rivalen's loyal marshal, Rohalt, who treats him as his own son. His tutor, Governal, teaches him the skills of a nobleman. Tristan learns arms, hunting, languages and the harp. He grows into a young man who can do almost everything well, and who is loved by those around him.
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What is The Romance of Tristan and Iseult about?
It is a medieval love legend. A young knight, Tristan, escorts the Irish princess Iseult to marry his uncle, King Mark. A potion binds the two together, and their love tests every other loyalty.
Is Tristan and Iseult a true story?
No, it is a legend from the Middle Ages, told by poets in the twelfth century. Joseph Bédier wrote this version in 1900, stitching together episodes from the surviving medieval fragments.
What does the love potion mean in Tristan and Iseult?
The potion is meant for Iseult and King Mark, but Tristan and Iseult drink it by mistake. It stands for a love that comes from outside the will, and that neither duty nor honor can undo.
The author
Joseph Bédier
1864–1938 · French philologist and writer
Joseph Bédier was a French philologist and writer, born in Paris in 1864. He grew up on Réunion and later taught medieval French literature in Paris. He published The Romance of Tristan and Iseult in 1900. His research concerned medieval French literature. He died in 1938.
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