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Tristan and Isolt

Tristan and Isolt

Character Name Variants: Tristram, Tristrem, Tristran, Trostan, Isolde, Iseult, Yseult, IsoudBackground Essay Author: N. M. Heckel
Tristan and Isolt's conflict of love and loyalty is one of the classic tales of Western literature; in the Arthurian tradition, their tragic tragectory rivals and complements that of Lancelot and Guinevere. The basic story is one of mis-directed love: Tristan, the heroic nephew of King Mark of Cornwall, is sent to Ireland to escort the Irish king's daughter, the beautiful Isolt, to Cornwall to become his uncle's bride. In most versions, it is during the return voyage that Tristan and Isolt accidentally consume a love potion (meant to ensure Isolt's happiness with Mark) together, and fall in love. Because Isolt's engagement to Mark cannot be broken, she marries the king despite her love for Tristan, and the two lovers spend the rest of their lives attempting to satisfy their desire for each other without revealing that desire to Mark and the Cornish court. The tale of potion-induced passion has proved irresistable to artists in all media, from literature to visual arts to music, to the point that Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde is now more famous than the text on which it is based, the thirteenth century Tristan and Isolde of Gottfried von Strassburg. Virtually all versions of the legend revolve around conflicting themes of romantic love and political loyalty, though no two tellings treat these themes identically.

Tristan and Isolt in the Middle Ages

Scholarly speculation places the geographical origins of the Tristan and Isolt legend anywhere from Ireland to Cornwall to Wales to Persia. The biggest disputes in Tristan scholarship tend to be between the camp known as the "Celticists" who support the idea of a Celtic origin for the story, and those who support a Persian source. However, the arguments for a Persian

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Binyon, Laurence (1869 - 1943)
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Bridges, Sallie (1830 - 1910)
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Carr, J. Comyns (1849 - 1916)
Cawein, Madison J. (1865 - 1914)
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Guiterman, Arthur (1871 - January 11, 1943)
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Hawker, Robert Stephen (c. 1803 - 1875)
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Hayne, Paul Hamilton (1830 - July 6, 1886)
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Hervey, Mrs. T. K. (1811 - 1903)
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Lupack, Alan (1946 - )
Manning, Frederic (1882 - 1935)
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A Ballad of Cornwall - October 1896 (Author)

Morris, William (1834 - 1896)
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Essay [On Tristran and Isolt] - 1907 (Author)
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Tristram's Tomb - 1928 (Author)

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Rhys, Ernest (1859 - 1946)
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Joyeuse Garde - 1918 (Author)
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The Secret of Sir Dinadan - May 1894 (Author)

Tatum, Edith (1877 - 1955)
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Thomas, Edward (1878 - 1917)
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Todhunter, John (1839 - 1916)
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Weston, Jessie (1850 - 1928)
Whitney, Helen Hay (1875 - 1944)
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Young, Ella (1867 - 1956)
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Aubrey Beardsley (1872 - 1898)
Hammatt Billings (1818 - 1874)
Ian Brown (b. 1962)
W. Otway Cannell (1883 - 1969)
Robert Dighton (1752 - 1814)
Arthur Dixon (1872 - 1959)
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Alfred Kappes (1850 - 1894)
Alan Lupack (1946 - )
Thomas Mackenzie (1887 - 1944)
Henry Ospovat (1877 - 1909)
Howard Pyle (1853 - 1911)
Arthur Rackham (1867 - 1939)
Bernard Sleigh (1872 - 1954)
John Moyr Smith (1839 - 1912)
Lancelot Speed (1860 - 1931)
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