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{{Infobox character
| name              = 
| series            = [[Tristan and Iseult]]
| image             = File:Rogelio de Egusquiza - Tristán e Iseo (La vida).jpg
| caption           = ''[[Tristan and Isolde (Life)]]'' by [[Rogelio de Egusquiza]] (1912)
| occupation        = Knight ([[Knights of the Round Table|Knight of the Round Table]] in the prose tradition)
| first             = 
| nationality       = [[Cornwall|Cornish]]
| family            = [[Meliodas]], [[Mark of Cornwall|Mark]]
| significant_other = [[Iseult]](s)
| title             = [[Sir]]
}}

'''Tristan''' ([[Latin]]/[[British language (Celtic)|Brythonic]]:&nbsp;''Drustanus''; {{langx|cy|Trystan}}; {{langx|it|Tristano}}), also known as '''Tristran''' or '''Tristram''' and similar names, is the [[folk hero]] of the legend of [[Tristan and Iseult]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Tale of Tristan and Isolt |url=http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/n&q/tristan.htm |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=www.arthuriana.co.uk}}</ref> While escorting the Irish princess [[Iseult]] to wed Tristan's uncle, King [[Mark of Cornwall]], Tristan and Iseult accidentally drink a [[love potion]] during the journey and fall in love, beginning an adulterous relationship that eventually leads to Tristan's banishment and death.

The character's first recorded appearance is in the 12th-century poetic tellings initiated by [[Béroul]] and [[Thomas of Britain]], which were eventually vastly expanded in the later tradition from the vast [[Prose Tristan|Prose ''Tristan'']]. In later versions of his story he is featured in [[Arthurian legend]], including the seminal compilation ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'', as a great [[Knight of the Round Table]] and friend of [[Lancelot]]. 

The historical roots of Tristan are unclear; his association with Cornwall may originate from the Tristan Stone, a 6th-century granite pillar in Cornwall inscribed with the name ''Drustanus'' (a variant of ''Tristan''). He has been depicted in numerous historical and modern works of literature, music, and cinema.

==Name==
[[File:Hb-tristain.jpg|thumb|upright|left|"Tristain's" [[attributed arms]]]]

The ancient [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] name ''Tristan'' appears to mean "clanking swords of iron". The more recent [[Romance languages]] version, including French, has been [[paretymology|paretymologically]] associated with "sadness", as with [[Latin]] ''tristis'' "sad" or [[Old French]] ''triste'' "sad". In the German ''Tristan und Isolde'' (1210), when his mother learns that her husband has been killed in battle, she dies in childbirth and the orphaned baby is named "Tristan" because of the sorrowful circumstances of his birth.  

The quasi-historical, semi-legendary ''[[Pictish Chronicle]]'' (probably late 10th century) presents several ancient [[Pictish kings]] by the name of ''Drest'' or ''[[Drest (disambiguation)|Drust]]''. The [[Picts]] are believed to have lived in present-day Scotland far to the northwest of Cornwall. The form ''Drustanus'' is merely ''Drust'' or hypocoristic ''Drustan'' rendered into Latin. The name may have originated with an ancient legend regarding a Pictish king who slew a giant in the distant past, which had spread throughout Britaincome from a 6th-century Pictish saint [[Drostan]] who bore another form of the name,<ref name=EB1911/> or it may have migrated northwards from the southwest due to the fame of the legend of [[King Arthur]]. There was a Tristan who bore witness to a legal document at the [[Swabia]]n [[Abbey of Saint Gall]] in 807.

The philologist [[Sigmund Eisner (academic)|Sigmund Eisner]] came to the conclusion that the name ''Tristan'' comes from Drust, son of [[Talorg (disambiguation)|Talorc]]. This Drust is probably otherwise unknown to us, because the sons of Pictish kings never became kings themselves.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eisner |first=Sigmund |title=The Tristan Legend: A Study in Sources |publisher=Northwestern University Press |location=Chicago |year=1969 |pages=52 f}}</ref> According to Eisner, the legend of Tristan as we know it was gathered together by an author living in [[North Britain]] around the early 8th century and associated with early [[Celtic monasticism]].{{sfn|Eisner|1969|p=37}} Eisner explains that Irish monks of this time would have been familiar with the Greek and Roman narratives that the legend borrows from, such as [[Pyramus and Thisbe]]. They would also have been familiar with the [[Celtic mythology |Celtic]] elements of the story such as in ''[[The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne]]''. Eisner concludes that "the author of the Tristan story used the names and some of the local traditions of his own recent past. To these figures he attached adventures which had been handed down from [[Roman mythology|Roman]] and [[Greek mythology|Greek]] mythology. He lived in the north of Britain, was associated with a monastery, and started the first rendition of the Tristan story on its travels to wherever it has been found."{{sfn|Eisner|1969|p=37}}

==Legend ==
{{Further|Tristan and Iseult}}

[[File:August_Spieß_-_Tristan_und_Isolde_von_König_Marke_entdeckt.jpg|thumb|August Spieß's painting of Tristan and Isolde being discovered by Mark]]

In the story of [[Tristan and Iseult]], Tristan is the nephew of King [[Mark of Cornwall]], sent to bring [[Iseult]] from [[Celtic Ireland|Ireland]] to wed the king. He and Iseult accidentally consume a love potion while en route and fall helplessly in love with each other.<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Tristan |volume=27 |pages=292–294 |first=Jessie Laidlay |last=Weston}}</ref> The pair then undergoes numerous trials that test their secret affair, before the tragic end.<ref name=Heckel>[https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/theme/tristanisolt Heckel, N.M., "Tristan and Isolt", The Camelot Project, University of Rochester]</ref>

Tristan.made his first recorded appearance in the 12th century in British mythology circulating in the north of France and the [[Kingdom of Brittany]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sir Tristan |url=https://kingarthursknights.com/knights-of-the-round-table/sir-tristan/ |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=King Arthur's Knights |language=en-US}}</ref> This region had close ancestral and cultural links with Wales, Cornwall and [[Devon]] by way of the ancient British kingdom of [[Dumnonia]], as made clear in the story itself. The name Tristan originates from related [[Cornish language|Cornish]] and [[Breton language|Breton]] languages, both of which are [[P-Celtic]] like [[Welsh language|Welsh]]. Although the oldest stories concerning Tristan are lost, some of the derivatives still exist. 

Most early versions fall into one of two branches. The "common", more primitive branch involves the French and German poetry of [[Béroul]] and [[Eilhart von Oberge]]. The more substantial "courtly" branch is represented in the retelling by [[Thomas of Britain]]'s ''Tristan'' and his German successor [[Gottfried von Strassburg]], and the following works such as the ''[[Folie Tristan d'Oxford]]'' and the poems by [[Heinrich von Freiberg]] and [[Ulrich von Türheim]]. Thomas draws on the ''[[Roman de Brut]]'' for historical details, and follows its example in matters of style.<ref>Foulon, Charles (1959]. "Wace", ''Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages''. (Loomis, Roger Sherman, ed.) Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 102–103. <nowiki>{{ISBN}0198115881}}</nowiki></ref> Gottfried draws more on the learned tradition of medieval humanism than on the chivalric ethos shared by his literary contemporaries.  

In the 13th century, during the great period of prose romances, the ''Roman de Tristan en prose'', or the [[Prose Tristan|Prose ''Tristan'']], became one of the most popular works of its time. This long, sprawling, and often [[Lyrical abstraction|lyrical]] work (the modern edition takes up thirteen volumes) follows Tristan from the traditional legend into the realm of Arthur where Tristan participates in the quest for the [[Holy Grail]]. An important innovation of the novel is that Tristan, pursued by the hatred of King Mark, must take refuge in the kingdom of [[Logres]] and the court of King Arthur. From now on, he leads the life of a [[knight-errant]], performing the greatest chivalric exploits that place him among the best Arthurian knights. Its great success spawned many Italian (such as the ''[[Tavola Ritonda]]'') and other rewrites and influenced works. Among these was the French [[Post-Vulgate Cycle]] that combined it with a shortened version of the [[Vulgate Cycle]], elements of which itself had been earlier used in the Prose ''Tristan.''

In Gottfried's version, Tristan is the son of Queen [[Blancheflor]] and King Rivalen. In the tellings since the Prose ''Tristan'', his parents are Queen Helyabel (English Elizabeth, also known as Eliabel and as Eliabella in Italy) and [[Meliodas]], King of [[Lyonesse]]. 

A son of Tristan and Iseult (Iseut) is the eponymous hero of the 14th-century French romance ''Ysaÿe le Triste'' (Ysaye the Sad).<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/zrph.1989.105.3-4.254/pdf | doi=10.1515/zrph.1989.105.3-4.254 | title=Ysaie le Triste: A Tale of Two Heroes | date=1989 | last1=Beardsmore | first1=Barry F. | journal=Zeitschrift für Romanische Philologie | volume=105 | issue=3–4 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> ''I Due Tristani'' ("The Two Tristans"), a 1555 Italian adaptation of the Spanish ''Don Tristan de Leonis'', features another son of Tristan, [[Tristan the Younger]]. It emphasized romantic themes, following a trend of interest in more sentimental novels.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lacy |first1=Norris J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Yu0AAAAQBAJ&dq=%22The+Two+Tristans%22+1555&pg=PT361 |title=The New Arthurian Encyclopedia: New edition |last2=Ashe |first2=Geoffrey |last3=Ihle |first3=Sandra Ness |last4=Kalinke |first4=Marianne E. |last5=Thompson |first5=Raymond H. |date=2013-09-05 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-60632-8 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Grimbert |first=Joan Tasker |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uVeBAAAAQBAJ&dq=%22The+Two+Tristans%22+1555&pg=PR42 |title=Tristan and Isolde: A Casebook |date=2013-08-21 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-74557-7 |language=en |quote=In 1534 appeared ''Coronica nueuamente emendafa y ariadida del been cavallero don Tristan de Leonis y del rey don Tristan de Leonis el joven su hijo'' ("Newly Revised and Expanded Chronicle of the Great Knight Sir Tristan of Leonis and His Son, King Tristan of Leonis, the Younger"), a reworking of the Libro, followed by a sequel recounting the adventures of the lovers' children, Tristan and Yseo. .... It was translated into Italian as ''[[I due Tristani]]'' (“The Two Tristans”) and published in 1555 in Venice.}}</ref>

===''Le Morte d'Arthur''===
[[File:Boys King Arthur - N. C. Wyeth - p130.jpg|thumb|upright|[[N. C. Wyeth]]' illustration from ''[[The Boy's King Arthur]]'' (1922), adapted from ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' by [[Sidney Lanier]]: "'Oh, gentle knight,' said la Belle Isolde, 'full woe am I of thy departing'."]]

[[Thomas Malory]] incorporated two different versions of the Prose ''Tristan'' (in a highly shortened form, cutting great most of the material) into his own English-language compilation ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'' in the section ''The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyones'' (''The Fyrste and the Secunde Boke of Syr Trystrams de Lyones'') where Tristan (whom Malory calls Tristram, originally written as Trystram) plays the role of a counter-hero to [[Lancelot]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43345583|jstor = 43345583|title = Malory's Tristram as Counter-Hero to the "Morte Darthur"|last1 = Fries|first1 = Maureen|journal = Neuphilologische Mitteilungen|year = 1975|volume = 76|issue = 4|pages = 605–613}}</ref> Of all the knights, Tristan most resembles Lancelot as he too loves a queen, the wife of another. Tristan is even considered to be as strong and able a knight as Lancelot, including the fulfillment of [[Merlin]]'s prophecy for the two of them to engage in the greatest duel between any knights before or after, although neither kills the other and they become beloved friends. According to Sidney M. Johnson, "the depiction of their chivalric prowess eclipses, for large sections of the narratives, their love for their respective queens."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=P0xHJws5adUC&dq=Tristan&pg=PA87 Hasty, Will. ''A Companion to Gottfried Von Strassburg's "Tristan"'', Camden House, 2003, p.11] {{ISBN|9781571132031}}</ref> His other friends and companions include [[Dinadan]] and [[Lamorak]].

In Malory's telling, following the Prose ''Tristan'', the mother of Tristan, Cornish queen Elizabeth, dies during childbirth while desperately searching for his father King Meliodas after he was kidnapped by an enchantress (of a fairy kind in the original, unspecified by Malory) to be her lover. The young Tristan meets and falls in love with the Irish princess la Belle Isolde ("the Beautiful Iseult") after killing her brother,  [[Morholt]]. His uncle, King Mark, jealous of Tristan and seeking to undermine him, seeks marriage to Isolde for just such a hateful purpose, going so far as to ask Tristan to go and seek her hand on his behalf (which Tristan, understanding that to be his knightly duty, does). Because of Mark's treacherous behaviour, Tristan takes Isolde from him and lives with her for some time in Lancelot's castle [[Joyous Gard]], but he then returns Isolde to Mark. Nonetheless, Mark ends up ambushing and mortally injuring Tristan while he is harping (Tristan is noted in the book as one of the greatest of musicians and falconers), using a lance that had been given to him by the vengeful enchantress [[Morgan le Fay|Morgan]], whose lover had been slain by Tristan.

==Historicity==
[[File:Tristram tiles British Museum.jpg|thumb|Scenes from the story of Tristan on 13th-century tiles from [[Chertsey Abbey]]]]

Béroul's Norman French ''Romance of Tristan and Iseult'', possibly the earliest extant version,<ref>
{{cite book
 | author1 = Béroul
 | author-link1 = Béroul
 | translator1-last = Fedrick
 | translator1-first = Alan S.
 | year = 1970
 | title = The Romance of Tristan; The Tale of Tristan's Madness
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8--Ci5R1Na4C
 | location = London
 | publisher = Penguin Books
 | publication-date = 2005
 | page = 
 | isbn = 9780141913858
 | access-date = 3 May 2021
 | quote = Amongst all the extant romances, Beroul's ''Tristan'' has a special claim on our attention not merely because it happens to be the oldest but because it comes closest to preserving what may be called the raw material of the legend.
}}
</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last= Fedrick|first=Alan S.|title= The Romance of Tristan|publisher= Penguin Classics|year= 1970|isbn= 0-14-044230-8|location= Great Britain|pages= 9}}</ref> is notable for its very specific geographical locations in Cornwall. Another strange aspect is Tristan's home-kingdom, Lyonesse (Leonois), for whose existence there is no evidence. However, there were two places called ''[[Leonais]]'': one in [[Brittany]], the other the Old French transcription of [[Lothian]]. Regardless, Tristan being a prince of Lothian would make his name more sensible, Lothian being on the borderlands of the Pictish High-Kingship (and once a part of Pictish territory; Tristan may in fact have been a Pictish prince under a British king). There are also records of a Turstan Crectune, whose name gave the Lothian village of [[Crichton, Midlothian |Crichton]] its name. King [[David I of Scotland]] granted lands to Turstan Crectune in 1128. One other suggestion sees Tristan as adopted into the family of Mark of Cornwall – a historical practice attested in Roman law.

===Tristan Stone===
[[File:The Tristan Stone by A3082 Fowey - geograph.org.uk - 800074.jpg|thumb|The Tristan Stone in 2008|alt=|upright]]

Possible evidence for his roots in [[South West England]] is the 6th-century inscribed granite pillar known as ''The Tristan Stone'', or ''The Longstone'' ({{langx|kw|Menhir|italic=yes}}, meaning ''long stone''), set beside the road leading to [[Fowey]] in Cornwall. It measures some 2.13 m (7 feet) in height and has been set in a modern concrete base. Until the 1980s it was in its original position some yards from the coastal road in a field near the turn down to the small harbour of [[Polkerris]]. It was then closer to [[Castle Dore]] and may have been the origin of the association of this site with the story of the tragic love of Tristan and Iseult. There is a [[Tau cross]] on one side and a Latin inscription on the other side, now much worn, reading:<ref>[http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=8342 Megalithic Portal]</ref>

<blockquote>
''DRVSTANVS HIC IACIT''<br>''CVNOMORI FILIVS''<br>
[''Drustanus lies here, son of Cunomorus'']
</blockquote>

[[File:Plaque detailing the history of the Tristan Stone - geograph.org.uk - 800076.jpg|thumb|left|The stone's history plaque|alt=]]

It has been suggested, and is confidently asserted on the plaque by the stone, that the characters referred to are Tristan, of which Drustan is a variant and Cynvawr Latinized to Cunomorus. Cynvawr, in turn, is said by the 9th-century author [[Nennius]], who compiled an early pseudo-historical account of King Arthur, to be identified with King Mark known in alias 'QVONOMORVS'. Around 1540, [[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]] recorded a third line now missing: CVM DOMINA OUSILLA ('with the lady Ousilla': Ousilla is conceivably a latinisation of the Cornish ''Eselt''), but missed the badly weathered first line ('DRUSTANVS HIC IACIT') which has led [[Craig Weatherhill]] to speculate that this third line could have been lost by stone fracture,<ref>[[Craig Weatherhill]], ''Cornovia, Ancient sites of Cornwall & Scilly 4000 BC – 1000 AD'' Halsgrove, Wellington, 2009 p. 88.</ref> but which has also led Goulven Peron to propose to see 'OUSILLA' as a particular reading of 'DRUSTANVS'.<ref>Goulven Peron, ''Tristan et Yseut ont-ils existé ?'' Publication de l'Observatoire Zetetique 77, 2013 [http://www.zetetique.fr/index.php/nl/454-poz-nd77#DossierTristan] (fr) ; see also, by the same author and on the same subject (the names DRUSTANUS and OUSILLA on the Long Stone of Fowey) : ''L'origine du roman de Tristan'', Bulletin de la Société Archéologique du Finistère, CXLIII, 2015, pp. 351–370 [https://www.academia.edu/32869336/Lorigine_du_roman_de_Tristan] (fr).</ref> {{clear}}

==Modern works==
* From 1857 to 1859, [[Richard Wagner]] composed the opera ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'',<ref name=Heckel/> now considered one of the most influential pieces of music of the 19th century. In his work, Tristan is portrayed as a doomed romantic figure.
* [[Algernon Charles Swinburne]] published the epic poem ''[[Tristram of Lyonesse]]'' in 1882.
* In 1900, Joseph Bedier published his novel ''The Romance of Tristan and Iseult''.
* The legend of Tristan has been represented through the song of the same name by English singer-songwriter [[Patrick Wolf]], and was the lead single from his 2005 album, ''Wind in the Wires''.
* Tristan plays a prominent role in the comic book series ''[[Camelot 3000]]'', in which he is [[Reincarnation|reincarnated]] in the year 3000, as a woman and subsequently struggles to come to terms with his new body, sexuality, and identity, reconciling them in turn with his previous notions of gender roles.
* In 1983, Russian composer [[Nikita Koshkin]] wrote a classical guitar solo entitled "Tristan Playing the Lute", evoking the spirit of Tristan from the legend of "Tristan and Isolde", initially set in a playful adaptation of traditional English [[lute]] music.
* In ''[[The Warlord Chronicles]]'' novel series by [[Bernard Cornwell]], Tristan is the young heir to Kernow and the son of King Mark. He is the best friend of the protagonist [[Derfel Cadarn]] and a loyal ally of Arthur. Eventually, however, in an agonising decision for the sake of peace and out of his deep belief in royal legitimacy, Arthur betrays Tristan and Iseault when they seek refuge and leaves them to be killed by King Mark.
* In the 2004 film ''[[King Arthur (2004 film)|King Arthur]]'', based on the [[Historical basis for King Arthur#Lucius Artorius Castus and the Sarmatian connection|Sarmatian connection]] theory of origin for the Arthurian legends, Tristan ([[Mads Mikkelsen]]) is a prominent member of the knights, who are [[Sarmatians]] serving under a half-Roman Arthur in the 5th century. Tristan is a cavalry archer, able to make amazing shots with his [[Parthia]]n/[[Eurasian nomads|Eurasian]]-style reflex composite bow. He uses a [[Chinese sword]] and holds true to the style, armour, and weapons, of a Sarmatian mounted archer. After many injuries, he dies a heroic death at the hand of the Saxon king [[Cerdic of Wessex|Cerdic]] in single combat at the [[Battle of Mons Badonicus|Battle of Badon Hill]].
* The 2006 film ''[[Tristan & Isolde (film)|Tristan & Isolde]]'' stars [[James Franco]] as Tristan, [[Thomas Sangster]] as the child Tristan and [[Sophia Myles]] as Isolde, written by Dean Georgaris and directed by [[Kevin Reynolds (director)|Kevin Reynolds]].
* The 2008 TV show ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' depicts Tristan and his partner Isolde as smugglers in the Season 4 finale "The Sword in the Stone" parts 1 & 2. They help Arthur, Merlin, and the Knights regain Camelot after Morgana takes over. In the end, Isolde is killed by Helios, Morgana's henchman, but nothing is said of what happens with Tristan.
* In the manga series ''[[Four Knights of the Apocalypse]]'', Tristan is one of the titular knights, son of Meliodas and Elizabeth of Liones.
* Tristan is also a playable character in the mobile game ''[[Fate/Grand Order]]'' as an Archer class Servant who uses a harp as his bow.
* In the 2017 film ''[[King Arthur: Legend of the Sword]]'', [[Kingsley Ben-Adir]] plays Wet Stick, Arthur and Back Lack's childhood friend. He is later knighted by Bedivere under his real name as Sir Tristan.

==See also==
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
* [[Auchinleck manuscript]]
* [[Medieval hunting#Terminology|Medieval hunting]] (terminology)
* [[Palamedes (Arthurian legend)|Palamedes]]
* [[Tristram the Younger]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/theme/tristanisolt.html Tristan and Isolt] at The Camelot Project
* [https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot-project/text/tristan-legend-middle-ages.html The Tristan Legend in the Middle Ages] (list of texts)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927004148/http://www.nls.uk/auchinleck/index.html Transcription and page images of the Auchinleck manuscript]
* [http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Tristan_(B%C3%A9roul) Béroul's ''Le Roman de Tristan'']
* [http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Tristan_(Thomas_d'Angleterre) Thomas d'Angleterre's ''Tristan'']
* [http://stavenhagen.net Modern English verse translation of Gottfried von Strassburg's ''Tristan'']
* [https://reflection.eleusinianm.co.uk/medieval-literature/white-book-of-mottistone/sir-tristrem ''Sir Tristrem''] translated and retold in modern English prose, the story from Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland MS Advocates 19.2.1 (the Auchinleck MS) (translated and retold from University of Rochester, Middle English Text Series &ndash; Texts Online: Middle English from Alan Lupack (Ed), 1994, ''Lancelot of the Laik and Sir Tristrem'', Medieval Institute Publications for TEAMS).

{{Arthurian Legend}}
{{Tristan and Iseult}}
{{Authority control}}

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