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Tristan and Isolde
mads mikkelsen as ‘tristan’ in “king arthur”, 2004
Tristan is a prince whose mother is the sister of the King, Mark. Both of his parents died when he was young, and he was raised by Gorvenal to be a gifted swordsman and musician (Tristan became an accomplished harp-player). Isolde, meanwhile, is a princess, the King of Ireland’s daughter. She is beautiful and fair-haired and admired far and wide.
Cornwall is bound by fealty to Ireland, which demands that Cornwall send 300 youths and 300 maidens to Ireland as tribute.
However, if a Cornish champion could beat the Irish giant Morholt (the King’s brother-in-law) in single combat, the King of Ireland agreed that the tribute would not need to be paid.
Tristan defeats Morholt, but is badly wounded with a poisoned spear. He is left on a ship to die. But the ship finds its way to the shores of Ireland, where Tristan is taken into the royal palace. The sorceress queen cures him with an incantation, and Tristan falls in love with Isolde, to whom he reveals his true identity. When she learns that he has killed Morholt, her uncle, she declares her hatred for him, and Tristan returns to Cornwall.
Mark wants to marry Isolde, so he sends Tristan as his ambassador, to bring Isolde back to Cornwall so they can be wed. In Ireland, the wedding agreed, the sorceress queen bids Isolde farewell, but gives a love potion to the maid-servant named Brangien, with instructions to give it to the married couple on their wedding night.
On the voyage to Cornwall, Tristan and Isolde need a drink and both drink the love potion, not realising that it isn’t wine. They promptly fall in love. After the wedding of Mark and Isolde, Brangien – realising that the error with the love potion is all her fault – takes the place of Isolde in King Mark’s bed on the wedding night, to trick the King into thinking she is Isolde. Meanwhile, the real Isolde is in Tristan’s arms.
Mark doesn’t realise the deception for a while, although the rumours are all around the court. Eventually, his most loyal barons tell him that Isolde is unfaithful. Although Mark banishes Tristan from the palace, Tristan and Isolde continue to meet in secret. When they are discovered together, they are sentenced to death by burning. However, the lovers escape, and go on the run together.
They go and live as a poor couple in the woods, until one day, King Mark discovers them, walking in on them while they’re both fast asleep. But when he sees the sword between them and realises the lengths they have gone to in order to guard their love, he feels sorry for them, and replaces the ring on Isolde’s finger as a sign that he forgives her. He also places his sword between them, in place of Tristan’s, as a token or gift for his former knight.
When the two lovers wake, they are so moved by the King’s mercy and kindness that they return to court. Mark welcomes Isolde back, but he tells Tristan he cannot remain at court. He is exiled from Cornwall and goes to live in Brittany, where he marries another woman named Isolde, oddly enough: Isolde of the White Hands, as she is known.
Tristan remains loyal to Isolde and cannot make love to his new wife (Isolde of the White Hands). He is wounded in battle (as before, with a poisoned lance), but this time there is no cure. As he lies dying, he asks one of his companions, Kaherdin, to go and tell Isolde (as in King Mark’s wife, Tristan’s first love) that he is dying and he wants to see her one last time.
Tristan tells Kaherdin to hoist a white sail to his ship if he is successful in locating Isolde, but a black sail if he fails. (Compare this plot detail with the ancient Greek legend of Theseus, too.) Unfortunately, Tristan’s wife hears of this plan.
Kaherdin finds Isolde and she agrees to come and see her true lover. However, Isolde of the White Hands, Tristan’s wife, lies and tells her husband that she has seen Kaherdin’s ship bearing a black sail. Heartbroken, Tristan dies. Isolde arrives with Kaherdin and learns she has missed Tristan, who has already departed this life. She dies of a broken heart shortly afterwards, her lips locked with Tristan’s in one last kiss.
