Tristan
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Tristan (Latin/Brythonic: Drustanus; Welsh: Trystan; also known as Tristran, Tristram etc), was a Cornish hero from folklore, and one of the Knights of the Round Table whose story is told in the Matter of Britain. He was the nephew of King Mark of Cornwall, sent to fetch Isolde back from Ireland to wed the king. However, they fall in love en route (perhaps under the influence of a love potion meant for Isolde and Mark), and Tristan fights off a series of attempts to take Isolde back.
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The Tristan legend cycle
Tristan makes his first appearance in 1120 in Celtic folklore that circulates in the North of France. Although the oldest stories concerning Tristan are lost, some of the derivatives still exist. The two most famous are the retellings of the Anglo-Norman poet Thomas and of the French poet Beroul. Arthurian romancier Chretien de Troyes claims in his works to have also written down his version of the tale, but, if so, there are no physical remains.
Like other Arthurian knights, Tristan and his tale vary from poet to poet. Even the spelling of his name varies a great deal, with Tristran and Tristan being the two most popular spellings. In one tale, Tristan is an overweight knight, who is constantly teased yet astounds everyone by defeating the Great Serpent guarding the Cave of Micheal. In Tristran and Yseut by Beroul, Tristan is as brave and fit as any knight, but he relies on trickery and doesn't uphold the moral standards expected of a knight. At times, indeed, Tristan is second only to Lancelot in valour.
In Beroul's tale, Tristran goes to Ireland to bring back the fair Yseut for his uncle King Mark to marry. Along the way, they accidentally ingest a love potion that causes the pair to be madly in love for three years. Although Yseut marries Mark, she and Tristran are forced by the potion to seek one another out for adultery. Although the typical noble Arthurian character would be shamed from such an act, the love potion that controls them frees Tristran and Yseut from responsibility. Thus Beroul presents them as victims. The king's advisors constantly try to have the pair tried for adultery, but again and again the couple uses trickery to preserve their facade of innocence. Finally the love potion wears off, and the two lovers are free to make their own choice as to whether they cease their adulterous lifestyle or continue. Beroul's ending is morally ambiguous, which differs greatly from his contemporaries such as Chretien de Troyes and adds a bit of mystique to the legend of Tristan. Also, according to Celtic myth, Tristan owned a horse named Bel Joeor.
In the 19th century, Richard Wagner composed what is now considered his masterpiece, Tristan and Isolde. In his work, Tristan is portrayed as a doomed romantic figure.
Brythonic roots
It was the thesis of French mediaevalist Joseph Bedier that all of the Tristan legends could be traced to a single original poem, translated by Thomas of Brittany into French from an original Cornish or Breton source.
Tristam is not his name, his name was Drustanus in old Brittonic. The Welsh recorded his name as 'Trystan', and this became Tristam to English ears.
A standing gravestone that stands near Fowey in Cornwall says simply enough in Latin 'Drustanus Hic Lacit Cunomori Filius' (Drustanus lies here, of the house of Cunomorus). Cunomorus is the Latin name of King Mark of Cornwall, who in legend was an evil tyrant and Tristam's uncle.
A Pictish connection?
There are very strange aspects to Tristam however. First of all, he has a Pictish name. Drust is a very common name of Pictish kings, and Drustanus is merely Drust rendered into Brittonic. It may come from an ancient legend regarding a Pictish king who slew a giant in the distant past, that had spread throughout the isles. Or perhaps an even more bizarre possibility.
Another strange aspect is his kingdom, Lyonesse. There was no such kingdom. However there were two places called Leonais: one in Brittany, the other the Old French transcription of Lothian. Tristam being a prince of Lothian would make his name more sensible, Lothian being on the borderlands of the Pictish High-Kingship (and once was a part of Pictish territory; Tristam may in fact have been a Pictish prince under a British King).
Under this explanation, how to explain the gravestone? He could have been adopted into the family of Mark of Cornwall, which was an attested practice in Roman law.
See also
- King Arthur
- Tristan and Isolde
- Tristan and Iseo
- Palamedes
- Iseult
- List of Arthurian Characters
- Cornwall
- Celts
Tristan is a given name of several individuals, fictional characters, and places, including:
- Tristan Taylor, the English anime name of Hiroto Honda, a Yu-Gi-Oh! character
- Tristan da Cunha, an Atlantic island
- Tristram Shandy, an English novel from the 18th century
- Tristan Tzara, influential member of the Dada movement
- Tristan Helmich, famous among the it security scene
- Tristan A. Farnon, internet cartoonist and editorialist