King Arthur's Knights
of steel that was taken from my brother's brain fits a notch in his
sword.'
'Alas,' cried King Anguish, 'then am I right heavy, for he is as full
noble a knight as ever I knew; and I charge ye, have not to do with
him, but let me deal in this matter.'
The king went to Sir Tristram and found him fully armed, as if ready to
fight for his life, for he knew that now the truth had been discovered.
'Nay, Sir Tramor,' said the king gravely, 'it will not avail thee to
fight me. But this will I do for the love and honour I bear thee.
Inasmuch as ye are within my court it would be no worship for me to
have thee taken and slain, and therefore will I let thee freely depart
if thou wilt tell me this: Who is thy father and what is thy name? And
didst thou truly and rightly slay Sir Marhaus?'
'Tristram is my name,' replied the young knight, 'and I am son of King
Talloch of Lyones. For the truage of Cornwall I fought for the sake of
my uncle King Mark, and the battle with Sir Marhaus was the first I
had, for I was made knight for that alone. Sir Marhaus went from me
alive into his ship, though he left his sword and shield behind him.'
'I may not say that ye have done aught but what a good knight should
do,' replied the king, 'but I may not maintain you in this country
unless I would displease my wife and her kin.'
'Sir,' said Sir Tristram, 'I thank you for your goodness and for the
kind cheer which I have had here of yourself and your queen and La
Belle Isoude. I will depart straightway when I have bidden your
daughter farewell, for I owe my life to her gentle hands; and I promise
this, that I will be your daughter's servant and knight in right or
wrong, to shield her and fight for her, and do all that a knight may do
in her behalf, as long as I live.'
Then took he his leave of La Belle Isoude, and he told her all how he
had come to that land. He thanked her heartily for all her gentleness
to him and for her healing of his wound. At first she stood silent,
changing red and white of face, and with downcast eyes, her fingers
straining about each other. When he swore that he would be her knight,
to fight for her whenever she should send for him, and bade her
good-bye, she took the hand which he held forth, but would not look at
him.
Tristram wondered why her fair hand was so cold. 'Good-bye and God be
with ye always,' La Belle Isoude replied in a faint voice, and then
turned and went from him. Tristram thought she was angered with him for
the slaying of her uncle.
So in a little while he rode forth with Governale down to the seashore
and looked back not once. There he entered by a ship, and with good
wind he arrived at Tintagel in Cornwall, and King Mark and all his
barons were glad that Tristram was whole again.
Then Sir Tristram went to his father King Talloch, and there was made
great cheer for him, and wide lands were given him. Nevertheless, he
could not rest long in one place, but went into Logres and Alban and
Wales, seeking adventures, and his fame for prowess was almost as great
as the fame of Sir Lancelot. Whereever he went he took his harp, and in
hall and bower his favourite songs were those that praised the beauty
of La Belle Isoude, her gentle ways and her soft white hands.
After a year and a day he returned to the court of King Mark and lived
there, and all the knights and ladies admired him, and the praise of
his courtesy was in the mouths of all, noble and simple, high and low.
Then King Mark his uncle began to hate him for the love that all bore
him, and since he had never married and had no son to whom his kingdom
should go after his death, he saw that Sir Tristram would have it, for
he was his next kin, and then, with Lyones and Tintagel, the fame and
power of Tristram would increase abundantly.
So the king began to cast about in his mind for a way whereby he might
do some hurt to Sir Tristram, or even destroy him.
He called the young knight to him one day and said:
'Dear nephew, I have been thinking a long while of taking unto myself a
wife, and I hear much of the beauty and goodness of the king's daughter
of Ireland, whom men call La Belle Isoude. Now I would that you go to
the king and bear my message to him.'
Sir Tristram was troubled in mind at these words. Since he had left La
Belle Isoude he had had no ease of spirit, for now he knew that he
loved her. Though she had been angered with him for his slaying her
uncle, and he knew that the queen and other kinsfolk of Sir Marhaus
would surely slay him if they could, yet had he hoped in a while to
have gone to King Anguish and found some way to win Isoude for his
wife.
'Ye are feared to go, then?' sneered King Mark, noting the silence of
Sir Tristram. 'Then I will e'en send some other knight that is bolder.'
At that Sir Tristram flushed hotly and said:
'I fear not to go there or anywhere, and I will bear thy message, sir.'
'It is well,' said the king. 'I will send thee with a fine ship, and a
rich company of knights, and I will get my scrivener to write my
message.'
Now King Mark said all this by reason of his craft and treachery. He
had heard how Sir Tristram had been full of the praises of La Belle
Isoude, while yet, as he had learned, Sir Tristram had not promised
himself in love to her. By his crafty speech King Mark had hoped to
make Sir Tristram promise to go to Ireland to obtain her, not for
himself, but for King Mark. So, therefore, if the king married La Belle
Isoude, this would cause some grief and hurt to Sir Tristram.
But King Mark cared not overmuch whether he wedded La Belle Isoude or
not. He believed that Sir Tristram would of a surety be slain by the
kin of Sir Marhaus in Ireland, and, if so, King Mark's plot would
succeed to the full.
Sir Tristram, sad and troubled, went apart, and rode into a forest, for
now he knew that he had done himself an ill turn. The lady he loved and
whom he wanted to wife for himself he had now promised to woo for
another.
As he rode moodily through the forest drive, a knight came swiftly
riding on a great horse, its flanks flecked with the foam of its speed.
'Fair knight,' said the stranger, 'will ye of your courtesy tell me
where I may quickly come at a knight called Sir Tristram of Lyones?'
'I am he,' said Tristram. 'What would ye?'
'I thank Heaven that hath led me to you, sir knight,' said the other.
'Here is a message from my master, King Anguish of Ireland, who is in
dire peril of honour and life, and craves aid of you for the love that
hath been atween you.'
Sir Tristram, much marvelling, took the parchment and read: 'These to
you, Sir Tristram of Lyones, most noble knight, from his lover and
friend King Anguish of Ireland, in sore trouble and straits at Camelot.
Know ye, Sir Tristram, that I have been summoned to King Arthur's court
on pain of forfeiture of his lordship's royal grace, to answer a charge
whereof I knew naught till I came here. Which is that by treason and
felony I caused to be slain at my court in Ireland a cousin of Sir
Bleobaris de Ganis and Sir Blamor de Ganis, and of this evil deed these
knights do most falsely accuse me. And there is none other remedy than
for me to answer them in knightly fashion, my armed body against
theirs. But inasmuch as I am old, and my wasted arm could naught avail
me, and in that they are of such renown and prowess that none of my
knights may hope to overcome them, I pray ye, Sir Tristram, of your
ancient love for me, to come to my aid and fight for me as my champion
in this most cruel charge. But if ye will not, and if ye choose to
remember rather that I thrust you from my court, and would not protect
you against those that meant you ill, then forgive my request, and
leave me to my fate and my dishonour.'
The heart of Sir Tristram lifted within him for love of the good old
king, and turning, he said:
'For what day is the trial by combat which your master speaketh of?'
'For midday on the day before next Sabbath,' said the knight.
'Go ye at once to your master,' said Sir Tristram, 'and say to him that
I will not fail him, but will make all speed.'
'Sir, I thank you from my heart,' said the knight, and bowed. Then
wheeling his horse he dashed swiftly away.
At Camelot, on the day and hour appointed, the lists were set, and
knights and nobles and the common people waited to see the trial by
battle which should prove the innocence or guilt of King Anguish. King
Arthur was not at Camelot, nor was Sir Lancelot, for both were at
Joyous Gard, the castle of Sir Lancelot, which King Arthur had given to
him by the sea in the Northern Marches. In their places, King Kador of
Cornwall and King Uriens of Reged were judges at the trial.
Ere noon was marked by the gnomon of the dial set up before the judges,
Sir Tristram and his squire Governale rode up the lists, and were met
by King Anguish and his knights. When Sir Tristram saw the King of
Ireland he got swiftly from his horse and ran towards him, and would
have held his stirrup; but the king leapt lightly from his horse, and
with bright looks each embraced and kissed the other.
'My good lord,' cried Tristram, 'gramercy of your goodness which ye
showed me in your marches, and of your nobleness in calling me unto
your aid, for it is great honour to me that ye ask this, and I will do
all for you to the utmost of my strength.'
'Ah, worshipful knight,' said the king, 'ye are courteous and noble
beyond all others to come to my aid when I am in such dire need.'
'Who is he that is appointed to fight with you or your champion?' asked
Sir Tristram.
'He is of Sir Lancelot's blood,' replied the king, 'and I wot that he
will be hard to overcome, for all those of King Ban's kin are passing
good fighters beyond all others. It is Sir Blamor de Ganis, a great
warrior.'
'Sir,' said Sir Tristram, 'for the great goodness that ye showed to me
in Ireland and for your daughter's sake, La Belle Isoude, I will take
the battle in hand for you. But ye must first swear that ye never
caused or consented to the death of the knight of which you are
charged, and if I avail in your battle I will crave a boon of you which
you shall grant me.'
'I swear to Heaven,' replied the king, 'that I did neither cause nor
consent to the death of the knight; and as to the boon that ye shall
ask, I grant it you already.'
Then King Anguish departed to the judges and cried unto them the name
of his champion, and all the knights of the Round Table that were
there, and the common people, were all agog to see Sir Tristram. The
fame of his fight with Sir Marhaus, and his renown as a harpist and a
lover of hunting, were well known unto all; but never yet had he come
to the court of King Arthur.
Sir Blamor and Sir Tristram went to each end of the lists and dressed
their harness and their shields. Sir Bleobaris, that was brother to Sir
Blamor, went to him and said:
'Brother, now remember of what kin ye be, and what manner of man is our
lord, Sir Lancelot, and see that ye suffer not shame. For never would
Sir Lancelot bear it, and he would sooner suffer death.'
'Have no doubt of me,' said Sir Blamor, 'I shall never shame Sir
Lancelot nor any of our high blood; nevertheless, this Sir Tristram is
a passing good fighter, and if by ill hap he strike me down, then he
shall slay me and so end my shame.'
'God speed you well,' said Sir Bleobaris, 'but he may not be so great a
warrior as fame saith. For fame grows false as she goes further.'
When the knights were ready, the herald of the court of Arthur stood
with his trumpet and recited the cause of the quarrel and the names of
the knights about to do battle. Then, lifting his tabard, he bade both
knights make ready; and when his tabard fell to the ground, the knights