The Knights of the Round Table

by Daniel Mersey

  Unknown to the court of Cornwall, Marhault had died from the head wound only days after returning, and his sister – Anguish’s queen – had sworn to avenge his death. She removed the broken sword blade from his skull and kept it so that she would never forget her brother’s pain. Yet Tristan, unknown in Ireland as Marhault’s slayer, had been found half-dead in his ship and taken into Anguish’s castle to be healed. Now he lay behind the same castle walls as the queen.

  Tristan was healed by Anguish’s daughter Isolde; she had not mixed the poison but was a deft healer and tended him day and night. Slowly the wounded knight recovered, and began to play a harp every day to entertain the Irish court. during his recovery he told Isolde that he was a wandering bard named Tantris (a play on his real name) who had been attacked and poisoned. In this guise, he charmed Anguish’s followers with songs of melodious beauty, and by the time his strength had fully returned, he was a welcome member of the Irish court. But the queen did not trust him; in secret, she took his sword and compared it to the shard from Marhault’s skull, inevitably matching the two pieces together.

  Before the vengeful queen could act, Isolde warned Tristan of the danger and helped him to flee to the coast, from where he returned to Mark’s castle in Cornwall. She had placed Tristan’s life above her duty as a princess, so fond had she grown of him, and as he sailed back across the sea Tristan realized that he had fallen in love with the Irish princess.

  Returning to Mark fully healed, Tristan told his story, and dwelt for many hours on the allure of Isolde. Mark was overjoyed that his nephew had returned alive, and in a buoyant flourish decided that this delightful Irish princess would be a wonderful queen for Cornwall. A beautiful wife, a healer, and a unification of Cornwall and Ireland that would end his annual tribute … Tristan was stunned when Mark demanded that he immediately return to Ireland to bring Isolde to the Cornish king.

  Duelling on a tiny island, Tristan eventually overcomes the Irish champion Marhault, breaking his sword as he cleaves through the Irishman’s helmet to deliver the winning blow. The Irishman’s helmet is antiquated, and his mail lacks ailettes (heraldic shoulder plates popular c. 1250–1350), but he is still a formidable opponent: Tristan’s thigh has been cut by Marhault’s poisoned axe. Both duellists’ coats of arms are based on D’Armagnac Armoral.

  ‘Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram drink the love draught.’ By Howard Pyle.

  Unsure of how to proceed once he had landed – a friendly welcome being most unlikely – Tristan’s solution presented itself to him when the local Irish fisherfolk told him that a dragon was laying waste to Anguish’s realm. Seizing this opportunity to allow his reappearance at Anguish’s castle, Tristan tracked down the dragon across the blackened, smouldering remains of Ireland. Meeting the old wyrm in battle, the Cornish knight fought bravely: using his shield to beat away the scaly creature’s huge talons and dancing sideways to avoid its fiery breath, he eventually plunged his sword deep into the huge beast’s throat. Standing astride the neck, Tristan cut the dragon’s head from its body and arrived at the court of Anguish to tell of his deed.

  The death of Marhault was forgiven by Anguish when Tristan presented the dragon’s head. After all, the duel had been fought honourably – Tristan wisely decided not to remind the Irish king about the poisoned Irish blade – and the dragon had caused carnage greater than any in living memory. Wedding gifts from Mark were presented to Anguish, and shortly afterwards Isolde accompanied Tristan back to his ship. Knight and lady were accompanied by Isolde’s servant Bragwaine. She carried a flagon of magical liquid, a love potion for Isolde to drink before she met Mark: King Anguish wanted to be sure that the wedding would be a happy one, and more importantly a profitable one for his kingdom.

  Tristan put aside all thoughts of his love for Isolde: he served King Mark, and would carry out his king’s command. Isolde knew that her duty as a princess was to seal the bond between two kingdoms by marriage, so she cast aside her feelings for Tristan. Neither spoke of their love as the ship set sail.

  On the journey, the travellers grew thirsty. Tristan picked up one of the many flagons on board and poured a glass for each of them. As they drank, their world changed. The hapless Bragwaine had placed the love potion beside the wine and water flagons, and Tristan and Isolde’s passion was magically bound forever more.

  Despite this Isolde married Mark, sealing an alliance between Cornwall and Ireland. But the new queen met in secret each evening with Tristan. The love potion held so strong an enchantment over them that they could not stop themselves, despite their attempted loyalty to Mark, and the king was outraged when he discovered their liaisons. A petty little dwarf named Frocin one day saw a bloodstain on the queen’s sheets, and recognized that it came from the old wound inflicted on Tristan by Marhault. In a maddened rage, Mark attacked Tristan with a sword, but the older man could not lay a blow on his agile champion. The lovers fled from Mark’s castle and lived together in the forest, away from the eyes of Mark’s warriors.

  But Mark wanted Isolde returned to ensure that his alliance with Anguish held firm, and because he could not bear the thought of Tristan lying beside his queen. Offering a truce to Isolde, Mark announced that she could return to his castle so long as Tristan never laid eyes on her again. Faced with a life in exile living under a canopy of trees, the lovers agreed that they must part. Isolde returned to Mark, and Tristan travelled to Arthur’s court at Camelot to serve the great King of Logres.

  Isolde lived unhappily while Tristan flourished. The knight was awarded Marhault’s vacant seat at the Round Table, and quested far and wide in Arthur’s name. He met a Breton maiden who shared the name of his true love, and married Isolde the White shortly afterwards. He married her for his love of her name rather than through any affection for the lady.

  ‘Sir Tristram.’ By Howard Pyle.

  Gravely wounded in battle on a quest for Arthur, Tristan was carried back to his Breton castle. Knowing that his life was draining from his body, he sent a ship to find his true love Isolde, asking that she attend his wounds and that they be united just once more. Tristan asked that a signal be made when the ship returned: if the sails were black Isolde had refused to come, if they were white his love had returned to him. As he lay gravely ill, he asked his wife Isolde the White what colour the sails were when the ship landed. She had learned of his request and of his signal, and her jealousy led her to say that the sails were black. Hearing this, Tristan died of despair. Isolde stepped from the white-sailed ship and ran to Tristan’s chamber. Seeing his body on the bed, she killed herself at his side.

  The lovers lay beside one another in death. From Tristan’s grave rose a vine, and from Isolde’s a rose: as time passed, the vine and rose became intertwined and the lovers were together once more.

  * * *

  The story of Tristan (also known as: Tristram; Tristrem; Drystan) and Isolde (or Iseult) was one of the most influential of medieval romances, presenting a perfect love triangle between king, loyal champion, and dutiful queen, and a love potion plot that contributes an almost fairy tale ambience. Tristan existed as a medieval hero before being drawn into Arthurian legend; the story of Tristan and Isolde stands alone without any reference to Arthur’s court or the Round Table being necessary, but drawing this tale into an Arthurian context emphasized the importance and significance of Tristan as a knight. It was not unknown for other Knights of the Round Table to be drawn from standalone tales into Arthur’s court.

  Two strands of Tristan’s legend evolved in the medieval period, possibly predated by now-lost Breton or Welsh folklore. The 13th-century Prose Tristan was the first story to place the hero in an Arthurian context. Before this, in the late 12th century, the French writers Thomas and Béroul contributed now-incomplete Tristan romances, and it is likely that Chrétien de Troyes wrote a Tristan story that is now completely lost (tentatively entitled Mark and Iseut la Blonde). Tristan was also a popular hero with medieval German and Scandinavian authors, including Gottfr
ied von Strassburg and Eilhart von Oberge.

  In Malory’s Le Morte Darthur, Tristan is one of the most regularly featured heroes in the book, although Malory’s version of Tristan and Isolde ends with Tristan being slain by the jealous and furious Mark as he plays his harp for Isolde. The vignette of the black and white sails that more frequently ends the tale is also known in, and probably incorporated from, the Classical Greek myth of Theseus.

  YVAIN: THE KNIGHT OF THE FOUNTAIN

  Arthur, Guinevere, and a handful of knights including Gawain’s cousin Yvain gathered around Calogrenant. Calogrenant himself was a cousin of Yvain, and he had arrived earlier that day on an exhausted horse. As was the custom of Camelot he was asked to regale his hosts with a remarkable tale.

  The weary knight began his tale by explaining that he had decided to seek out adventure in the wild Forest of Brocéliande, over the sea in Brittany. He knew not whether he had ridden for a day or a week after landing overseas, but chopping his way through the thick forest he eventually chanced upon a castle towering on a rocky headland over a luscious, open valley that echoed with birdsong. Escorted into the castle by beautiful maidens, who repaired his thorn-damaged armour and polished his shield, he was fed and told of an enchanted fountain that sprang up in a glade deep in the forest. It was guarded by the Knight of the Fountain: a red-clad warrior named Esclados who fought against anyone taking its water. This, Calogrenant thought, was the adventure he so sought. Riding to the fountain, he dismounted and, as he had been instructed at the castle, used a small cup beside the fountain to collect water to pour onto the fountain’s stone slab. No sooner had the water been poured than a furious storm crashed overhead and the red-clad knight charged towards him and attacked without warning. Calogrenant sheepishly described how the knight easily overpowered him amidst the thunder and lightning, circled around him on his steed, bowed mockingly from his saddle, and rode off. Without drinking from the fountain, Calogrenant fled.

  ‘Sir Ewaine poureth water on the slab.’ By Howard Pyle.

  A larger crowd gathered as Calogrenant told his story, and excitement buzzed around the Great Hall. Arthur declared that he would like to see this fountain for himself, little knowing that Yvain had already resolved to undertake the very same trip to avenge his cousin’s humiliation.

  A misericord depicting Yvain’s horse trapped in the portcullis of Esclados’ castle. A popular scene with medieval audiences, this late 14th-century example is from New College Chapel, Oxford (Bridgeman)

  Yvain set out the next morning. He hoped to defeat the Knight of the Fountain, impressing Arthur and restoring Calogrenant’s honour by doing so. Yvain’s journey was no more simple than his cousin’s had been, but he eventually cut his way through the forest and found the Castle of the Maidens. He received the same welcome as Calogrenant had, and was told the way to the fountain when his armour had been returned to him glinting more than ever before.

  The air was still as Yvain approached the fountain. Beside it sat the cup as described by his cousin, and he could see the stone slab onto which he must pour the water. Unlike Calogrenant, Yvain was prepared for what was about to happen. He remained seated on his horse, his shining shield on his shoulder and his sword at the ready. He leaned down and scooped water into the cup, and as he poured it onto the slab, the sky darkened and thunder peeled. Lightning crashed into the forest around him, and surging out of the darkness came the Knight of the Fountain.

  Yvain had prepared well: as Esclados charged at him, Yvain dodged his horse to the side and his opponent flew past. As he did so, Yvain chopped down hard with his sword delivering a devastating blow to his attacker. The momentum of the red-clad steed took its rider out of the glade and into the darkness of the forest.

  Yvain set out in pursuit, following the bloody trail left by the Knight of the Fountain. Yvain followed closely behind Esclados as he rode towards a castle. The gate was opened and the wounded knight’s horse rode in; as Yvain followed, a portcullis fell suddenly and he could do nothing to react. The heavy iron gate fell onto Yvain’s horse, cutting it in two. The rear end lay outside the castle’s gate, but the front end – and Yvain with it – rolled into the castle’s courtyard. His head ringing from the fall, Yvain stood up, sword at the ready, but no-one was to be seen. Leaving his horse either side of the gate, Yvain followed the blood trail.

  MORGAN LE FAY

  Morgan Le Fay (also known as: Morgana; Morgan the Wise) was one of Arthur’s half-sisters, who originally was known for aiding his healing on the enchanted Isle of Avalon. However, by the time of the Vulgate Cycle, Morgan’s character had changed and she held an obsessive hatred for Arthur due to his father Uther slaying her father Gorlois and then marrying her mother Igraine. Morgan was taught the dark arts of magic by Merlin, including the ability to fly and change shape (the latter showing the Celtic influence on Arthurian magic); she used sorcery to launch attacks on Arthur’s power throughout his reign, sometimes being reconciled with the king to attend his journey to Avalon. Married to King Uriens of Gore, Morgan was the mother of Arthur’s loyal knight Yvain.

  He turned to the sound of footsteps behind him; rather than the guards he expected, he came face to face with a young woman. She introduced herself as Lunete, and politely explained that Esclados, the protector of the fountain and castle, lay mortally wounded and the Lady of the Fountain grieved for him. She led Yvain to a small window looking into a chapel, where he saw Esclados laid out. Beside him stood the most beautiful woman Yvain had ever seen; a whisper from Lunete told him that this was Laudine, the Lady of the Fountain and owner of the castle. He stood transfixed by her elegance and charm before being led to a quiet garden chamber by Lunete.

  Each day, Yvain crept to the window and watched Laudine. Without having spoken a word to the Lady of the Fountain, he had fallen in love with her. Lunete brought food and water to him, but one day, amidst tolling bells, she instead brought news: Esclados had died. Without their protector, the castle, the magical fountain, and Laudine herself would perish.

  Yvain watched the funeral procession with overwhelming remorse. Laudine looked more elegant than ever before, her pale skin enhanced by the darkness of her mourning robe. That was the very moment that Yvain realized that he could marry no other woman.

  Yvain (on the right) battles against Esclados (on the left, named here as Aschelon) in this early 13th-century fresco from Castello Rodengo, Italy. (Alamy)

  Lunete’s words of warning were in vain to Yvain; he knew that he would be in danger if he revealed himself to the Lady of the Fountain, yet he was insistent that he must do so. Lunete did all she could to help him: she suggested to Laudine that a new Knight of the Fountain must be found to protect them all, and hinted that a Knight of the Round Table – one of Arthur’s famous knights – would surely be chivalrous enough to help… if only one could be found.

  In the wild uplands, Yvain attacks a huge wyrm to rescue a lion from its scaly grasp. The lion will become his trusting and trusted companion from this encounter onwards, assisting his return to his true love: the Lady of the Fountain. Yvain’s heraldry is based on D’Armagnac Armoral.

  Leaving the castle after nightfall, Yvain rode up the following day and asked to speak with the lady of the castle. Explaining that he had just travelled from Arthur’s court, he requested Laudine’s hospitality. At the feast that followed, she explained to Yvain her need of a champion. Unless the water of the fountain was guarded by a knight, the castle would fall into decline; and if the castle fell into decline, it was Laudine’s destiny to follow. Yvain, of course, promptly agreed to ride out as the Knight of the Fountain.

  Clad in the red armour of Esclados, Yvain protected the fountain but treated his defeated foes with honour. Over time, and with Lunete’s guidance, he won the heart of Laudine and they married in a joyous ceremony. For three years, Yvain thrived in his role as guardian of the fountain and castle.

  And then one day, a band of horsemen crashed through the Forest of Brocéliande. Cal
ogrenant had urged Arthur to send his warriors to find and avenge Yvain – whom all assumed dead – and Arthur himself led his knights, so keen was he to see the mysterious fountain. Riding on from the Castle of the Maidens, they reached the clearing where the fountain stood, and Arthur’s stepbrother Kay asked the honour of pouring the water.

  As Kay did so, the sky darkened and thunder peeled. Lightning crashed into the forest around him, and surging out of the darkness came the Knight of the Fountain. Wearing the red armour of Esclados, none of Arthur’s knights recognized Yvain. And so intent on fulfilling his duty was Yvain that he did not stop to recognize Arthur or his knights.

  As Kay and the Knight of the Fountain charged each other, Kay was struck such a mighty blow that he somersaulted from his saddle and lay stunned on the earth. Next Arthur sent forward Gawain, the mightiest of his warriors and cousin of Yvain, and he battled for hours against the red-clad knight. Eventually, with horses lying dead, lances broken, shields split in two, and sword blades dulled, Yvain’s strength gave way and Gawain was victorious. Removing his stricken opponent’s helmet, Gawain was speechless as he came face-to-face with his cousin.

  ‘Sir Gawaine, Knight of the Fountain.’ By Howard Pyle. In a rare slip, the caption should actually name Yvain – Ewaine as Pyle styled him – but instead mistakenly reads Gawaine.

  Arthur and Gawain were told Yvain’s wonderful story. As they spoke, Yvain felt a growing desire to return to Camelot to serve his king once more, and he explained to Laudine that he must attend both his lady and his king. As Yvain departed with Arthur’s knights, Laudine took him to one side and gave him a ring. This ring, she said, was a symbol of their love and he must wear it every day. She also told him that he should adventure with the Order of the Round Table for one year, but must prove his love for her by returning a year to that very day. Yvain swore that he would do so.