The Romance of Tristan

The Prose Tristan tells one of the most moving and influential love stories of world literature: the doomed, uncontrollable, and enthralling passion of Tristan and Iseut, who fell in love after drinking the love potion meant for Iseut and her husband Mark. This readable, idiomatic translation emphasizes those parts which link the prose romance with the poetic Tristan legend. The introduction examines the Prose Tristan in the context of the many other versions of the legend, and the explanatory notes clarify medieval practices, institutions, names, and places, and detail as well as linguistic ambiguities.