The mythical account of the two lovers Tristan/Tristrant/
Tristrem and Isolde/Iseut/Isotta deeply influenced
the entire history of European literature from
the early Middle Ages to the present, originating in
ancient Irish, Cornish, and Scottish sagas, as confirmed
by various references to “Drustan/Drvstavs”
and “Eselt” from the sixth to the eighth centuries. It
gained a solid foothold in the middle of the 12th
century with the Old French version by an otherwise
unknown BÉROUL (Tristan) and with the fragments
by Thomas d’Angleterre (including one
recently discovered in Carlisle). The narrative of the
adulterous love affair—Isolde being married to Tristan’s
uncle Mark but in love with Tristan only—
quickly spread through oral channels and is already
reflected by MARIE DE FRANCE in her lai “Chevrefueil,”
in CHRÉTIEN DE TROYES’s CLIGÈS, and songs by
BERNART DE VENTADORN, RAIMBAUT D’ORANGE,
CHÂTELAIN DE COUCY, REINMAR DERALTE, and others
(all written ca. 1170–90). Comic and grotesque elements
were explored by the anonymous Old French
authors of the Folie Tristan de Berne and the Folie
Tristan d’Oxford, and the 13th-century Middle High
German author of Tristan als Mönch. EILHART VON
OBERGE composed a highly influential Middle High
German Tristrant romance at around 1190, and the
Alemannic poet GOTTFRIED VON STRASSBURG wrote
his version, probably the most famous one, in ca.
1210. The early 13th century witnessed the emergence
of the most influential text, Tristan en prose,
which was translated into most European languages
throughout the following centuries, such as Middle
English, Medieval Spanish, Medieval Italian, Old
Norse, Old Czech,Greek, and Serbo-Russian. By the
end of the 16th century the literary myth of this love
affair seems to have fallen into oblivion, but the medieval
texts were rediscovered by the end of the 18th
century, leading to a remarkable revival of the myth
in a myriad of forms, including translations,
retellings, poems, dramas, operas (Richard Wagner,
1867–69), scholarly studies (Denis de Rougemont,
1939), films (Jean Cocteau, 1943; Yvan Lagrange,
1972), and novels (John Updike, 1965).
Bibliography
Classen, Albrecht, et al., eds. Tristania. A Journal Devoted
to Tristan Studies. 20 vols. Lewiston, N.Y.:
Edwin Mellen Press, 1975–2004.
Albrecht Classen