Tristan and Isolde consummate their love while traveling on a ship to Ireland. They continue their affair secretly after Isolde marries King Mark. However, their secret relationship is discovered by Tristan's steward Marjodoc and a dwarf named Melot, who inform King Mark. As punishment, Mark banishes Tristan and Isolde from court. They go into hiding together in a cave near Mark's castle, until their secret hiding place is also discovered by Mark. After this, Tristan leaves to go on adventures abroad, while pining for Isolde. During his travels, he meets and begins flirting with a woman named Isolde of the White Hands, confusing his

1. Tristan
Chapter 16: The Avowal

2. They begin to
feel strange…

3. Their friendship turns to more…

4. They sneak off
the ship.

6. They consummate their love…

7. Many times

8. Chapter 17: Brangane

9. No longer a virgin, Isolde fears her wedding
night with king Mark

10. Isolde talks Brangane into being her
wedding night sub
They will get
Mark drunk and
pull a switcheroo
in the dark.

11. Brangane reluctantly agrees, and confesses
her guilt about the potion

12. The wedding night arrives
In the dark, Brangane slips
into bed with Mark, who
can’t tell one woman from
another.

13. After the first encounter, Brangane leaves
and Isolde gets into bed with Mark

14. Isolde sleeps with Mark at night, and
fiddles with Tristan by day

15. But Isolde begins to worry that Brangane
will betray her
She asks two of her squires to take
Brangane into the woods, cut off her head,
and bring back her tongue.

16. The squires take
Brangane.

17. Brangane fears for her life

18. Brangane tells the
squires her only fault
was to give Isolde
her white shift when
Isolde dirtied hers on
the trip from Ireland.

19. The squires took pity on her

20. They brought home the tongue of a dog

21. Isolde is furious and
accuses the squires
of murder.

22. The squires produce Brangane, and all is
forgiven

23. Although there were a few close calls,

24. They fooled around every chance they got

25. Chapter 18: Gandin

26. A ship arrived from Ireland

27. Gandin, a musician who had always
admired Isolde, arrives

28. On his back he carries a small rote

29. Mark promises to give the musician
anything he desires if he will play for the
court

30. After Gandin plays, he demands Isolde as
his prize

31. Mark must keep his word

32. Out hunting, Tristan hears the news and
rides to the rescue

33. He plays a long lay on his harp, while the
ship pulls away from shore

34. Gandin plays adequately on his small rote

35. But Tristan’s instrument is not only bigger

36. He handles it more skillfully!

37. Tristan rides off with Isolde

38. Chapter 19: Marjodoc
Tristan’s steward, Marjodoc, is secretly in love
with Isolde.
Tristan and Marjodoc share lodgings.
Tristan often sneaks out at night to visit Isolde.

39. One night, Marjodoc has a dream

40. He dreams that a boar runs into Mark’s
bedchamber

41. And fouls the bed linens with foam

42. Waking up, Marjodoc follows Tristan’s
footprints in the snow

43. He arrives at Isolde’s chamber, and hears
them making love

44. Marjodoc reports “rumors” to Mark, who
has them carefully watched

45. Chapter 20: Plot and Counterplot
With Marjodoc’s help, Mark sets several traps
for Isolde, to see how she feels about Tristan.
At first a failure, with Brangane’s help Isolde
passes the tests.

46. Chapter 21: Melot

47. Melot, a dwarf from Aquitaine, arrives at
court

48. Melot and Marjodoc team up to catch
Tristan and Isolde
King Mark announces
he will go on a hunt
for 20 days.

49. Brangane helps
Tristan and
Isolde set up a
communication
system using
twigs floating in
a brook.

50. Chapter 22: The Assignation by the Brook
Mark and Melot hide
in a tree to catch
Tristan and Isolde in
the act.

51. First Tristan, then Isolde notice the
shadows and pretend coldness

52. Chapter 23: The Ordeal

53. Mark, Tristan, and Isolde were bled

55. Mark announces he will go to church with
Melot
Melot sprinkles flour
on the floor.

56. If Tristan sneaks to Isolde’s bed, he will
leave footprints in the flour

57. Instead, Tristan leaps over to her bed,
opens his wound, and gets blood all over
the sheets

58. Mark finds the blood and is suspicious
Isolde will go to London and be questioned by
the Bishops.

59. The Bishop declares she must be subjected
to the ordeal of the red hot iron
This will occur in six weeks at Carleon.

60. Frightened, Isolde writes to Tristan

62. Disguised as a pilgrim, Tristan carries Isolde
from the ship to the shore

63. She tells him to fall, and he does so, so that
she lies in his lap
Now she can swear an oath that she never had
carnal knowledge of, never lay in any man’s
arms but Mark’s—excepting, of course, the poor
pilgrim’s.

64. Isolde swears the oath, and prepares to
carry the hot iron

65. Modern ordeal in Africa

66. Isolde passes the ordeal

67. Chapter 24: Petitcreiu

68. To escape temptation, Tristan sails away to
Swales

69. Tristan visited his friend Duke Gilan
Gilan was young,
single, and gay
(straight, but joyful).

70. Gilan entertained Tristan

71. But Tristan
suffered from
melancholy.

72. Gilan brings out Petitcreiu

73. Petitcreiu is a little dog of all colors and no
color at all

74. The little dog came from the mystical
island Avalon

75. It sat on a cushion with a bell around its
neck

76. The sound of the bell took sadness away

77. Tristan wanted the dog for Isolde
But Gilan refused to part with it.

78. The giant Urgan li vilus terrorized Swales

79. When the haughty Urgan came to the
castle, Gilan had to pay him tribute

80. Gilan promises to give Tristan whatever he
wants if he will rid the kingdom of Urgan

81. Tristan sets off to kill Urgan

82. Urgan is scornful of the young knight when
Tristan blocks the bridge

83. The two taunt each other

84. Urgan strikes, and kills Tristan’s horse

87. Tristan wounds Urgan in the eye and cuts
off his hand

88. Urgan runs home to reattach his hand
Tristan follows
him and steals the
hand!

89. Tristan and Urgan fight on the bridge
Tristan pushes the
giant off the bridge,
and he shatters on
the rocks below.

90. Tristan returns to Gilan and shows him the
hand
The kingdom cheers!

91. Gilan offers his sister and half his kingdom
But Tristan
wants the
dog.

92. Tristan sends the dog to Isolde
She writes to Tristan and
tells him to return.
She breaks off the bell.

93. Chapter 25: Banishment
After watching
their tender looks
and feeling much
pain, Mark
banishes Tristan
and Isolde from
the kingdom.

94. Tristan and Isolde left the court
All they needed was each
other.
But they took Curvenal, a dog,
some money, Tristan’s harp,
sword, bow, and horn…

95. Chapter 26: The Cave of Lovers

96. Tristan and Isolde live in a grotto not far
from Mark’s castle

98. They slept on a crystal bed

99. And lived on love

100. Chapter 27: Discovery

101. Ever melancholy, Mark decides to go out
hunting one day

102. Hearing the sounds of the hunt, Tristan and
Isolde lie fully clothed in bed with a sword
between them

103. When Mark peeks in a window, he is
pleased to see their innocence

104. Mark blocks the window so the sun
doesn’t harm Isolde’s complexion

105. When the lovers wake up, they see the
window blocked and suspect Mark was
there

106. Chapter 28: The Parting
Mark calls Tristan and
Isolde back to court,
but cautions them to
avoid each other.

107. Gottfried tells us that even the most
virtuous women hate being watched
Like Eve, a woman will
do the one forbidden
thing.

108. One day at noon, Isolde goes to the
orchard and sends for Tristan

109. Mark discovers them

110. When Mark goes off to find witnesses,
Tristan wakes Isolde
Tristan must leave.
Isolde gives him a gold
ring and makes him
promise to let no living
woman come between
them.

111. Chapter 29:
Isolde of the
White Hands

112. Tristan goes off to Europe, fights for the
Holy Roman Empire, and has many
adventures

113. Medieval Europe

114. Path of 1st Crusade, 11th century

115. Isolde pined

116. Tristan returns to Parmenie, hoping for
news of Isolde

117. He mourns the deaths of Rual and Florete
Rual’s sons invite him
to stay and retake the
kingdom, but the
restless Tristan decides
to go to Arundel and
help settle a feud
there.

118. Old Duke Jovelin was overwhelmed by
enemies

119. Tristan goes to Arundel

120. He became good friends with Jovalin’s son,
Kaedin

121. Tristan and Kaedin hassle the enemy while
they wait for more knights to arrive from
Parmenie

122. Reinforcements arrive from Parmenie, and
total victory goes to Tristan and Kaedin

123. Kaedin has a sister,
called Isolde of the
white hands.

124. Tristan is confused by the two Isoldes in his
life

125. He plays and sings songs celebrating Isolde

126. Naturally, Isolde of the white hands and
her brother think Tristan is singing to her

127. Isolde makes a play for Tristan

128. Encouraged by
Kaedin, and not
having received
a message from
Isolde, Tristan
flirts with white
hands.