Iseult

Iseult is the Irish princess and intended bride of King Mark whose love for Tristan drives the medieval romance. Her story with Tristan became one of the most influential tragic love narratives of medieval Europe.

Medieval versions make Iseult an Irish princess who marries King Mark of Cornwall after falling in love with Tristan, often through a love potion; their divided loyalties drive the tragic conclusion of the romance tradition.

In Rosemary Sutcliff’s Tristan and Iseult, Tristan, champion and nephew of King Mark of Cornwall, travels to Ireland and wins Iseult as a bride for his lord. During the return voyage Tristan and Iseult drink a love potion intended for the royal marriage, binding them to a passion that conflicts with honour, kinship and political duty. Secrecy, exile and repeated attempts at separation cannot resolve the contradiction between their love and Tristan’s loyalty to Mark.