The Romance of Tristan and Iseult/Iseult of the White Hands - Wikisource, the free online library (2024)

ISEULT OF THE WHITE HANDS[edit]

Apart the lovers could neither live nor die, for it was life and deathtogether; and Tristan fled his sorrow through seas and islands andmany lands.

He fled his sorrow still by seas and islands, till at last he cameback to his land of Lyonesse, and there Rohalt, the keeper of faith,welcomed him with happy tears and called him son. But he could notlive in the peace of his own land, and he turned again and rodethrough kingdoms and through baronies, seeking adventure. From theLyonesse to the Lowlands, from the Lowlands on to the Germanies;through the Germanies and into Spain. And many lords he served, andmany deeds did, but for two years no news came to him out of Cornwall,nor friend, nor messenger. Then he thought that Iseult had forgotten.

Now it happened one day that, riding with Gorvenal alone, he came intothe land of Brittany. They rode through a wasted plain of ruined wallsand empty hamlets and burnt fields everywhere, and the earth desertedof men; and Tristan thought:

“I am weary, and my deeds profit me nothing; my lady is far off and Ishall never see her again. Or why for two years has she made no sign,or why has she sent no messenger to find me as I wandered? But inTintagel Mark honours her and she gives him joy, and that little fairybell has done a thorough work; for little she remembers or cares forthe joys and the mourning of old, little for me, as I wander in thisdesert place. I, too, will forget.”

On the third day, at the hour of noon, Tristan and Gorvenal came neara hill where an old chantry stood and close by a hermitage also; andTristan asked what wasted land that was, and the hermit answered:

“Lord, it is Breton land which Duke Hod holds, and once it was rich inpasture and ploughland, but Count Riol of Nantes has wasted it. Foryou must know that this Count Riol was the Duke’s vassal. And the Dukehas a daughter, fair among all King’s daughters, and Count Riol wouldhave taken her to wife; but her father refused her to a vassal, andCount Riol would have carried her away by force. Many men have died inthat quarrel.”

And Tristan asked:

“Can the Duke wage his war?”

And the hermit answered:

“Hardly, my lord; yet his last keep of Carhaix holds out still, forthe walls are strong, and strong is the heart of the Duke’s sonKaherdin, a very good knight and bold; but the enemy surrounds them onevery side and starves them. Very hardly do they hold their castle.”

Then Tristan asked:

“How far is this keep of Carhaix?”

“Sir,” said the hermit, “it is but two miles further on this way.”

Then Tristan and Gorvenal lay down, for it was evening.

In the morning, when they had slept, and when the hermit had chanted,and had shared his black bread with them, Tristan thanked him and rodehard to Carhaix. And as he halted beneath the fast high walls, he sawa little company of men behind the battlements, and he asked if theDuke were there with his son Kaherdin. Now Hod was among them; andwhen he cried “yes,” Tristan called up to him and said:

“I am that Tristan, King of Lyonesse, and Mark of Cornwall is myuncle. I have heard that your vassals do you a wrong, and I have cometo offer you my arms.

“Alas, lord Tristan, go you your way alone and God reward you, forhere within we have no more food; no wheat, or meat, or any stores butonly lentils and a little oats remaining.”

But Tristan said

“For two years I dwelt in a forest, eating nothing save roots andherbs; yet I found it a good life, so open you the door.”

They welcomed him with honour, and Kaherdin showed him the wall andthe dungeon keep with all their devices, and from the battlements heshowed the plain where far away gleamed the tents of Duke Riol. Andwhen they were down in the castle again he said to Tristan:

“Friend, let us go to the hall where my mother and sister sit.”

So, holding each other’s hands, they came into the women’s room, wherethe mother and the daughter sat together weaving gold upon Englishcloth and singing a weaving song. They sang of Doette the fair whosits alone beneath the white-thorn, and round about her blows thewind. She waits for Doon, her friend, but he tarries long and does notcome. This was the song they sang. And Tristan bowed to them, and theyto him. Then Kaherdin, showing the work his mother did, said:

“See, friend Tristan, what a work-woman is here, and how marvellouslyshe adorns stoles and chasubles for the poor minsters, and how mysister’s hands run thread of gold upon this cloth. Of right, goodsister, are you called, ‘Iseult of the White Hands.’”

But Tristan, hearing her name, smiled and looked at her more gently.

And on the morrow, Tristan, Kaherdin, and twelve young knights leftthe castle and rode to a pinewood near the enemy’s tents. And sprangfrom ambush and captured a waggon of Count Riol’s food; and from thatday, by escapade and ruse they would carry tents and convoys and killoff men, nor ever come back without some booty; so that Tristan andKaherdin began to be brothers in arms, and kept faith and tenderness,as history tells. And as they came back from these rides, talkingchivalry together, often did Kaherdin praise to his comrade hissister, Iseult of the White Hands, for her simplicity and beauty.

One day, as the dawn broke, a sentinel ran from the tower through thehalls crying:

“Lords, you have slept too long; rise, for an assault is on.”

And knights and burgesses armed, and ran to the walls, and saw helmetsshining on the plain, and pennons streaming crimson, like flames, andall the host of Riol in its array. Then the Duke and Kaherdin deployedtheir horsem*n before the gates, and from a bow-length off theystooped, and spurred and charged, and they put their lances downtogether and the arrows fell on them like April rain.

Now Tristan had armed himself among the last of those the sentinel hadroused, and he laced his shoes of steel, and put on his mail, and hisspurs of gold, his hauberk, and his helm over the gorget, and hemounted and spurred, with shield on breast, crying:

“Carhaix!”

And as he came, he saw Duke Riol charging, rein free, at Kaherdin, butTristan came in between. So they met, Tristan and Duke Riol. And atthe shock, Tristan’s lance shivered, but Riol’s lance struck Tristan’shorse just where the breast-piece runs, and laid it on the field.

But Tristan, standing, drew his sword, his burnished sword, and said:

“Coward! Here is death ready for the man that strikes the horse beforethe rider.”

But Riol answered:

“I think you have lied, my lord!”

And he charged him.

And as he passed, Tristan let fall his sword so heavily upon his helmthat he carried away the crest and the nasal, but the sword slipped onthe mailed shoulder, and glanced on the horse, and killed it, so thatof force Duke Riol must slip the stirrup and leap and feel the ground.Then Riol too was on his feet, and they both fought hard in theirbroken mail, their ’scutcheons torn and their helmets loosened andlashing with their dented swords, till Tristan struck Riol just wherethe helmet buckles, and it yielded and the blow was struck so hardthat the baron fell on hands and knees; but when he had risen again,Tristan struck him down once more with a blow that split the helm, andit split the headpiece too, and touched the skull; then Riol criedmercy and begged his life, and Tristan took his sword.

So he promised to enter Duke Hoël’s keep and to swear homage again,and to restore what he had wasted; and by his order the battle ceased,and his host went off discomfited.

Now when the victors were returned Kaherdin said to his father:

“Sire, keep you Tristan. There is no better knight, and your land hasneed of such courage.”

So when the Duke had taken counsel with his barons, he said to Tristan

“Friend, I owe you my land, but I shall be quit with you if you willtake my daughter, Iseult of the White Hands, who comes of kings and ofqueens, and of dukes before them in blood.”

And Tristan answered:

“I will take her, Sire.”

So the day was fixed, and the Duke came with his friends and Tristanwith his, and before all, at the gate of the minster, Tristan wedIseult of the White Hands, according to the Church’s law.

But that same night, as Tristan’s valets undressed him, it happenedthat in drawing his arm from the sleeve they drew off and let fallfrom his finger the ring of green jasper, the ring of Iseult the Fair.It sounded on the stones, and Tristan looked and saw it. Then hisheart awoke and he knew that he had done wrong. For he remembered theday when Iseult the Fair had given him the ring. It was in that forestwhere, for his sake, she had led the hard life with him, and thatnight he saw again the hut in the wood of Morois, and he was bitterwith himself that ever he had accused her of treason; for now it washe that had betrayed, and he was bitter with himself also in pity forthis new wife and her simplicity and beauty. See how these two Iseultshad met him in an evil hour, and to both had he broken faith!

Now Iseult of the White Hands said to him, hearing him sigh:

“Dear lord, have I hurt you in anything? Will you not speak me asingle word?”

But Tristan answered: “Friend, do not be angry with me; for once inanother land I fought a foul dragon and was near to death, and Ithought of the Mother of God, and I made a vow to Her that, should Iever wed, I would spend the first holy nights of my wedding in prayerand in silence.”

“Why,” said Iseult, “that was a good vow.”

And Tristan watched through the night.