TRISTRAM 
 
 
hate for Mark is as the measure of my 
love for thee;" and when she found out 
that her husband would not allow Sir 
Tristram to remain at Tintag'il Castle, she 
eloped with him, and lived three years at 
Joyous Guard, near Carlisle. At length 
she returned home, and Sir Tristram fol- 
lowed her. His death is variously related. 
Thus the History of Prince Arthur says: 
  When, by means of a treaty, Sir Tristram 
brought again La Belle Isond unto King Mark 
from Joyous Guard, the false traitor, King 
Mark, slew the noble knight as he sat harping 
before his lady, La Belle Isond, with a sharp- 
n d glaive, which he thrust into him from 
     d his back.-Pt. iii. 147 (1470). 
  Tennyson gives the tale thus: He says 
that Sir Tristram, dallying with his aunt, 
hung a ruby carcanet round her throat; 
and, as he kissed her neck: 
Out of the dark, just as the lips had touched, 
Behind him rose a shadow and a shriek- 
"Mark's way!" said Mark, and clove him thro' 
    the brain. 
 Tennyson, Idylls (" The Last Tournament"). 
 Another tale is this: Sir Tristram was 
 severely wounded in Brittany, and sent 
 a dying request to his aunt to come and 
 see him. If she consented, a white flag 
 was to be hoisted on the mast-head of her 
 ship; if not, a black one. His wife told 
 him the ship was in sight, displaying a 
 black flag, at which words the strong man 
 bowed his head and died. When his aunt 
 came ashore and heard of his death, she 
 flung herself on the body, and died also. 
 The two were buried in one grave, and 
 Mark planted over it a rose and a vine, 
 which became so interwoven it was not 
 possible to separate them. 
 *** Sir Launcelot, Sir Tristram and Sir 
 Lamorake were the three bravest and best 
of the 150 knights of the Round Table, 
but were all equally guilty in their amours: 
Sir Launcelot with the queen; Sir Tris- 
tram with his aunt, King Mark's wife; 
 
 
and Sir Lamorake with his aunt, King 
Lot's wife. 
 
   Tristram's Horse, Passetreftl, or Passe 
 Brewell. It is called both, but one seems 
 to be a clerical error. 
   (Passe Brewell is in Sir T. Malory's His- 
 tory of Prince Arthur, ii. 68). 
   History of Sir Tristram or Tristan. The 
oldest story is by Gotfrit of Strasbourg, 
a minnesinger (twelfth century), entitled 
Tristan and Isolde. It was continued by 
Ulrich of Turheim, by Heinrich of Frey- 
burg, and others, to the extent of many 
thousand verses. The tale of Sir Tris- 
tram, derived from Welsh traditions, was 
versifled by Thomas the Rhymer, of Er- 
celdoune. 
  The second part of the History of Prince 
Arthur, compiled by Sir T. Malory, is al- 
most exclusively confined to the adven- 
tures of Sir Tristram, as the third part is 
to the adventures of Sir Launcelot, and 
the quest of the Holy Graal (1470). 
  Matthew Arnold has a poem entitled 
Tristram; and R. Wagner, in 1865, pro- 
duced his opera of Tristan and Isolde. 
  See Michel, Tristan; Recueil de ce qui 
reste des Po~mes relatifs a ses Aventures 
(1835). 
 
  Tristrem 1'Hermite, provost-marshal 
of France, in the reign of Louis XI. In- 
troduced by Sir W. Scott in Quentin Dur- 
ward (1823), and in Anne of Geierstein 
(1829). 
 
  Tritheim   (J), chronicler and theolo- 
gian of Treves, elected abbot of Spanheim 
at the age of 22 years. He tried to re- 
form the monks, but produced a revolt, 
and resigned his office. He was then ap- 
pointed abbot of Wiirzburg (1462-1516). 
Old Trithein, busied with his class the while. 
         R, Browning, Paracelsus, i. (1836). 
                                    IV 
 
 
149 
 
 
TRITHEIM