Romance of Tristan

One of the earliest extant versions of the Tristan and Yseut story, Beroul's French manuscript of The Romance of Tristan dates back to the middle of the twelfth century. It recounts the legend of Tristan, nephew of King Mark of Cornwall, and the king's Irish wife Yseut, who fall passionately in love after mistakenly drinking a potion. Their illicit romance remains secret for many years, but the relentless suspicion of the king's barons and the fading effects of the magic draught eventually lead to tragedy for the lovers. While Beroul's work emphasizes the impulsive and often brutal behaviour of the characters, its sympathetic depiction of two people struggling against their destiny is one of the most powerful versions of this enduringly popular legend.

Béroul was a Norman poet of the twelfth century. He wrote a Norman language version of the Tristan and Iseult story of which 3000 verses survive today, preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.Alan S. Fedrick is a writer and translator who is best known for his translation of Beroul’s The Romance of Tristan: The Tale of Tristan's Madness, for which he also wrote the introduction.