Le Morte D'Arthur Book 7 - 9
King Arthur receives a young man in his court on the festival of Pentecost, and the man asks to be granted by the king. His first wish is to be given room and board for a year, which King Arthur happily grants him, and the other two wishes he hopes to gain at a later time. Sir Kay takes a disliking to the young man, and nicknames him “Beaumains” which is French for “Fair Hands”. Beaumains is Gareth of Orkney, the brother of Gawanine, and Gaheris, and son of Queen Margawse. Gareth keeps his identity a secret as he labors under Sir Launcelot while working in the castle kitchens. The following year a mysterious woman comes to request the aid of King Arthur, but he is unable to dispatch one of the knights of the round table since the woman chooses not to reveal her identity. Gareth, whose real identity is still unknown, makes use of his remaining two wishes, which the King grants him at once.
Gareth asks to be knighted by Sir Launcelot, and he asks to be allowed to accompany the mysterious woman in her quest. As soon as King Arthur grants him these wishes, a dwarf appears at the castle doors with a handsome horse and a fine plate of armor. The woman hates Gareth’s poverty-stricken appearance and refuses his aid, but he persists and follows her. Sir Kay tries to harangue the newly minted knight, but Gareth defeats him, leaving Launcelot to marvel at the strength of the young knight. The mysterious woman reveals her identity as Linet, and she came to King Arthur to secure his help for her sister, Lionesse, who is being held captive by a villainous knight. Linet berates Gareth constantly through their travels, but he bears all her scorn and never reveals his true identity of noble birth. Gareth bears all her insults and vanquishes all obstacles in their path with the force of his arms. Linet is forced to acknowledge his skill, but she begins to feel sorry for the noble knights whom she believes are being beaten by a kitchen knave.
Sir Gareth defeats the knight that is holding Lionesse captive, and in the process of doing so, he falls in love with her. Lionesse refuses his love and asks him to prove himself by rising to the order of the round table, although she promises to be faithful to him. Gareth leaves dejected, but Lionesse soon uncovers his true identity, and they both agree to be married. However, they plan an elaborate farce for Gareth’s return to King Arthur’s court which goes terribly and further delays Gareth’s return to court. In the meanwhile, Arthur learns of Gareth’s true identity from his Queen mother, who visits the court to meet her son, only to find reports of him living in the kitchen quarters. Gareth continues to win acclaim so that he becomes the knight who has defeated the large number of knights who came to report their loss to the king. Gareth is welcomed back to court by King Arthur himself, and he is soon married to Lionesse, while Gaehris marries Linet. A great tournament of jousting is held in celebration, but Sir Launcelot and Sir Tristram leave the celebrations, and this upsets the king.
Tristram is considered by many to be the greatest knight in the land, along with Sir Launcelot du Lake. He was born to King Meliodas and Queen Elizabeth, the sister of King Mark from Cornwall. Meliodas was imprisoned by a woman who loved him while Elizabeth had been pregnant. The queen worried for her missing husband and set out to search for him, but she was forced to stop as she went into labor while looking for her husband in a forest. She gives birth to a boy and asks her servant to ensure that he was named Tristram. Merlin then came to the rescue of King Meliodas, who came back to his castle to bury his dead wife and care for his infant son. King Meliodas soon remarried, but his wife grew jealous of Tristram’s place in the kingdom as she wanted her children to inherit the throne. She plans to poison Tristram, but she ends up killing her child and nearly poisons the king on her second attempt.
Tristram saves his step-mother from being executed by pleading with his father, but their relationship is eternally soured and so Tristram is sent to the court of his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall. He develops into one of the finest fighting men in the land and proves his prowess by defeating the champion of King Anguish of Ireland. However, the opposing knight wounds him, and thus King Mark departs for Ireland with his nephew to find the cure for the poison that had been on the rival knight's weapon. King Anguish of Ireland treats Tristram very kindly though Tristram never reveals that he had killed the King’s champion. Tristram and the king’s daughter, La Beale Isoud, fall deeply in love, but their time together is cut short as Tristram’s true identity is revealed. King Anguish allows him to leave due to his prowess as a knight, but strife soon returns to Tristram’s life as King Mark and he falls in love with the same woman. Tristram secures the lady's love and this births enmity between the King and his nephew. He decides to marry Tristram’s lover, Isoud and sends Tristram to fetch the woman. Tristram’s fame grows during this trip as he defeats several knights of the round table, but he and Isoud accidentally drink a love potion that deepens their love for one another. This affair continues after Tristram is married, but King Mark is powerless to stop it as his people seem to favor Tristram over him.
The people of the land begin to say that there are only four true lovers in the world, Launcelot and Guenever, and Tristram and Isoud. Eventually, Isoud is imprisoned by Mark while Tristram is wounded, and he decides to visit King Howel to recover. However, Tristram eventually falls in love with King Howel’s daughter and decides to marry her. Launcelot and Guenever both hear of this and condemn the unfaithful lover. Tristram helps Sir Lamorak in one of his travels, and as Sir Lamorak is returning from this adventure he encounters Sir Launcelot, who is proceeding alone to complete a quest on his own.
A young man called Breunor Le Noire arrives at Arthur’s court, he is nicknamed La Cote Male Taile by Kay, who thinks that the man’s coat is comically bad. Breunor asks to be made a knight, a wish that Arthur grants him after the man saves Queen Guenever from a lion. A mysterious woman arrives to lead a knight of the round table to rescue one of their companions who had been captured by a powerful knight. The woman lacks faith in Breunor when he is assigned by the king, due to the poor appearance of his coat. Sir Launcelot arrives shortly after their departure and decides to follow them to assist the newly risen knight. Breunor has trouble facing the knights they encounter along the way, which causes the woman to have a poor opinion of him. She continues to criticize him as they journey, and treats Sir Launcelot similarly when he joins their party since she doesn’t have any idea about his identity. Brenuor performs well, but eventually, Sir Launcelot’s assistance is required in freeing the knights, however, the adventure leaves the woman with a better attitude and she ends up marrying Breunor.
Launcelot receives letters from Tristram, who confesses that he hadn’t truly been unfaithful to Isoud, and requests for them to renew their distant friendship. In the meanwhile, Isoud continues to write to Tristram as she pleads with him to visit Cornwall with his wife, but Tristram decides to leave in secret with a party of other knights. The ship meets poor weather and is forced to dock far away from its destination. The company continues on foot, and Tristram meets several old acquaintances, all of whom he defeats with his unmatched skill. Tristram is accosted on his journey by Minue, who requests his help in aiding a bewitched King Arthur who is being held by a sorceress. Tristram frees the king, although he chooses not to reveal his identity to the king. Later onwards, Tristram assists the knights of the round table once more as he helps Lancelot by foiling Morgan La Fay’s plan of killing him.
Eventually, Tristram reaches Cornwall and reunites with Isoud in secret but this bliss ends when Tristram suspects Isoud of being unfaithful to him. Tristram loses his mind and he disappears into the forest where he is found several months later after he defeats a fearsome giant. Isoud tries to shield Tristram from Mark who eventually learns of Tristram’s true identity. Mark is unable to convince his barons to put the man to death, and they all agree to exile Tristram, who decides to seek out King Arthur’s fellowship as suggested by Isoud. Tristram adventures around the countryside adding more accolades to his name just like Launcelot, and he eventually ends up in a tournament where he defeats everyone including King Arthur. Tristram escapes wounded from the tournament that had been dealt by Launcelot and ends up in the power of Morgan La Fay. Meanwhile, Launcelot organizes a quest for some knights to find and bring Tristram back to them. Morgan compels Tristram to participate in a tournament with a shield that depicts the affair between Launcelot and Guenever. A disguised Tristram appears at the tournament with the shield, which causes Arthur significant anger, and he approaches Tristram to learn about the shield.
Analysis
Tristram’s story as well as that of Gareth seems like a digression since they have nothing to do with King Arthur, but they serve as a means for the author to explore the themes of Chivalry and Honor that are central to this work. It is evident that Tristram shares a background that is quite similar to King Arthur, who was also raised outside of his household, and perhaps this is a means to indicate that Tristram possesses a noble character similar to King Arthur. Tristram and Gareth’s legend shares many similarities with the other stories of knights in this work. For instance, Gareth refuses to reveal his identity to the court or Linet, despite the constant disrespect he is forced to confront. Similarly, Tristram displays a noble character as he intercedes with his father on the behalf of his stepmother who had been trying to position him. Defeating a skilled knight is a quintessential moment in the story of the knight’s rise. This moment appears in Gareth’s story when he fights the disrespectful Kay and unarms him. The import of this achievement is conveyed through the perspective of Launcelot who fights Kay immediately after Gareth and is amazed that Gareth was able to defeat his charge so soundly. In Tristram’s tale, he begins to prove his prowess as a knight through his deal with the mighty Marhaus, the champion of King Anguish.
