Ah, the ignorance of youth!

What a fool I have been! It has been three years since the lovely Isolde and I drank a wicked love potion, and finally its sickening effects have worn off. Living on wild beasts that I killed in the forest was a miserable existence. I had to make peace with my uncle, King Mark, to save myself, and Isolde (whom I love…but I’m not IN love with) from the torture of living in secret together. Thank goodness for the hermit who has helped us back into the good grace of the king. Aside from the little white lie denying our love affair, there will be no more trickery for us!

Well, maybe a little more, but just so Isolde does not have to lie before God when taking her oath that no man has been between her legs but her husband and the leper who carried her across the marsh (which was me! Hahaha what a clever plan that was!). But those damn treacherous barons who continue to make trouble for us! Oh, I love my dear uncle but what a fool he is to allow himself to be manipulated again and again by those bastards! I will get my revenge on them, I swear it!!

Invincible In Love!

Wow! I cannot believe he FINALLY figured it out! I mean, I was sure that we were smarter than him. That whole scene under the tree—brilliant!

Damn that evil dwarf for trying to destroy our love! Oh but the flour trick was certainly clever, I’ll give him that. But of course, I am cleverer and saw the trap right away. If it weren’t for the gash in my leg, we wouldn’t have ever been caught! But alas, even a death sentence isn’t enough to keep Isolde and me from each other! We are so happy now in the woods! Sure, we are hungry, and growing thin with malnourishment, but we have each other, and that will always be enough! I am sure of it!

To all of the other secret lovers out there: Have faith that your love can be everlasting despite those who try to destroy it! Just see how happy I am in exile with my Isolde!!

Is there anything more romantic than secret, passionate love affairs?

Cruel, to be kind….

I have been misjudged in my actions during the incestuous liaison that existed between my nephew Tristan and my beloved Isolde. Some have called me gullible, foolish and cruel as I stumbled in the dark, surrounded by treachery. The throne is truly a lonely perch, the ruler forever destined to stand alone as nobles and sycophants tumble from the woodwork. Yet may I remind you, these tales of my actions are told by another’s pen, a man who has his sympathies solely with the traitorous pair, declaring that their love was proof against all punishment or censure. This cannot be, for as a monarch, I cannot be seen to be weak in a matter that lies upon my very doorstep. To not have put Isolde to her just punishment would cost me my kingdom and the lives of my people….

I will admit that I spoke out of anger and despair when I put her to death without a trial and the stains upon my mortal soul that giving her to the lecherous lepers as a worst punishment shall ne’er be cleansed away. Yet I ask you, who here can say that they have not been driven mad with passionate anger and a lust for revenge? Once my reason returned I truly felt unending guilt for what I had done, thus when I saw my dears in the forest, so innocently beautiful, I thanked God that I had not destroyed them. This Beroul who seeks to know my heart cannot ever know the sadness and joy that I feel when I think of my kinsmen and my wife, lost to me in the wild evergreen……

This terrible Courtesy...

Ladies and Sirs,

You know me well, and you know that I am no great proponent of courtesy. It was not practiced in my day, and I cannot for the life of me understand why the current generation of writers and bards think so highly of it. Courtesy, and "courtly love," seems to have become the rule as opposed to the exception. Diplomacy, tact, violence of action - these are valuable things, but on my honor no good has ever come of courtly manners, and I shall count a number of offenses which it manifests.

The first offense is that it predisposes one to falsehood. I have yet to meet a knight who is truly courteous who is also an honest and upstanding fellow. Take this Tristan for example. He obviously lusts after the fair Isolde, a sentiment which she returns, yet he was not be true to his feelings or her feelings and marry her outright. He was commanded to bring home a wife for his liege, and he could have certainly done so, and still married Isolde. Just go find another queen for your uncle, lad! Then once he has returned her, he sets up a gambit where the king takes the maidenhead of her handmaiden in order to protect Isolde's honor. Another deception. Then young Tristan continues to woo a girl that needs no wooing, but does so covertly. When confronted by his uncle Mark on multiple occasions, he denies this every time. This is what a courtly life breeds! Deception of one's lord and liege. God save me should I ever do that to Arthur. Two or three times.

The second offense is that it breeds lying. With the queen. Regardless of the falsehoods proffered as excuses, a knight should respect the property of his king! Should he have wanted to lie with Isolde forever, he should have spirited her away when he had the chance, not bring her back to the court of Mark, wed her to him, then attempt to steal her back every time Mark ventures from the court. The barons and the dwarf are marked by the author as evil men because they take offense at Tristan's trysts, but on my word they are the only sane men in the court.

The third offense is the keeping of dwarves at court and in public station. The Arthur of my day would have never suffered nefarious magical folk at court. Yet Mark, in all his "courtesy" keeps one around that does nothing but stir trouble. He should ask Lancelot about all the good dwarves do.

That being said, I do admire this Tristan chap's violence of action. He killed a giant, who also happened to be Isolde's uncle, then took the niece as his lover? Now that's something we would have done back in the day! Now, I would remark that we also took armies of enemies on nearly single handed, and that Tristan is currently hiding in the forest instead of sallying forth to meet his foe head on, but there's plenty left in this tale, so I'll hold hope that the boy comes around from his "courtly ways" and engages in war like a man.

Yrs. Hmbly.,

Bedwyr

Can one Love so, as to transcend Death?

In the Spanish lyrics Herido esta Don Tristan, Tristan and Isolde’s, or here Iseo, love surpasses all and neither of the lovers are willing to let Tristan’s demise keep them apart. Iseo goes to her lover when she hears of his fate and weeps bitterly over him, covering his death bed with tears of mourning and kissing him sweetly. This portrayal of such complete love for someone shows a side of Arthurian legend that is often left out in the old days, the side of compassion and true feeling for another person. Might it be of interest that this fate was brought on from the root of Arthurian writings, the battling aspect. But one must also take into account the way the outcome of these so-called acts of heroism affect the ones who love their knights so deeply. The ladies that are not willing to let their lovers go, even in death. Iseo does not let her lover’s death keep her from being with him as long as she possibly can be. If only there were more thought put towards reason than pure malice, would Tristan have ended up with such a fate as death by a poisoned lance thrown by the hand of a jealous king? I wonder how the king feels to make Queen Iseo weep so? Perhaps had he listened to the voice of Reason that speaks wisely and not brashly like the voice of Jealousy, this tragedy could have been avoided. But for how long? As it is a knight’s duty to bring himself in harms ways for the betterment and protection of his people. It is his chosen path and though Iseo may weep so due to the cruel hand of the King, it may have been that someone else’s cruel hand would have given him the same fate. But would it have been such a tragedy, had it been done by another knight? I believe it especially stings because the King acted out of ill will, as a way to stop the lovers. But no mortal can stop a love that transcends through death, such that Tristan and Iseo share.

Not Our Best Moment...

That Mantle made quite a mess of things, it did!  The women of Camelot, exposed as adulterers, one and all!  And the Queen one of them!

And the men were so overwhelmed with shame like I had never seen them before, they began to laugh as each woman in turn was brought to the Mantle.  But I brought them to order!  I am Valven, I am the chief of Arthur's court of knights, and it was my unfortunate duty to tell these lesser men over and over how great our injuries were that day.  Damned messenger!  Damned Arthur's kindness!

I am sorry, this is not easy for me to write about.

We were the greatest and noblest kingdom in the land!  Camelot!  The great King Arthur's round table!  How could this have happened to us?!  Our women shamed, our honor destroyed.  Only one faithful lover in the entire court.  ONE!!  We will never know a day where this Mantle's curse does not haunt us.

All the love is gone from our court.  The women, too shamed to speak to anyone.  The men too hurt and furious.  Myself, driven nearly mad at the revelation of my own love's infidelity. 

Friends, forgive me.  I can not write another word.

Lancelot's heart; noble, but foolish

It is truly a pleasure to see Chretien portray my lord Lancelot so accurately. One can clearly discern just how brave and honorable my lord is from his text. One instance that demonstrates this comes when Sir Lancelot shows mercy to a knight that had the misfortune of facing my lord in battle, upon the plea of a damsel. My lord could have delivered him a final lethal blow, and was certainly prepared to do so, but the kindness in his heart succumbed to the request of a poor damsel. Yet his noble heart will prove to be his downfall. That which brings him life belongs to a woman who does not deserve it, and abuses her influence over him. My lord continuously risks his life in the name of an illicit relationship. Not only is my king being betrayed, but the queen also takes advantage of my lord Lancelot. This is illustrated when the queen flatly rejects my lord after he has defeated Mallegant in battle, all in the name of a sick joke. My lord did not think it funny because he nearly died as a result of the queen's vile humor. The queen might love Lancelot, but it is not nearly a balanced love. Therefore, she will continue to have great influence over my lord. Although I may think otherwise, my lord has fallen for the queen and as wrong as that relationship may be, it is my duty to serve my lord and to do my best to assure his safety and happiness.