How dare she!

My dearest Tristan, so far away in Brittany,

My love, my life, gravely injured by a wretched giant, to which Caerdin came to London with such horrific news. Caerdin, the brother of Tristan's dreadful Isolde of the White Hands, came to me begging to heal Tristan. The shock you must know that I felt, when I heard that Caerdin was coming to beg me—to do something that surely I wouldn't even have to think twice about. But, for our situation, I am married to King Mark and the other Isolde to Tristan, so we have to hide our truest feelings. However, I will heed my ranting and tell you why I have brought you here in the first place. I am sorely angry that I traveled such a dangerous and hellish voyage to Brittany only to be cheated by Isolde of the White Hands. You see, my sweet Tristan told Caerdin to wave a white flag to which he would see and know that I was in route to save his divine life. Tristan then told Caerdin to wave a black flag, if I, for some reason were unable to come to my beloved. The trouble then begins here, when Tristan feeling close to death, asked Isolde of the White Hands what color the mainsail was and so the terrible Isolde tells a lie so dreadful of lies. She tells her husband and my lover that the sail was certainly black, to which then my eternal darling’s life was hoisted from his body. Just as I was only a short while away!! The treachery! I had made it on time and could have saved his life, if only such horrible lies weren’t spoken. It is her fault, Isolde of the White Hands, she who must be blamed for the death of Tristan and so I too shall pass on.

Sir Kay was a little lost

I, Sir Kay, will always be there for my King, Arthur, and his queen. Even if others in the court think it is foolish for me to except this vial knight's challenge, I will gladly attempt to defend the King and this courts honor by running off into the woods, and taking this challenge and winning. As all can see I am an honorable knight, whose skills are not only in battle. I put on the best feast this court has seen, and will eat with the servants, just because i have great honor. It may look bad that I could not defeat the knight in this challenge for the queen, and to free the other captured knights, but there is no need for Lancelot or Gawain to come after me, I may be injured, but I am Sir Kay and will prevail!

Marriage Cannot Find Love Like One's Heart

How is it that the truest love is always forbidden? The arrangements of marriage, though should be followed and not dismissed, leave little hope for love found in its truest form. Tristan and Isolde have a love deeper than that of Isolde and Mark, should this be? The union of marriage does not account for feeling but rather follows a pattern of ancestry to keep bloodlines. Is that love? Of course not! Therefore leaving the power of love to be diminished to wishful thinking. Should a wife have to make herself deny what she truly feels to keep the sanctity of marriage? I know that Mark feels he truly loves Isolde but is that only his Mind overruling his Heart? Isolde is not seen as a prize to Tristan, but a lover. I feel that Mark is most unruly in banishing Tristan because Isolde is not seen as a human so much as a prize. Knowing of Tristan’s love for his wife, that was won not freely chosen, makes Mark angry like a child that sees someone else using their toys. Does Mark not think his wife, perhaps, wanted to choose her own lover (if Isolde even thinks of Mark as her lover, at all)? The idea of love as a real force is often denied but where it is as powerful as the love between Tristan and Isolde, it should be cherished.

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