Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings.   This week’s Femme Fatale Friday is about Iseult, often known as Isolde, the Faery Queen who married King Marc of Cornwall and had a famed love affair with the Knight Tristan.    In many ways, we can see her as a great counterpart of Guinevere, as she is also a Queen who has a love affair with a Knight after being forced to marry a King she did not love.    However, there are several differences between Iseult’s and Guinevere’s tales.   

Iseult and Tristan’s tale is considered part of the Arthurian legends, as King Marc is the King of Cornwall, but he is still a lesser King under the rule of King Arthur as High King of all Britain!   Now, Iseult is stated to have been an Irish Princess, in some ways, her story can be seen to mirror Branwen’s in The Mabinogion in this way, as Branwen was a Welsh Princess who married the High King of Ireland, each is a Faery Queen who is associated with two lands, not to mention that both have ties to Ireland.   

So, the story of Iseult has many versions, as is common in the legends, but the most common beginning of her tale is when she heals Tristan after he is injured during a battle in Ireland.   In some tellings, she and Tristan begin their affair then, but this is one of the most variable parts of the tale.   After returning to Cornwall, Tristan is sent back to Ireland to collect Iseult as the future Queen of King Marc, often not knowing she is the one who healed him.   In some versions, Iseult is given a love potion in a bottle of wine to help her grow to love her husband, but Tristan and Iseult drink the wine together on the way to Cornwall!   In those versions, that is when the affair between the two begins.   There are even variations in whether the love potion is permanent or wears off, but either way, the damage is done and the affair continues for a long time!   

So, it is always before the marriage that the relationship between Iseult and Tristan begins, which differs from the Guinevere and Lancelot story.   After the marriage, Iseult has her handmaiden pretend to be her on the wedding night, so that Marc does not suspect she is not a virgin, and Iseult herself spends the night with Tristan!   I love this part of the tale, as it is just so scandalous to think that they got away with Iseult’s handmaiden taking her place since it was dark in the room at night.    I also find it very romantic that Iseult got to spend her wedding night with the man she loved, even if he sadly was not her husband!   Their affair between Tristan and Iseult would continue on through the entirety of the marriage between Iseult and Marc.

This is where there are also many variants in the tellings of the legend.   Sometimes they are caught together and both killed, being buried together and having a tree placed upon each of their graves with the two trees growing intertwined symbolizing the undying love of Tristan and Iseult.    As a hopeless romantic with a bit of a morbid streak, I really love this version of the story, as they finally could truly be together in death, and the trees growing intertwined is so beautiful I can weep when I read this version of the tale!   Then there are also tellings where Tristan is forced to leave and Iseult remains married to Marc.   In those versions Tristan married someone else, strangely also named Iseult!    Then he is gravely injured and Iseult (his true love) is sent for so that she can heal him, and she agrees, but Tristan’s wife lies about the color of the masts being flown on the ship, as they were color-coded to whether Iseult had agreed to come and heal him or not.    So, that is how Tristan died thinking Iseult did not love him anymore!

Iseult is such an intriguing figure in the Arthurian legends, with a tale that is very similar to Guinevere’s, but with her own attributes like her nature as a healer.    She is a Faery Queen who married a King, similar to Guinevere this is a marriage that shows the land blessing the King.   In the case of Iseult, since she never loved the King, most of those blessings fall on Tristan, which is why her healing him is prevalent in the story.    Iseult’s nature as a healer is one of her key Faery Queen attributes, as she has secret and truly sacred knowledge!   I hope you have enjoyed reading some of my thoughts on Iseult as a Faery Queen.   What is your favorite part of her story?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is Iseult.   I found the image on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iseult.

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Further Reading/Watching

• Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
• The Romance of Tristan and Iseult retold by J. Bedier translated by Hilaire Belloc 
• Tristan + Isolde (2006)