chieftain and the wife of Mark. There are hundreds of different versions of the tale, written in practically every European language, the majority reflecting individual interpretations of the language. Joseph Bédier (Le Roman de Tristan par Thomas, Paris, 1902) discovered that all Tristan manuscripts, medieval and modern, could be traced back to one extant manuscript written by Beroul (about whom nothing is known) in the middle of the twelfth century. Beroul, writing in French, was obviously translating from a Breton source. The saga, one of the world’s greatest love stories, had evolved from Celtic sources. The core motif is the traditional Celtic “elopement tale,” known in Irish as aithedha, in this case the elopement of the king’s wife with the king’s nephew. Many of the essential characteristics of the tale are to be found in other Celtic elopement tales, but more particularly in the tale of “Diarmuid and Gráinne” and “Noísu and Deirdre” [Tristan and Isolt, G. Schoepperle, Frankfurt, 1913].

Tristan is generally depicted as a strong warrior, skilled hunter, musician, poet, and teller of tales, and a great lover. He is sent to Ireland to escort the bride of his uncle King Mark to Cornwall. On the voyage, Tristan and Iseult accidentally drink a magic love potion and become irrevocably bound to one another. The ensuing narrative charts the perilous course of their love, banishment, and tragic death. See Mark of Cornwall. The story has been assimilated into the Arthurian cycle and subsequently used as one of the major literary themes of all time, from Malory’s Morte d’Arthur to Tennyson’s Idylls of the King. It has also been used as inspiration for major musical works, such as Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde.

For visitors to Cornwall in search of the original settings for the legend, a visit to Castle Dore, the ancient earthwork fortress, two miles north of Fowey, is essential. Although originally constructed in the second century b.c., excavations have discovered buildings from the sixth century a.d., the age of King Mark. Castle Dore appears as Mark’s capital in the legends. But most importantly, nearby, a mile or so from Fowey towards Par, near the disused entrance to Menabilly House, stands an engraved stone dated to the mid-sixth century a.d. The accepted reading is “Drustaus [or Drustanus] hic iacit Cunomori filius”—Here lies Drustanus son of Cunomorus. Philologically the name Drustanus equates with