Two doomed lovers in a Celtic romance of 1185 that has continued to inspire poets and composers to the present day.
Tristan, sometimes spelled Tristram, is sent to Ireland to bring back Isolde as a bride for his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall. On the return voyage, Tristan and Isolde unwittingly drink the magic love potion and fall helplessly in love. When Mark discovers their liasion, Tristan flees to Brittany. There, in a vain attempt to escape his inescapable passion, Tristan marries another Isolde (Isolde of the White Hands). When Tristan is dying of a poisoned wound, he sends to Cornwall for Isolde, who he knows has healing powers. A white sail is to be the signal of her approach. Tristan's wife, jealous, reports untruthfully that a black sail has been hoisted. Without hope now, Tristan dies, and Isolde, arriving too late, commits suicide.
Richard Wagner composed soaring music for his opera "Tristan and Isolde" (1865) based on the German version of the tale (1210), by Gottfried von Strassburg.
Tristan and Isolde are prototypes of tragically enmeshed lovers, whose passion can be appeased only by death.
~Facts on File Dictionary of Historical and Cultural Allusions
