Then King Meliadus looked upon Tristram and loved him very dearly, and he said:  “Tristram, thou hast assuredly a very great heart to undertake this adventure, which no one else will essay.  So I bid thee go, in God’s name, if so be thy heart bids thee to go.  For maybe God will lend the strength necessary to carry this adventure through to a successful issue.”

So that very day Tristram departed from Lyonesse for Cornwall, taking with him only Gouvernail as his companion.  So, by ship, he reached Cornwall, and the castle of Tintagel, where King Mark was then holding court.

And it was at the sloping of the afternoon when he so came, and at that time King Mark was sitting in hall with many of his knights and lords about him.  And the King was brooding in great trouble of spirit.  Unto him came an attendant, saying:  “Lord, there are two strangers who stand without, and crave to be admitted to your presence.  One of them hath great dignity and sobriety of demeanor, and the other, who is a youth, is of so noble and stately an appearance that I do not believe his like is to be found in the entire world.”

To this the King said, “Show them in.”

[Sidenote:  Tristram and Gouvernail come to Cornwall] So those two were immediately admitted into the hall and came and stood before King Mark; and the one of them was Gouvernail and the other was young Tristram.  So Tristram stood forth before Gouvernail and Gouvernail bore the harp of Tristram, and the harp was of gold and shone most brightly and beautifully.  Then King Mark looked upon Tristram, and marvelled at his size and beauty; for Tristram stood above any man in that place, so that he looked like a hero amongst them.  His brow was as white as milk and his lips were red like to coral and his hair was as red as gold and as plentiful as the mane of a young lion, and his neck was thick and sturdy and straight like to a round pillar of white-stone, and he was clad in garments of blue silk embroidered very cunningly with threads of gold and set with a countless multitude of gems of divers colors.  So because of all this he glistened with a singular radiance of richness and beauty.

So King Mark marvelled at the haughtiness of Tristram’s appearance, and he felt his heart drawn toward Tristram with love and admiration.  Then, after a little, he spoke, saying:  “Fair youth, who are you, and whence come you, and what is it you would have of me?”

[Sidenote:  Tristram offers himself as champion for Cornwall] “Lord,” said Tristram, “my name is Tristram, and I come from the country of Lyonesse, where your own sister was one time Queen.  Touching the purpose of my coming hither, it is this:  having heard that you are in need of a champion to contend for your rights against the champion of Ireland, I come hither to say that if you will make me a knight with your own hand, I will take it upon me to stand your champion and to meet Sir Marhaus of Ireland upon your behalf.”