Not long after these events Sir Gawain returned from Brittany, and related to King Arthur the adventure which befell him in the forest of Breciliande, how Merlin had there spoken to him, and enjoined him to charge the king to go without delay upon the quest of the Holy Greal.  While King Arthur deliberated Tristram determined to enter upon the quest, and the more readily, as it was well known to him that this holy adventure would, if achieved, procure him the pardon of all his sins.  He immediately departed for the kingdom of Brittany, hoping there to obtain from Merlin counsel as to the proper course to pursue to insure success.

CHAPTER XVII

SIR TRISTRAM

On arriving in Brittany Tristram found King Hoel engaged in a war with a rebellious vassal, and hard pressed by his enemy.  His best knights had fallen in a late battle, and he knew not where to turn for assistance.  Tristram volunteered his aid.  It was accepted; and the army of Hoel, led by Tristram, and inspired by his example, gained a complete victory.  The king, penetrated by the most lively sentiments of gratitude, and having informed himself of Tristram’s birth, offered him his daughter in marriage.  The princess was beautiful and accomplished, and bore the same name with the Queen of Cornwall; but this one is designated by the Romancers as Isoude of the White Hands, to distinguish her from Isoude the Fair.

How can we describe the conflict that agitated the heart of Tristram?  He adored the first Isoude, but his love for her was hopeless, and not unaccompanied by remorse.  Moreover, the sacred quest on which he had now entered demanded of him perfect purity of life.  It seemed as if a happy destiny had provided for him in the charming princess Isoude of the White Hands the best security for all his good resolutions.  This last reflection determined him.  They were married, and passed some months in tranquil happiness at the court of King Hoel.  The pleasure which Tristram felt in his wife’s society increased day by day.  An inward grace seemed to stir within him from the moment when he took the oath to go on the quest of the Holy Greal; it seemed even to triumph over the power of the magic love-potion.

The war, which had been quelled for a time, now burst out anew.  Tristram as usual was foremost in every danger.  The enemy was worsted in successive conflicts, and at last shut himself up in his principal city.  Tristram led on the attack of the city.  As he mounted a ladder to scale the walls he was struck on the head by a fragment of rock, which the besieged threw down upon him.  It bore him to the ground, where he lay insensible.

As soon as he recovered consciousness he demanded to be carried to his wife.  The princess, skilled in the art of surgery, would not suffer any one but herself to touch her beloved husband.  Her fair hands bound up his wounds; Tristram kissed them with gratitude, which began to grow into love.  At first the devoted cares of Isoude seemed to meet with great success; but after a while these flattering appearances vanished, and, in spite of all her care, the malady grew more serious day by day.