A tale of chivalry and doomed, transcendent love. The Romance of Tristan and Iseult is one of the most
resonant works of Western literature, as well as the basis for our enduring idea of romance. The story of the Cornish
knight and the Irish princess who meet by deception, fall in love by magic, and pursue that love in defiance of
heavenly and earthly law has inspired artists from Matthew Arnold to Richard Wagner. But nowhere has it been retold
with greater eloquence and dignity than in Joseph Bedier's edition, which weaves several medieval sources into
a seamless whole, elegantly translated by Hilaire Belloc and Paul Rosenfeld.
The first complete English edition, brilliantly translated....Throughout it retains the beauty and sense of fatality
that have made it one of legendary literature's most fascinating tales."
