Audiobook · read by volunteers
Tristan and Iseult
Joseph Bédier (1864–1938)
Read by Joy Chan · 15 chapters · 2 h 40
About the book
Tristan, a young knight of Cornwall, is sent to Ireland to bring back a princess for his uncle King Mark. On the voyage home, the princess Iseult and Tristan drink a potion by mistake, and from that moment their lives belong to each other. What follows is one of the great love stories of the Middle Ages, a tale of forbidden passion, secret meetings, jealous barons, banishment and long wanderings in the forest, in which honour and love are never reconciled. It is a story that has inspired poets, painters and composers for centuries. Joseph Bédier retells the legend in clear, beautiful prose, here in Hilaire Belloc's English translation, in fifteen chapters. About two and three quarter hours, read by a single LibriVox volunteer. A tragic romance told with great simplicity. Love, fate and a cruel potion.
Introduction
The story of Tristan and Iseult is one of the best-known legends of medieval Europe. It exists in many versions, in French, German, English and other languages, from the twelfth century onward, and its themes, a love that is stronger than loyalty and a tragedy that cannot be avoided, have touched writers and artists in every period. It is an Arthurian story in the wider sense, since the knights of the Round Table are mentioned in many of the texts, and it ranks among the most influential romances of the Middle Ages.
Joseph Bédier, who lived from 1864 to 1938, was a French scholar of medieval literature. Rather than add his own inventions, he assembled a coherent narrative from the many surviving fragments and versions, and then retold the whole in a simple, harmonious prose that imitates the style of the old poems. His book was a great success, and it is the version through which many readers first met the legend. It was soon translated into English by Hilaire Belloc, whose version dates from 1903.
The tale is told in fifteen short chapters, starting with Tristan's childhood and his arrival at court, and covering his battles, his journey to Ireland and the love potion that changes everything. The tone is solemn, lyrical and swift.
This recording lasts about two and three quarter hours and is read by a single LibriVox volunteer. It is a moving introduction to medieval romance and a good companion for anyone who has met the legend through opera or film.
Public domain
Joseph Bédier died in 1938: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text