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Sir Tristram was the son of King Meliodas and Queen Isabelle
of Lyonesse, the land around the Scilly Isles now lost beneath the sea. He was educated in France;
fought for his uncle, King Mark, against the King of Ireland's champion & defeated him;
travelled incognito to Ireland to have his wounds healed; became friendly with the King's daughter
Isolde; was forced to return to Cornwall when his identity was discovered; fell out with his uncle
over an affair with the wife of Sir Segwarides; spent some time
at King Arthur's court; was obliged to travel again to Ireland to gain Isolde's hand in marriage to
Mark; accidentally drank love potions meant for Mark & Isolde; became Isolde's lover despite her
marriage to his uncle (and had four children including Tristram
the Younger); left for Brittany when things became too hairy;
married Sir Howel, the King of Brittany's daughter, also Isolde;
got wounded in a fight; sent for his old lover to cure him; being told by his wife that she had
refused to come, he died; Isolde committed suicide and the two were buried together.
In reality, this character may have been based on an
historical Prince of Dumnonia (Cornwall/Devon/Somerset), the son
King Conomor who is sometimes equated with King Mark.
Though Cornwall may once have been joined to the Scilly Isles, this was long before Tristram's time;
so, unfortunately, his Kingdom of Lyonesse, almost certainly never existed.
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