Palamides and Tristram compete for Iseult

Palamides’s taking of Queen Isoud and Sir Tristram’s pursuit turn a rescue into a contest over a promise, a queen’s freedom, and the claims of two rival knights. The episode begins when Palamides returns Dame Bragwaine to Isoud in exchange for a boon. Isoud has agreed hastily, in the relief of seeing her companion safe; when Palamides claims Isoud herself, King Mark rules that she must honor her word. Tristram is away hunting, so Lambegus and then Sir Adtherp intervene before Tristram can catch up. The final confrontation ends not with a death but with Isoud’s command: Tristram stops fighting, and Palamides is sent away with a message that defines the lovers’ world.

The Promise and Its Cost

Isoud walks alone in the forest to put away her thoughts and comes to a well, where Palamides finds her. He offers to bring back Dame Bragwaine, whom two women in Isoud’s household had left bound in the forest after sending her to gather herbs. Bragwaine had been held for three days before Palamides discovered and rescued her, taking her to a nearby nunnery to recover. Isoud had missed her deeply: Bragwaine was the companion she loved most among earthly women, in part because she had come with Isoud from her own country.

Palamides brings Bragwaine back to Isoud, who is delighted to see her. He then reminds Isoud that she granted him a boon in return. She acknowledges that she made the promise, but explains that her joy at Bragwaine’s return led her to agree without considering what he might ask. Palamides does not state his desire privately; he follows Isoud to King Mark and asks the king to judge the matter. This formal appeal makes a personal bargain into a public question of obligation.

Palamides asks to lead Isoud away and govern her as he wishes. King Mark thinks of Tristram and expects that he will rescue the queen, yet he tells Palamides to take her and face whatever consequences follow. Isoud, for her part, says she is not greatly afraid to go with Palamides, since she trusts that she will be rescued honorably. The episode thus turns on a promise that Isoud admits making, but whose fulfillment exposes her to a danger she did not intend to accept.

The Failed Rescue and Isoud’s Escape

King Mark sends for Tristram, but Tristram cannot be found: when he is not using his arms, hunting in the forests is his custom. In his absence, Lambegus, one of Tristram’s knights, volunteers to pursue Isoud for his lord’s sake. Palamides leaves Isoud to meet him. Lambegus identifies himself rather than pretending to be Tristram, and Palamides says that he would have preferred to face Tristram. They break their spears and continue their contest with swords; Palamides wounds Lambegus badly enough that he falls, and Isoud is no longer in sight.

Isoud has run into the forest and reaches a well, where she considers drowning herself. Sir Adtherp, whose castle is nearby, finds and rescues her, then takes her to his castle. Once he learns who she is, he arms himself and rides out against Palamides. Palamides wounds him too, but forces him to explain why he fought and where the queen has gone. Adtherp directs Palamides to his castle, where Isoud sees her pursuer from a window and orders the gates shut. Unable to enter, Palamides removes his bridle and saddle, turns his horse out to pasture, and sits at the gate, apparently indifferent to his own safety. The episode leaves him outside the refuge he sought to reach, while Isoud has gained temporary protection through Adtherp’s intervention.

Tristram’s Arrival and the Duel

When Tristram returns and learns that Isoud has gone with Palamides, he is deeply angered and ashamed. He fears that Lambegus cannot withstand Palamides and regrets not having been there himself. Tristram rides out with Gouvernail, finds Lambegus gravely wounded, and entrusts him to a forester’s care. He then meets the wounded Adtherp, who tells him how he rescued Isoud and brought her into the castle. Tristram thanks him and rides on.

Tristram finds Palamides sitting asleep, or so absorbed that he does not respond when Gouvernail first calls him. When told that Tristram is there as his mortal enemy, Palamides rises, arms himself, and prepares to meet him. Tristram unhorses him with a spear, but Palamides gets up and draws his sword. Their conflict is explicitly a contest over Isoud: both fight for the love of one lady. They fight for more than two hours, and both are badly wounded, Palamides more severely. From the castle walls, Isoud watches and fears that Palamides will die before the fight ends.

Isoud’s plea changes the course of the fight. She tells Tristram that she loves him, while also saying that she pities Palamides and does not want him to die unchristened. Tristram asks whether stopping will bring him shame; nevertheless, when Isoud says she does not wish him dishonored and asks him to spare Palamides for her sake, he agrees to cease fighting. Her intervention does not erase the rivalry or settle the competing claims. It halts the immediate danger and makes her own judgment decisive: the knight who has pursued her is spared at the request of the woman over whom he and Tristram have fought.

Exile and the Message to Guenever

Isoud gives Palamides a condition: he must leave the country while she remains there. He accepts, though against his will, and she directs him to King Arthur’s court. She also asks him to recommend her to Queen Guenever and tell her that there are only four lovers in the land: Sir Launcelot du Lake and Queen Guenever, and Sir Tristram de Liones and Queen Isoud.

The message makes the local contest part of a wider pattern of love and allegiance at Arthur’s court. Isoud sends Palamides away not with a declaration that her relationship with Tristram is unchallenged, but with a pointed account of the four lovers she recognizes. Her choice to spare Palamides, despite the contest between the knights, is followed by a boundary: he must leave while she remains. The action therefore ends in separation rather than reconciliation. Palamides is directed toward Arthur’s court with Isoud’s message, while Tristram’s effort to recover Isoud succeeds only after she herself intervenes and determines what happens next.