King Anguish’s trial by combat begins with an accusation of murder and ends not in a death or a humiliated surrender, but in a negotiated reconciliation. Sir Tristram takes the field for the king, who faces Sir Blamor de Ganis under a custom requiring the accused either to fight personally or to find a champion. Tristram wins the combat, then asks the judges to spare Blamor; the settlement makes the episode a demonstration that the demands of legal combat can be moderated by mercy, kinship, and knightly honor.

Accusation and the law of combat

Sir Bleoberis and Sir Blamor de Ganis summon King Anguish of Ireland to King Arthur’s court. Anguish arrives without knowing why he has been called. Blamor then accuses him of treason, alleging that the king killed one of Blamor’s kinsmen in his own court. The accusation leaves Anguish abashed: under the custom described in the narrative, a charge of treason or murder must be answered by combat, either by the accused himself or by a knight fighting in his place. Murder, the account adds, is treated as treason in this system. The judges grant Anguish until the third day to prepare an answer.

The procedure makes the charge more than a dispute of testimony: it places the king’s standing and life at risk in a contest between armed champions. Anguish recognizes the difficulty of facing Blamor, whom he knows to be a noble knight, and he understands that the brothers belong to Sir Launcelot’s kin, a family famed for its prowess. The episode thus frames judgment through both a formal custom and the personal reputation of the men expected to enact it.

Tristram offers to champion the king

Sir Tristram learns of Anguish’s predicament from Gouvernail. He welcomes the news as an opportunity to repay the king, who had shown him kindness in Ireland, and says he will fight for him. Anguish and Tristram greet one another at Tristram’s pavilion; Tristram recalls his obligation to serve the king and offers to take the battle on two conditions. Anguish must swear that he is innocent and had no part in the knight’s death, and, if Tristram wins, he must grant Tristram whatever reasonable reward he asks. Anguish agrees.

Before the judges, Tristram declares himself ready to die rather than prove recreant in the king’s cause. He does not underestimate his opponent: he calls Sir Launcelot the noblest knight in the world, acknowledges the excellence of the knights of his blood, and recognizes Blamor as a good knight. The court has already heard of Tristram’s reputation, including his victory over Sir Marhaus and his joust against Sir Palamides. These precedents heighten the stakes, but Tristram presents his acceptance of the contest as a service owed to Anguish, not as proof that the challenge will be easy.

The combat and the crisis of honor

Blamor enters the lists determined not to yield. His brother Sir Bleoberis reminds him of their lineage and of the family’s unbroken honor in battle. Blamor answers that he would rather die than accept the shame of surrender. The narrative makes this resolve central to the conflict: victory alone cannot settle matters if the defeated knight regards yielding as dishonor and treats death as preferable.

The knights charge one another with their spears. Tristram strikes Blamor and his horse to the ground; Blamor then rises from the encounter, draws his sword, and calls on Tristram to dismount and continue the fight. When Blamor can speak, he asks Tristram to kill him, insisting that he would not choose even lordship over the whole earth in place of dying with honor. He warns that Tristram cannot win the field otherwise: Blamor will not say the word of surrender.

Tristram faces a conflict the rules of combat do not resolve by themselves. He is fighting for Anguish, yet he is reluctant to kill Blamor because of his respect for the knight and regard for Sir Launcelot’s kin. He cannot simply declare himself the victor while Blamor refuses to yield. Rather than press the encounter to a fatal conclusion, Tristram leaves the lists and kneels before the judges, appealing to their honor and to King Arthur’s. He asks them to take the matter into their hands and argues that it would be a shame and a pity for such a noble knight to die. He also asks Anguish, as the king for whom he fights, to show mercy; Anguish agrees to be guided by his champion.

Judgment, reconciliation, and consequence

Sir Bleoberis is consulted. Although his brother has lost through force of arms, he maintains that Tristram has beaten Blamor’s body, not his heart, and that Blamor has not been shamed. At first he says that, rather than let his brother be shamed, he would have Tristram kill him. The judges reject that conclusion, observing that both the king and his champion have shown pity for Blamor’s knighthood. Bleoberis accepts their decision.

The kings consult with Anguish and find him willing to settle the matter. With the judges’ agreement, Tristram and Bleoberis raise Blamor; the brothers and Anguish are reconciled, and the two brothers kiss and become friends with the king. Tristram and Blamor also make peace and swear that neither of the brothers will fight Tristram, a pledge to which Tristram likewise binds himself. The account extends the consequence beyond the immediate verdict: Sir Launcelot’s whole kin come to love Tristram for the gentleness he showed in the combat.

Anguish and Tristram then return to Ireland by ship. The king has the manner of Tristram’s service made known throughout the land, and the queen and the people there honor him. La Beale Isoud welcomes him with particular joy; the narrative describes her as loving him more than any other earthly man. The trial therefore resolves the king’s peril while strengthening Tristram’s ties to the royal household and to the family whose champion he has defeated but chosen to spare.