Forest Perilous, in North Wales, is the setting for Annowre’s attempt to destroy King Arthur and for Sir Tristram’s rescue of him. The episode makes the forest a place where a seemingly private invitation becomes a lethal ambush, and where Arthur’s survival depends on a knight whose name he does not learn.

Setting and danger

The narrative identifies Forest Perilous as lying in North Wales. Annowre, a sorceress who has long loved Arthur, approaches him at Cardiff with fair promises and persuades him to ride with her into the forest. The apparent invitation conceals her purpose: when Arthur will not return her love, she repeatedly sends him into danger there with his own knights, seeking his death.

The rescue

Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, recognizes that Arthur is in danger and knows that he must receive help from either Sir Launcelot or Sir Tristram. She searches for them and encounters Tristram, warning him that a grave deed is about to occur and that Arthur is in great peril. Tristram agrees to help and rides with her in haste.

At a small tower or castle in the forest, Tristram sees Arthur fighting two knights. After they bring Arthur down, Annowre takes up his sword, intending to kill him. Tristram calls her a traitor and intervenes: he defeats both attackers, while Nimue urges Arthur not to let Annowre escape. Arthur overtakes Annowre and kills her with the same sword; Nimue takes her head and hangs it from her saddle bow.

The unnamed rescuer

Tristram helps Arthur onto his horse and accompanies him until they meet one of Arthur’s knights. Arthur repeatedly asks who his rescuer is, but Tristram says only that he is a poor knight adventuring and asks Nimue not to reveal his name yet. He then demonstrates his continuing service by unhorsing Sir Ector de Maris, who has mistaken the pair for unknown knights and challenged one of them. Tristram leaves Arthur with Ector without disclosing his identity.

The forest episode thus turns on a contrast between concealed and recognized identity: Annowre’s fair promises hide a murderous purpose, while Tristram’s refusal to name himself delays recognition of a loyal rescuer. Forest Perilous is not merely the setting for Arthur’s danger; it is the place where that danger exposes the difference between deceptive intention and service proved through action.