THOMAS OF BRITAIN

(Thomas de Bretagne)

(late 12th century)

Very few facts are known about Thomas of Britain except that he wrote in Anglo-Norman and probably lived in England at the court of King HENRY II and ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE. He composed hisTristranromance sometime after 1155, when WACE had completed hisRoman de Brut, which seems to have provided inspiration for a number of motives and narrative elements in Thomas’s text.Another possibility is that both Wace and Thomas were influenced by GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH’s chronicleHISTORIA REGUM BRITANNIAE(1136–39). When CHRÉTIEN DE TROYES wrote hisCLIGÈS(1176–77), he made satirical references to the love concept developed by Thomas, which implies that theTristranmust have been well known by that time. Thomas’sTristranhas survived in 10 fragments from six manuscripts, which were all prepared with great care and (calligraphic) artistry, occasionally illustrated (like the Carlisle fragment, discovered in 1995). Thomas’s version deeply impressed his posterity, as documented not only by the many manuscripts, but also by GOTTFRIED VON STRASSBURG’s comment in the prologue to hisTRISTAN(ca. 1210), where he lavishly praises Thomas for having created the only true account of the love affair between TRISTAN AND ISOLDE (Gottfried’s spelling; vv. 149–171). The Norwegian Brother Robert closely followed Thomas’sTristranin hisTristramsagaof 1226.

The various fragments mostly relate different aspects in the lives of the two lovers. The Cambridge fragment, for instance, presents the orchard scene where Tristran and Ysolt (Thomas’s spelling) are surprised by King Marc while sleeping there.When they awake, they catch sight of the departing king, and Tristran decides to leave. In the Sneyd fragment, Tristran, in a lengthy monologue, explores his dilemma in feeling love both for Queen Ysolt and his own wife, Ysolt of the White Hands.In the Turin fragment, Tristran creates a hall of statues where he reveals his love pangs and fears of losing Ysolt to the sculpture of Brangvein (Ysolt’s companion). Other fragments concentrate on different narrative elements, such as Tristran’s disguise as a leper and major knightly battles (Douce).Most important, Thomas tells us the end of the love story, with Tristran near his death and waiting for rescue through his beloved Ysolt. The latter arrives indeed, but Tristran’s jealous wife deceives her husband, pretending that the ship’s sail is black, indicating that Ysolt is not coming, though Ysolt actually had ordered a white sail to be set to signal her arrival. Because of his profound love pains, Tristran dies, and when the Irish princess finds him, she laments vehemently and passes away as well, stretched out at the side of her lover. Thomas, as all other poets working with the Tristran material, relies on the concept of a love potion that the two lovers drink by accident and that ultimately bring them infinite love pains. Tristran’s attempt to mollify these by marrying another Ysolt fails, but this allowed the poet to incorporate a whole new string of narrative elements involving his wife’s brother, Kaerdin, and his love for Brengvein, companion and tutor of the Irish princess. In contrast to other versions, Thomas emphasizes both the love between Tristran and Ysolt and between these two and their respective spouses.

■ Adams, Tracy. “Archetypes and Copies in Thomas’s Tristan: A Re-examination of the Salle aux Images Scenes,”Romanic Review90, no. 3 (1999): 317–332.

■ Bédier, Joseph, ed.Le roman de Tristan par Thomas. 1905. 2 vols. New York: Johnson Reprint, 1968.

■ Gottfried von Strassburg.Tristan: With the Surviving Fragments of the Tristran of Thomas. Translated by A. T.Hatto. 1960.Harmondsworth,U.K.: Penguin, 1984.

■ Grimbert, Joan Tasker, ed.Tristan and Isolde: A Casebook. Arthurian Characters and Themes. 1995. New York: Routledge, 2002.

■ Hunt, Tony. “The Significance of Thomas’sTristan,”Reading Medieval Studies7 (1981): 41–61.