Celtic Mythology: Captivating Celtic Myths of Celtic Gods, Goddesses, Heroes and Legendary Creatures

by Matt Clayton

  Tristan and Iseult took thought together of what they might do, so they sought out the hermit who lived in the forest, and bade him write a letter to the king. In the letter, they said that Tristan would bring Iseult to the court if they but had safe conduct, and that there he would offer battle for his honor and for that of Iseult. And if he were defeated, then the king might burn him, but if he were victorious, the king must take back Iseult and either take Tristan back into service, or else he would depart for a far country and serve another king there. If Mark made no answer, Tristan would bring her back to Ireland where she might live in honor among her own people.

  Mark read Tristan's terms to his nobles, who counselled the king to take back Iseult and let Tristan go away to a far country. Then King Mark called out, "Is any here who accuses Sir Tristan?"

  And there was silence, for none of the nobles wished to meet Tristan in the lists.

  Mark therefore sent word that Iseult would be taken back but that Tristan must leave Cornwall forever, and that in three days he would meet them at the ford of a certain river for Iseult to be returned to him. Knowing that they must soon part, Iseult gave to Tristan her ring as a token, saying that if ever he had need of her he should send the ring and she would do as he asked. Tristan for his part gave Iseult his hunting-hound to be her companion and a reminder of his love for her.

  On the appointed day, Tristan led Iseult to the ford, and she was wearing fresh raiment bought for her by the hermit that she might not go before the king and his nobles clad as a beggar. There Tristan stood and said, "Behold, I bring to you Iseult, as I promised. I ask once more whether any man will give battle that I may prove my honor."

  And none answered him.

  Then Tristan and Iseult made their farewells. Iseult went back to the castle with the king, and Tristan made ready to leave Cornwall. But before he went, he hid in the hut of a woodsman who had befriended them betimes, to see whether Iseult was treated well at the court.

  But the evil nobles still were unsatisfied with Tristan's disgrace. They counselled the king to put the queen through an ordeal by iron, to prove her innocence. This filled Mark with rage, and he banished them from the kingdom. When he returned to his chamber, he found Iseult there. She asked him, "Why is my lord so angered?"

  Then Mark told her what the nobles had demanded, and said, "But you need not fear, for I have rid us of them, and I know you to be faithful."

  But Iseult replied, "Let me undergo that ordeal, that my name be cleared for ever, and let your banished nobles also attend that they might see this with their own eyes. But invite King Arthur and his nobles to the trial also, for the lords of Cornwall wish me ill, but Arthur's witness others will believe."

  Iseult therefore sent her squire Perinis to Tristan secretly, telling him to disguise himself as a poor pilgrim, that he might witness the trial in secret and safely.

  On the appointed day, King Mark and the lords of Cornwall met with King Arthur and his nobles in a field where the trial was to take place. Tristan came also, disguised as a pilgrim, that he might see what befell. A brazier had been set there, full of hot coals, and a bar of iron placed within, for Iseult was to take the hot iron in her bare hands, and if she were innocent, God would protect her and she would not be harmed. Iseult came forward, dressed simply in a shift of white. After saying a prayer with the priest, she swore an oath that no man save her own rightful husband had ever held her in his arms. Then she went to the brazier and took from it the bar of iron in her bare hands. She walked nine steps with it, then cast it from her. She turned to Mark and the assembled lords and showed them her hands and arms, and lo, they remained fresh and unmarked. All praised God and vowed that no longer would Iseult's honor be doubted.

  Tristan also witnessed the trial, and when he saw that Iseult's honor had been vindicated, he knew it was time for him to leave Cornwall. Therefore he took up his arms and went with Gorvenal from kingdom to kingdom, serving each lord but a little while, for his heart could never be at rest without Iseult. For two years he lived thus, until he came to Brittany, where he helped Hoel, the duke of that land, rid himself of an evil baron who was laying the country waste. There Tristan tarried a while, and became boon companions with Hoel's son, Kaherdin. After a time, Kaherdin said to his father, "Tristan is a knight like none other, and would make a fine husband for my sister. I beg leave to offer her to him."

  Hoel agreed, so Kaherdin went to Tristan and said that his sister, who also was named Iseult, would be his wife, were Tristan willing, and Tristan said he was. But on the wedding night, as Tristan was undressing, the ring that Iseult, queen of Cornwall, had given him fell out of the sleeve where he always kept it, and he regretted having wed.

  In Cornwall, Iseult for her part pined for Tristan, for she knew he had gone far away, and never did he once send word to her of how he fared. She knew nothing of how the years had passed for him until one day a visiting nobleman named Kariado came to her and tried to woo her. She spurned him, and so he said, "Well might you pine for your fair knight, for Tristan is wed to Iseult of Brittany, the daughter of a duke."

  Then Kariado departed, never to return, but Iseult's sorrow grew the greater.

  Now, although Tristan had wed another, his thought ever was for Iseult of Cornwall alone. So one day he disguised himself by throwing beggar's rags over his own clothing, then left Hoel's castle secretly and sought out a ship that might take him to Cornwall. After many days and nights at sea, the ship finally put in at Tintagel harbor, where Tristan roamed about as a beggar, his ear ever open for news of the Lady Iseult. Finally he heard that she was indeed at Tintagel castle, as was the king and all his court. Then Tristan devised a plan by which he might see the queen without being discovered. Changing clothes with a rough fisherman, Tristan cut his long hair and shaved it down nearly to his scalp. Then he brewed a potion that would darken his skin, and he cut a club of oak from a nearby tree. Thus disguised, he went to the castle gate and feigned that he was a fool come to entertain the king and the lords of the castle.

  Tristan pranced and prattled before the court, and all laughed heartily and well, all but for Iseult, for the fool listed to them the deeds that Tristan had done, claiming them for himself, and while all thought him merely a raving madman, Iseult was wounded to the core, for she thought the fool was mocking the man she loved most. After the feast, Tristan stayed in the hall, alone, until Brangien chanced to pass through, along with the Lady Iseult. Tristan went to them, and said things that were known only to himself and to Iseult, and finally she knew him to be her beloved. For three days did Tristan hop about and ape the courtiers in the guise of the fool, and for three nights did he go secretly to the Lady Iseult. But after that time Tristan knew he must leave, for the courtiers were becoming suspicious of the attentions paid between the lady and the fool.

  And so Tristan returned to Brittany, where he served well Duke Hoel, until one day he was ambushed by an enemy and his side pierced by a poisoned lance. Tristan knew that this was surely the death of him, so he called Kaherdin to himself and poured out all the story of his love for Iseult of Cornwall, thinking that none could hear him. Except Iseult that was his wife did hear, and she grew angry, and plotted her vengeance against Tristan.

  At Tristan's behest, Kaherdin took the ring Iseult had given him to Cornwall, to bid the Lady Iseult to come to Brittany to say a last farewell to Tristan. Kaherdin was to take with him two sails: one white, if Iseult were with him, and one black, if she were not. Daily would Tristan watch the horizon, and would know thereby whether his beloved were come to him. When Iseult heard Kaherdin's tale, she went with him gladly, but rough seas and a violent storm pushed their ship off their course, and by the time they were come near to the harbor, white sail aloft, Tristan was too weak to look out the window any longer. It was then that Iseult of Brittany had her revenge, for when Tristan asked whether there was any news of Kaherdin's return, she said there was. And when Tristan asked after the color of the sail, she said, "Why, m
y lord, it is black as night."

  At this, Tristan's heart broke indeed, and breathing the name of his beloved, he died. When the ship came into harbor, they found the whole city in mourning. Iseult asked one of the nobles who had come to greet the ship what was the cause of their sorrow, and he said, "Lady, we mourn for the greatest knight in all the world. Tristan of Lyonesse is dead."

  Then Iseult went up to the castle, and came into the chamber of Tristan, where the other Iseult was weeping over his dead body, and with remorse for her deed. "Lady," said Iseult of Cornwall, "do you step aside, for ever have I loved him, longer even than you."

  Iseult of Brittany stood aside while Iseult of Cornwall kissed Tristan on the eyes and the brow, and then on the lips. Then she laid herself down beside her beloved and also breathed her last. Hearing of the deaths of Tristan and Iseult, Mark caused fine coffins to be made for them. He came to Brittany, and bore their bodies back to Cornwall, where he had them entombed in that very chantry from which Tristan had made his leap. One night a briar grew from Tristan's tomb, and wound its way across the chantry until it came to rest on the tomb of Iseult. And those who tended the chantry cut the briar back, but every night it grew back. When Mark was told of this, he forbade the caretakers to cut the briar any more.

  And thus ends the tale of the love between Tristan and Iseult.

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  Pronunciation Guide

  Modern Celtic languages fall into two broad groups: Brythonic Gaelic (also known as P-Celtic) and Goedelic Gaelic (also known as Q-Celtic). The Brythonic branch includes Breton, Welsh, and Cornish. Of these, only Breton and Welsh continue to have native speakers. Cornish became extinct as a first language in the eighteenth century, but was revived in the early twentieth. The Goedelic branch includes Manx and the various dialects of Irish and Scottish Gaelic. The latter two continue to be a first language for a small percentage of the populations in those countries. The last native speaker of Manx died in 1974, but Manx has continued to be spoken as a second language on the Isle of Man.

  The following standards will be used for sounds in the pronunciation guide:

  ai = as in fair

  ay = as in shy

  ah = as in far

  ee = as in feet

  eh = as in yet

  ih = as in it

  oh = as in no

  oo = as in food

  ow = as in down

  oy = as in boy

  uh = as in under

  g = as in good, never as in giant

  ch = ch as in loch

  tch = ch as in child

  th = voiceless th as in thin

  th = voiced th as in they

  Irish Names and Words

  Ailbhe (AIL-vyeh):

  Foster daughter of Bodb Derg

  Alba (AHL-bah):

  Scotland

  Amergin (AH-mehr-gin):

  Foster-father of Cuchulainn

  Aobh (AIV):

  Foster-daughter of Bodb Derg and first wife of Lir

  Aodh (AITH

  Son of Aobh and Lir, twin brother of Fionnula

  Aoife (EE-feh):

  Second wife of Lir

  Bodb Derg (BOHV DAIRG):

  King of the Tuatha De Danann

  Breg (BREGG):

  Plain between the Liffey and Boyne Rivers in County Meath, eastern Ireland

  Bricriu (BRIK-roo):

  One of the nobles of Ulster under King Conchobor

  Brugh na Boinne (BROO nah BOYN):

  Site of the Boyne Valley Tombs, County Meath, eastern Ireland

  Carraig na Ron (KAIR-egg nah ROHN):

  Rock of the Seals

  Cathbad (CAH-hbahd):

  Druid of the court of Conchobor

  Conall (KONN-all):

  One of the nobles of Ulster under King Conchobor

  Conchobor (KONN-uh-cover):

  King of Ulster and foster-father of Cuchulainn

  Conn (KONN):

  Child of Aobh and Lir

  Connacht (KON-ahcht):

  Province of central western Ireland

  Cu (KOO):

  Irish Gaelic word for “hound”

  Cuchulainn (KOO-CHUH-lin):

  “Hound of Culann”; superhuman hero of Ulster

  Culann (KOO-lown):

  Smith whose guard dog is destroyed by Cuchulainn

  Dagda (DAHG-duh):

  Ancient Celtic deity; one of the Tuatha De Danann and father of Bodb Derg

  Deichtine (DAICH-tin-eh):

  Sister of Conchobor

  Deoch (DAI-och):

  Wife of Lairgnen, King of Ireland

  Diarmuid (DEER-mud):

  Irish warrior and character in the Fenian Cycle story “The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne”

  Edmonn (ED-mon):

  Place in Ireland mentioned in the story of the birth of Cuchulainn

  Emain Macha (EH-vin MAH-chah):

  Seat of the court of Conchobor in Ulster; also known simply as “Emain”

  Fergus (FAIR-gus):

  1. One of the nobles of Ulster under King Conchobor

  2. Son of Bodb Derg and one of the Tuatha De Danann

  Fiachra (FEE-ah-chra):

  Son of Aobh and Lir; twin brother of Conn

  Fidchell (FEED-chell):

  Ancient Irish board game that may have been something like chess

  Finn mac Cumhaill (FINN MAK KOO-uhl):

  Ancient Irish hero of the Fenian Cycle of myth

  Finnchaem (FINN-uh-chaym):

  Sister of Conchobor and foster-mother of Cuchulainn

  Fionnula (FINN-oo-lah):

  Daughter of Aobh and Lir; twin sister of Aodh

  Follamain (FALL-uh-vin):

  Son of Conchobor

  Gadhar (GAY-ar):

  Irish Gaelic word for “dog”

  Grainne (GRAH-nyeh):

  Woman betrothed to Finn mac Cumhaill in the story “The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne”

  Imrith (IM-rih):

  Name of the stronghold of Amergin and Finnchaem of Ulster

  Inis Gluaire

  (IN-ish GLOO-air-eh):

  Island off the coast of County Mayo, western Ireland

  Irrus Domnann (IHR-us DOV-nown):

  Irish place name

  Laegire (LAY-gir-eh):

  One of the nobles of Ulster under King Conchobor

  Lairgnen (LAIRG-nen):

  A king of Ireland

  Lir (LEER):

  One of the Tuatha De Danann; originally Lir may have been a sea-god

  Loch Dairbhreach (LOCH DAIR-uh-vrach):

  “Lake of the Oaks”: lake in County Westmeath, Ireland

  Lug (LOOG):

  Ancient Celtic deity; probably a solar god, associated with warriors

  Lug mac Ethnenn (LOOG mak EH-hnen):

  An avatar of Lug

  Mil (MEEL):

  Leader of a group that invaded Ireland in the pseudo-history “Book of the Takings of Ireland”

  Mochaomhog (MOH-chay-vohg):

  Priest who built a church in Inis Gluaire

  Morann (MOHR-own):

  Judge at the court of Conchobor

  Murtheimne (MOOR-hev-neh):

  Place in northeastern Ireland, County Louth

  Setanta (SHAI-tan-tah):

  The childhood name of Cuchulainn

  Sidhe (SHEE):

  The “good people” or fairy folk; the Tuatha De after the coming of Christianity

  Sidhe Fionnachaidh (SHEE FINN-ah-chai):

  One of the homes of the Tuatha De Danann before the coming of Christianity

  Sliab Fuait (SLEE-av FOO-itch):

  Peak in the Fews Mountains, County Armagh, I
reland

  Sruth na Maoile (SROO nah MEEL-yeh):

  The Straits of Moyle; strait between northern Ireland and Scotland

  Sualdam mac Roich (SOO-al-dam mak ROYCH):

  Husband of Deichtine and third father of Cuchulainn

  Tain Bo Cuailgne (TAYN BOH KOO-al-nyeh):

  Irish epic hero story of the war between Ulster and Connacht

  Tuatha De Danann (TOO-ah-ha JAI DAH-nan):

  “Children of the Goddess Danu”; race of supernatural beings who come to Ireland in the pseudo-history “Book of the Takings of Ireland”; may originally have been the Celtic gods

  Welsh Names and Words

  The pronunciation guide is the same as above, with the addition of the Welsh “rh” and “ll.” These sounds do not exist in English.

  ll = a voiceless “l”; nearest analogue using English pronunciation is to think of it as a sort of “lth” or “thl” sound, depending on where it falls in the word

  rh = a voiceless “r”; nearest analogue using English pronunciation is as “hr”

  Anlawdd (AHN-lowth):

  Grandfather of Culhwch; father of Goleuddydd

  Annwfn (Ah-NOO-vin):

  Otherworldly realm

  Arawn (ah-ROWN):

  Otherworldly king of Annwfn

  Arberth (AHR-bairth):

  Court of Pwyll, prince of Dyfed