Tristan Timeline and Summary

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• Tristan is born to Rivalen of Lyonesse and Blanchefleur, the sister of King Mark of Cornwall.
• After his education as a knight, Tristan travels to Mark's court. While there, he defeats an Irishman who arrives demanding tribute, and receives a poisoned wound.
• Tristan arrives on the coast of Ireland in a rudderless boat, looking for healing. The daughter of Ireland's king, Yseut, heals him and he returns to Cornwall.
• Tristan defeats a dragon, winning Yseut for King Mark. Due to a magic potion, he and Yseut fall in love on their way to Cornwall.
• Tristan and Yseut avoid discovery of their affair by pretending to be loyal to Mark when they know he is eavesdropping.
• Tristan gets caught when drops of his blood betray his presence in Yseut's bed; on his way to be burnt, he leaps from a cliffside chapel to the sea, then rescues Yseut and escapes to the forest of Morrois with her.
• Tristan, Yseut, and Governal live together in the forest until the love potion wears off, causing Tristan to regret what he and Yseut have suffered for love.
• Tristan returns Yseut to Mark, then hides out in his friend's basement when Mark's barons refuse to let Tristan come back to Cornwall.
• Tristan carries Yseut across a ford disguised as a leper so that Yseut can swear an oath that she's had no man between her legs but Mark and the leper.
• Tristan continues to visit Yseut secretly until Mark's barons catch them. Tristan kills two of them, then flees to Brittany.
• In Brittany, Tristan becomes friends with Prince Kaherdin and marries Princess Yseut of the White Hands. He refuses to consummate their marriage because of his love for Yseut the Fair.
• Tristan returns to Cornwall disguised as a clown. After convincing Yseut that it's really him, the two make sweet love all night.
• Back in Brittany, Tristan receives a poisoned wound while helping Kaherdin carry on an adulterous affair. He sends a messenger for Yseut the Fair, the only person who can heal him.
• Yseut of the White Hands lies to Tristan about the color of the sails of the ship that bear Yseut. She says they are black, making Tristan believe Yseut has not come. He dies in despair.
• Tristan's body is buried next to Yseut's in the chapel in Cornwall. Above his grave grows a tree whose branches intertwine with the one above Yseut's.