# Isoude — Bulfinch’s Mythology character guide

> Isoude in Bulfinch’s Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Queen Isoude, the gentle Isoude, fair Isoude, the fair Isoude

**First appearance:** 0002-bulfinch-s-mythology

## Snapshot

Irish princess whose beauty binds two kingdoms and whose heart is caught between her husband King Mark and the knight Tristram.

## Who they are

Isoude, called the fair and the gentle, is daughter to the Irish king and wife to Mark of Cornwall, a marriage meant to seal peace between rival courts. Around her gathers the chivalric legend's central knot: loyalty owed to a husband against a love she cannot govern, with Tristram, Mark's own nephew, at the center of it. Her story carries Bulfinch's Age of Chivalry into its most human register, where romance and betrayal wear the same face.

## Relationships

### [Tristram](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/characters/tristram)

_romantic_

Isoude and Tristram are tragic lovers bound by a love potion, their passion causing turmoil and sorrow.

### [Tristram](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/characters/tristram)

_romantic_

Isoude and Tristram are tragic lovers bound by a love potion, their passion causing turmoil and sorrow.

## In the story

### [Author's Preface](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/author-s-preface)

Referenced in the tale of Tristram and Isoude involving a magic draught.

### [XII: Tristram and Isoude](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/xii-tristram-and-isoude)

The beautiful princess of Ireland, Tristram's student and lover, who becomes Queen of Cornwall after drinking the love potion.

### [XIII: Tristram and Isoude (Continued)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/xiii-tristram-and-isoude-continued)

Confesses her love for Tristram to King Mark, is imprisoned, and later writes a letter to Tristram via her damsel.

### [XV: The Round Table](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/xv-the-round-table)

Kidnapped by Breuse, rescued by Tristram, and welcomed at Camelot.

### [XVI: Sir Palamedes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/xvi-sir-palamedes)

Mentioned as the queen La Belle Isoude, the object of Palamedes's love and the cause of his offense to Tristram.

### [Sir Tristram](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/xvii-sir-tristram)

Queen of Cornwall; Tristram's beloved, who dies of grief upon finding him dead.

### [Rinaldo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/chapters/rinaldo)

Mentioned as Isolier, a Saracen knight who first fights Rinaldo then joins him in the attempt to subdue Bayard.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/characters/isoude
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/bulfinch_s_mythology_se/characters