SOURCE: “Tristan,” in The Evolution of Arthurian Romance From the Beginnings Down to the Year 1300, Vol. I. Reprint. Peter Smith, 1958, pp. 152-91.

In the following essay, Bruce maintains that most modern critics agree that a “single primitive Tristan romance” is the source of all extant versions. Bruce then surveys those versions, and discusses the plot of the Tristan legend and its similarity to the Irish Diarmaid and Grainne legend.

In one important respect the study of the story of Tristan is easier than is the case with that of Lancelot: there is substantial agreement among authorities on the subject that all the mediaeval romances and shorter poems concerning this hero go back to a lost French romance¹ of a considerably earlier date than any on the subject that is now in existence. The close relation of the incidents in the various extant versions of the story, despite individual...