Abstract
The medieval legend of Tristan and Isolde is typically read as a celebration of adulterous love. This interpretation is often connected to outdated but still-widespread notions of courtly love as necessarily adulterous, unfulfilled, and deadly. This essay challenges this interpretation through an examination of one of the earliest versions of the Tristan romance, Eilhart von Oberg’s Tristrant. The essay argues that Eilhart’s romance is under the sway of a medieval discourse that strongly associated love with marriage, particularly consensual marriage. It shows that Tristan and Isolde are depicted as though they were married throughout the first half of the romance, with Tristan effectively replacing his uncle as Isolde’s husband. Scenes from the second half of the romance, in which the lovers engage in clearly adulterous behaviour, appear in a negative light that ultimately physically destroys both figures. Far from celebrating adultery, the Tristrant advocates for love in marriage.
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