yet if I should have the good fortune to overcome him in
battle, there would, certes, be great glory to our house through my
knighthood."

Then King Meliadus looked upon Tristram and loved him very dearly, and he
said: "Tristram, thou hast assuredly a very great heart to undertake this
adventure, which no one else will essay. So I bid thee go, in God's name,
if so be thy heart bids thee to go. For maybe God will lend the strength
necessary to carry this adventure through to a successful issue."

So that very day Tristram departed from Lyonesse for Cornwall, taking with
him only Gouvernail as his companion. So, by ship, he reached Cornwall, and
the castle of Tintagel, where King Mark was then holding court.

And it was at the sloping of the afternoon when he so came, and at that
time King Mark was sitting in hall with many of his knights and lords about
him. And the King was brooding in great trouble of spirit. Unto him came an
attendant, saying: "Lord, there are two strangers who stand without, and
crave to be admitted to your presence. One of them hath great dignity and
sobriety of demeanor, and the other, who is a youth, is of so noble and
stately an appearance that I do not believe his like is to be found in the
entire world."

To this the King said, "Show them in."

[Sidenote: Tristram and Gouvernail come to Cornwall] So those two were
immediately admitted into the hall and came and stood before King Mark; and
the one of them was Gouvernail and the other was young Tristram. So
Tristram stood forth before Gouvernail and Gouvernail bore the harp of
Tristram, and the harp was of gold and shone most brightly and beautifully.
Then King Mark looked upon Tristram, and marvelled at his size and beauty;
for Tristram stood above any man in that place, so that he looked like a
hero amongst them. His brow was as white as milk and his lips were red like
to coral and his hair was as red as gold and as plentiful as the mane of a
young lion, and his neck was thick and sturdy and straight like to a round
pillar of white-stone, and he was clad in garments of blue silk embroidered
very cunningly with threads of gold and set with a countless multitude of
gems of divers colors. So because of all this he glistened with a singular
radiance of richness and beauty.

So King Mark marvelled at the haughtiness of Tristram's appearance, and he
felt his heart drawn toward Tristram with love and admiration. Then, after
a little, he spoke, sa