Mark of Cornwall
Mark of Cornwall (Latin: Marcus, Cornish: Margh, Welsh: March or Marchell, Breton: Marc'h) was a sixth-century King of Kernow (Cornwall), possibly identical with King Conomor. He is best known for his appearance in Arthurian legend as the uncle of Tristan and the husband of Iseult who engages with Tristan in a secret liaison, giving Mark the epithet "Cuckold King".[1]
King Mark has a gruesome role in poetry cycle Idylls of the King. While Arthur and many of his knights are taking on the court of the Red Knight, Lancelot is called upon to judge "The Tournament of the Dead Innocence." The tournament quickly becomes a mockery, full of insults and broken rules. Tristram (Tristan) is the winner of the tournament, winning all the rubies from the necklace. He then breaks with tradition in presenting them to a woman, saying: "This day my Queen of Beauty is not here". This enrages the crowd, and many say that "All courtesy is dead," and "The glory of our Round Table is no more." Tristram, who in this version marries Isolt of the White Hands, carries his winnings to Mark's wife Queen Isolt (who is upset that Tristram married another woman). They mock each other briefly before Tristram puts the necklace around Isolt's neck and leans down to kiss her. Mark appears as his lips touch her, killing Tristram with a sword.[14]
Alfred, Lord Tennyson's
Mark (the German "Marke") is a character in 1859 opera, Tristan und Isolde, where the role was first sung by the bass Ludwig Zottmayer.
Wagner's
In the 1954 film , he is depicted by Patrick Troughton as a pagan trying to overthrow Christianity and King Arthur.
The Black Knight
Mark (called "Marc'h of Kernow") is a character in Diana L. Paxson's 1988 novel, The White Raven. The novel is of Paxson's take on the Tristan and Iseult story from the point of view of Iseult's cousin, Branwen.[18]
[17]
In 's 1996 novel Enemy of God (part of his The Warlord Chronicles series), King Mark is a physically- and morally-monstrous tyrant who murders his young wife every few years to marry another. When Mark's newest teenage wife (Iseult) flees with his young son Tristan, the fugitive lovers take refuge in Mordred's kingdom of Dumnonia under the regency of Tristan's friend, Arthur. Arthur allows Mark to arrive with his soldiers, and has the prince killed and the queen burned at the stake. Mark later dies from a horrible illness.
Bernard Cornwell
In the 2006 film , Marke was played by Rufus Sewell. He adopts Tristan as his son after the death of the boy's parents, who loyally supported Marke's plans to unite Britain. Marke is portrayed as a good ruler and a kind husband to Isolde (unaware that she has already fallen for Tristan), and is confused by his adopted son's unhappy, distanced behaviour. When Tristan and Isolde are caught embracing, Marke feels angry and betrayed; he relents after hearing the story of their meeting and lets them leave together, although Tristan insists on staying to stand against Marke's enemies. After Tristan is mortally wounded in battle, Marke returns him to Isolde for his last moments and then unites Britain.[19]
Tristan & Isolde
List of legendary rulers of Cornwall
Marie de France (trans. Eugene Mason) [1911]. “The Lay of the Honeysuckle”, at Project Gutenberg
French Mediaeval Romances from the Lays of Marie de France by Marie
at The Camelot Project