Tristan

The chapter 13.2 of Issue.13 begins with a once upon a time. Blancheflor, a princess from a foreign land, learns that her husband Rivalen has been killed in battle and dies in childbirth. The child is Tristan. He is adopted and trained in chivalry by his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall, and as a young man, already known as a brave and skilled fighter, he is sent to Ireland to find Isolde, the king's promised bride.

The edition says Tristan knew the importance of that duty, but could never expect to fall in love with Isolde and to be struck by a feeling that would make him question his chivalrous beliefs. Isolde's mother had given her a love potion, presented as a health potion, to drink before meeting the king. Tristan and Isolde get hurt during the journey and both drink it, thinking it would heal them.

The author says he only scratched the surface of the tale, and that it matters because the legend had a lasting impact on Western culture: it set the standard for the concept of romantic love. At a time when marriages mostly happened for political and economic reasons, Tristan and Isolde were one of the first examples of lovers who knew no rational boundaries. The edition calls it one of the earliest and most enduring tragic love stories of Western literature.