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Isolde

Who is Isolde in the Agency editorial?

Isolde is the heroine of the medieval romance of Tristan and Isolde. In the retelling of Issue.13 she is the bride from Ireland promised to King Mark of Cornwall in a political marriage arranged by her mother, and she falls in love with Tristan, the knight sent to fetch her, when both drink a love potion by mistake.

In short

Isolde is one of the two lovers of Tristan and Isolde, the chivalric romance that Issue.13 retells to explain the birth of romantic love. In the edition's version, her marriage with King Mark is a political move by her mother to establish a peaceful alliance between two kingdoms. To make sure she would love the king, her mother gives her a love potion, saying it is a health potion to be drunk before meeting him. Isolde and Tristan get hurt on the journey and drink it together, which makes them inseparable until the end of their lives. Their love is a betrayal of King Mark's trust.

Key facts

Which work does Isolde belong to?
The medieval legend and romance of Tristan and Isolde, retold in the chapter 13.2 of Issue.13.
Why was Isolde to marry King Mark, according to Issue.13?
The edition says the marriage was a political move taken by her mother to establish a peaceful alliance between the two kingdoms.
What is the role of the potion in Isolde's story?
Her mother gave it so that she would fall in love with the king. Isolde and Tristan drink it by accident, thinking it is a healing potion.

Who is Isolde in the story Issue.13 retells?

Isolde enters the edition's retelling as the promised bride of King Mark of Cornwall, whom Tristan, the king's nephew, must go to Ireland to find. Her mother needs to ensure that she will fall in love with the king, and gives her a love potion that she is only supposed to drink upon arrival in her new kingdom. The edition has the mother present it as a health potion that will restore her body with the energy of a true empress.

Little did Isolde know, the edition says, that she and Tristan would get hurt in the middle of the journey and both end up drinking the potion. This accidental consumption sets the stage for the tragic and complicated love affair at the heart of the legend. The lovers were bound by an oath of loyalty to King Mark, so their love was considered a betrayal and a violation of their sworn duty.

What does Isolde stand for in Issue.13?

Together with Tristan, she is the edition's example of lovers who knew no rational or logical boundaries, in a period when marriages mostly happened for political and economic reasons. Issue.13 says the legend set the standard for the concept of romantic love and made society question how powerful, magic and even sacred love can be. The edition also shows the painting The End of the Song, by Edmund Leighton, which depicts the two.

Source editions

Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.

Published
Cite this entry

“Isolde”. Agency Wiki, Agency Brasil. Published on November 11, 2026. https://www.agencybrasil.com/en/wiki/isolde