Malory's source for his "Tale of Sir Tristram" is the thirteenth-century anonymous
French prose Tristan. The first part of this thesis examines the social and physical world of the Old French text, by judging the reactions of the reader to its human beings, its martial, courtly and religious values, and its dissenting voices. It comes across as a fictional world, and in this it strongly resembles the wish-fulfilment universe of romance, yet it is strangely familiar to its audience and asks questions, especially regarding knightly rules and values, for which it does not systematically provide answers. This is for the most part due to the integration of the story of Tristan into the Quest for the Holy Grail, where the ideals of the former conflict with the values of the latter. In the light of this investigation, Malory's "Sir Tristram" appears to be more straightforward. The English author's characters are depicted with quasi-Manichean simplicity, and the inconsistencies between the martial world of adventure and the religious chivalry are greatly reduced by the fact that Tristram does not take part in the Holy Quest. The second part of the thesis compares the physical and social
worlds of the Old French text and Malory, and their differing ways of treating the
themes of martial, courtly and religious issues. Malory's text is only a sixth of the
length of his French source, and his method of encapsulating the essence of the
original is highly significant. Although both texts are based on a story of impossible love, neither makes this the subject of prime importance. These are not tales of romance in the tradition of Chrétien de Troyes, for heroes die, love and chivalry conflict without resolution, and both authors question the excesses of the rules of chivalry. Both versions are deeply concerned with the ideals of knighthood, without either becoming a systematic treatise offering answers to every question it raises.