Tristan and Iseult
by Niamh O'Connell
Cornish knight Tristan is sent by King Mark to retrieve Irish princess Iseult. On the way home, the two inadvertently consume a love potion, causing them to fall irretrievably in love with one another. Although Iseult marries King Mark, they cannot stop themselves from continuing their adulterous relationship. King Mark, learning of the affair, lays a trap to discover them. When he does, he sentences Iseult to burning and Tristan to the gallows. In some versions of the story, they survive. In most, they do not. (Ireland and Cornwall)