Tramtrist
Tramtrist is the assumed identity of Sir Tristram in Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, adopted during his sojourn in Ireland where he is placed in the care of La Beale Isoud for healing.
Tramtrist is the assumed identity of Sir Tristram in Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, adopted during his sojourn in Ireland where he is placed in the care of La Beale Isoud for healing. The name serves as a disguise: as Tristram himself later explains, "because I would not be known in this country I turned my name and let me call Tramtrist" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VIII, Ch. XII).
The Tramtrist episodes span three chapters of Le Morte d'Arthur and reveal the emergence of the central romantic bond of the Tristram cycle. Under his assumed name, Tramtrist enters La Beale Isoud's service and wins her confidence, competing in a tournament at her request and earning her devotion: "Sir Tramtrist, I will be at your commandment" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VIII, Ch. IX). His rivalry with Sir Palamides takes shape here too, as "Sir Tramtrist had great despite at Sir Palamides, for La Beale Isoud told Tramtrist that Palamides was in will to be christened for her sake" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VIII, Ch. IX).
The disguise unravels when the queen discovers that Tramtrist's sword matches the fragment left in her brother Sir Marhaus's skull. She reports to the king that "it is Sir Tramtrist, the same knight that my daughter healed" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VIII, Ch. XI). Tramtrist is found "all ready armed to mount upon his horse" when the king confronts him (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VIII, Ch. XI), suggesting he anticipated discovery. The episodes under this name establish the love between Tristram and Isoud before the complication of the love potion, grounding the relationship in personal attachment rather than enchantment alone.
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Le Morte d'Arthur, British Tradition