Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-01-10
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
M. C..

TRISTAN AND ISOLDE; Restorin,
Palamede. BY John Erskine In
dianapolis: The bs-Merrill Co.
when q poet repeats an old stor,
he always leaves something out" say
Mr. Erskine in the opening chapter O
his new novel, a fact which he deplore:
because of the loss to many genera.
lions of the full beauty and strength
of the original theme, and which a.
the same time he welcomes as an in
centive to those OF scholarly minds tt
delve into the treasure chests of Other
days In search Of priceless oddities anc
antiquities of literature.
In this age-old story Of Tristan anc
Isolde" 1t appears that the poets who
first told it, not suspecting that SO bolc
scholar as John Erskine would cen
turtles later trace the legend to its ear
lest days, omitted much that to them
may have seemed inartistic, or unnec-
essary, or which perhaps they did not
comprehend. Certainly had those poets
of long ago realized the dramatic pos
sibilities which lay EMBODIED in the pull
sating romance of Palamede they
would not have consigned him with SC
little regard to an inconspicuous place
on the shelf and left him there. Per-
haps it was their theory or belief that
two lovers for Queen Isolde would spoil
a good story. Also they must have
| agreed that it would never do to give a
place in the same tale to two ISoldes
and that the perfidious Tristan was
the lover Of one and the husband OF
the other. Yet they knew there were
two women of the same name, and that
the famous Queen Isolde had two
suitorS.
Just why so compelling character
as the pagan knight, Palamede, should
have received so meager place in the
great love drama as 1t has been handed
down through generations is a question
| which every reader will ponder over in
the light Of these revelations by Mr.
Erskine. For the purpose of this new
presentation of an old story is to re-
store Palamede to what might be called
the romance. The restoration OF this
gallant knight to his heroic role as
rival Of Tristan for the love OF Isolde
is highly commendable piece of work
for 1t gives back to the world a charm
ing and noble character of which ii
should never have been deprived.
Mr.. Erskine says that the poets had
nothing to gain by diminishing the
goodness Of Palamede, or by laying on
him here and there a mean touch, for
then he would have been no different
from other knights of Christendom. So
they conspired to forget" And, judg-
| ing from the story of Tristan and
Isolde" as 1t is at present known, evil
IDENTIFY the fearless, impetuous and
ruthless knight of a Christian family
was given preference as hero as
against the chivalrous pagan of the
desert. For Palamede was pagan in
Christian land, and a pagan was not
cordially welcomed in these days in
the places where Christians abode.
If the author has strayed away a
bit from the original legend and made
changes in some of the recorded events,
and he acknowledges that he has, such
| alterations are to be easily forgiven. for
| in the remodeling Tristan and Isolde
has not only not lost any of the beauty
and charm which has given 1t the
right to be called the worlds greatest
love story, but 1t has gained In
texture. in substance and in appeal.
| Palamede. a swarthy son of the des-
ert, goes forth from his home, near
Ala, in what is known in these days
as the Holy Land, to cross the sea
From early childhood he has been
under the tutelage of Jaafar, victim of
disastrous expedition from Brittany
to rescue the Sepulcher from the inf
| dels, and afterward bought by the
father of Palamede in the slave mar
ket at Damascus. Homesick for the
things to which he knew he would
never return, Jaafar entertained his
young charge with stories of the places
and people of his former life, tales OF
Ireland and England, where there were
great green forests; of kings and queens
of beautiful ladies and gallant knights
His imagination fired by these reminis-
| cences and myths of old Jaafar, young
| Palamede's soul yearns for expansion
| He must travel to Jaafar's country. He
must see with his own eyes great for
ests of green trees. He must live for
| while in the land where there are
women who are beautiful and men
who worship them.
| This pagan son of the desert was not
the first youth to go adventuring into
| far-away lands in search of a life
| which he believed to be more attrac-
tive and beautiful than that which he
enjoyed at home. Nor has he been the
| only such adventurer who has turned
| homeward disillusioned In mind and
broken in spirit. There have been
many other youths, those of the flesh
as well as those of fiction, who have
made the same quest, only to learn
that the beauty and peace which they
believed dwelt elsewhere existed more
wholesomely by the fireside at home.
Intrepid and hopeful youth, however,
Graves the experience of learning at
| first hand about the CIVILIZATIONS and
| deSpairs, the heights and depths to
| which mankind must submit. And
| that is as it should be, for this seeking
after the higher and better things
than those already possessed Is what
| life Is all about.
So Palamede begins his quest for
great forests Of green trees, and for
women who are beautiful and men who
worship them. On this theme John
Erskine has built a powerful novel of
love and hate, strife and bloodshed, life
and death, as he carries the adventur-
Gus knight of the Arabian desert
through the tortuous highways and by
ways of experience which ultimately
| lead him to the threshold Of the castle
of King Mark of Cornwall, where he
finds the beautiful Isolde already the
bride of Mark and torn with love for
Tristan.
Several beautiful women have been
encountered by Palamede on the long
journey from ALA to Cornwall, but they
were not beautiful enough, and he
| found no desire in his heart to wor-
ship them. There is another beautiful
woman at King Marks castle, Bran
gain, cousin of Isolde, but it is only the
latter who awakens love in his breast
and to whom he wishes to offer his
worship. There is no room, however,
in Isolde's heart for this dark, hand
some and ehivalrous knight. She loves
only Tristan, and it is with sense of
shame at his own inadequacy that
Palamede acknowledges the wisdom of
the teaching of his father that men
and women are the same the world
over, and that there is no joy in the
worship of a beautiful woman whose
love is given elsewhere.
| In relating the love Of Palamede for
Isolde, Mr.. Erskine may be guilty of
accrediting to his resurrected pagan
knight more grace of manner and
| highness of purpose than he deserves.