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Isolde

Arthurian Legend
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Irish princess, Tristan’s tragic lover, bound by a love potion

Detailed Definition
Isolde’s forbidden passion with Tristan defies social and marital bonds. In poetry, she embodies the tension between courtly love and duty, her story a timeless meditation on desire, fate, and sacrifice.
Example
Example in poetry:
Isolde’s love potion with Tristan fuels one of literature’s great tragic romances; In Gottfried von Strassburg’s Tristan, their love defies social order; Poets use Isolde to explore passion versus duty; Her healing skills contrast with her emotional wounds; Modern verse gives Isolde agency beyond the potion’s spell; Isolde’s death beside Tristan becomes an icon of eternal love.
Additional Notes
Isolde (or Iseult) is the Irish princess in the Tristan legend, whose love potion–induced affair with Tristan defies her marriage to King Mark—though not originally Arthurian, later texts integrate her into Camelot; poets use her to explore doomed love, fate, and the conflict between passion and duty.
Also Known As
Iseult Yseult Isolt Lady Iseult
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