Chapter 13 Summary: The Tale of Sir Palomides, Part II

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens with Palomides basking in the aftermath of his meadow adventure. Word of his deeds spreads, and he becomes the toast of Camelot—feasted, praised, and embraced as never before. But his triumph is hollow: his thoughts are consumed by Isolde, and he can find no way to meet her privately.

He learns everything he can about her. Isolde is a princess of Munster in Hibernia, married to King Mark of Cornwall, and famously in love with Mark's nephew, Sir Tristram of Lyonesse. Palomides, who had known women in Baghdad, realizes he has never truly been in love before. He convinces himself that his feeling is so powerful it must be reciprocated, and that this—not bird-trees, not Arthur—is what he traveled the world to find.

He abandons his plans to leave Britain and throws himself into Camelot's social life. He dances, feasts, and falconed. He discovers that his infatuation is no secret, and that the British upper class regards passionate love for a married woman as normal, even admirable—a practice they call