NIGHTBRINGER | The Arthurian Encyclopedia

Castle of Tears

Castello del Proro, Chastel des Pleurs, Doleful City, Pleure

A castle on the Giant’s Isle ruled by BrunorGalehaut’s father.

It had been built by the pagan giant Dialetes in the time of Joseph of Arimathea as a stronghold against Christianity, and a custom was established by which knights and ladies who were less valiant or less beautiful, respectively, than the lord and lady of the castle, were slain by the castle’s lord. Tristan and Isolde stumbled upon the island on their way from Cornwall to Ireland; in a subsequent battle, Tristan killed both Brunor and his wife, the Beautiful Giantess.

Tristan became lord of the castle and lived there for a while with Isolde. In the Italian I Due Tristani, they had two children, also called Tristan and Isolde, during their sojourn at the castle. Once Tristan abandoned it, it was destroyed, at Galehaut’s behest, by the King with a Hundred Knights.


Sources
Prose Tristan | 1230-1240
Conti di Antichi Cavalier | 13th century
La Tavola Ritonda | 1325–1350
I Due Tristani | 1555
Le Morte Darthur | Sir Thomas Malory, 1469-1470