Palamedes (Knight of King Arthur)

Palamedes, (also called Palamede, Palomides or some other variant) was a knight of the "Round Table" in the legend of King Arthur. He was originally pagan, though he later became a Christian. His unrequited love for the Irish princess Isolda put him in conflict with Tristan. Palamedes' father was King Esclabor; his brothers Safir and Segwarides also join the Round Table.

Palamedes first appears in the version known as "Tristan de prosa", in French, an early expansion of the thirteenth century prose of the legend of Tristan and Isolde. Palamedes was introduced as a knight who fights for Isolda's hand at a tournament in Ireland; in the combat, Tristán is victorious, for the delight of the princess. Tristán forgives his life, but forbids him to carry arms for a year or continue to court Isolda again. After Isolda's marriage to King Mark, Palamedes rescues Brangaine, the princess's servant, and joins the Round Table and enters various duels with Tristan, which are usually postponed or ended without a clear winner. Eventually they finally reconcile, but share a love-hate relationship throughout the rest of the narrative.

Palamedes also appears in the Post-Vulgate Cycle, Thomas Malory's The Death of Arthur, and even gave his name to his own romance, The Palamedes. The Palamedes exist in fragments and as part of the vast Rustichello Compilation of Pisa, and details the adventures of two generations of King Arthur's heroes. Some stories reveal the background of Palamedes: his father was a king of Babylon who is sent to Rome where he saves the life of the Emperor; he then travels to Britain where he rescues and befriends King Pellinore. Many tales also have Palamedes as the hunter of the Beast, an abomination that only the chosen one can kill. Hunting is frustrating and useless as the pursuit of Iseult, and in most versions remains unfinished. However, in the Post-Vulgate Palamedes the conversion to Christianity during the Grail Search allows him to free himself from his material entanglements, Percival and Galahad help him to catch the beast in a lake, where he finally kills him. The Post-Vulgate and Malory have Palamedes and Safir uniting Lancelot after the great affair of the knight with Queen Geneva is exposed; the brothers finally accompany Lancelot to France, where Palamedes becomes Duke of Provence.

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