# Isolde / Iseult--any classical scholars out there?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isolde-iseult-any-classical-scholars-out-there/268012
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 7, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isolde-iseult-any-classical-scholars-out-there/268012 "2004-10-07T13:05:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isolde-iseult-any-classical-scholars-out-there/268012/1 "2004-10-07T13:05:40Z")
I was reading up on the latest movie remake of Tristan and Isolde (and drooling over the prospect of James Franco and Rufus Sewell being in the same movie) when I did a double take at the title: Tristan and _Isolde_?
I always read it as Tristan and Iseult. Googling on both brings back results. Why the two accepted versions?
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isolde-iseult-any-classical-scholars-out-there/268012/2 "2004-10-07T13:26:06Z")
“Tristan und Isolde” is original German of the opera by Richard Wagner, one of the better know retellings of the stoiry. Among the possible versions of her name are Essylt, Iseult, Isolde, Isolt and Ysolt.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isolde-iseult-any-classical-scholars-out-there/268012/3 "2004-10-07T13:36:15Z")
(Any other Buffy fans tickled that **Giles** answered a literary question first? 😃 )
As for why, it’s because it’s an old story that’s been told over and over, and spelling changes. For what it’s worth, it’s always pronounced roughly the same: “ee-SZOLT”
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isolde-iseult-any-classical-scholars-out-there/268012/4 "2004-10-07T13:44:39Z")
> [@WhyNot](#):
>
> (Any other Buffy fans tickled that **Giles** answered a literary question first? 😃 )
It helps that I’m a librarian. But I don’t know anyone called Buffy (at least, not in real life).
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isolde-iseult-any-classical-scholars-out-there/268012/5 "2004-10-07T13:49:15Z")
Hey, you’ve got Tristan, Tristram, Drustan, etc. for the guy, too. There are plenty of variations.
For what it’s worth, this story is one of the oldest in the Arthurian canon, and they may even have been real people (along with king Mark). Their names show up in ancient inscriptions, in various even weirder spellings.
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isolde-iseult-any-classical-scholars-out-there/268012/6 "2004-10-07T16:56:14Z")
> [@WhyNot](#):
>
> (Any other Buffy fans tickled that **Giles** answered a literary question first? 😃 )
>
> As for why, it’s because it’s an old story that’s been told over and over, and spelling changes. For what it’s worth, it’s always pronounced roughly the same: “ee-SZOLT”
Isolde is pronounced with three syllables. (When I pronounce it anyway).
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### Author:  [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isolde-iseult-any-classical-scholars-out-there/268012/7 "2004-10-07T20:05:00Z")
I agree with **bibliophage** and pronounce “Isolde” with 3 syllables: “ee-ZOL-duh.”
That’s the way it’s pronounced in Wagner’s opera, anyway, which is the version I’m most familiar with.
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### Author:  [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isolde-iseult-any-classical-scholars-out-there/268012/8 "2004-10-08T00:02:30Z")
Thanks for the explanations! Isolde, Iseult–anyway you slice it, it looks like it’s gonna be a great movie.
Now I can go back to drooling over two hot men. 😉
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### Author:  [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2004, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isolde-iseult-any-classical-scholars-out-there/268012/9 "2004-10-08T00:58:05Z")
One version that predates Wagner and probably influenced his decision is Gottfried von Straßburg’s _Tristan_ (early 13th century, Middle High German) where the name is spelled _Îsolde_.
[http://www.fh-augsburg.de/~harsch/germanica/Chronologie/13Jh/Gottfried/got\_tr00.html](http://www.fh-augsburg.de/~harsch/germanica/Chronologie/13Jh/Gottfried/got_tr00.html)
And yes, in a German context - von Straßburg, Wagner… - it is pronounced with three syllables.