Tristan takes some of his loyal retainers and sails to Normandy; from there, he goes to fight in a war in Germany. With Tristan gone, Isolde is in between life and death.

Tristan eventually returns to Parmenie, where he learns that Rual and his foster mother have died. He then goes to Arundel, a duchy lying between Brittany and England, hearing of troubles there. He befriends the duke and earns glory in battle, being chiefly responsible for victory. Tristan becomes attracted to the duke’s daughter, Isolde of the White Hands, because her name reminds him of the other Isolde. He begins courting her but rebukes himself for being faithless to the other Isolde. Gottfried’s poem breaks off abruptly with Tristan not having committed one way or another.

Tristan is tormented over whether Isolde has remained faithful to him and whether he should marry Isolde of the White Hands. In the end, he decides to marry her, in part to distract him from his anguish and in part to know what Isolde’s experience of being married while in love with another is like.

Tristan and Isolde of the White Hands marry. As Tristan undresses on the night of the wedding, he notices the ring that Isolde gave him before their parting.