Wagner's Tristan und Isolde

Tristan und Isolde, an opera by Richard Wagner, has been closely examined since its tumultuous premier in 1865. Yet few know that the story of Tristan and Isolde may be based on a Persian romance, Vis o Ramin [Vis and Ramin] by Asad Gorgani.

Richard Wagner

"There are many theories present about the origins of Tristanian legend, but historians disagree over which is the most accurate. Some scholars suggest that the 11th century Persian story Vis u Ramin must have been the model for the Tristan legend because the similarities are too great to be coincidental.[2][3] The evidence for the Persian origin of Tristan and Iseult is very circumstantial[4] and different theories have been suggested how this Persian story reached the West, some suggesting story-telling exchanges during the crusades in Syrian court[3] and through minstrels who had free access to both Crusader and Saracen camps in the Holy Land.[5]" [From Wikipedia, link here.] Here is another article about the issue.

Vis and Ramin

I have read Vis and Ramin in Persian and I am very familiar with Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. In my opinion their similarities are too great to be coincidental, but I suspect we will never learn exactly how this story made its way through the world many hundreds of years ago.

Here is a complete performance of Tristan und Isolde:

Tristan and Isolde  Source