Tristan - A Present For Me

A little while back I reviewed Musketeer Miniatures' fantastic Bors figure, that I painted as a present for a colleague.


This figure, Tristan, comes as the partner to Bors. In the Arthurian canon, Tristan (Anglicised from Drustan) was apparently a Cornish nobleman, a nephew of King Mark, who largely became famous for falling in love with Mark's mail order bride, Iseult.

There's a pretty strong thread running through the stories that Tristan could have had some Pictish heritage (Drustan derived from Drust, an attested name of several Pictish kings). Of course it's quite possible he was a Cornish noble with Pictish blood - then as now the nobility of different states/countries probably intermarried.

Modelled in a fantastically aggressive running pose, Tristan is a pretty commanding figure. This is ncely in keeping with the Arthurian view of him is a handy fellow in any sort of fight. The sculpting and casting is first-rate, with no flash and minimal joint lines. Interestingly he comes without a weapon in his right hand. I added a sword (swiped from the spares in the GB Dark Age warriors pack), but drilling through to add a spear would be facile. Here he is, bearing down on a group of Pictish raiders. Maybe there's an old family feud between him and the Pictish noble?

Stand and fight!

As Tristan is a well-equipped elite fighter, he has a mail shirt and a Saxon-style helmet, complete with boar crest. I'm perfectly happy with this - there's no evidence that the Saxons had a monopoly on viewing the tough, aggressive boar as a symbolic of a fighting man. In my view Tristan has looked at the state of the art in weapons, armour and tactics and decided that the Saxon style, complete with the small, viciously-pointed buckler, suits him best.

No backing down!

And as for where he's going, well, he might get an outing in a Dux Brit game, but mainly, this one's for my desk!

Decision time!

Merry Meet Again!