[2] The first half of Béroul's poem is closely paralleled by and related to Eilhart von Oberge's treatment in German from the same century,[3] and many of the episodes that appear in Béroul but not Thomas reappear in the later Prose Tristan.
Because of its early date, Béroul's Tristran has been used extensively for the purpose of textual criticism, especially in the effort to reconstruct the "Ur-Tristan," the hypothetical first ancestor of all the subsequent Tristan and Iseult Romances.
[4] Stylistically, the poem belongs to the transition in Old French literature from epic to romance.
[5] While not as popular as Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan, Béroul's text remains widely acclaimed for its style and thematic content.
[7][8] The text's condition is poor—possibly corrupt—and debate over the history of the story's transmission, number of authors, and role of scribes continues.