The Talisman is one of the Waverley novels by Sir Walter Scott. Published in 1825 as the second of his Tales of the Crusaders, the first being The Betrothed, it is set during the Third Crusade and centres on the relationship between Richard I of England and Saladin.
During a truce between the Christian armies taking part in the third Crusade, and the forces under Sultan Saladin, Sir Kenneth, on his way to Syria, encountered a Saracen Emir, whom he unhorsed, and they then rode together ...