be freed from the king's prison. With the priest's baptism, the child is transformed, and the king converts to Christianity and is himself physically transformed from black-skinned to white-skinned. He sends for the King of Tars to help him convert his kingdom to Christianity, and a violent conversion battle ensues. The final stanzas of the poem depict the king of Tars and the converted king of Damas fighting pagan kings side by side. Genre "The King of Tars" defies simple classification to a single genre because it incorporates elements of many genres, namely romance and hagiography, though the text also includes accounts of politics and marvels that further complicate its categorization. Motifs This romance appears to have influenced Le Bone Florence of Rome, where the heroine's kingdom is also attacked by a rebuffed suitor. In that case, the reluctance springs from his age, and the work is less consistently religious. The deformed child is also in common with the romance Theseus of Cologne, where rivals use the child to accuse the queen of adultery, but the child is also restored by miracle. Race and Religion Discussion on race in The King of Tars tends to focus on the Sultan’s transformation from black to white as a result of his conversion from Islam to Christianity (lines 922-924). According to editor John H. Chandler, this moment is one of the most commented-on passages of the poem. Some critics interpret this moment as an implication of white superiority and blackness as sin, as the sultan's new white skin is described as "clere withouten blame" (line 924). More recently, scholars have begun to discuss how race operates in the poem in less visible ways. For example, at the beginning of The King of Tars (lines 10-16), the description of the princess seems to connect her to white European beauty standards; however, it is likely that the princess is actually of Mongol descent. Scholars have pointed to the text's use of race as a means of discerning other forms of identity. Siobhain Bly Calkin argues that race and racial change in The King of Tars point to a desire for bodily determination of biological, social, and religious identity. It is also important to note that the poet of The King of Tars, likely of Christian faith, is ambiguous about the Sultan's exact religion. The term "Saracen" is used as a catch-all for all non-Christian religions,