Background
He belonged to the lower nobility of Swabia, where he was born c. 1160-70.
( Hartmann von Aue (c. 11701215) is universally recogniz...)
Hartmann von Aue (c. 11701215) is universally recognized as the first medieval German poet to create world-class literature. He crafted German into a language of refined literary expression that paved the way for writers such as Gottfried von Strassburg, Walther von der Vogelweide, and Wolfram von Eschenbach. This volume presents the English reader for the first time with the complete works of Hartmann in readable, idiomatic English. Hartmann's literary efforts cover all the major genres and themes of medieval courtly literature. His Arthurian romances, Erec and Iwein, which he modeled after Chrétien de Troyes, introduced the Arthurian world to German audiences and set the standard for later German writers. His lyric poetry treats many aspects of courtly love, including fine examples of the crusading song. His dialogue on love delineates the theory of courtly relationships between the sexes and the quandary the lover experiences. His verse novellas Gregorius and Poor Heinrich transcend the world of mere human dimensions and examine the place and duties of the human in the divine scheme of things. Longfellow would later use Poor Heinrich in his Golden Legend. Arthurian Romances, Tales, and Lyric Poetry is a major work destined to place Hartmann at the center of medieval courtly literature for English readers.
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(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
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(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections
such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact,
or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections,
have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works
worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
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The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification:
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Erec: Eine Erzählung
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( Few stories were as widely known during the Middle Ages...)
Few stories were as widely known during the Middle Ages as the account of Iwein and Laudine, which appeared in French, Welsh, English, Norse, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic, and two German variants. The older German version, that by the Swabian nobleman Hartmann von Aue, won instant popularity and became a model of form, style, and language for the many courtly epics which his countrymen composed up to the beginning of the modern period. In recent years, his Iwein has enjoyed a remarkable revival among medieval scholars as traditional interpretations have been challenged by new ones.
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He belonged to the lower nobility of Swabia, where he was born c. 1160-70.
After receiving a monastic education, he became retainer (Dienstmann) of a nobleman whose domain, Aue, has been identified with Obernau on the River Neckar. He possessed knowledge of French, which showed that he spent time in France at some point in his life, and of Latin, hinting that he received some education, probably at a cloister or a cathedral school.
Little is known of von Aue's life, save for the fact that he lived and worked in the later decades of the twelfth century and was alive during the first years of the 1206.
He was also referred to later in the Middle Ages in one source as "from the land of Swabians. "
Like Chrétien's work, von Aue was strongly influenced by the ideals of chivalry and courtly love.
It is a narrative poem in rhymed couplets and shares similarities with some French works of the era.
Its verse relates a conflict between the body and the heart in the form of an allegorical dialogue.
It mentions krûtzouber von Kärlingen, a magical root from France, as a part of a formulathat can create the ideal man.
To become such, one requires milte (generosity), zuht (appropriate behavior), diemut (modesty), triuwe (loyalty), staete (constancy), kiuscheit (purity), and gewislîchiu manheit (dependable manhood) to be present in a heart absent of hate.
Von Aue's first adaptation of an Arthurian work was Erec.
Scholars date it to at least the year 1180, for it contains a reference to Connelant, or Ikonium, and it was known that Emperor Friedrich I, called Barbarossa, made diplomatic contact with this kingdom around 1179.
The Arthurian legends originated in Celtic Britain, and provided the basis for other epic works, such as the Gereint and Enid, from Wales, and the Norse Erexsaga.
Von Aue may have consulted these in writing his own.
He vows to avenge the slight, and follows the trio to a thriving town near a castle.
Erec learns that the knight he seeks is called Iders, and the townspeople have assembled for a beauty contest.
If she wins a third time, the contest will conclude forever, and she will receive a sparrow hawk.
Koralus lends Erec armor and weapons in order to beat Iders, and in return for this help, Erec promises to wed Enite.
At the contest, the lady moves to take the sparrow hawk, but Erec declares Enite most beautiful in realm instead.
He and Iders battle, and Erec is victorious.
The dwarf is duly thrashed, a wedding at Arthur's court takes place, and Erec and Enite return to Erec's land.
This concludes the first part. In the second part of Erec, the knight is so enamored with his new bride that he neglects all other duties.
He is unaware of the loss of honor until Enite one day utters words of regret when she thinks Erec is asleep.
Ashamed, Erec vows to change his ways, and they leave the castle and set off on a series of adventures.
They ride through a forest, where robber knights try to kidnap her.
Then Enite believes Erec has died battling fierce giants.
Erec rescues Enite after her weeping has roused him from his deathlike state.
Erec's final battle of the story is with Mabonagrin, who has been isolated from Arthur's court and resides in a garden surrounded by stakes, on which are impaled the heads of those he has defeated.
Erec wins this battle, and both knights return to the court.
Erec tells Mabonagrin, "Bî den liuten ist sô guot" ("It is so good to be with other people").
Scholars assume that von Aue's next work was Gregorius, and date it to about 1187.
They commit incest, and both are guilt-stricken.
He atones by joining a Crusade to the Holy Land, but remains lovesick and dies.
His sister became pregnant, and the new ruler of Aquitaine as well.
She places the infant in a boat with some gold marks and an ivory tablet attesting to its noble lineage but sinful origin.
The tablet instructs the child to atone for its parents' wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, the infant is discovered and raised by fishermen.
The local abbot names him Gregorius.
He accidentally learns of his tragic origins as a young man and flees to become a knight.
The key is then tossed into the ocean.
He lives on nothing but water for 17 years.
Church officials in Rome learn of this and believe him to be extraordinarily holy.
"From the lowest depths of sinfulness, Gregorius is raised by God's grace to the position of God's highest earthly servant, " wrote Will Hasty in a Dictionary of Literary Biography essay.
Hasty notes that Gregorious, with its absolution of a sin that was involuntarily committed, "seems to be characterized by a religiosity that more closely corresponds to the values and customs of the lay nobility than to the practices of the church. "
Der arme Heinrich ("Poor Heinrich"), which scholars date to the year 1191, is perhaps von Aue's best known work, even earning praise from eighteenth-century German Romantic writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
He gives his riches to the poor and the church, and moves in with a peasant family.
A period of three years pass, and she learns that his illness can be cured by sacrifice and resolves to be his savior.
She and Heinrich journey to a doctor, who explains that he must extract her still-beating heart from her body.
Heinrich hears the doctor sharpening his blade and cries out to spare her.
He asserts that he will accept his illness as God's will.
They journey home, and both are restored to health along theway.
Heinrich returns to a position of nobility, even richer than before, and marries the girl.
It is thought believe that von Aue may have taken up arms and joined the Crusade organized by Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI in 1197.
His next work, Iwein, dates from about 1203, and is considered by scholars as the zenith of his literary talents.
"Nowhere is his simple elegance of style and aesthetic conception more evident than in Iwein, " opined Hasty.
A large number of surviving manuscripts from the Middle Ages attest to its popularity at the time, and the story was also reproduced in tapestries and frescoes.
Kalogreant relates a story that he once met a wild man, who instructs him to journey to the land of a fountain.
He battles with Ascalon, a watchman at a bridge, and is unhorsed.
The knights at Arthur's court vow to avenge him.
Iwein arrives first, fights Ascalon, but becomes trapped in the land of his foes.
He is helped by a servant, Lunete, who gives him a magic ring, and in time marries the lady of the castle, Laudine.
In the second part of Iwein, the hero leaves the land, but Laudine states that she will wait only one year for him.
Iwein and another knight, Gawein, embark on a series of adventures.
He forgets his promise to Laudine, and Lunete arrives to take back the ring.
He realizes that he has lost his love and his lands, and he succumbs to madness.
He strips his clothes and runs to live in forest as a wild man.
In 1210, Tristan, a work by Gottfried von Strassburg, mentions von Aue as still living.
The Minnesinger were court poets who lived and worked inside the great castles of princes and other nobles and whose work paid homage to the concept of "minne, " or love.
Their predecessors were the Provençal troubadours of the eleventh century, and von Aue's work shared attributes of both these and the Arthurian legends popular at the time.
( Few stories were as widely known during the Middle Ages...)
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
( Hartmann von Aue (c. 11701215) is universally recogniz...)
Quotations: "Even those works addressing religious questions deal with one's obligations to others, with conflicts that can result from such obligations, and with false and legitimate solutions to these conflicts. "
