The Arthur of the Germans: The Arthurian Legend in Medieval German and Dutch Literature. - book review

Edited by W. H. Jackson and S. A. Ranawake. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2000. 337 pp. 35.00 [pounds sterling] (hbk). ISBN 0-7083-1595-X

This handsome volume has been published in co-operation with the Vinaver Trust of the British Branch of the International Arthurian Society and is designed to replace four chapters in R. S. Loomis's Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, now more than forty years old. The spacious new format has permitted a generous treatment of works that were only mentioned in Loomis. Part One surveys the German Arthurian romances to 1300 and includes a brief discussion of their background. Part Two continues the survey in the Later Middle Ages, while Part Three consists of a single chapter on Dutch material. Part Four is a rather miscellaneous grouping of five chapters on Arthurian elements in heroic poetry, in drama and Meisterlieder, and in German society, as well as an important chapter on German pictorial evidence of the Arthurian legend and another on King Arthur in medieval Czech literature. Part Five deals with the survival of the legend; first in early printed editions of Arthurian romances and, finally, in modern treatments of it, particularly in theatre, opera and film. As the range of topics covered makes clear, the editors have conceived their task much more broadly than did Loomis.

Hartmann von Aue, Wolfram von Eschenbach and Gottfried von Strassburg are the German authors most closely associated with Arthurian material and the chapters devoted to them here provide both an introduction to the works themselves and an overview of the critical approaches to them. Without meaning to slight these excellent contributions, it is nonetheless fair to draw attention to the careful consideration given to the less famous thirteenth-century writers (e.g. Ulrich von Zatzikhoven, Eilhart von Oberg, Heinrich von dem Turlin, Der Stricker) and to the late-medieval adapters (e.g. Ulrich Futrer). The essays will make these writers accessible to a much wider public. Similarly, the chapters by Bart Besamusca and Alfred Thomas on Dutch and Czech Arthurian works present material that will be new to most readers. James Rushing's survey of pictorial versions of the Arthurian legend will be fascinating to readers familiar only with the literary evidence.

Despite the varied subjects of the chapters, they share a common approach: most include plot summaries that are particularly valuable for the less well-known works, and there are precise discussions of manuscript evidence and frequent references to the social and historical context in which the works were written. Most articles sum up the major trends of past and current research and also point out lines of inquiry that have not yet been explored. One of the major contributions of this volume is its bibliographies. The general bibliography at the end is supplemented by often extensive bibliographies at the end of each chapter, which cite the editions and major studies necessary for specialists. Of particular help to the non-germanist audience is the inclusion in the bibliographies of translations into English. For folklorists, it is helpful that the index includes both specific motifs like the Fair Unknown, the Rash Boon, the Loathly Lady and the Swan Knight, and more general categories like "fairy mistress," "fairy elements," and "other world." Nevertheless, the inclusion of such items in the index is somewhat haphazard, because "fairytale source" (p. 214), "dragon killer" (p. 221) and "bridequest" (p. 234) are not to be found.

The editors and contributors to this enterprise have produced a volume with wide appeal; it is essential for specialists in medieval German literature, but it provides a valuable introduction to the material for a much wider audience, including specialists in other areas of medieval literature. Specialists in French literature, for instance, will find fascinating the evidence for the reception of French romance. In addition to these specialised audiences, the collection will be extremely useful to amateurs, giving them solid information and good orientation in complex material.

Maureen Boulton, University of Notre Dame, USA

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