Edition and translation of the first freely invented German Arthurian romance. Der Stricker's Daniel is the first freely invented German Arthurian romance, bringing the genre to a new level of originality. Beginning with Hartmann von Aue's Erec (c.1185) and up until Daniel (c.1210-25),German poets had drawn their tales of King Arthur's knights exclusively from the world of the French romance, most commonly from the oeuvre of the great romancier Chretien de Troyes; but in relating his eponymous hero's adventuresagainst giants, dwarves and fellow knights, der Stricker made a clean break with this tradition, claims that he received his story from the French poet Alberich de Besancon being considered a formula only. This volume presents for the first time together both the original Middle High German text of Daniel and a full English rendering of the 8,482 verses, on facing pages; the text is accompanied by extensive notes, bibliography, and index. MICHAEL RESLER is Professor of German Studies, Boston College, Massachusetts.

This critical edition of Daniel, one of the earliest post-classical Arthurian romances, includes the normalized Middle High German text with an introduction, selected bibliography, index of proper names, and a reproduction of the first verse of the original manuscript. In addition to the textual-critical apparatus, the third edition includes a second apparatus with linguistic explanations intended to ease access to the text.

ADanielA, which is counted among the earliest of the so-called post-classical Arthurian romances, was composed during the period 1210 to 1225 and is considered the first freely invented Arthurian romance in the German language. This revised edition represents a comprehensive reworking of the critical edition of 1983. The introduction has been rewritten, the readings of MS b (which was rediscovered in Krakow in the early 1980s) are taken into account, the critical text has been revised and the selected bibliography updated.

New essays on the first flowering of German literature, in the High Middle Ages and especially during the period 1180-1230. The High Middle Ages, and particularly the period from 1180 to 1230, saw the beginnings of a vibrant literary culture in the German vernacular. While significant literary achievements in German had already been made in earlier centuries, they were a somewhat precarious vernacular extension of Christian Latin culture. But the vernacular literary culture of the High Middle Ages was an integral part of broader cultural developments in which the unquestioned validity of traditional authoritative models began to lose its hold. A secular culture began to emerge in which positive value began to be attached to the -- however transitory -- allegiances, pleasures, and loves of life. In new essays dealing with the most significant literary genres (the heroic epics, the romances, the love lyrics, and political poetry) and with broader political, social, and cultural issues (control of aggression, territorialization), this third volume of the Camden House History of German Literature demonstrates how the emergence of a vernacular literary culture in Germany was an important part of a broader cultural transformation in which medieval people began to redefine themselves, their relationships to one another, and the position of humanity in the scheme of things. Contributors: Albrecht Classen, Nicola McLelland, Rodney Fisher, Neil Thomas, Marion Gibbs and Sidney Johnson, Rudiger Krohn, Will Hasty, Nigel Harris, Susann Samples, Sara Poor, Michael Resler, Rudiger Brandt, Elizabeth A. Andersen, Ulrich Muller and Franz Viktor Spechtler, Ruth Weichselbaumer, W. H. Jackson, Charles Bowlus. Will Hasty is Professor of German Studies and co-founder and co-director of the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida.

A lesser-known but important Arthurian romance (ca. 1210-25) is here translated complete for the first time into English. The original Middle High German poem - in all likelihood the first German Arthurian romance not based on a French model - relates, in 8,482 lines, the adventures of the hero in his contests against dwarfs and giants. Resler's introduction examines the life and works of the poet, his sources and influences, the question of originality, and points of departure from the "classical" Arthurian romances. Full textual notes, bibliography, and index are provided.

Erec by Hartmann von Aue is a translation, by Michael Resler, of the earliest example of the German Arthurian legend and the beginning of the golden era-1170 to 1240-of Middle High German literature. An extensive introduction to this translation establishes Erec within its historical and cultural setting, and detailed notes to the text refer to the pertinent philological, literary, and historical scholarship that has, during the past century and more, dealt with this important romance.