From the twelfth century onwards the legends of King Arthur and his knights, including the Tristan legend, spread across Europe, producing a vast range of adaptations and new stories. German and Dutch literature were of central importance in this expansion of Arthurian material from the 12th to 16th century. This title deals with this topic.

The first volume to appear in the series "Altdeutsche Textbibliothek" in 1882 was Walther von der Vogelweide's "Poems," edited by Hermann Paul. This new edition will be published in two parts - Part 1: "Der Spruchdichter" (ATB 1) was published in February 1997; Part 2: "Der MinnesAnger" (ATB 110) will follow in due course. The revised edition reverts to the text as edited by Hermann Paul and last published in 1911 (in its 4th edition), as this gets closer to the text of the original than subsequent editions. The introduction, the notes on the editing of Walthers poems and the select bibliography have been brought up to date; the known melodies have been added.